Anyone else do shift work?

Does Shift Work and Sleep Problems Go Hand-In-Hand?

If If you work shift work, you may have what doctor’s are calling “Shift Work Sleep Disorder” (SWSD) . Often people who work shift work have difficulties sleeping during the day

Some researchers suspect that shift worker’s produce less melatonin, which is a hormone that helps control and regulate your awake/sleep cycle, if they work at night. Since the hormone also plays a role in maintaining your immune system, it is thought that shift workers who produce a lower level of melatonin could be placing themselves at risk of developing additional health problems

So who else does shift work , how does your sleeping pattern cope? For me i find that if i miss my *sleep window i am awake for the rest of the day

* sleep window , that period of time after work when i am ready for bed , missing it could be caused by things that need to be done

Yeah I do shift work, can range from really early mornings to midnight or so, one shift at work starts at 3:30am, tis a bit rough. With the earlys you knock off early around lunch time or shortly after but your tired as hell because you couldn't get to sleep early enough the night before, was worried about not waking up on time and only usually get a few hours sleep, end up crashing early and messes you up for the next day if you have a later start or broken shift spanning 13 hours.
I guess the answer is yes, they do go hand in hand because you never get a solid routine happening and even if you go to sleep around the same time each night your getting up at many different times in the the night or morning which messes ya up.

Yer, I'm workin right now. Sleeps always shit house on graveyard. ear plugs ftw. I am bout 10 hours down on sleep for the week. looking for a new job at the moment.

I sleep as soon as I get home both arvo and night shifts

Yep, I'm a shift worker. I have fucked sleep patterns, once I was a 8hr sleep guy, now I'm lucky to get 4hrs without having to get up. I seam to sleep in bursts of 4 hrs, I have lots of trouble with sleeping longer than that. I find I am more susceptible to injury lately (last 6 months or so), and I find I am having to work around myself all the time in my training. I also have trouble keeping up with my food intake, I loose track so to speak. I have started a food diary lately as I am in a perpetual 'no fat loss' state, I now write down what I eat everyday so I can see what the fuck I am eating and what day (by date) I am eating it on. Sucks arse and looks like it will stay that way for a while too.

yup have trouble with a good diet too
injuries are a big thing , while i haven't recieved any major injuried just the normal bruises and grazes but did slam my head into a machine that knocked me on my arse

normally i rock up to the gym straight after work , 7am , do my norm workout hit the spa to relax and unwind then home to bed

I sleep in 4hr blokes as well , used to be able to get a decent sleep in but not any more ..thankfully got a few weeks off so will be able to give the body time to recover

few blokes at work are doing two 8hr jobs , knock off one job and straight to another , got me stuffed how they are able to do it

In for spa pics.....

My husband is a shift worker, diet is his worst downfall, sleep isn't a major issue but affects his moods.
He is a fitter in the coal mines, really need to be mentally alert and on the ball, nightshift have the most accidents where he works.
He disciplines his sleep times, this wrecks my weekend.

Used to take all the odd shifts I could get for the penalties when I first started out. Yes it fucks up the sleep pattern and leaves you feeling like shit. I think if the shifts were regular you could get into a pattern and avoid the diruption.

I still remember when I was 17 and just out of school working an RDO 12 hr night shift, without any break. Hourly rate $27.50 x 2 + RDO x 1.5 for night shift + $40 for no crib +$30 double travel for no notice call up +$14 meal allowance + 1 hr leave in lieu for every hr worked. Fuck the BLF looked after anyone that had to do night work. All I did was push water around with a broom in a flooded basement. Any wonder bosses hate the unions.

deep said:

In for spa pics.....

My husband is a shift worker, diet is his worst downfall, sleep isn't a major issue but affects his moods.
He is a fitter in the coal mines, really need to be mentally alert and on the ball, nightshift have the most accidents where he works.
He disciplines his sleep times, this wrecks my weekend.

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yes i have to admit it effects my mood too , i fly off my deep end rather easy , the slightest things annoy the hell out of me

My husband get irate over crap.
His shifts form a pattern. If he gets home and mows the lawn he won't sleep through the day before his next start. If he comes home, sits in the recliner then takes himself off to bed when he feels it coming on, he gets a good 6-8hrs.
His shifts are 12hrs. 3 days a week.

not to mention the hanky panky. damn shift work

I do 4 days starting at 5am 4 nights start at 5pm 4 off all 12 hr shifts and some times I do extra shifts as well and I also have another job at a motel so when I finish work at 5pm hit the gym and at my other job by 18:30 I work around 3.5 hours there when I'm on day shift and up to 8 hours on my days off .

Shit tregs that's a lot of work. An Indian bloke when I used to work did that, would do 8 hours stacking pallets on arvos then at 11pm knock off would rush to another 8 hour grave yard shift.

bradsky said:

not to mention the hanky panky. damn shift work

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a few people at work have taken care of that , they rock off to the can stacks down the back of the factory or out to the car park for a shag

Grippy said:

Shit tregs that's a lot of work. An Indian bloke when I used to work did that, would do 8 hours stacking pallets on arvos then at 11pm knock off would rush to another 8 hour grave yard shift.

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Work hard while your young and sit back and enjoy life as you get older I don't want to work past 45