Having trouble sleeping through the night

[faulhallen]

I’m halfway through my second week at my new job so I don’t think I’m still having trouble adjusting from going to bed at 5am to going to work at 6 am. My schedule will adjust to 4am in a couple weeks which I have mixed feelings about but think will ultimately be good for me.

My problem(s) are that I get in bed around 9 and fall asleep closer to 10:30. I’m not too worried about this because I’ve never liked going to bed before midnight and it’s largely caused by me feeling lonely and talking to people, looking for new friends online or coming here. I feel like positive changes in my life would fix this...

Now that I’ve given you waaaaay too much information, my problem is that every night for going on a week I wake up between 2 and 2:15am. It’s been mixed as to whether or not I fall back asleep right away but regardless of whether I do or simply toss and turn for hours, I don’t feel like I get any rest for those 2.5 hours or so before I have to get up for work.

Has anyone had this problem or have any suggestions? I don’t sleep long enough to safely take Ambien or any other medication I’m aware of and melatonin seems to make me groggy making it hard to get out of bed the next morning. A friend suggested sleepytime tea to help me fall asleep but I haven’t tried it yet and don’t know if it will help with waking up at night. Anything else I could try?

[fauxartist]

It is probably one of the most common problems here, and no one short of taking a prescribed sleep medication has really figured this one out. When I worked 'graveyard' shift.... it took a lot longer to adjust than even the mid-shift.....so what worked for me in the long run...were 2 sleeps....yep....sounds weird...but our body's really do function better this way.... it's why they have 'siesta's' in Spain, Mexico, etc. If you have noticed that lull in the afternoon where you find yourself kind of sleepy, a power nap is what a lot of people are starting to do...and then after a while your second wind kicks in. So I used to sleep for a while when I got home....and then again at around 4-5 hours before I had to go back to work....it helped me. I don't know if it would work for anyone else.

[faulhallen in reply to fauxartist]

A two sleep system wouldn’t be too hard to manage on days I work and it may work even better for me when my schedule changes. It’s my understanding I’ll still only work 8 hours so I’ll be off around 12:30. I was going to start going to the gym and doing things for myself before my daughter got home from school (at least until I move out) but I’m liking this idea as well. I’m already struggling to stay awake when I get home so it wouldn’t even be much of an adjustment for me.

Thank you for that suggestion! I may try it soon 😃