Shift Work Sleep Disorder Treatment
Our body has a rhythm that helps us to sleep at night and be awake and alert during the day time, but when you do shifts you have to stubble against nature, so as a result doing long shifts can result in an increased number of accidents.
This is what shift work is: working outside normal 9 to 5 working schedule.
People that do shift work usually feel much more tired to than other people, and that can lead to poor performance.
This can result in an excessive daytimes sleepiness, the major symptom of shift work sleep disorder. Experiencing this can affect social aspects that can result in being moody, irritable, having decreased concentration and low energy levels.
Shift workers can also be less prone to other diseases, such as cold and flu, astrological problems, such as ulcers, and even cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks.
Reasons for this can be increased level of stress, poor diet, smoking and high caffeine consumption.
When people are tired that can cause accidents. Astonishing 25 000 lives in the United States are lost each year as a result of sleepiness. Most involve industrial accidents, and some of the are result of shift work. Another major concern is drowsy driving, as people that are tired are a major hazard to self and other people. Shift workers are at higher risk of getting involved in a accident, as they may have been without sleep for about 16 hours or more at the end of their shift.
How to Relieve Shift Work Sleep Disorder
There are a few things that can be done in order to prevent accidents to happen. The most important thing for shift workers is to make sure that getting enough sleep is a number one priority. There is no such pill exists that can replace sleep, therefore proper sleep is the most important thing. It would be very helpful, if employers understood the effects that shift work has on people, so developing sleep-friendly shifts where possible, and making them structured the certain way so it has less negative effect on people’s health.
Good Days Sleep Tips
Sleep hygiene plays a very important role when it comes to sleeping well, so these are the tips you might consider to use to sleep well:
- Always make sure you have enough times to sleep
- Develop a sleep routine; go to bed and wake up at the same time each day
- Reduce distraction, such as noise, phone calls, lights, and make sure you let people in your house know that you are not to be disturbed
- Keep your bedroom dark and cool
- Before you go to bed, avoid caffeine, alcohol or sleeping pills
Medical Treatment with Provigil
Provigil is a medication that is often used to improve alertness and wakefulness in people, that are sleepy because they suffer from some sort of sleep disorder, including shift work sleep disorder. This medicine restores natural sleep-wake balance in our bodies, and as a result it helps to restore normal sleep patterns.
Usually Provigil is prescribed to fight excessive sleepiness, and it is taken an hour before the shift starts.
This medicine can cause a number of side effects, so it is strongly advised to check with a doctor in regards to the proper dosage and length of treatment required in your case.
This is a general information only, and if you think that you have been effected by shift work sleep disorder, you should talk to your doctor about possible treatments.
This is very helpful especially sleep problems caused by cognitive behavioural factors such as caffeine dependence, altered sleep pattern and stress.