Shift work / Lengthy commute

Does anyone do shift work and/or have a lengthy commute? Not only do I do shift work (swing shift at 10.5 hours per day, four days per week), but I also commute 100 miles per day (1.5 hours each way). I often get home around 1:00 a.m. I've been doing it for two years, and it's getting old! It's extremely difficult staying awake behind the wheel. Opening a window and blasting the radio doesn't help (neither does slapping myself in the face). Eating often helps, but being a diabetic, I need to be careful what and how much I eat. I've been looking for work closer to home, but with no success. Anyone have ideas on how to stay awake while driving?

Lordy, Lordy! That sure sounds familiar. Some ideas. First, check that your AHI score on your machine remains low. If not, then chat with your sleep doctor. Second a nap helps more than anything going home. Though I did not do shift work, I worked as a technical expert for a large computer company. As a result, I often faced LONG, hard schedules. I learned that a 15 to 6p minute nap would do more to restore me than anything else. Chewing sugar free gum, sipping water, help but do not replace a nap.

Hopefully some other folks can chime in on this conversation.

I can relate to that somewhat. I don't do shift work, but work 12 hour days in Clinical IT for a large hospital system and have to drive about an hour each way to work.

I can't say that I have a magic answer for you, but I did come across an article in a medical journal just yesterday. I haven't had a full chance to read it, but the one thing that caught my eye was the sub title of "How to reset the internal clock". I'll post the link here in case it may be of some help... I have no idea yet since I have not read the piece just yet.

https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6354786_0890504_676761

Armodafinil is used to treat excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy (a condition that causes excessive daytime sleepiness) or shift work sleep disorder (sleepiness during scheduled waking hours and difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep during scheduled sleeping hours in people who work at night or on rotating shifts). Armodafinil is also used along with breathing devices or other treatments to prevent excessive sleepiness caused by obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS; a sleep disorder in which the patient briefly stops breathing or breathes shallowly many times during sleep and therefore does not get enough restful sleep). Armodafinil is in a class of medications called wakefulness-promoting agents. It works by changing the amounts of certain natural substances in the area of the brain that controls sleep and wakefulness.

I know many people do not like to take drugs, but I take this med- Nuvigil- for excessive daytime sleepiness and it works for me. You need to be able to stay awake on the road. Good luck.

I used to drive 300 miles a day 8 hours a day in my Job. Also I would be driving back at night and tired to boot. Sounds like you are familiar with the usual tricks to stay awake behind the wheel. Here are a few more I learned. Radio on, keep cold airflow going and above all No Cruise Control, the more you have to be involved in driving experience the better to stay awake. Never fall for the let one eye rest trap or slapping yourself to stay awake at that point you have to pull over. The best solution if you can't pull over and sleep for awhile I found is to get out of the vehicle and walk, get the blood flowing again and maybe get coffee, anything to break up monotony of driving will help keep you and other people on the road safe. Good Luck, hopefully you can get better hours one of these days.

I have not taken the doctor up on this yet, but my pulmonologist suggested Nuvigil as next step since my AHI is way down, <1 consistently, but I still feel the need to nap. I don't have the luxury of napping since I work full time, so Nuvigil might be the next course of action if I don't see an improvement in fatigue. I am really trying to be conservative on this, but if I were driving that distance and working those hours I would ask about something like Nuvigil.

Hi

This might help prevent an accident -

http://www.thenonap.com/general.html

I use one made in Australia, but can no longer find the web-site, so it may have gone out of business. It works perfectly - as soon as my chin moves down, it beeps and immediately I am awake and looking at the road. It doesn't get much use these days, but I always carry it in the car just in case.

Top Gear ignorantly gave one version a bad review, but because I knew the product I also knew they were not using it correctly and their assumptions were false. In other words, they did a beat up, just to get a few laughs, when they could have been saving lives.

I also tested one from the UK, which was not as good as the Australian one.

It doesn't cost much, so I would suggest checking it out.

It could save your life whilst you are finding a permanent solution.

cheers

Mars

I use to. 72 miles one way (mostly freeway). Six days per week. Rarely seven. 10 hour days at work plus the drive in and out. 3rd Shift was worse. I could make it through the night but at 10 a.m. I was a walking zombie. At least on 2nd shift you get to have family time on weekend afternoons.

I worked a factory in a technical position. People caught napping got fired.

The only way to survive is to realize you need more sleep than normals. I had to sleep 10-12 hours every day while working 2nd or 3rd. The drive home is a pain. The extra sleep hours the day before pay off on the drive home. And, I could not easily shift sleep patterns so stayed on shift over the off days. You know the lost sleep when you transition shifts? Yea, you must sleep more.

Your mind is going to drift driving. Find audio books. Listen to talk radio. Keep the car cold. It was the extra hours sleeping that helped me to survive through the drive home. Find land marks and stop and walk a bit. When you get close to home (~20 miles) , stop and gas up every day (just to stretch the legs and move around). That makes the final half hour go safer. Or stop and grocery shop. Something to break up the drive home.

You need the extra sleep. That and I think what saved me from driving off the road after 2nd shift some mornings was the weird talk shows on AM. And the trance radio shows out of some Chicago station. Can't fall asleep with that music pounding.