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I have a feeling that many of you have the same problem I do and that is not being able to fall asleep. I do work 3rd shift and my day ends at 5am so Im used to being up late but Im finding it increasingly diffuclut to fall asleep.
Any sugestions on what I can do.

NyQuil, NyQuil, Nyquil...we love you...you giant f**king Q!!

What always helps (at least in my case) is 1 out of 3 things:
1: Read some (a BOOK, not a magazine)
2: Play a video game
3: Watch a movie
Before going to sleep

Cicadian rythems (Your natural clock and when your body thinks it should be asleep) is a difficult thing to control for some people.  If you work third shift it is important to keep a  consistant pattern so your body resets it's clock. Light and time patterns have a lot to due with controlling sleep.    If you go to bed at 1:00 in the afternoon and wake up at  9:00 at night be consistent.  Plus make sure that you have a room that will be dark during the day.  You should be in the darker area watching tv or reading for at least an hour before you go to sleep and keep it dark where you sleep.  After you wake up be make sure it is light around you even if it is dark out.

If that doesn't help go with the NyQuil

Nick, try to get a certain amount of exercise throughout the day, a minimum of 20 minute sessions, 3 times a week. nothing extraneous, something as simple as walking a couple of miles could suffice. this way your body uses enough energy to make itself tired by the time you go to bed. that's why a lot of people in office jobs have a hard time getting to sleep.

also, there are certain herbal roots and sedatives that can be bought at herbal/hippie/new age stores, and they are legal.

good luck.

I have the same problem. I take a Benadryl capsule and a little while later I am asleep. Otherwise I toss and turn and cannot sleep until the wee hours. I try not to pop em all the time.

I agree that Exercise is also a good idea.  But make sure it is at least 2 hours before you plan on being a sleep. Otherwise it will make it even more difficult to fall asleep.

Oh.  Make sure to lay off the caffine 4 hours before bed.

I need to do these things as I suffer from restless leg syndrome ocassionially.

Exercise is not a problem for me, I regularly work out.

wyked - I work shiftwork myself at the moment and am now getting ready for bed at 7am.  One thing that works good for me is a hot shower right before bed.  It's been proven that raising your body temperature will help you sleep (this is one of the reasons why exercise works by the way).  Also, get some good loud noise in your bedroom to drown out the sounds of civilization.  You have my sympathy.

By "loud noise" I meant white noise - like a fan.

>By "loud noise" I meant white noise - like a fan.

No wonder the explosions and crashes sound effects tape I had blasting away last night didn't help! :)

Six pints of white cider puts me to sleep, every time ...  however, for sobriety's sake, you ought to use a travel sleepmask and earplugs.  Using these, I can doze off in the middle of the day.  The earplugs eventually work themselves out, but by that time, you're asleep.  I wear a sleepmask from spring to autumn, otherwise the early dawns wake me far too early.

No matter what shift I work I never have problems sleeping.

The crazy thing is...I don't have a bed...I have been living in a large efficiency for the better part of 5 years and I sleep on my couch.

No it's not a hide-a-bed either.
It's a regular couch.
And I've slept on it every night for nearly 5 years now!
I just throw my sleeping bag down on it and curl up in it and I'm out in 5-10 minutes.

People that come over plop their asses down on my couch and then they eventually ask me, "Where's your bed?"  and I say, "You're sitting on it!".

Then they ALWAYS give me a look that says, "NO f**kIN' WAY!"

Yes...you heard me correct...I sleep on an old couch.
I lost both of the front legs to my couch years ago while moving...I think they flew out the back end of the pickup truck I moved it in.
I took some heavy duty Duplo Bloks from my ex-girlfriend's kid back in 1999 and made front legs out of them.

You know...they're like Lego's only they're the really big thick ones made for really young kids.

I took them and formed them into a crisscross pattern and let me tell you, those are some freakin' strong front legs for a couch!

I've had 3 HUGE overweight people sit on my couch all at once several times and they've always held.

Hehe!

People always say I'm crazy for sleeping on my couch but you know what?  It's better than sleeping in the damn gutter!

Besides....In my personal opinion....every good honest man should sleep on a comfortable couch every now & then!

And by the way...my rent is $275 per month and ALL BILLS ARE PAID!
I haven't paid a heat, water, gas or electric bill in almost 5 years!
So now you see that IT IS WORTH IT to sleep on a couch every night!
It's a small sacrifce.



Post Edited (03-19-04 05:25)

>I wear a sleepmask from spring to autumn, otherwise the early dawns wake me
>far too early.

It's weird, I can usually fall asleep easier during the day when the room is light than at night when it's dark. By light, I don't mean having the blinds open and sunlight shining in, just through the blinds and light curtains.