WooRN

Hi everyone, I was diagnosed with shift work sleep disorder by my doctor today and prescribed Provigil (modafinil). I have been a nurse for almost a year now, and have worked night shift ever since. Everyone I worked with told me that "I would find my rhythm for sleeping" and get used to it, but I have a really hard time staying awake during my shift and then I'm wide awake when I get home. I tried melatonin, sleepy time tea, Benadryl, black out curtains, an eye mask, pretty much any suggestion I could find on the internet but nothing helps. I can usually sleep for 4 hours after I've worked overnight before going back again. I can't stop working nights for now, I would lose $700 a month from the differentials and with my husband being laid off I can't afford to stop working that shift right now. I'm really upset because now my manager has said something to people on night shift about closing our eyes at the nurse's station and I feel bad everyone is getting yelled at because of my sleep disorder. I know a lot of nurses on my floor do close their eyes for a couple of minutes... I feel responsible though. I'm hoping the medication works but I feel absolutely awful. I didn't know if anyone else is dealing with this, and if they have any advice. I feel awful. Thank you for reading.