3rd shift/sedating medications?

I'm starting new employment monday and it will be 2am to 12pm 4 days a week. I take all medications hs due to them being sedating. I hope that it will not take to long to get adjusted. Does anyone work 3rd shift and have any words of wisdom?

Amber

Amber--Yikes---I've had to swing shifts but it was before I was sick, and it always gave me insomnia. Of course, then I had no meds.

If you have sedating meds, I would talk to pdoc about timing. Other than that if you are always working on this shift and not swinging shifts, I would maintain as consistent a sleep time as possible and do whatever it took to keep my sleep space as dark (light blocking blinds, blanket at window--whatever) and quiet as possible even if you have to bribe people and/or threaten mayhem.

Also, avoid caffeine at work--I notice when I drank coffee at work I always had more than when I have it at home---same goes for sodas and the clear sodas sometimes have more caffeine than the cola ones.

Thats all I can think of--much luck with the job and I hope they are paying you well for such an awful shift.

Night shift has not worked well for me. If you can stay in a consistent routine and either sleep with a mask or in a totally dark room, I guess it could be done. My problem was that others expected me to live a daytime routine on my days off.

K

Thank you so much for the advice, the job was to good the pass up. I looked for 5 months for one that was right for me. It has been hard to find employment that I did not have to interact closely with anyone but also have good pay. I do wish I could continue to stay home with my children though. It has been wonderful to concentrate on their needs. Thank you again. Amber

I am Bipolar I and my triggers are sleep, stress, caffeine, and alcohol in that order. I had to adjust to a similar schedule in the military once before I was diagnosed and the shock sent me into a full blown manic episode without any sleep for 7 days.

I find that in addition to the above suggestions, having white noise from a fan helps me sleep during the odd hours. I also have a pair of Bose Noise Canceling headphones that I use to help decompress from over stimulation.

Good Luck

Okay, I am on my way to the store, I am going to grab light blocking blinds, and noise canceling headphones. I have on hand a fan and sound machine to try. I am going to sit down tonight and make a schedule. It is my goal to follow it (as close as possible). If I have it written out it will be easier for me and the kids. The pdoc said to stop the Rozerem and to take the other meds as I see fit. Thank you so much for the suggestions, Lizabeth, K, and tpbegin, please let me know if you think of anymore and I will let you know how it goes. I start monday 2am.
Amber

Sounds like you have a great plan to make it work. I hope all goes well for you. I hope you can be firm when others expect you to adjust your sleep routine on your days off. I have allowed cycles to be triggered many times by caving into social rhythm disruptions. I really like the written schedule for not only yourself but the kids. From my personal experience it took about 3 weeks to adjust to a new sleep schedule so don't expect too much from yourself during those first few weeks. Please let us know how it goes.

K

First day was good. Really tired by the time I came home and I took a 3 hour nap. I feel much better. It was fun to see how excited the kids were when I woke up. They all wanted to know how my night went. It will be nice to be able to work on my own. It is hard for me to deal with drama. I have enough of my own outside of work. I can't wait to how the rest of the week goes. Thank you for your support. The words of reassurance really help. Amber