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Suggest Treatment For Insomnia When Having Rotational Shift

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Posted on Thu, 7 May 2015
Question: Hi I'm 22 years old and I have the hardest time sleeping my job requires me to work 13 hour shifts on a rotating schedule on both graveyards and day shift I've tried numerous over-the-counter medications and pretty much every single relaxationsleep remedies stuff like teas,scents,relaxation,darkening my room,sounds any way to help me get to sleep and stay asleep but without much success the lack of sleep is beginning to affect my job which is driving a 500 ton truck the size that two story house so getting sleep is very important for my safety as well as everybody else's anything you could tell me to help me would be amazing
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Answered by Dr. Chintan Solanki (6 hours later)
Brief Answer:
you can be helped with benzodiazepine or Z group of drugs

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

Sleep disturbance is called insomnia. Insomnia are of two types.

Primary: In that no other physical or psychological problem apart from sleep disturbance.

Secondary: In that there is sleep disturbance due to some physical or psychological problem.

In secondary type main stay of treatment is treatment of underlying cause.

In both types benzodiazepine group drugs like clonazepam or lorazepam are useful. Z group of drug like zolpidem or eszopiclone are used for sleep induction.These are strict prescription medicines and you need to consult doctor for the same.

If I were your treating doctor I would like to start ambien(zolpidem) just before going to sleep. You need to change timing of medicines according to your shift duty. And you must avoid the drug before duty considering safety.

Apart from this there are some measures called, 'Sleep Hygiene' which can help in good sleep. You can find the same in following link.

http://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.

Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Chintan Solanki

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2406 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Insomnia When Having Rotational Shift

Brief Answer: you can be helped with benzodiazepine or Z group of drugs Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for writing to us. Sleep disturbance is called insomnia. Insomnia are of two types. Primary: In that no other physical or psychological problem apart from sleep disturbance. Secondary: In that there is sleep disturbance due to some physical or psychological problem. In secondary type main stay of treatment is treatment of underlying cause. In both types benzodiazepine group drugs like clonazepam or lorazepam are useful. Z group of drug like zolpidem or eszopiclone are used for sleep induction.These are strict prescription medicines and you need to consult doctor for the same. If I were your treating doctor I would like to start ambien(zolpidem) just before going to sleep. You need to change timing of medicines according to your shift duty. And you must avoid the drug before duty considering safety. Apart from this there are some measures called, 'Sleep Hygiene' which can help in good sleep. You can find the same in following link. http://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further. Regards, Dr.Chintan Solanki.