Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

allnurses

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.
Discussion

Post Night Shift Sickness

Starting around 0830 if I am trying to stay awake for classes or to get onto days schedule after a night shift I feel almost like I am car sick/motion sick. I get a nauseated feeling and a weak headache that starts in my eyes. The physical sensation are difficult to describe. It is basically an all-over crappy feeling. My skin even feels odd, like a heaviness in my face.

Does anyone else experience this? Is it just sleep deprivation sinking in?

Featured Replies

Yes, that is sleep deprivation. When I try to switch from nights to days, I would go to sleep, but would only sleep until around noon, then force myself to get up and move around. Generally I was able to go back to sleep again around 10 or 11 pm.

I noticed after working the night shift if I tried to stay awake after work or even if I went right to sleep I'd wake up feeling like you described. It wasn't so much sleep deprivation for me. I often said, "I feel hungover...as if I'd been drinking all night'. My husband is the one who made me realize what that yucky feeling was. I was dehydated..much like if I had been drinking all night.

My solution..try my hardest to drink water during my shift. As well, I'd chug a bottle or two of water before I went to bed. If I do that, I feel 100% normal when I wake up.

I'm a day babe. I can't hang on nights. I frequently feel sick during and after my shift. I'm nauseated, sometimes dry heaving/vomiting around 2-3am on. I believe it's due to a medication I take at night that I usually would sleep through these side effects. I also wake up with that hangover/dehydrated feeling. My strategy is to avoid nights. If I can't I just bring a ton of light snacks and water and hope for the best.

That is sleep deprivation. If you switch between days and nights, you shuffle around like a zombie on your day off. I felt that way a lot when I was a new parent as well as when I worked nights.

Just to be safe, check your BS.... Those symptoms could be associated with a lot of different issues, but if they happen with some sort of cyclic (predictable) regularity it could have a metabolic connection.

Take care of yourself.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Add a Comment

Currently Reading 0

  • No registered users viewing this page.

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.