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Sleep pattern

Work place stress and brn-out
Are the key factors for my sleepless nights
I can't say that i have a sleep pattern
All the time it is different

I wish could leave all the problems at the door but i can't
My customers a very important to me
Especially in this difficult times we are going through
 
The biggest revelation I have had during this crazy COVID19 year has been discovering mouth taping. A postage sized piece of tape
over the center part of the mouth (but not sealing off the mouth) promotes nasal breathing instead of mouth breathing during sleep. The result for me and many others has been longer, deeper sleep and amazing dreams. I found out about this in James Nestor's book "Breathe." It sounds a little kooky but it works. Here is just one of many videos singing the praises of mouth taping.
(BTW medical tape is best but almost any tape will work).

 
There is also a traditional Chinese medicine circadian ritm which links with the organs energy.

For 1-3 it is liver time usually the time people who drink alcohol but also a time to digest a lot of stress

For 3-5 it is lung time the early bird time to shout at the upcoming sun, also a time for grief and immunity issues

For 5-7 it is large intestine time to let things go and take a dump.

For 7-9 it is stomach time feeeeed me!

Slowly shifting following the seasonal flow is not bad

Fortunately me 53 youngster wakes up at 6 no alarm needed. And fall asleep around 11 without serious needs.

If you have trouble falling a sleep there is plenty of stuff to help (alcohol, magnesium, melatonine, valerian, ashwaganda) unfortunately there is not much there to keep you asleep. And when blathers get weaker and prostates bigger it does not help either.

There are some sleep protocols in acupuncture which you could try yourself in the form of acupressure (no needles). Or consult a local acupuncturist preferably one who knows Chinese herbs.
 

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musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I'm definitely getting worse as I age. On a good night I'm in bed around 9, asleep around 9:30 and up every 90 minutes for the bathroom, and then go back to sleep. On a bad night I sleep for 4 hours or so and then I'm simply awake.

Tried CBD oil, no help. Sometimes a dull TV show with very low volume can lull me back to sleep.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
In my mid 20’s I started working 24hr ambulance shifts. Being young and dumb I volunteered for the busiest truck in the fleet. We averaged 18 calls in 24hrs. Busy was an understatement and we would catch 10-15min where we could. If your relief didn’t show up the next day and no one volunteered you were forced to stay for a second 24hr shift. My relief had COPD so I’d see him in the hospital as a pt the night before his shift and knew he wasn’t coming in. The most I worked in a row was 68hrs before I told the management I was going home or was going to “fall asleep” and run an ambulance into a telephone pole.

When they switched to 12hr shifts I worked nights. Not bad, usually 1900-0700. We’d get off shift and head to George’s bar which opened at 8 and have a “shift meeting” with eggs, bacon, and beer.
When I promoted to shift supervisor I alternated 2 pay periods on days and 2 on nights. This was probably the most difficult because just about the time your body adjusted to working days you switched to nights and visa-versa. After this I went to straight nights for the remainder of my time on the ambulance.
This went on for almost 20yrs. To say that my sleep cycle was/is screwed up is an understatement. Now that I’m semiretired, I can sleep normal hours but can’t get to sleep until 2300 or so. I sleep extremely lightly (still waiting on tones to drop) and cannot sleep past 0500 even if I want to. For some reason I feel more tired now during the day than when I was working nights.
 
I'm retired now and am able to follow my natural night owl pattern. I go to bed about 2 am and get up at 9. Usually I take a late afternoon nap. I worked in the health care trenches in laboratory testing for 40 years. I did 2nd shift for a long stretch of about 15 years, which was my favorite work shift.

Alcohol, sleeping pills and marijuana all cause fragmented sleep. I practice good sleep hygiene and it works. Mostly. I don't worry about insomnia, which helps me get to sleep. Anecdotal evidence shows me the best sleep aid is daily exercise
 
.... get up 4 or 5 times to pee.....

I'm retired 10+ years and rarely go to bed before midnight, only because it means getting up fewer times to take a whiz. Good nights I'm up only 1-2 and fall back asleep quickly. Bad nights I'm up 3-4, and/or can't fall asleep afterwards. Occasionally I can even go 6-7 hours.

I have a friend I worked with who retired about the same time. With health issues and only one kidney, he was up every hour or two. He had the hot poker up his thingy, and tried every drug out there. Finally one of his doctors did a sleep study and put him on a CPAP (oxygen). The last time we had lunch (pre-covid), he told me he was sleeping much better and rarely needed to get up to whiz.
 

martym

Unacceptably Lasering Chicken Giblets?
I’m asleep when my head hits the pillow about 2100 or 2200 and I am usually up by 0400 to workout. Mostly without the aid of an alarm.
When I worked the midnight shift (15 years or more) I would get off at 0800 if there was no overtime or court and I would workout and get everything done that needed to get done. Then bed was usually by 1500-1700. I tried to keep it the same as working a normal shift.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I'm lucky that most of my jobs were from 7am to 4-5pm for most of my work life, Last job I worked in a pulp mill for over 23 yrs was 7am-4:30pm 96% of the time. So night shift for Mill shut downs was not uncommon and call ins where the normal at any hr of the evening and weekends & that is the way of life at our pulp mill in the maintenance department. I sleep good most of the time but when retired it seemed my sleep pattern changed a little and I tend to go to sleep around 10- 11pm wake up at 5am-ish. What I did learn is not to drink caffeinated coffee or tea after 2-3pm lately if possible(no pee breaks now) and have decaff coffee around 5-6 pm seems to work for myself lately & the last 2-3 months have been receiving around 6-7 hrs rest which is good .
This 1 hr time change in the spring & fall does not help matters IMO.
 
I am not very old 35 but I always sleep better on work nights. I stick to routine better. On vacation and weekends I stay up and read or watch a movie later and often stay up. I get up at 6 without fail since I’ve been working after college. I usually feel more tired after weekend ends and feel best mid week. Tuesdays are the most productive days for me. That was interesting to hear about medieval sleep schedules. I always wake up at night and go back to sleep almost immediately. I imagine as I get older I’ll consider getting up for a period if I can’t sleep.
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
There is tremendous wisdom in this advice from Josemaria Escriva:

The heroic minute. It is the time fixed for getting up. Without hesitation: a supernatural reflection and … up! The heroic minute: here you have a mortification that strengthens your will and does no harm to your body. If, with God’s help, you conquer yourself, you will be well ahead for the rest of the day. It’s so discouraging to find oneself beaten at the first skirmish.
 
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