Reply to: Can't Sleep....

[Jawz]

Heroin works too

[reformation]

Heroin works too

[Sockpuppet]

There you go breaking the first rule. Sleep ONLY in your routine hours. It's the only way to break the cycle.

The shift starts at 2am ... this is my routine hour! Just finishing some grub then the sack for me.

Anyway only a day left till my proper job starts.

[sasguru]

What about 44t artics?
Moff to bed in a bit...so knackered wont have trouble sleeping.

There you go breaking the first rule. Sleep ONLY in your routine hours. It's the only way to break the cycle.

[freakydancer]

..so knackered wont have trouble sleeping.

Stop moaning then ya little pup!!

[Sockpuppet]

And don't drive the car long distances...

What about 44t artics?

Thanks for the replies. Felt like tulip warmed up all day today. Moff to bed in a bit...so knackered wont have trouble sleeping.

[hyperD]

And don't drive the car long distances...

I did when my sleep patterns were shot to bits and one minute I was staring at the black monotony, next minute I heard the rumblestrips. I pulled over to the hard shoulder, heartbeat at 200bpm, put the roof down and drove very gingerly in a freezing December night. Still stupid, should have had a kip instead.

[sasguru]

The key thing is not to lose sleep over insomnia. Sounds trite but it's true. Lack of sleep will not kill you or make you go mad. It'll just make you tired the next day, ready for sleep the following night.

Follow these rules, and I guarantee you'll be sleeping like a baby in a week.

0) Don't worry about not sleeping - do something constructive with the time.
1) No naps outside your routine sleep hours
2) No caffeine after midday
3) definitely no sleeping pills - you may become dependent.
4) try to stick to a routine even if you do shift work.

Let your body decide when it's tired - at most you'll lose a few days sleep before adjusting.

[BrilloPad]

For a suitable fee I could make you a tape of Mrs PRC's best friend recounting over and over again just how much of a bastard her husband is and how he treats her like tulip and how he never listens and how she should leave him, but then again she does still love him and think of the kids and they'd have to sell the house and he did buy her a lovely birthday present.....


If that doesn't get you to sleep then you are a lost cause.

Story of my marriage.

[PRC1964]

For a suitable fee I could make you a tape of Mrs PRC's best friend recounting over and over again just how much of a bastard her husband is and how he treats her like tulip and how he never listens and how she should leave him, but then again she does still love him and think of the kids and they'd have to sell the house and he did buy her a lovely birthday present.....


If that doesn't get you to sleep then you are a lost cause.

[n5gooner]

have a w@nk or sex they seem to work....

[Jawz]

A few years ago I was working 4 days on 4 days off 4 nights on etc, had some sleep problems for a little while but got used to it. Here are some tips.
1. No caffeine after lunch
2. No sugary foods/drinks after lunch
3. I had some of those airline eye thingys, they worked a treat.
4. Sleeping tablets - I tried some, you can get a number of different types, the stronger ones make you feel like you have downs syndrome the next day, try 'CALMS' from boots they give u very little 'hangover' they're not strong, but great for helping you nod off. Valium is also good, strong with little side effects... other than being addictive.

[Board Game Geek]

I don't work shifts, but naturally I am a night person, and when left to my own devices, tend to stay awake until 4-5 am, then sleep till 1-2 pm.

However, this doesn't help when working 9-5, and even when I do, I find it a daily struggle to stay in a pattern.

I too go to bed and just lie there, thinking of my new hardware build, an idea for a song or story, what I'm meant to be doing the next day, a game of D&D that I need to write and thinking of ideas, etc.

I just can't switch off and it's very annoying. Even after 30-something years, it still is a PITA.

I've tried most things I can think of, including exercise, but that just make me even more awake before bed time and the brain goes in to overdrive.

Tried a nice relaxing bath and as soon as I get out, I feel really perked up and invigorated, eager to surf the internet or do something, anything.

Not sure what to suggest really, sorry.

[hyperD]

Just to prove that my solution works well... I woke up (but with a fuzzy head).

Sock: I worked on a 8hr rotating continental shift pattern for 4 years some time ago - it felt like permament jetlag and my average sleep pattern dropped to a Thatcherite 4 hours a night.

At first I used to wake up panicking I'd miss my night shift but it would only be 08:00 in the morning and I'd slept for 30 mins etc

The secret was a routine: each time I got home, I ate, had a few drinks (or hot milk) and read regardless of the time (although the drinking in the morning was wierd to start with).

I now have about 6 hours a night but stress is the one thing that keeps me awake.

Also, sleeping on a code problem is great: I often wake up with the solution so power naps during the workplace should be encouraged although probably difficult to proof in a workplace (I did know one contractor that used to sleep on his desk during his lunchbreak. He lasted about 2 months).

[wendigo100]

Avoid pills if you can, SP.

Have you tried reading a book before going to bed? Many people swear by that.

A routine is important too, body clocks and all that, but if you are working different shifts that's buggered isn't it.