Overnight Shift Rut, help!

blackIrish · Jan 25, 2008

I've been having the same problem (I'm awake at 5am too;))

I take sleeping pills. Just Benadryl or Tylenol PM. It is getting worse though. I can't even fall asleep after my shifts. And I do 3 12's in a row. :bugeyes:

Been on nights for 4 years now. Just affecting me this way over the last few months.

SO, I really can't help. But, you're not alone.

shortstuph0 · Jan 25, 2008

I've been having the same problem (I'm awake at 5am too;))
I take sleeping pills. Just Benadryl or Tylenol PM. It is getting worse though. I can't even fall asleep after my shifts. And I do 3 12's in a row.
Been on nights for 4 years now. Just affecting me this way over the last few months.
SO, I really can't help. But, you're not alone.

I am so in the same boat! I was good for 6 months and now my body has had enough! I switched to days because Im just so run down and sick!!! I have one more night shift to go and I CANT WAIT!! After so much benadryl your body gets used to it. Im so sick of either sleeping to go to work or sleeping because I worked. Im picking up an extra shift as registery to make up for the differential lost. I think ill feel better working 4 12's days that 3 12's nights. Good luck!!

lucky1RN · Jan 25, 2008

I know this probably won't be a popular answer but...

I believe the only answer to your sleeping trouble is to maintain approximately the same sleep schedule all the time. I had a 3 year run of nights with no sleeping problems whatsoever. However, I slept approximately the same hours all the time...no switching back and forth for my days off. I did research on the subject and found that while sleeping during the day will always be against your body's natural schedule, it's very important to have regularity for quality sleep.

I realize most people cannot/will not do this because they want to interact with the rest of the world on their days off. I was usually up by 2pm so I never really felt cut-off from the daytimers.

Of course there are the other usual daytime sleep tips: darken the room, no caffeine, exercise/eat right, avoid/minimize interruptions (disconnect the doorbell and phone).

Good luck!

PMHNP10 · Jan 25, 2008

Okay, I have been doing the overnight shift for 8 months now. But first, let me tell you about my sleep pattern before I started overnights. Before I was an RN, I worked in business and worked the 9a to 5p Mon through Fri, in bed by 10-11p and woke up 6 am. I slept through the night, never, ever has insomnia, I am the type that I hit my head to the pillow and I fall asleep right away. My husband always said I could sleep anywhere, anytime like on a picket fence.
So then I became an RN and started the overnight shift. No problems....I would go to bed right away after working all night and if it was my first night on and I needed to work the next night I would sleep from 8:30a to 4p no problem, all the way through. If it was my night off the next day I would sleep from 8:30a to about 1-2p perfectly. For a while my first night off I would fall asleep around 8-9p and wake up around 4a, no problem with this because the second night off I would go to bed between 10-11p and wake up at 7a.
Okay NOW- for the last month on my nights on, I sleep perfectly durting the day, all the way through and fall asleep at 8:30a right away. It is the nights off that are affecting me now. My first night off, I am not tired at 10p and either I toss and turn all night and hardly have a good deep sleep like I usually do or I cannot sleep at all. This happens even on my second night off like tonight. I have a cold so you think I would be even more exhausted. Well I went to bed at 10p, comfortable and even took some melatonin and nope.....did not sleep, laid there tossing and turning from 10p to 4a. Here it is 5a and I am typing in the pitch dark.
So anyone have problems with sleeping at night on their nights off? Like I said I feel like I sleep better during the day than at night and NEVER, NEVER had a problem sleeping my whole life. I do not want to give up night shift, I love it and the differential difference pays for our vacations and car insurance!
One more thing, yes I work out 3 to 4 times a week and I drink tons of water and take my vitamins.
Has anyone resorted to sleeping pills? I just started melatonin and nope, not working. I used to love working out before I go to bed...it had the oppositie effect on me. Sweat like crazy, get tired, take a nice shower and sleep like a baby. I might try this next...I am hopeless right now, please help if this has happened to anyone else!

I understood that melatonin only works if you have low levels of it in your body, but that was a few years ago and there's probably more research out there now.

You might not like it, but as previously mentioned, it's in your body's best interest to maintain your night schedule when you are off.

As for working out...as you probably know, whe you work out, you raise your metabolism...yes you might be physically tired, but the exercise could be a part of the problem. As horrible of a though as it might be, you might want to consider working out before going to work. Speaking from personal experience, it gives me an extra boost of energy to get through the early portion of my day and you metabolism is kickin' in throughout the rest of the shift. I don't like getting up early, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

mrod, LPN, LVN · Jan 25, 2008

Thanks Lucky1RN....but I am not sure what you mean because I try to maintain the same sleep schedule on my days off but I cannot sleep.

Do you mean stay up all night on my days off and sleep most of the day???

momof4ndocswife · Jan 25, 2008

I'm a new night-shifter. 'Just started in Dec. I'm also sleeping fitfully on my nights off. I do 12 hour shifts, working on a non-stop surgical floor. I rarely sit down all night... even to take bathroom break. People are calling for pain meds constantly and there are so many drips, drains, tubes, vacs, etc. to monitor in addition to med administration and dressing changes. I didn't anticipate this would be so hectic at nights, but can't imagine how one would survive working days on this floor.

I've resorted to using AMbien CR to try to get back on a regular sleep schedule when I'm off. I do well to get 6 hours of sleep at a time. Today is Friday. I worked Tues &

Wed nights. Slept during the day 6 or 7 hours on Wed. and Thurs. 'Went back to bed at midnight last night (with an Ambien) and slept without awakening until 5:15 am.

I'm off tonight, but have to work again Sat night. So.... I try to figure out now... do I stay up late tonight and try to sleep late tomorrow.... or get up really early in the morning and try to take a Sat afternoon nap in preparation for staying up all of Sat night?

I just can't figure out this night shift stuff. I think the idea of staying on the same biological clock is the best way to go, but...... I want time with my husband.. and need to have time during daylight hours to get certain things done!

I feel so isolated from the world with this nightshift stuff... but I don't think I could handle the pace of day-shift.... at least not on this floor!

mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 25, 2008

I work every Mon, Tues, Wed night and Thurs and Fri nights are my WORST nights in trying to get back in the swing of day vs. night sleeping. So basically Saturday is my only actually decent night of sleep all week. Sometimes I can't wait to go back to work on Monday so I will actually sleep right again....... :specs:

I have to take Benadryl every time I sleep for allergy reasons so I have to be careful what additional meds I take on top of that but even after being sleep deprived all day on Thurs (my 1st day off) and taking Benadryl, it doesn't work.

So, I have no advice but I feel your pain!!!

SillyStudent, ASN, RN · Jan 25, 2008

I worked nights in a busy PICU before and while I was in nursing school. When I got home in the morning, I would take a warm shower and drink a cup of sleepytime tea. I also took valerian. I made sure the bedroom was dark (blackout shades). I stayed up until about 1100 so I got good and tired, then slept until it was time to get up. It still sucked, because I had to constantly reverse my schedule to go to day classes, but on the days I did not have classes, I slept pretty well.

Some of the nurses I worked with talked about taking 25 mg benadryl each morning to sleep. I have no opinion about this because I didn't do it. Might work ok... :)

Almost everyone says to not go to bed as soon as you get home, because you wouldn't go to bed at 2000 if you were on days.

Hope that helps!

:twocents:

lucky1RN · Jan 25, 2008

Thanks Lucky1RN....but I am not sure what you mean because I try to maintain the same sleep schedule on my days off but I cannot sleep.
Do you mean stay up all night on my days off and sleep most of the day???

Yup! ... or at least most of the night. Oh, and like someone else said, I don't recommend exercise right before bed. I was in the best shape of my life when I worked nights because I could workout before I went to work (getting up at 2pm and having 5 hours before I had to be at work.)

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Jan 25, 2008

I also used to be a great sleeper, did nights for 11 years, no problems, now I have sleep problems, go figure.... my body does best on a 2nd shift schedule, if I could work 3-11 and sleep from 2 0r 3 a til 11 am I'd be great unfortunately kids and life get in the way...Anywoo, the BEST thing Iv'e found OTC is UNISOM--- just be aware there are 2 types. One is diphenhydramine ( benadryl) I hate !!! BUT the 2nd is Doyxlamine Succinate- it is awesome!!! They come in 25 mg scored tabs and at THE MOST all you need is 1/2 tab, one tab will put you out for 12 hrs, no joke, I can't believe this stuff is OTC, I call it my general anesthesia!!!! Many times I just break off 1/3 and it works great, you fall asleep right away, and walgreens and walmart sell generics :)

MoopleRN · Jan 25, 2008

I don't recommend taking any kind of a sleeping aid. It will work and then you'll come to believe you can't sleep without it and what then? Taking it forever? If it works for others, more power to them but IMO, it's not in your best long-term interest.

Having said that, I've worked nights for over 3 years and I have come to accept the fact that my sleep pattern is screwed. I never get my 8-9 hours of sleep in a row. My best quality sleep is in the morning after work but I'll start to wake up anywhere from 12-2. If I have that night off, I will luxuriously stay in bed knowing I don't have to work that night and then I'll get up late in the afternoon, be like a normal person who goes to bed around 10-11... and then wake up around 4am unable to sleep anymore. That's when I get up, do laundry, putter quietly around the house while everybody else sleeps. It's nice having the house to myself in the dark wee hours. I can get some cooking done/frozen so I don't have to cook so often when I'm working. I go back to bed when I feel like I can sleep, usually around noon or so, get up again around 3, putter around and I try to be back in bed around 5-9 when I have to work that night.

The point of all this is to accept you're not going to get your full sleep hours in a row and sleep when you can or at least be in bed relaxing. Granted, if I'm not terribly busy, I get pretty sleep at work around 4-5 but if you walk around a little, make some coffee, chat with your co-workers, you can keep your eyes open enough to catch a 2nd wind.