Suggest Treatment For Sleeplessness When Under Stress

Posted on Fri, 16 Sep 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 Answered on

Fri, 7 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Dear Sir, I can't sleep well in night. I'm 29 years old, still single & I do follow shift duty (i:e: B-A-C weekly). Normally I do take sufficient rest in whole 24 hrs duration, whenever its possible. This prob . started when I left home in 2005, 11 years ago. In the beginning life was all about staying awake in night in engineering hostel, after that in the year 2009, I started my job- where I had to sustain my night shifts due to shifting job schedule. I also had a girlfriend from 2012 to 2014- at that period I used to talk with her almost entire night. Deprive of sleep has been started from entire period- till date. My father passed away in the year 1999 & the situation got tough for me as I was the only earning member in our family & still I dont have my own house/car. We still live in a rented apartment. Expectation from my family & fellow members have caused me to think about the situation. Beside that whenever I go for a drink , it naturally helps me to sleep.

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (48 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Melatonin should help to improve sleep

Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for asking from HCM

I can understand your concern. You are 29 and have a lot of stresses like work related stress, family stress, financial stress etc. Shift work duties have caused significant problems in sleep which increased the stress burden further. In my opinion improvement of sleep should help in improving your day to day functioning.

Some drugs like Melatonin or Ramelteon can be used. These drugs are natural drugs and help to improve the sleep rhythm which changed due to work shifts. The drugs are safe drugs and free of serious side effects with no risk of dependence.You can discuss with a doctor for prescription of these drugs. Don't start taking conventional sleep drugs because these drugs can cause dependence and have abuse potential. Improvement of sleep will reduce the stress.

Thanks, hope this helps you please don't hesitate to ask again for more information.

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee