Night shift

Hoozdo, ADN · Aug 20, 2005

I am starting full time nights (5 - 7.5 hour shifts). I was working 3 - 12 hr night shifts and I got by with my sleeping by taking 2 Tylenol PM's on the 3 days I had to go in and slept like a log. Now that I am on 5 days I'm starting to wonder if taking 10 Tylenol PM's every week will cause some long term health concerns. Just wanting some advice from some pharmacology gurus out there.

As long as you do not exceed 3 grams a day of tylenol you should be ok; more than that will cause liver toxicity.

Cheers,

Lu Ann

bellarosa · Aug 20, 2005

You may find that it loses its effectiveness after a while. I try to limit the number of does per week b/c it just stops working for me after a while.

Also, if you feel you don't want to take the acetaminophen you can just take benadryl. That is the sleep aid in Tylenol PM anyway.

Happy dreams!

rjflyn, ASN, RN · Aug 20, 2005

Actually chronic Tylenol/ its generic equivlent use can actually cause liver injury if one takes it on a regular basis. That said how much and how long one takes it to cause that damage can vary. Other factors also come in to play such as other medication use, alcohol use, and the pts general state of health. In fact I have seen a patient who reportedly only took a dose or 2 a day present with elevated liver enzymes-- this person presented for chest pain and the CMP profile caught the liver damage.

Rj:rolleyes:

greysage · Aug 20, 2005

Bless your heart...I remember my first night shifts and had a difficult time sleeping. Benadryl OTC was not available back then so I was in a real pickle. However,my biggest problem at the time was adjusting to what to eat,when. I remember smelling spaghetti at 0200 and feeling like I was gonna barf, but now, nothing bothers me. I still take the occasional Benadryl but have taken Valerian also, the only problem with it is its odor...shew-eeeee.

Ca-ca in a capsule !!!!

Benadryl gives me "med head" but there are some mornings when I am too tired or still wound up tighter than a tick to sleep, thus I resort to Benadryl or valerian...I hope you can adjust to the change in sleep/wake cycle.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Aug 20, 2005

Agree with Bellarosa - if you don't need the Tylenol itself, just take Benadryl. Compare the labels - each Tylenol PM (or any "PM" analgesic) contains 25 mg of Diphenhydramine - same exact thing as one Benadryl.

Chad_KY_SRNA · Aug 20, 2005

Have you tried going into a dark cool quiet room and trying to sleep. I try to do stuff that doesn't require me to be up during the middle of the day.

mitralvalve · Aug 20, 2005

I am starting full time nights (5 - 7.5 hour shifts). I was working 3 - 12 hr night shifts and I got by with my sleeping by taking 2 Tylenol PM's on the 3 days I had to go in and slept like a log. Now that I am on 5 days I'm starting to wonder if taking 10 Tylenol PM's every week will cause some long term health concerns. Just wanting some advice from some pharmacology gurus out there.

Try melatonin. I alternate that with tylenol pm. It works.

NurseLatteDNP, MSN, DNP, RN · Aug 20, 2005

Also, if you feel you don't want to take the acetaminophen you can just take benadryl. That is the sleep aid in Tylenol PM anyway.
Happy dreams!

I agree with that one. Benadryl works wonders on me.

copnlpn2 · Aug 20, 2005

I've worked steady night shift five alternating nights a week for nearly five years. When I tried to sleep just after I came home, no sleep aid helped me and I was miserable. I realized that I couldn't sleep in the daytime because I crave/need sunshine (SADD) to feel human, especially in the winter.

So I started thinking about it...when your work daylight, you sleep, get up and go to work and you still have energy left after you get home in the afternoon. So I tried sleeping the 6 or 7 hours before I when to work and found out sleep aids were no longer necessary!

Now on the days I work, I go to bed at 3 pm and sleep until 9 pm., then get up, eat "breakfast" and get ready for work. On my days off, I stay up until 7 or 8 pm, and then go to bed and sleep until I wake up "naturally," which is usually around 8 or 9 am. I feel totally rested now when I go to work and I'm not the least bit sleepy when I get off work. And I have all day to get stuff done.

The hardest part about changing when you sleep is the first few days. You have to make yourself stay up until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and then go to bed. It gets easier every day and soon you'll have your body's clock adjusted to sleeping in the afternoon/evening. Once you get used to it, you'll discover that you have plenty of energy to last throughout the day until around 3 pm., when your body begins to tell you "Hey! It's bedtime!" Best of all, you won't need a sleep aid!

I must mention that I am divorced and live alone so I can sleep whenever I choose. My co-workers on nightshift who have families find it impossible to sleep in the afternoon/evenings like I do and are rather envious of how much energy I still have at the end of the shift.

Maybe you could give it a try...