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+--- Thread: Anyone here work swing shifts? (/showthread.php?tid=81921)
Anyone here work swing shifts? - ryoken - 06-11-2012
Ok basically i am working 2 weeks 4:00AM-2:00PM then swing to nights from 8:45PM-6:45AM. Man i am having serious issues adjusting sleep patterns. How you guys do it? Anyone?
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Madvillain - 06-11-2012
You will continue having these issues, believe me:(
edit: it messed up my sleep badly , i wake up 2 hours before i am supposed to wake up , sleep 3 hours at night
etc.
It's inhumane , but pays well.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Swallow - 06-11-2012
My dad does. For many years he`s working from the 8 pm to 8 am once a three days. He looks very tired.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Wafellini - 06-11-2012
follow the simple rule - you need 6-8h of sleep no matter if you want or not - just darken your room and if it won't happen ear plugs and cover your eyes - a sleep for 4-5h should be enough to get over next shift...at least I would try doing that...I am going to work at 3-5 AM for 3 years now - 6h sleep is mandatory.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Mickk - 06-11-2012
' Wrote:follow the simple rule - you need 6-8h of sleep no matter if you want or not - just darken your room and if it won't happen ear plugs and cover your eyes - a sleep for 4-5h should be enough to get over next shift...at least I would try doing that...I am going to work at 3-5 AM for 3 years now - 6h sleep is mandatory.
+1 to this.
Try to stay off the stimulants in the later part of your shift.
This will help you sleep when you get home.
As for darkening your room, yes do this. Use blankets over your window to keep out the light.
Ear plugs are useful and failing that, get a fan and put it on the low setting.
This will create 'white' noise, which will dull any noise coming from outside your room.
Just be happy that it's only for 2 weeks and deal with it the best you can.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - ryoken - 06-11-2012
Back and forth every 2 weeks.
I am using the fan actually.
Problem is trying to sleep when not tired is a pain.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - sampankaj001 - 06-11-2012
' Wrote:Ok basically i am working 2 weeks 4:00AM-2:00PM then swing to nights from 8:45PM-6:45AM. Man i am having serious issues adjusting sleep patterns. How you guys do it? Anyone?
Dude your shfts are far better....
As my shift changes every 2 days, have to work on 7am-3pm, 3pm-11am & last 11pm-7am
those messes my every schedule, sleep & every thing.......
This is normal one, if any thing goes wrong you have to continue next shift...its goes wrong at-least every other week.....
Anyone here work swing shifts? - jakub963 - 06-11-2012
Working 2X 6am till 6 pm then 2X 6pm till 6am...
Weirdly, not much problems here even though travel to work takes one-way another hour...
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Dab - 06-11-2012
If you can make your room dark enough, take Melatonin an hour or two before you want/need to sleep, and keep the room dark while you wait for it to kick in. This should help your body get sleepy even if you aren't feeling tired. Note though, that some people do have problems with drowsiness throughout the day after sleeping when using Melatonin.
Anyone here work swing shifts? - Agmen of Eladesor - 06-11-2012
My dad worked a 7 day swing for 20 some years. He'd work 7 days of 8 - 4, then have 2 days off, work 7 days of 4 - 12, have one day off, work 7 days of 12-8, then have 4 days off. He never really did adjust well.
My wife works a lot of 6:30 pm to 7:30 am shifts 3-4 days a week, then will pull overtime of 10 pm to 6 am to fill in a couple of days per week as well.
Basically I agree with what Dab said regarding 'self-medication'. Go to Wal-Mart and get a bottle of 100 of the 3 mg Melatonin tablets. They're not expensive. Start with 1, and take it about 30 - 45 minutes before you plan on actually laying down. Put blankets over your windows, have a ceiling fan or something else going for white noise, and you can also get a sleep mask, too. Your body doesn't really build up a tolerance to Melatonin, but your body WEIGHT does matter. Lot of times I'll take 2 or 3 Melatonin to help fall asleep, and 1 Benadryl (Tylenol PM) to STAY asleep. Note that I did specifically ask my doctor about this, and those sleep aids are not considered habit forming so he had no issues with me taking them as needed - especially the melatonin. (Also note - I'm 6'2" and weigh 270 - my wife is 5'4" and weighs 110 - I can tolerate a LOT more than she can.)
I also have a mandatory white noise generator regardless of the ceiling fan - I have to wear a CPAP to sleep, due to apnea.
Anyway, it's not so much that you adjust your patterns as much as you simply plan ahead and figure - okay, this is when I'll need to sleep, and to hell with the rest of the world. If you have to work from 4 am until 2 pm, and you're up to leave for work at 3 am, then regardless of whether that's a good show on TV or not, make sure you're in bed at 7 pm, so you have the opportunity to get 8 hours of sleep. Same thing with the 8:45pm to 6:45 am - that's one reason bars open up early in the morning, so the guys that get off at 7 am can stop and have a beer on their way home. So if you're up at 7:30 pm, then plan to be in bed at 11:30 am.
Make your schedule and stick to it. Take your Melatonin about an hour before you plan on going to sleep, and also make sure you have some wind-down time in there. Don't try to be active all the up until you're supposed to be asleep - your body will still need that time, and that's when you do a lot of tossing and turning.