I have been on night shift for 30 years and...

Wow, kudos for making it 30 years on nights! I've done lots of shift work over the years. Best way I found to "reset" my clock was to set a firm schedule for going to bed, lots of tiring exercise before bed time and (if okay with your PCP ? ) 10mg melatonin 45 minutes before my expected "asleep" time. No screen time of any type one hour before bedtime.

Hardest part for me wasn't resetting my clock, it was resetting my stomach! It still wanted that 0230AM snack.

I loved nights. I would have retired on nights. And that's all I will say about that.

When a day person switches to nights, her coworkers "get" it. They understand how difficult it is to stay wide awake while the body screams for sleep. They'll hand you a cup of coffee, or walk you up and down the hall. When a night person switches to days, her coworkers usually don't "get" it. I was walking into walls and tripping on shadows at 1 or 2 PM! My coworkers told me to go to bed on time. I was! ? I was! ?

Don't expect them to understand.

I found that if I stayed up until 9pm, my body would go into awake-mode. I did much better - especially at first - if I got to bed before that, even if I didn't sleep right away.

A glass of milk before bedtime helped me.

Some people can read for a while (real books, not a Kindle), and they will get sleepy. Not me. Reading wakes me up all the way.

If you have trouble getting to sleep at night, I would have one or two cups of coffee in the morning, but no more after morning break (if you get morning break).

4 hours ago, tavalon1 said:

I loved nights. I would have retired on nights. And that's all I will say about that.

????? Who, what, or why made you go to day shift? This will stay between you and me only, I promise ?. It seems awful if you were content with nights. I loved nights, did it 17 years.

I was more tired of every other weekend than I was of working night shift. Got a Monday to Friday job.

My personal sleep combo is: 1. White noise machine set to rain plus thunderstorm. 2. Temp set extra low like 68 degrees or less (we live in Florida). Melatonin, plus magnesium, plus 5HTP (must be cautious if you are on SSRI medications since it could provoke serotonin syndrome). 3. A walk for 30min to an hour at least two hours before bed. 4. I figure an extra two hours of sleep time whenever I'm shifting from days to nights or nights to days. Thus I aim for at least 9 to 10 hours sleep for the first month. 5. Extra caffeine . 6. If all else fails see a mental health provider about something like Modafinil/Provigil 7. Limit simple carbs during the day to minimize massive insulin release and rebound hypoglycemia/sleepiness.

I am one of the unfortunate people who need 9 hours of sleep to be at my best. It bothers me that so many people can get by on much less and I can't. While trying to acclimate you may need more sleep than you did before, at least for awhile. Did you have black out over your windows while you slept when working nights? or Did you sleep in the daylight? If you slept with light coming in then why not leave the lights on in your bedroom while you sleep at night. Just an idea, it may help, not sure.

I would think that the same tricks day people find useful to work nights would work for you, but in reverse order of course. Good luck.

1 hour ago, myoglobin said:

My personal sleep combo is: 1. White noise machine set to rain plus thunderstorm. 2. Temp set extra low like 68 degrees or less (we live in Florida). Melatonin, plus magnesium, plus 5HTP (must be cautious if you are on SSRI medications since it could provoke serotonin syndrome). 3. A walk for 30min to an hour at least two hours before bed. 4. I figure an extra two hours of sleep time whenever I'm shifting from days to nights or nights to days. Thus I aim for at least 9 to 10 hours sleep for the first month. 5. Extra caffeine . 6. If all else fails see a mental health provider about something like Modafinil/Provigil 7. Limit simple carbs during the day to minimize massive insulin release and rebound hypoglycemia/sleepiness.

These are great ideas. When I worked nights I used ear plugs and a sleep mask. She might try that too to help her sleep at night. I usually needed more sleep as well till my body adjusted.

I went from straight nights for 15+ years to days a few years ago and boy was it an adjustment! To be totally honest it took a few months of not getting anywhere near enough sleep at night before I managed to start falling asleep at a reasonable time. Even now I still tend to stay awake too late for my own good on work nights, getting to bed around 11 pm and waking up at 5 am. Even worse when I have a stretch of days off I am up until anywhere from 2 to 5 am so my last day off I make myself get up after no more than 4 hours sleep so I can sleep that night before going back to work in the morning. It works for me, but that's not something I would necessarily suggest is a good idea.

I am not a nurse... yet - but I am a 46 year old nursing student that has always been a "night owl" and me and these 4:30am days to make it to clinical on time just really suck. Its been 6 months and I can't really say that I am any better than I was. My commute is about 1.5 hours which probably doesn't help. I often don't sleep enough because I just can't fall asleep when I should be sleeping in order to make it to "daytime" things on time.

How I cope:

I have learned to take quick naps. I arrive for school/clinical early on purpose. I set my alarm and take a quick 15-20 minute nap which actually helps me feel much more refreshed than if I sleep in for those extra 15-20 minutes (but I also have that 1.5 hour commute to contend with). I also only drink caffeine upon waking during my drive in the morning. Then its water the rest of the day. Probably the most important thing though is I have a very small window at night when I "should be" going to sleep that I actually feel sleepy - if I don't go to sleep then, who knows when I will fall asleep. It is typically 6-8 hours later that I get sleepy and by then I usually only have 2-3 hours to sleep if I'm lucky. If you can identify this feeling, do your best to pay attention to it.

Keep a journal of when you sleep and how you feel. It might help you identify that sweet spot when your body is trying to tell you to sleep - if it does tell you that. Also - eat food on a regular schedule. I know - nurses don't eat normal - but meal prep foods you can eat on the run at the same time each day. Many of my meals are finger foods that I can eat in pieces on the run.

It will take time so be patient with yourself. Most importantly - stay safe. Don't hesitate to call someone to pick you up if you are feeling sleepy after work. If possible I would work every other day so that you can sleep a little more in between shifts, at least until you get a little more settled.

Best of luck to you... and thank you for spending a good bit of your life taking care of us humans ?