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Sleep??


Yammer Dan

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How many of you guys do the Nightshift thing and how do you get to sleep on those days when your head is going and you know you are going to need your rest but something fires you up and you can't sleep. Want to go back and take care of business RIGHT NOW! I have a Inspirational speech to give to staff tonight and don't know how I will do with that on top of everything else. Can't sleep. Tonight is going to be rough.I've tried the Sleep-Aid pills, don't do anything.

Not bike related but need some rest with hours I'm pulling.

 

I Could Retire!!!!!

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Melatonin - I take it on the first night on the road when traveling on business

 

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/258.html

 

 

Yep, I agree, Melatonin or Tylenol PM. You need a quiet environment when you take Melatonin as it doesnt make you sleepy but relaxes you where you can sleep, however Tylenol PM will make you sleep and plan to set aside 8 hours before you get up again or you may be groggy. This is wisdom(?) from 20 years on nights.

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I work a rotating shift, 1 week nights, the next days, nights, days. Body doesn't know when it is supposed to be awake or asleep. I usually come home, take 4 advil, and shortly will relax enough to sleep. Never sleep sound in the daytime, usually couple hours at a stretch. Good Luck, I have been doing this for 26 years and am looking forward to retirement so I can have a life like normal people.

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Well what works for me is laying down and putting my mp3 player ear phones in and listening to soft classical guitar music. I have it just barely loud enough to hear and just tune into the music. Within 10 minutes I am out and usually wake up long enough to turn the player off and put it on the night stand. I wouldn't suggest any over the counter sleep aids this late in the game because it might make things hard to get going when you do get up.

 

The music takes my mind off things and allows me to just focus on it. I do this every time I can't get to sleep. I had an accident in November, got T boned in my car and had a real hard time sleeping. I kept seeing that bumper coming at me through my drivers window. This method helped me get to sleep.

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Its tough Dan. I know exactly what you mean. I work tonight at 6 and am going for a nap right away. There are times when I can actually sleep for an hour or so and times when the head is going at full speed as you say.

 

If nothing else I make sure I stay in bed and try at least to rest the body...and I read. then get set for a long night. Somedays I struggle to make it through the night and hope to be busy. Other days its a breeze.

 

After the first night getting to sleep the next morning is not an issue. Make sure its quiet and dark.

My kids are great and when Dad says he's going for a nap...they dont make any noise at all....never even fight...which is an on going affair with a 11 year old girl and 14 year old son!

 

I do not medicate! You need the long sleep or else that stuff will still be in the system while at work. You know as much as I do that we need to be alert at all times at the work we do.

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I worked shift work for 32 years and there are times that you just flat aren't going to sleep very well. Some of the things I did were to cut styrofoam blanks that would just fit in the window, this made the bedroom dark as well as sound and temperature insulating. When I had young kids at home, I slept with earplugs when I was working nights. I also got in bed as quickly as possible, it worked better if I could get in bed before the sun came up. Also, in times of high stress on the job, I would work out when I got home instead of after I got up.

 

Deal is, shift work just ain't natural. However paying the bills is a good thing and we do what we have to. Good luck.

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Dan,

 

After 22 years of working around the clock, I finally gave in and quit those darn midnights. Never did get a good system of sleeping. SOmetimes, I'd go fight to bed when I got home on the AM, sometimes, I'd wait til 3 or 4.

Always felt like crap and struggled to make it to quitting time.

Lost the 3 tour night differential, but I think it's well worth it.

Good Luck.

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This works for me all the time:

 

Get a book on tape/CD relating to meditation. I can download them for free from the Iowa City public library.... It never fails. If I try to concentrate on meditating, it puts me to sleep....

 

Thich Nhat Hanh is very good.... Buddhist meditations. Or Howard Zinn (I think it's Howard).

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I worked shift work for 32 years and there are times that you just flat aren't going to sleep very well. Some of the things I did were to cut styrofoam blanks that would just fit in the window, this made the bedroom dark as well as sound and temperature insulating. When I had young kids at home, I slept with earplugs when I was working nights. I also got in bed as quickly as possible, it worked better if I could get in bed before the sun came up. Also, in times of high stress on the job, I would work out when I got home instead of after I got up.

 

Man, I could've written this. I thought I was the only one who did the Styrofoam thing. My bedroom was my cave. Had to have that complete isolation thing, and if I didn't get to bed by 8 am, it was a long day of trying to sleep. I never took any of the OTC meds, but on those days when the stress levels went off scale high, I did find a couple beers helped a lot. Dang, maybe I should work the nights again--I haven't had any beer since I quit 'em.

 

All the luck in the world to you on this one.

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Work 4pm-Midnight usually get home around 1am bed between 2am-3am :draming:and when school is in session up at 6:30am :97:to put son on bus then get on computer until around 8:30 am then back to bed until 12:30pm:draming:. Bedroom is painted camo green. Black blinds on windows. If I have trouble going to sleep a benadryl makes me sleepy within a hour. (It is the same ingredent in Tylenol PM just with Tylenol to help relax muscles and aches and pains) I try not to take anything with or buy anything with Tylenol in it. So Motrin or Advil if needed. I hardly ever get 8 straight hours of sleep. And if something is going on at school, appointments, called to work, grocery shopping all cut in to my sleeping time.:240: So I understand how you guys feel just plain wore out sometimes.:2cents:

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Hey Dan!

 

I feel your pain man. When I used to work graveyard patrol shifts, I had the hardest time trying to make myself sleep during daylight hours. And, on top of that I have always been a nighttime person. Additionally, even in the best of circumstances I'm pretty much an insomniac. When I did sleep, I hardly ever would go in to REM (Rapid Eye Movement) which is the "deep-sleep" mode which we all need to enter in to in order to get a restful sleep.

 

A number of years ago my doctor suggested that I try Ambian. It was relatively new on the market then and I had never tried any sort of medication to help me to sleep, so I gave it a try. Of course everyone is different and what works for one person, won't necessarily be the best solution for someone else. Everyone needs to find out what is best for their own situation. But for me, Ambian was just about a miracle. It helped me to sleep well for the first time in years. It's probably not the perfect solution, but it was sure better (for me) than the continual struggling for a good sleep which I was going through.

 

Every once in a while, someone seems to make the perfect suggestion to us. Whether it's fixing our rides or just helping us to get by, it's always such a relief when we find the right answers. I wish you luck in finding that help.

 

Be Safe! Pete.

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Hey Randy, Took me years to convince her of that then she had to read Dear Abby and she says men my age only do that about once a month!! Anybody know where that idiot lives at and where I can get a little C-4???

 

Dan new pill on the market for men and women. Called Rabbit Fever. Guaranteed twice a day or your money back. Warning increases risk of heart attack but you will die happy.

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Hey Randy, Took me years to convince her of that then she had to read Dear Abby and she says men my age only do that about once a month!! Anybody know where that idiot lives at and where I can get a little C-4???

 

Some of these old guys would be tickleded to death if they averaged once a month!!!

RandyA

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