Is working night shifts bad for your health?
I work the night shift, well half of my time at work is doing a 12 hour night shift from 6pm until 6am, this is on a computer. I actually prefer them but I am a night owl and can find the peace that I enjoy only at night.However I can tell my body doesn't like it, it is less social as the only people I get a chance to talk to are the people that I work with who sometimes are boring and don't talk, after a while this has a pretty depressing effect from a lack of social interaction.There is the problem aswell that I usually fall asleep around about 8am and wake up at about 3pm, which during the winter months you will know means that I get a peak of about 45 minutes sunlight if I go outside, that's 45 minutes a day at most and chances are I will not get this unless I wake straight up and head straight outside.When I finish at 6am I go back to my room and wait for an hour to have breakfast at 7, I go to sleep at wake up at 3/4 pm where I will wait for 15 minutes and have lunch I will shower and change watch a bit of TV and walk to work (which is at most a 4 minute walk) I start at 6pm and can go straight for dinner which I do. Then I might have a snack at about 2am to help tie me over until breakfast before having a 4 minute walk back to my room to repeat the process.So what can you learn from this I miss having a social life for 1 week a month, I struggle to talk to my girl friend as we only get a couple of hours worth of messages a day. I don't see any friends or family in this time and rarely get a conversation with anyone worth talking to.I get no sunlight which is vital for the human bodies emotional and physical well being. I love the stars but you need the sun and its warmth to make you feel alive.My diet is awful as I eat before I sleep, I eat food in the middle of the night, I drink coffee to keep me awake at night and then ontop of all of that I don't get to do much fitness, many gyms are closed its dark and not as safe to run in the middle of the night.It's suprising how much a week of night shifts can change your mind and body but it does.
Any risks with working night shift?
I have seen this on the news about 2 months ago. Studies have shown that people who work at night or who do not sleep well at night double their chances of getting cancer and other serious diseases. Your body has a biological clock that tells you that you need sleep every 12 hours or so. If you don't need the money then don't do it. It's not worth ruining your health. It sounds like you may be bored. Find a hobby after work that you can enjoy like going to the gym with a friend or walking the dog. Also, like I mentioned before, its not healthy to sit around at night. You should be sleeping not watching reruns and commercials. Studies have also shown that watching tv does not help a person get to sleep. In fact it makes the person more awake. So please do yourself a favor, and find something enjoyable after work and go to sleep around 10pm. You will feel better!
Night shift workers and proper sleep?
Tylonal Pm wears off after 4 or 5 hrs. If you have the money, go to a doctor and ask for a 14 day supply of a sleep aid. Thats not long enough to get hooked but it is just long enough to get your body adjusted to your new shift. Working 2nd shift for 4 yrs now, I've had to do it twice. Sometimes the body just wants to revert to what it knows as normal. Awake with the sun. Ambien and Lunesta are both good, they will help you get 7 to 8 hrs sleep. Your body needs a new routine to be set and it will take going to sleep at the same time each day if you can and getting up at the same time each day. If you wake up, don't get out of bed (unless you have to pee). Attempt to stay in bed as best you can until your body adjusts. Changing from days to nights is hard but you can do it. One more thing. A doctor told me once to blacken my bedroom. He said to make it as dark as possible so that my body "thinks" its dark outside. He said if you can confuse your body into thinking its night, you will sleep easier. Buy a cheap sleep mask from Walmart. They do wonders. If you have a bath and body works near you or if you can shop it online, buy their sleep spray. Lavender and Vanilla is what its called. When I start having trouble sleeping and don't want to take anything, I spray it on my pillows. It helps alot more than you would think.
How do I survive working night shift?
How do you survive working the night shift? I can offer a few suggestions from my experience. I had worked the night shift for 6 years out of a 18 year period performing different jobs.Different people are different of course. Here are some things that I have learned for myself. Keep in mind that your body may be fine with this shift and you may not have the same experiences as I have had.Try to establish a pattern if possible. Realize that working nights can be hard on your body. I would make the mistake of not sleeping enough.Try to establish a sleeping pattern. Realize that you are going to need your sleep so do not try to forego your sleep time. You have to rethink your natural day. Instead of sleeping for example from 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., you will need to figure out what hours work for you.Some people say to keep the same schedule even on your days off. I would always sleep like a baby on my days off, around the clock on my first day off but when I went back to work, my body would have to reset. This became routine over time but it was very hard on my mind and body.I would always become groggy and kind of punch drunk after several months. For me, the answer was to change back to day shift after a period of time. For example, after 6 to 12 mo’s, change back to days if possible. I needed that change.Remember that your day is going to be different than other people with a day shift hour setting. You are going to have to realize this and to plan for it in order to maximize your rest.You need your proper rest. Make sure that you get your proper rest and if you need more time to sleep, then take that time. Your body and mind will appreciate it very much.If you drink coffee or caffeine, do so in the early hours of your shift. You don’t drink caffeine late at night, maybe you do. If coffee effects your sleep, be sure to take that into account so that you can sleep properly.Turn off your phone during your sleep. Your time for sleep is important. Put up dark curtains if necessary to help you sleep and let your friends know that you have to sleep. Other people many times do not understand this.Keep up your exercise and health. This is very very important.Good luck to you. You will do well. Sorry for the novel.
Why am I so sleepy regardless of how much I sleep (I work night shift 5 days a week but get 8+hours of sleep everyday)?
It doesn’t matter that you sleep even 8+ hours if you work night shifts. You can’t make up for lost sleep during the work by sleeping more on the weekends or free days. Although this sleeping pattern will help relieve part of a sleep debt, it will not completely make up for the lack of sleep. Furthermore, sleeping later on the weekends and your free days can affect your sleep-wake cycle so that it is much harder to go to sleep at the right time.Your sleep cycle and circadian rhythm is desynchronised. You will feel sleepy because of your work.It’s good that you try to get a great amount of sleep everyday. But you do it at wrong time. However keep to the pattern and sleep 8 hours at least - due to that you won’t completely be sleep deprived and your organism won’t be influenced so badly by this shift work.
How can I adjust my sleeping pattern to work a night shift?
My husband and sons all work night shift. They have been on it for years. The best thing to do is keep a schedule. My husband sleeps from 7 to 2 and goes back from 8 to 10 for a nap(28 years). My first son sleeps from 2 till 10 ( 2 years) and the other from 9am to 6pm.(10 years), All work well between our family schedules. Their advice for the first few days is to try to sleep late in the morning and then take a couple hours nap before you go and then gradually go into the schedule you want. Another good advice is to find something to cover your windows to make it dark in the windows. We used foil at first tapped up till we found a blind, shade that would not filter light in, Also having a radio or TV in the background playing softly seems to help. One son even uses a fan year round for background noise. Hopefully you can find a quiet place away from the everyday going ons like the kids playing or vacuum running. We were always having to stay quiet.
Does working night shift make people crazy?
My husband has been working a tough job on graveyard shift for 3 years now. I have noticed a big difference in his behavior over the years and his appearance. He drinks a lot of caffeine at night to stay awake. In the day he seems to require more sleep than the average person and he is very irritable.
How does working in a night shift affect our health?
Unarguably Yes.There are many serious long term effects on health. Here are some.1. Disturbance of the circadian cycle:We humans evolved through many thousands of years working during the day and resting at night. This is how our brain adapted the circadian rhythm. This gets disturbed.2. Normal growth and development of the body needs an important hormone i.e. Growth hormone. GH is released maximum during night when we sleep and it is optimally released if we sleep in the complete darkness( do not let your bed light on at night). Guys who work during night are forced to sleep during the day and where on earth can you find complete darkness during the day( not in India atleast)3. Mental health is greatly affected if we don't get to see adequate sunlight. Staying active during the day releases endorphins. They help in preventing one of the major concerns for man, Depression. They also promote positive attitude towards life. 4. Vitamin D deficiency is the most common endocrine abnormality taking all the people into consideration. Imagine how deficient would be those who spend most of the daytime sleeping. 5. Gastrointestinal system gets affected to a very great extent when you alter the food habits. For those who work during nights, risk of peptic ulcers, etc are high. These are very few among many issues for those who work nights. MNCs who hire men for night shifts earn huge money at the stake of their employees' health. People who work for them are those who need to be cautious. For those who don't have any other option, they atleast should consider working during nights as a temporary need. After all, day is for angels and night is for demons. Cheers.
Anyone here work the night shift?
I feel for you, although I do not work nights my mom is a nurse that works the exact shift you do. She has trouble with sleep and working it around a semi-normal excercise and eating schedule. But she does it just like you would do it the other way, she eats several small meals at night and doesn't eat during the day, she sleeps then. Gets up before work has dinner (or breakfast I guess to her) then excercises (or vice versa) and gets ready for work. She does it the exact way she would do it if she worked the day shift.
How do I manage sleep due to night shifts?
Do not drink Tea/coffee 4 hours prior to sleep, as it can impair quality of sleep.When you come back to home, eat light snacks or fruits. It will help you to sleep Well.Do not drink too much water before bedtime, otherwise you will need to wake up for toilet and you won't be able sleep again.Ensure that room is completely dark. Also use ear plugs so that you won't get disturb.Ask your family members to attend your phone calls (if they are so important) and visitors.In first session get upto 4 hours of sleep. I do sleep between 7 AM to 11 AM.After waking up, you can resume your activities. Have a lunch at about 2 PM & again go to sleep.In second session get sleep of about 3 hours. Evening should be spent for jogging/light exercises to keep you healthy and fresh. Take dinner before going to night shift.Sleeping in two sessions will help you to stay awake whole night without being dependent on tea or coffee.Sometimes you are unable to sleep on schedule (due to thoughs, anxiety etc). In such times MELATONIN tablet (max 3mg) can be helpful. It's over the counter medication that does not have side effects and help you to sleep better (you can read more on internet).This is how I spend six days of night shift (10PM-6AM). I hope you get benefitted from my answer.