How to Deal with Shift Work Sleep Disorders
October 3rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
If you discover that you cannot work for the number of hours you used to, or if the cost of doing shift work is finally starting to wear on your health, you could be experiencing shift work sleep disorder or SWSD. This condition might mean that you are increasingly sleepy through the day but unable to sleep while struggling to keep yourself from falling asleep on the job when working the night shift. Here are several things that you can do in order to treat the symptoms.
The most obvious remedy is to try to change your work schedule to hours that are more sociable. By working at night, you are upsetting your body’s internal clock, termed the circadian rhythm, which regulates itself with the rising and setting of the sun to recognize when it is time to wake and sleep respectively. Shift work pushes your body into an abnormal state of working when it should be asleep and sleeping when it would ordinarily be awake. This is the reason that you feel drowsy during the night and then cannot fall asleep during the day although you are very tired. Consequently, if feasible, it is in your best interests to have a chat with your work supervisor to see if shift changes can be made.
Here are some sleep strategies for shift workers that you may like to try. If you must work your shift, it is advisable to stay away from caffeinated drinks while you are working, and especially right before you go to sleep. Caffeine dries the airways, and might work as a stimulus for a while, but will make you feel even more tired and groggy after the buzz wears off. This could cause sleep apnea syndrome in many people, let alone excessive snoring. Therefore, endeavor to drink fruit juices, or ask your physician about natural supplements you can take while you work.
Other symptoms associated with shift work sleep disorder include insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. The last mentioned is closely associated with a chronic neurological disorder called Narcolepsy where a sufferer may find themselves doing things that they cannot recall later or experiencing dramatic dreams while not actually sleeping. Additional effects of SWSD are fatigue, reduced ability to concentrate or focus, irritability and feelings of tension and depression.
If your sleep problems are ongoing, you should pay a visit to your physician, who might ask you to maintain a sleep journal, and to jot down any patterns that you notice or experience when you are feeling drowsy. You will also need to keep yourself on a regular sleep schedule, so that your body will develop a cycle for resting. In some cases, medications like Ritalin might be prescribed. If you consider this may be your better option, speak to your doctor about the recommended dosage for you, based on the severity of your symptoms. Bear in mind that stimulants do have side effects, so if you find that your blood pressure goes up or you are more irritable, you may need to find some other alternatives for treating your shift work sleep disorder.
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