eatments for Shift-Work Sleep Disorder
- Regular exercise and a healthy diet can go a long way toward combatting many of the negative symptoms of SWSD. Make time for regular workouts and pack your own meals for work rather than rely on food from vending machines or fast-food restaurants.
- Make sure to get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation has a lot of health risks, and shift workers tend to get less sleep than regular daytime workers. A large part of it has to do with getting off in the early morning when there is ample daylight. The light from the sun tricks the body into thinking it needs to stay awake longer. Here are some tips on how to practice good sleep hygiene:
- Talk to your doctor about taking melatonin supplements that can help aid your body in resetting your circadian rhythm. You can also talk to your doctor about medications that promote alertness or those that promote daytime sleep.
- Keep your bedroom dark. Use black-out drapes and/or use a sleep mask.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine at least 3 hours before bedtime.
- Ask family members not to disturb you while you sleep unless it’s an emergency.
- Ditch your digital devices. The light from your phone, tablet, computer, etc., tricks your brain into thinking it’s daylight, keeping you awake longer.
- If you drive home from work in the morning light, wear dark sunglasses.
- Use a “white noise” machine to block out distracting sounds if you have family members awake in the house during your sleep hours.
- If possible, take brief naps during work breaks, but limit them to 10-30 minutes.
- If working a rotating shift schedule, talk to your employer about moving your next shift “forward” as it’s easier on the circadian rhythm to sleep in a little more rather than less.
If none of the above treatment options seem to help you adjust to your irregular work schedules, you might want to consider contacting a sleep clinic as there could be other factors affecting your sleep. At The Alaska Sleep Clinic, we specialize in diagnosing and treating a wide variety of sleep-related disorders, and treatment for a shift-work sleep disorder is one that is very important to us. As a clinic that monitors patients while they are sleeping, our very own registered polysomnographic technologists (RPSGT’s) work night schedules, and their sleep routines are critical to successful job performance while administering sleep studies. And we want to make sure that you, as well as our own employees, are getting the right amount of daily sleep to keep you stay happy and healthy while you work.