If I can't sleep NOBODY CAN!

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 13, 2011

LOL, what a great read!! :)

I picture you with your hair standing up on all sides ... foaming at the mouth ... sleeping eye patch over your head ... one sock missing - in pajamas ... yelling, "If I can't sleep NOBODY CAN!"

now, time for me to get some sleep

Katie5 · Apr 13, 2011

it's not really that i "care" but it's a bit different situation than someone who can't sleep because they have kids to care for or a spouse who has an opposite schedule compared to someone who "has the presence of children in the house" and a mother in law nagging them.
just saying.

Please stop.

BluegrassRN · Apr 13, 2011

Oh yes it's very petty of me, indeed my irritation boils down to one simple thing: Jealousy...

I get so jealous when I'm struggling to stay awake at work and I hear the snores of soundly sleeping pts wafting down the halls. I just want to crawl into the next bed.

RPN_2012 · Apr 13, 2011

dreams about grassy fields and Unicorns with pretty white wings.

I though unicorn have 1 horn and pegasus have wings?!?! :eek: lol am I wrong?! :confused:

As for the sleeping part, why would you want everyone around you to be as misserable, even your SO? really? *sight*

TURN OFF THE PHONE!!! when you go to bed, tel the mashine pick it up! (thanks whomever envented answering mashines and call display too!)

Take a nice warm bath o before going to bed, then dring some warm milk or chamomille tea, and take a really boring read to bed, and in no time.... ZZZzzzzZZzzzzZZZZzzz :)

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2011

The life of an insomniac night shift nurse is one that is truly misunderstood. Tomorrow for example, I have to attend a work related class that starts at 7:30am which means I have to "get up" by 5am due to the commute. Sadly, after a few hours of attempting to sleep it's 0107 and I can tell already that tomorrow will be a day filled with me consuming enough caffeine to turn my heart into a drummer for a heavy metal band and that by tomorrow evening when I make the hour long trek back home my driving will be comparable to that of a 94 y/o with Parkinson's and dementia. Despite all this, want to know what makes me irritated? My partner is sleeping without difficulty, snoring ever so softly enough that you just know he's have wonderful dreams about grassy fields and Unicorns with pretty white wings. (the Pegasus has wings:))
Oh yes it's very petty of me, indeed my irritation boils down to one simple thing: Jealousy... because my partner can get 8-9 hours of sleep no matter what's happening in the world or his life without pharmaceutical intervention each and every night, and myself? Nah, I get the luxury of unintentionally frightening young children because I look like a Zombie thanks to the effects of my sleep deprivation.
But honestly whether you're a night shifter or prone to insomnia or both, we always get phone calls right when we finally DO fall asleep and it's always from someone who knows us well enough to know what our sleep schedule is like, or our partners/wives/husbands etc. never have difficulty "accidently" waking us up right as we doze off, but God forbid we accidently wake THEM up or we get snarled at.
What is the point of this thread? Good question, and honestly I don't quite know myself haha, just thought I would share my thoughts as I'm sure many of you can relate. Time for one more cup of herbal tea then attempt one more time to get at least a couple hours of sleep. Although the selfish, petty, cynical side of me wants to run through the house screaming and laughing obnoxiously as loud as I can, and when my partner crankily demands me to explain my behavior, simply say, "If I can't sleep NOBODY CAN!!"

:hhmth:What a delightful read!!!!! You my friend have a gift!!!!! People who don't work nights cannot possibly fathom the toll it take on ones body and psyche. On more than one occasion when my husband is feeling neglected.... :rolleyes: he will rampage on about how I am always tired and all I do is sleep. (when I worked that is, Iam disabled at present). What he has failed to mention or remembered is that I worked very weekend 12 hour shifts friday, saturday and sunday and that I would pick up at least one twelve or 2 eights during the week. I had 2 children 11 months apart (I told you I don't sleep:lol2:) and when they were small I would do anything to get a nap. I have set them in the tub lined with an egg crate and water shut off and allowed them to finger paint each orther and the walls while I slept in front of the tub for 20 winks or less.. When they got older I thought I was saved and then I realized that teenagers alone were more dangerous than toddlers that I resigned to be a creature of the night the:smackingf rest of my life.

I loved the phone calls fom staffing....I thought i'd let you sleep before I caled or "Did I wake you? :doh:

Excuse Me??........IF YOU GO TO BED AT 9PM......ARE YOU STILL ASLEEP AT 1 AM?????????

YES!!!! YOU WOKE ME!!!!!!!!

I always tried to explain to my husband that no one is mowing the lawn at 2 AM or snow blowing at 3. NO one is swimming or grilling at 1 AM or running the chain saw and building the deck at midnight!!! I can't do the coffee clutch with the "girls from the PTA" (not that I would anyway:lol2:) and I run late fo the classroom parties because I overslept!!! He can't sleep if the crickets are too loud or the moon is too bright in the room. The white noise I use to save me during the day is forbidden at night:rolleyes:. I do love him so but there are times.......... :bugeyes:

I do not answer my phone during the day my ringer is OFF. I had 2 cell phones one for family and one soley for the school if the kids needed me. Everybody else could just forget about getting me the phone was OFF. I made it clear to work (when I got hired) If they needed me between 9-2 they had to send the police!(I was a sup at that time) and they did NOT have my cell!!! I flat out told them no! If they needed me that bad ......they had to call my husband and go thru him to get me. :smokin:

On my days off of course I can't sleep.....I wander around and try to read. I mop my floors and watch TV. I've been known to wash clothes and clean the fridge. I too grocery shop when I can't sleep. I reorganize closets (quietly) or I'll take a drive and run the dog at the beach. I have found keeping th same schedule on my days off has saved me as I don't flip well at all!!!!!. So I have fallen asleep at a baseball game or waiting for my kids at the roller coaster at Six flags....Oh well......Cie La vie!

So THANK YOU! My friend and fellow night walker!!!! You made my day! :bow:

Who?Me? · Apr 14, 2011

Thankfully my car knows the way home after godawful, neverending days like that, because after not sleeping for 24 hours I know I don't know the way home any longer.

TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN · Apr 14, 2011

I'm glad that many of you enjoyed my experience and were able to relate!

And yes I think technically that Unicorns aren't supposed to have wings

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2011

I'd like to share my story with you after LOL at your story.

My DH can sleep on a washing line no matter what is going on in the world too-he says it is because he was in the Navy and had to sleep in a bunk the size of a bathtub!

Me well I struggle to sleep I don't struggle to go to sleep I struggle to stay asleep longer than a few hours.

The children come to me, the cats like to lie all over me and the dog snuggles next to by back all in my corner of the bed!.

My dh lies in his 1/2 of the bed which encroaches into my 1/2 no matter who is in bed with us.

Let the cat dare to walk on his pillow once in a week, month or a year (they know better) he starts ranting and raving at the top of his voice not caring if I was asleep and woke me up!

So why is it I find the need to creep around and not disturb the house when I cant sleep-I have no idea

Bill E. Rubin · Apr 15, 2011

it's not really that i "care" but it's a bit different situation than someone who can't sleep because they have kids to care for or a spouse who has an opposite schedule compared to someone who "has the presence of children in the house" and a mother in law nagging them.
just saying.

Seriously??

Thank you for jumping to conclusions. In fact, you are incorrect. My wife works full-time, though my MIL is retired, from another country and is staying with us now to help take care ofthe kids at times. We actually pay her for this. Her ability to help is limited, and the help comes with a high cost (and I don't mean the money), but it's what we can afford to do at the time.

When we just had the toddler (when she was still an infant), I was home alone with her after working night shifts, which means I slept only if and when she napped. In fact, what we used to do was that I would take the subway to work at night, so my wife would drive our daughter to her job. After my night shift was over, I would take the subway to her job and drive the car home; feed our daughter and entertain her until she had a nap. Now, the toddler is in day care twice a week. The 6 month old is home every day.

From day one I have been an active participant in both daughters' care. When they were newborns, given that my wife was breastfeeding, I would be the one changing the diapers.

I guess you have your stereotype about what men have done with respect to childcare in your life experience, but I do kind of resent your labeling me with your own stereotype.

:down:

MurrR · Apr 16, 2011

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for 12 hour shifts, the four days off per week just really works for me. I have worked five 8 hour shifts in the past per week and I had a really hard time balancing home life with my work life. My hat is off to those that are able to do it and enjoy it!

I work one 12 a week, which gets me 3 days off a week. It's just about perfection, haha!