Doing an overnight shift....

any other nightowls out there?

Wanna be my overnight friend? :D

I've been on a night-time schedule since I started working in sleep disorders medicine (as a tech) back in 1990. I've been out of the field for 8 years, but my circadian rhythm still pulls me into sync with the darkness, not the Sunlight.

Just lucky, I guess.

--bkl

I have a question.

How can I sleep better? I am not tired when I wake up, I fall asleep fine, but when I wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning 4-5am, I just can't get back to sleep. I start thinking about stuff.
Don't get me wrong I love mornings, I love the dawning of a new day, the quiet solitude is MY time before the wife and kids kick it into gear.
I am just not a big sleeper, and would like to be able sleep in once in awhile.
Even if I force myself to stay up late (late for me can be midnight) I still wake at 5:30-6am, raring to go, but needing a nap during the day.
Just curious.

... but there are lots of reasons why people don't sleep well, and the list I'm going to give here is very scattershot.

Anxiety is a big one. Sleep apnea, especially if you are overweight. Endocrine problems. Depression. Anticipation. Cigarette smoking, especially if you smoke more toward the end of the day. Coffee. Alcohol and sedatives (most of them wear off during sleep).

Personally, I'd settle for the daytime nap. I nap anyway, and seldom sleep more than 5 hours at a time, but usually manage 6-8 hours per 24-hour period.

If you are laying there, waiting for sleep to come, you could try concentrating on something monotonous or simple, like "seeing" song lyrics in your mind, or making lists, or trying to recall what the weather was like for each Christmas you can remember. It zonks most people right out -- but wakes other people up.

Most of the time, getting out of bed and doing something else will bring drowsiness back in about 20 minutes.

Sleep well!

--bkl

how's it going?

Sometimes it's not bad, but it has raised hell with my migraines, and I think that I look sooooo much older. I sleep, well am in bed reading from 10AM -11ish, then attempt to sleep till 6:30PM (gotta get up for Jon Stewart and to see my family). On paper that looks like 7.5 hours which should be good, but even though I use a white noise machine and a room air conditioner in the summer, kick all of the dogs and the cats out of the bedroom, I still wake up a lot and don't feel rested when I wake. My husband helps all he can, cooking and doing the laundry, etc, he also gets my son on the bus, but I feel like I am always tired. Then weekends are a bitch when I try to lead a semi-normal life. Sucks, but it's better than unenjoyment.

Yep. I work 12 hours night shifts from 5p to 5:30a. Just got off work and am checking up on all the news and posts I missed lastnight!

I don't like the 12 hour shifts but I like having fewer nights to work. We were made to go to 12 hour shifts. I used to work evenings 3-11p. I loved that shift.

It takes its toll on you and people don't understand. I tend to keep late night hours even when I'm off so that my body doesn't get all screwed up. People don't understand that either. So on my nights off I tend to stay up late and the only thing to do is DU!