Calling All Night Owls
 

Hey everyone, well it's currently 0119 in my base time zone and I'm wide awake yet again....

Just wondering if there are any other 'night owls' out there who have had spells of being unable to sleep very well and what you did about it.

I've always been a night person by nature and easily able to be awake all night with a good book or staying up late to study as I feel more alert from about 9pm onwards, not a morning person at all really! After that could happily sleep until I woke naturally (or the alarm clock woke me up)

Every so often I'll have a week or two where my sleeping patterns go out of whack but nothing very major.

I've been flying a fair while now & know how the job tends to affect my body clock and adjust accordingly, i.e. sleep when tired, eat when hungry and so on. However lately I've noticed that I seem to be constantly tired and wanting to sleep all the time regardless of if I woke up only a few hours before- OR- completely wide awake and unable to 'shut off' enough to relax and fall asleep. Lately I have been sleeping through not one but two alarm clocks- luckily not before work but am starting to wonder if I am going deaf!!! :p

In the past I've had several possible reasons given to me; the obvious one is something medical however other than tiredness I feel okay and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. The second (being a woman) is being iron deficient but I don't think that's an issue as I think I've been eating pretty well and I also take supplements every so often just in case. The third one people tell me is 'you could be depressed'- well I don't think I am, I do get the odd bout of homesickness being o/s but nothing I can't cope with and I feel generally happy and ok with life, so I don't think it's that. The sleep being out of whack isn't bothering me that much, I'm used to it as a long haul FA but the not being able to 'tune out' is driving me a little bit nuts...

Could it just be a 'summer thing'? I live in a very hot climate and we are coming into high temperatures and people tend to hibernate inside and not do a lot. Admittedly I have been a bit slack when it comes to the gym so am wondering if anyone else has noticed their energy level slump and tend to get sleepless if they stop/reduce exercising? I went out & about today thinking it'd help but lo & behold I fell asleep watching tv and around 9pm and am now awake & unable to sleep. (Should probably get out the safety manual/company newsletters :E)

Being where I am I'd rather not go to a doctor just yet, don't want them to start poking & prodding unnecessarily, so am after some strategies that you've found successful or that help you to manage a bit better which I could try first before sitting in the waiting room.

Thanks for any suggestions!! :cool:

GMW.....

You're not alone. I'm a freight pilot spending my working life terrorising the skies at horrific hours of the day. Initially I found it very difficult to adjust between work periods and time off. The best strategy by far I've found to deal with it is to stick on one time zone. ie my watch, laptop and phone etc are all set on Zulu time. If I'm down route i don't care what the local time is, I stick to UTC. And as our rosters work in UTC it makes it much easier to adjust to sudden changes.

Is it perfect, no. But it helps. As for going to the gym, I too sometimes lack the motivation when at home but a quick step on the scales after a trip usually sorts that and I'm back on the treadmill like a whippet!

2W2R has it just about spot on.

The way I cope with changes to work/rest rhythm is to look at my next reporting time as being 0900 (whatever time it actually is) and count back 10 hours. That is bedtime. Whatever it takes to stay awake until then I do. Gym, internet, reading, walking, TV,... Anything that will leave you tired at the right time.

It does not help if you check-in to a hotel just as the maids are firing up the vacuums and singing mournful dirges as they clear up the debris of normal guests. I try to stay awake until they have finished and get my body clock into sync with the 10 hour rule. It does turn night into day but I always feel better for establishing the next work pattern as soon as possible.

Thanks for your posts. I have tried the 'one time zone' thing before but it didn't work for me, however it has been awhile so it can't hurt to give it a try. The main thing that is msessing with my head is the being wide awake one minute then sleeping again after being asleep only a few hours before... guess I will have to start setting the clock for an hour or two ahead just in case, to wake me up when I don't want to sleep!

I'm wondering if the trips I flew lately have anything to do with it, I'm working far less hours this month & last than prior but maybe it's a case of not being 'tired enough' and my brain is actually bored, not tired??? :p

The gym opens in a few hours so will try sleep for a few then get up and go, as it's so hot morning is best although usually I'd go in the late afternoon so I'd be ready for bed by 9/10ish...

RAF used to have a poster:

"HE WHO HOOTS WITH THE OWLS BY NIGHT CANNOT SOAR WITH THE EAGLES BY DAY"

Clearly someone out of touch with the realities of aviation :)

Vitamin D
 

Friend told me today she thinks I might actually have a vitamin d deficiency... apparently it's very common during the summer months in hot (read: the boiling depths of hell hot :E) climates as people tend to stay out of the sun as much as possible.

The sunlight is meant to help the body synthesise the vitamin d you get in the diet which is not enough alone without the sunlight, supposedly 10-20mins each day is enough.

Sat out by the pool for as long as I could bear it, had a hat on, but the downside is that sunscreen supposedly blocks the effects and so to gain any benefit I have to go without. Seems to have worked though as is 2330 and am tired enough to feel I will sleep once I go to bed.

So my choices are apparently to be tired all summer or to get skin cancer, hmmmm.... might look into getting a shot from the doctor to balance things out a bit...?

Thought this might help anyone in the same boat as me!