Real tired: In need of some comforting

[40 cent]

Hey guys,

 

I've been doing night shift at safeway, a heap of hours every week, i havent been eating well because of it. I used to handle it fine, but recently i come down with tonsilitis. That made me real tired and so forth so i went to the doctor and he gave me some antibiotics and that cleared up the sore throat. However, the tiredness has stayed with me and i have a constant cold.

 

Im not used to getting sick, im usually real healthy. I usually have heaps of energy :s. Now i seem to get tired real easy even after getting over 8 hours sleep. Its obvious my body is rundown and in need of some rest and restoration, however, im worried that i may contracted chronic fatigue or something similiar. Or is it just more of a case of my body needing more rest after being ill? Besides chronic fatigue, what other illnesses make the body extremely tired and lethargic? I hope it isnt chronic...i heard you have to get glandular fever first and so on....

 

who knows, any info is great, thanks

 

grant

[White Warlock]

In most cases, 8 hours is actually one to two hours too little sleep. The fact of the matter is, some people need more sleep than others. Other things to consider is that if you've been sick, your body would have been depleted of a lot of vitamins and minerals... so time to stock up again. If you're feeling seriously worn down, you should consider taking a short vacation from work, and giving yourself time to recover. Oftentimes people return to work too soon after a nasty illness, or work right through the illness, which is even worse (especially for the other employees that could contract your illness, or would have to cover for your decreased performance).

 

All in all, if you've increased your sleep hours, revitalized your body's necessary nutrients, are eating healthy meals on a regular (not snack) basis, AND you've taken a short vacation.... but still feel worn down, then you may want to determine whether it's your job and maybe you simply don't want to work there anymore, but the rut holds you in place... even while your body is trying to push you out the door.

 

Some thoughts.

[Sorynn]

40 cent,

 

I worked third shift for a while, during my freshman year in college. I understand how tiring that can be. White Warlock has some good points (proper rest and nutrition and maybe a vacation), and I have one thing to add to his.

 

Are you getting enough exposure to sunlight?

 

I read a few studies years ago that showed a correlation between lack of exposure to direct sunlight and increased chances of physical illness and depression. Certain bodily functions, like the uptake of vitamin D do not happen properly in the dark. Perhaps you can try to spend a little time outside in the sun, on days that you are not working. I do not know much about it, but you could also do a search on "Heliotherapy" on the web.

 

I hope that helps.

 

Good luck,

 

Sorynn

[40 cent]

thanks guys.

 

im really looking forward to quitting a few shifts at work and returning to uni so i get some normality. problem is, i need the money for a few more weeks, so i cant afford to drop em for about 4 weeks. :s

[Ant]

Man I've been through all sorts of tiredness issues.

 

If you don't excersise hard everyday then maybe you should give that a go.

 

You know the doctors told me that 75% of young men in Britain feel tired a lot of the time. Diet and lack of excersise are the biggest causes.

 

Try cutting some carbs out of your diet and increasing protein.

 

good luck

[JEM618]

Yeah, working that shift is HELL! Anyway, I'm gonna guess you can't sleep well during the day, it's tough and can be caused by a few different reasons.

 

Reason 1: Most graveyard shifters run on caffeine and nicotine. When I worked that shift, I drank about one cup an hour (6-8 cup a night). So after working midnight to 8 am I was leaving work WIRED. Even if I was tired, I couldn’t sleep.

 

Reason 2: It’s sunny! Your body is not programmed to sleep when it’s light out. It takes time to get used to sleeping through the brightest part of the day.

 

Reason 3: Everyone else you know is on a human schedule. You don’t want to miss out, so you try to stay awake.

 

Hmmmm…. How to fix it.

 

Well, there’s two ways to do it.

 

One is to go home and go and unwind; relax and enjoy yourself, do what you would normally do after work if you worked during the day. This includes going to the gym, doing laundry, etc. – even having a few beers! (It sounds strange to day shifters, having a few cold ones at 10 am or 1 pm, but it’s just an upside down timetable.) Eat ‘dinner’, just as you normally would, before you go to bed. Try to stay awake until 8-10 hours before your next shift, go to bed and sleep 8-9 hours, get up, eat ‘breakfast’ and go to work. Note: have coffee, but only the first two hours into the shift, after that drink juice or water, get the caffeine out of your system.

 

Another way is to go home, go straight to bed and get up after you sleep 8+ hours – this would make it 4 or 5pm – get up eat dinner with family or friends – watch a little TV – relax – take a nap if you want, but try to stay awake – go to work – same deal with the caffeine – none after 2 am. When you get out of work, you’ll be beat! You’ll want to go to bed.

 

Consistency is the key – it’s hard to match schedule with day shifters if you want to do stuff. You can’t go to bed right after work one day and get up and stay up, go to work, get out of work, stay up all day the next day and then sleep before work.

[karatekid1975]

I also did third shift a few years ago (for two years). I enjoyed the paychecks, but my body felt the same as yours. JEM618 has good advice. When I started treating my third shifts like day shifts, I delt with it better. I slept till 10pm, shower, have "breakfast" and coffee (like some people would normally do at 6am), pack my "lunch" and take it with me. I work my shift, got home at 8am, and ate "dinner." I did all my shopping, washed clothes, ect till 1pm. Then I go to bed.

 

Sorynn is also right about the sunlight. Try to get sunlight while you are up in the morning.

[Xerxes]

In most cases, 8 hours is actually one to two hours too little sleep. The fact of the matter is, some people need more sleep than others.

 

Some thoughts.

 

that is blatently false. Ten hours of sleep!? You are absurd. When you start sleeping eleven hours a night that is dangerous for you. Eight hours a day is very normal, unless you are a 7 year old.

[Claymore]

I read a number of times that 7 hours is the right amount of sleep. People that sleep more then 7 hours are found to be just as tired as people that sleep less. It is also said that people that sleep 7 hour are healthier and live longer.

[aefibird]

Yes, but different people need different amounts of sleep to function properly.

 

Margaret Thatcher (ex-British Prime Minister for those who don't know of her!) once famously claimed that she only needed 4 hours sleep per night. Me, I need as much as possible. I'm a 20th Dan in sleeping - if it was an Olympic sport I'd be the gold medal winner for Britain. It doesn't mean I'm lazy - my body just needs lots of sleep.

 

The average is about 7-8 hours.

 

The key with sleep is consistency and quality. Cat-napping can really mess up your system - it's better to try and have a good block of sleep at night (or in the day if you work shifts).

 

Regular sleep times are important too, eg, always going to bed at about 11:00pm, rather than being in bed for 9:30pm one evening but staying up until 1:00am the next night.