all good things must come to an end

5:25:00 AM Unknown 0 Comments

I thought I was adjusting to night shift well.  I was having no trouble staying awake all hours of the night, no trouble sleeping during the day, and I felt good.  But as they say, all good things must come to an end.

On Saturday morning, after my last shift of the week, I stopped at the Y on my way home for a little ab work and yoga to release the tension I was feeling.  I got home around 10, and after taking the dogs for a walk and my normal routine I was in bed asleep by 10:30am.  I was planning on taking a 3 or 4 hr nap so that I wouldn't sleep the entire day away, and would be able to sleep at night to prepare for the cookout I was going to on Sunday.  Things don't always go as planned.  I slept straight through my alarm until 6pm when I forced myself to roll out of bed feeling like I had been run over by a truck.  I drank some coffee (A LOT of coffee), took the dogs for another walk, showered, went to the grocery store, and did a little cleaning.  At about 10:30pm I decided to relax and watch a little TV, since I hadn't even turned my TV on all week.  I found something to watch, got comfortable... and passed out by 11pm with both of the dogs laying on top of me.  I'm sure you're thinking there's no way I slept long after getting 7+ hrs of sleep during the day, but I did.  What can I say, I'm talented.  I didn't just get a few hours of sleep, I got another 8 HOURS of sleep.  When I woke up at 7am I felt great, but I'm sure 15 hrs of sleep in less than 24 hours had something to do with that.

I spent today down in Spring Hill for a cookout, and after getting home around 8 I was already tired again.  I made it until 10, when I decided I had to take a nap.  I made myself wake up at 12am, but now it's almost 5:30am and I'm wide awake.  It's the first time I remember feeling this rested in days... maybe weeks.  It's probably a good thing I'm up so late because I work again tomorrow night, but I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to fall back asleep.

So needless to say, I don't think I'm quite as adjusted to night shift as I thought I was. The worst part about all of it is feeling like I'm sleeping my life away.  Hopefully my body finds some kind of rhythm to get into, because I can't handle my body wanting to sleep 24 hours a day.  I never know when I'll be able to sleep, or eat, or have any sort of "normal" life.  Thank goodness I love coffee.