Night shift. I can sleep during the day the first night. Anyone else?

I am working a string of night shifts because I am desperate for money at the moment. I cannot sleep at all the during the day the first night. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you cope if you are not a nightshift person. Any pointers to get through it alertly? I never fall asleep but my brain gets really tired.
I worked nights PRN and NEVER was able to sleep before the 1st night. Most of the time I would try and lay down and my mind would wander. Fortunately, I could make it through one night with out sleep and then would crash hard the next morning when I got home. Good luck!!

Eventually you get tired enough....big caution- if you feel dead on your feet from fatigue in the morning, call someone for a ride or take a cab/bus... I worked coma-stim, and one of the pts had been driving home after a string of double shifts (not medical) and ran off the road.

The day I start I have a very generous lunch, no tea or coffee, which usually means an afternoon snooze is guaranteed. Allow yourself a glass of wine with lunch if there's an adequate time period before you actually start work or get behind a wheel. I go to work feeling more rested than than the nights I just start "cold".

Ugh I have the opposite problem. i can't fall asleep ealry enough to work day shift. AND I am both days/evenings/nights. ahhhhhh

I have worked night shift for years and sometimes still have trouble sleeping. It might help to be in a dark room, minimize distractions like tv, phones and possibly a sleep aid. Those are what helps me out. Hope it helps.

stay up super late the night before your first night - drink coffee around 10pm and watch some interesting movies, do laundry, go to Wallyworld and stare at the animals... LOL. Stay up late and sleep in as late as you can. I usually sleep until at least 10am or even noon is better. I usually am still DOG tired on my drive home and try to call someone as I'm driving.... this morning, though, I felt like I had Nystagmus my vision was so crazy with fatigue.

I stay up later the night before so I can sleep later before my 1st shift.. I try to nap and the only thing that puts me to sleep is pop in a movie and lay on the couch.. I cat nap sometimes doing that but not often.. After a year and a half, I have gotten pretty used to it

My problem is I can't sleep at night anymore. The day before my first night shift, I go to bed late. Whatever time I wake up, I'll stay up for four hours and go back for at least a 4 hour nap before work. I'm good to go, but I've trained myself. Also, you may want to try melatonin.

I generally work 3 nights in a row, and it's hard to get a nap in that day before the first shift. However, I've found that driving home after that first shift, I'm very dangerous, and a few times I've had to pull off the road and catnap for 20 minutes (and my commute is less than half an hour).I try to take a Benadryl around 11am before my first shift in order to get about a two-hour nap in the early afternoon. That makes a huge difference.

Quote from Ginger45I am working a string of night shifts because I am desperate for money at the moment. I cannot sleep at all the during the day the first night. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you cope if you are not a nightshift person. Any pointers to get through it alertly? I never fall asleep but my brain gets really tired.

I've been at my night shift job 4 weeks now, so take my advice with a grain of salt. What works for me is to stay up as late as possible the night before my night shift, like 5 or 6 am until I just can't stay awake anymore, then sleeping until 1600. Try melatonin too, that helps me sleep.Make your bedroom as dark as possible, too. We draped blankets all around our window, so it's dark. One of my cowokers says she lined the inside of the window with those heavy duty black trash bags.

Thank u all for your advice. I made it but it was tough. I am not doing anymore though. I work for an agency and I am going to Oklahoma for a 7a to 7p shift Saturday and Sunday.