night shift depression

:selfbonk: Night shift is not for the faint of heart, unfortunately if you do it long enough it is hell on your heart not to mention the rest of your body and any family or social life you may have. Many of us in order to see our loved ones on our days off or to get any thing accomplished stay up well over 24 hours. For many of us turning off the phone is not an option due to potential family emergencies Call block is an option but the telemarketers are getting smart in their ways around it and yes we can ignore it and I usually do but it is still disturbing. Not to mention the phone calls from family and friends that you answer because your psyic powers haven't been developed yet. My favorite is the 12 noon call (I work 7p-8a) when I have to go back to work that night, Did you work last night night, Oh I sorry, this won't take long and an hour later they're still talking , cant yell at them or be rude because it's usually Mom or something important that you need to know about and doing so just destroys any good karma you had for the night.

I'm with nurseSarah - I HATE working days. Don't mind evenings at all, but then I never get to see DH - so nights works fine.

I think there are a number of us out there that are like this - must be some weird gene!

:selfbonk: Night shift is not for the faint of heart, unfortunately if you do it long enough it is hell on your heart not to mention the rest of your body and any family or social life you may have. Many of us in order to see our loved ones on our days off or to get any thing accomplished stay up well over 24 hours. For many of us turning off the phone is not an option due to potential family emergencies Call block is an option but the telemarketers are getting smart in their ways around it and yes we can ignore it and I usually do but it is still disturbing. Not to mention the phone calls from family and friends that you answer because your psyic powers haven't been developed yet. My favorite is the 12 noon call (I work 7p-8a) when I have to go back to work that night, Did you work last night night, Oh I sorry, this won't take long and an hour later they're still talking , cant yell at them or be rude because it's usually Mom or something important that you need to know about and doing so just destroys any good karma you had for the night.

Pierce - I had a son who woke me in the middle of my nite - his wife wanted to know if she could use my vehicle. They knew full well that I was sleeping!:angryfire

The next nite, while I was at work - I called THEM at 4am to say 'hello' - DIL complained that I woke the baby and she wouldn't go back to sleep.

Pierce - I had a son who woke me in the middle of my nite - his wife wanted to know if she could use my vehicle. They knew full well that I was sleeping!:angryfire

The next nite, while I was at work - I called THEM at 4am to say 'hello' - DIL complained that I woke the baby and she wouldn't go back to sleep.

You just gave me my laugh for the night! Thats great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never knew anyone that actually did that.

I did when i worked night shift. I missed seeing the sun especially in winter time.

I was very lucky when I worked nights for 7 years. No kids, a quiet neighborhood, could turn off my phone, etc.

I was stunned to find out what most of my night shift co-workers actually thought of as sleep (Phone calls, getting up at 1:00 to pick up the kids , and then another 2 hours before going in).

That's not rest.

If you have to work nights, you must make the limits in order to get the sleep you need.

And basically, if you have young children and a husband who also works, FORGET night shift! It just ain't gonna happen.

There is also a medication available for shift-work disorders. I took Provigil because of constant drowsiness from other medications, but one of the approved uses of it is for shift-work. When I told my dr I was applying to work night shift while in nursing school, I said I may want to consider going back on the Provigil. Just a thought. There's also a drug out called Rozarem that is supposed to help adjust melatonin when it's gotten out of whack from shift work and other things. So if the problem is really bad, there are options.

I used to have the same problem!

Know what fixed it? MELATONIN. Over the counter, innocuous melatonin in the 3mg tablets. The way my doc explained it is this: your pineal gland produces melatonin at night, seratonin during the day. If you are trying to switch days and nights, not only will you not sleep well during the day but will actually battle depression because it messes up your serotonin as well. I started taking melatonin five years ago, and take it every day. It is an absolute GODSEND! Try it! You take it 20 minutes before sleep, you fall asleep very naturally (not the artificial coma of sleep aids) and wake up refreshed because you had a normal sleep cycle.

I have working nothing but 12 hr nights and when i first started i would have to make myself get up...otherwise yes i would sleep all day...and i am 23 now but i was 20 at the time;....i would get into a routine for example....get off usually around 0730, take a shower, go to bed sleep until 1300-1400, get up then if i had to work again that night i would nap again about 1600, and if i was off that night i would stay up so i could sleep that night like normal people

Took night shift 7p to 7a a year and a half ago just to get into ER. I don't have any trouble (usually) staying awake and alert while at work. My problem is all I want to do is sleep when I am off work. I have been known to sleep for twenty straight hours after getting off shift. I almost always feel groggy and depressed. Except on vacation of course. Is this normal. Do other people feel like this when working nights or is there something wrong with me. I have a great home life and supportive spouse so no complaints there. Thanks for helping me out with this.

Wow....I'm kinda worried now. I have an interview tomorrow to work nights at a postpartum unit. I didn't realize there were meds out there to help with the whole sleeping problem. Thanks for the advice. :icon_roll

I don't mind nights at all but I've always been that person that can stay up late. I never get sleepy on the night shift like some of my coworkers. I like being able to wake up on my own. If I have to work a day shift I tend to stay up too late, then get up early to a buzzing alarm and I still can't function well. Every once and a while I'll do an AM shift and I swear my brain doesn't unfog until noon!

Lanabanana: the generic name of the drug is modafinil and your doc is right on. I have found it to be amazing at helping me get home in the am. Now, cant say how I got some to try, but I am def planning on talking to my MD about writing a scrip 2' shift-worker-sleep-disorder.

The military has been using it for a few years because they need their soldiers to be able to be awake for a week straight when they have special missions. They used to use amphetamine and caffiene but those make you jittery. My brother got some from across the pond and has used it when he has BIG projects due and doesnt have time to sleep (yeah, I advised him on how dangerous and how bad for his health it was.) He has stayed up from thurs-tues and ran a triathelon on saturday. Amazing, dangerous, but amazing.

It doesnt cause jitteriness, helps you to focus, you can sleep if you want...the side effects are very minimal.

http://www.modafinil.com/

It is 4 in the AM (cant sleep) and leaving for a vaca in the AM and you can bet I am going to take one so I can be enjoyable to be around. The only problem is it cant make me get up at 9am so I can take it!