Shift work sleep disorder means having trouble sleeping because you work nights or rotating shifts. It involves a problem with your body's 24-hour internal clock, or circadian rhythm. This trouble sleeping can affect your daily life and your health.
Symptoms include not being able to sleep during the day. And even if you do sleep, you might not feel rested. You might have trouble staying awake or alert when you are supposed to work your shift. Other symptoms include problems concentrating at home and at work.
To diagnose shift work sleep problems, your doctor will use a sleep journal and possibly sleep studies to see if you have sleep problems from shift work. He or she will ask about your work hours, when you sleep, how much you sleep, and how you feel when you wake up. Your doctor also will ask if you feel very tired or fall asleep while you're at work.
With a sleep journal, you keep track of when you sleep, how much you sleep, and how you feel when you wake up. You write down this information for a week or two. Your doctor will look at it when you're done.
You might also have a test called actigraphy. For this test, you wear an activity tracker on your wrist that measures your movement during the day and at night. It helps your doctor learn when you are awake and when you are asleep.
Treatment may include short-term use of prescription medicine or over-the-counter supplements. It may also include following a regular routine for going to sleep and waking up. This may include naps. Try to sleep someplace that's quiet, dark, and cool. Using caffeine or light (phototherapy) at certain times may help you stay alert.
Sometimes sleep problems can be fixed only by switching to a regular work schedule—working in the day and sleeping at night. But many people are able to work the night shift by making a few changes. Here are a few examples.
This includes a regular schedule for meals and social activity.
Doctors usually advise people to use a supplement or medicine only for a short time. The dietary supplement melatonin may help improve your sleep. A man-made form of melatonin is available without a prescription. Your doctor can tell you how much to take and when to take it.
Your doctor may prescribe sleep medicine for a limited time to help you fall asleep.
You may find that the caffeine in coffee or soda drinks helps you stay alert. But it could keep you awake when you get home in the morning.
Your doctor can recommend how and when to use light as a treatment.
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