This is a very interesting web site. I found it through searching for shift work sleep disorder info.
Here's my question:
I'm a fifty-three year old male who works in industry. I have worked different shifts most of my adult life. For the last four years, I have worked as a supervisor on a fairly unusual shift.
My twenty-one day work cycle begins on a Sat. morning at 6 A.M. and consists of a twelve hour day. I repeat this 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. shift on Sunday. I then work five consecutive days on a 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. shift. I have Sat. - Tue. off, starting work again on third shift (10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m.) on Wed. night. I then work this eight hour third shift until Sat., when I work a twelve-hour 6:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. shift. I repeat this shift on Sun. Then I work Mon. and Tue. on the 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. third shift. I have Wed. - Fri. off and start at the beginning of the cycle on Sat. morning at 6:00 a.m.
This is a seven day on, four day off, seven day on, three day off cycle, with twelve hour shifts on weekends.
I was doing o.k. for quite awhile. As I said, I have worked shift work most of my adult life. But over the past year my sleep pattern has become inconsistent. Sometimes on my days off I find it difficult to go to sleep at all and sometimes I sleep for ten hours. I notice that I am becoming moody and irritable in situations where I was not before.
Any suggestions or discussion would be appreciated.
My hats off to you; that is one strange schedule. No wonder sleeping is troublesome at times.
As I am not a doctor or trained in the medical profession, I will leave any specific advice to our experts ( i'll make sure this post gets forwarded to them directly). You should also consult with your doctor so he can recommend a specialist in the are if necessary.
In the meantime, you might care to read about the general aspects of sleep disorders as well as suggested treatments and preventions on our Sleep Disorder Site.