Shift work disorder?

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NightShade

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I don't have that exact issue pur se but I do not fall asleep easily a lot of times. I stumbled upon one answer by accident that does help me out a bit though. First off most if not all of the over the counter sleep aids like tylenol pm or advil pm are just a pain reliever with diphenhydramine which is benadryl so it is pretty well safe and can help to relax just a bit. If I need to sleep and know that I will not be able to like planning a trip that I want to be able to leave out between midnight and two am I will take some generic just to have it help relax. If I wake up and have to take the dog out after four hours I will take one more and be able to complete my nights sleep. I generally sleep fairly soundly and get seven hours. The added benefit is that my nose is generally half stopped up anyway so I can breathe clearly for the night which also helps me sleep.

The stumbled upon answer is actually often a no no when you go to someone who specializes in helping people sleep. That is watching tv or something of that nature. Basically the old adage is that the bed and even the better the whole bedroom is for two things, sleep and sex. If your not "busy" or your not sleeping you should not be in the bed or even the bedroom for anything. Some actually go so far as to recommend in very bad cases to turn your big walk in closet into a bedroom with only a bed an alarm clock and maybe a night stand so you can have your required night time drink. Then use the "bedroom" as a closet/dressing area. What I stumbled upon about twelve years ago is that if I watch the same movie or tv show multiple times it gets mind numbingly boring and I can not stay awake. I had a tv, a dvd player, three movies and nothing else to watch. I could literally say every single line to each movie and while it was kinda funny to be able to do so I absolutely could not stay awake longer than fifteen or twenty minutes so I found myself watching the movies when I wanted to fall asleep. I do the same type of thing now with my tablet and shows I have watched before. Generally a 45 minute episode of something I have seen more than once will have me out before I get halfway through and then the tablet will turn off on it's own when there is no input at the end. Ever try and watch the "Christmas Story" marathon that sometimes gets played on TNT and stay awake for the whole thing?

It may not be for everyone but my mind seems to always have something running through it especially before a trip, trying to remember everything that needs to be packed, checked, rechecked, etc. Watching something allows my brain to drop focus on the "what else list" and even though it's something I have watched a few times before hold it long enough to get bored and crash.
 

jbrentn

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My wife works the same schedule that I do and we try to walk at least a mile before bed. It does help.

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tRidiot

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What NightShade is talking about is something called "sleep hygiene."

It's well-documented and a huge problem for Americans (I dunno about the rest of the world), where so many like to eat in bed, watch TV in bed, etc. I've discussed this with so many people it's ridiculous, but it seems no one wants to develop good sleep habits, nor change the bad habits that are affecting their sleep... they all just want a pill to sedate them.

Keep this in mind, folks... sleeping pills like Ambien are NOT intended for long-term use. Although we have millions upon millions of people who are using them as a crutch to sleep each and every single night and consequently become dependent and CANNOT sleep without them. Developing good sleep hygiene is an easy thing to do, if you'll cut out the bad habits that make obtaining routine sleep difficult. But becoming chemically-dependent on a medicine to help you sleep, to help you obtain that most basic of bodily functions, the daily reset, is almost an epidemic these days.

Ambien is the new Valium - in the 70s, doctors were handing out those little pills to every housewife who felt she was stressed, and we ended up with major addiction problems. We all know that today we have massive problems with abuse of narcotic pain medication, but most people don't know how bad the addiction to sleep aids has become...
 

swampratt

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Quote:bedroom is for two things, sleep and sex. and what post 14 stated.

I had to remove the TV in the bedroom wife had issues . Told her no reading no TV and by all means no thinking. She goes to sleep much easier now.

Thinking does ZERO GOOD at bed time.
Blank out your mind of all things..Mind over matter , see nothing but black.Turn off your brain.

I learned this trick when i was about 15 took about 6 month's to master it.
Changing shifts or sleeping at odd times is very easy if you can turn off the brain.
 

BadgeBunny

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What NightShade is talking about is something called "sleep hygiene."

It's well-documented and a huge problem for Americans (I dunno about the rest of the world), where so many like to eat in bed, watch TV in bed, etc. I've discussed this with so many people it's ridiculous, but it seems no one wants to develop good sleep habits, nor change the bad habits that are affecting their sleep... they all just want a pill to sedate them.

Keep this in mind, folks... sleeping pills like Ambien are NOT intended for long-term use. Although we have millions upon millions of people who are using them as a crutch to sleep each and every single night and consequently become dependent and CANNOT sleep without them. Developing good sleep hygiene is an easy thing to do, if you'll cut out the bad habits that make obtaining routine sleep difficult. But becoming chemically-dependent on a medicine to help you sleep, to help you obtain that most basic of bodily functions, the daily reset, is almost an epidemic these days.

Ambien is the new Valium - in the 70s, doctors were handing out those little pills to every housewife who felt she was stressed, and we ended up with major addiction problems. We all know that today we have massive problems with abuse of narcotic pain medication, but most people don't know how bad the addiction to sleep aids has become...

Yep ...
 

jbrentn

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What NightShade is talking about is something called "sleep hygiene."

It's well-documented and a huge problem for Americans (I dunno about the rest of the world), where so many like to eat in bed, watch TV in bed, etc. I've discussed this with so many people it's ridiculous, but it seems no one wants to develop good sleep habits, nor change the bad habits that are affecting their sleep... they all just want a pill to sedate them.

Keep this in mind, folks... sleeping pills like Ambien are NOT intended for long-term use. Although we have millions upon millions of people who are using them as a crutch to sleep each and every single night and consequently become dependent and CANNOT sleep without them. Developing good sleep hygiene is an easy thing to do, if you'll cut out the bad habits that make obtaining routine sleep difficult. But becoming chemically-dependent on a medicine to help you sleep, to help you obtain that most basic of bodily functions, the daily reset, is almost an epidemic these days.

Ambien is the new Valium - in the 70s, doctors were handing out those little pills to every housewife who felt she was stressed, and we ended up with major addiction problems. We all know that today we have massive problems with abuse of narcotic pain medication, but most people don't know how bad the addiction to sleep aids has become...
my doctor just said the same things about sleep hygiene. I do need to adjust my habits at bedtime. I'm bad about using my phone or reading in bed.

I'm leery of having to go the pharmaceutical route, simply because of stories that I've heard first hand or seen. The possibility of dependence is an issue as well.

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twoguns?

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my doctor just said the same things about sleep hygiene. I do need to adjust my habits at bedtime. I'm bad about using my phone or reading in bed.

I'm leery of having to go the pharmaceutical route, simply because of stories that I've heard first hand or seen. The possibility of dependence is an issue as well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

The melatonin works for me, its not addictive or habit forming, in my case.

What gets me is the PTSD from SWD, Ive Never slept more than 4 hours with at least 2 awake in between
 

Shadowrider

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What NightShade is talking about is something called "sleep hygiene."

It's well-documented and a huge problem for Americans (I dunno about the rest of the world), where so many like to eat in bed, watch TV in bed, etc. I've discussed this with so many people it's ridiculous, but it seems no one wants to develop good sleep habits, nor change the bad habits that are affecting their sleep... they all just want a pill to sedate them.

Keep this in mind, folks... sleeping pills like Ambien are NOT intended for long-term use. Although we have millions upon millions of people who are using them as a crutch to sleep each and every single night and consequently become dependent and CANNOT sleep without them. Developing good sleep hygiene is an easy thing to do, if you'll cut out the bad habits that make obtaining routine sleep difficult. But becoming chemically-dependent on a medicine to help you sleep, to help you obtain that most basic of bodily functions, the daily reset, is almost an epidemic these days.

Ambien is the new Valium - in the 70s, doctors were handing out those little pills to every housewife who felt she was stressed, and we ended up with major addiction problems. We all know that today we have massive problems with abuse of narcotic pain medication, but most people don't know how bad the addiction to sleep aids has become...


There's another aspect to this. And that's there are some people that just think they aren't going to have a problem solely because a doctor prescribed it to them. The doctor is "all knowing" and "all seeing" and wouldn't prescribe something that would cause problems. These people just take it for granted and don't bother to ask questions, then it turns into not being honest when the prescribing doctor starts asking.
 

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