Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer, and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show. And hi everyone, and welcome back to a healthy shift. I'm your host, Roger Sutherland, and today I want to talk about something that every shift worker battles with at some point during their career. And this is sleep problems. Now, I know your reaction already, Rog. Of course I've got sleep issues. I work shifts. And yes, disrupted sleep does actually come with the job. But here's the catch. Not every sleep struggle is just shift work, quote end quote. Too many shift workers shrug off serious problems as part of the deal. When in reality, they're warning signs of something bigger. And today I want to explain what these issues could be and why ignoring them is actually dangerous. And also why you shouldn't just medicate and hope for the best. Now I've coached a lot of shift workers over the years, and I see the same pattern over and over. People just normalize exhaustion. They're actually wearing it like a badge of honor, and they say, Oh, I'll just catch up on my days off, or I'm just tired from nights. Oh, when I get to leave, I'll just have a spell then and have a break. But when you're still exhausted, no matter how much you rest, when you're making mistakes on the job or when you're nodding off driving home, that's not just shift work. Trust me, that is a serious red flag. So what are some of the common sleep disorders that we see in shift workers? Let's break down some of the most common ones. Number one, shift work sleep disorder. It's it's a recognized medical condition. And it's when your body simply cannot adapt to the rotating or night schedule. It's not just tiredness, it's actually insomnia when you're off shift and extreme sleepiness when you are on. Now, if this is left untreated, it can raise your risk of depression, of heart disease, and you could make some serious mistakes at work. This is really, really unhealthy. Then we look at insomnia. Now, insomnia is trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, or we wake up too early. Now, plenty of my qu clients have told me that it's just because they're rostered badly. But for some insomnia, it takes a life of its own for some people. And we've got to break that cycle. It just becomes the norm, and people go, oh well, this is how it is for me. No, this is not just how it is for me. Sleep apnea is another one. This is massive in shift work community, and it's something that is often missed. Now, I've also had clients who have thought they were just like extra tired until a sleep study showed that they had stopped breathing for over 30 times every hour. 30 times every hour. Now, the impact on their health and their alertness is actually massive. Not to mention the fact that, you know, stopping breathing, it's not conducive to good living. And it's really quite dangerous. Now, another issue that shift workers have as well, ready to put your hands up for this one, ladies, in particular, females over 40 or 50 going into or through perimenopause and menopause, how does restless leg syndrome sound? That twitchy, crawling feeling in your legs, it just makes sleep goddamn impossible. Now, if you combine that with back-to-back shifts, do you end up running on fumes? And then the next one, number five, is circadian rhythm disorders. Now, some people are natural night owls or larks, and forcing a mismatch with your work schedule can completely wreck your sleep. Put your hands up if you absolutely hate day shifts because you love a lion. And then put your hands up if you hate afternoon shifts because you want to be in bed by eight o'clock. This is your different chronotypes. And it's really important that we work shifts or that are following that type of chronotype that we are. So, what are some of the real-world dangers? And I just want to share a couple of stories with you. I had a client, let's just call her Sarah for a start. Now, Sarah was an experienced nurse, worked in an emergency department, and she'd laugh and tell me about how she's always tired. One morning after night shift, she was driving home and woke up at a green light. She had stopped at the red light, could not remember stopping at the red light, and woke up and looked because there was a car tooting behind her, and she was literally asleep at the lights. Now, this is not just shift work. This is actually a sleep disorder waving a red flag. This is really bad. Imagine if she had been driving and fallen asleep, the damage that she could have done. Or running the kids to school after night shift. I've got another client as well, police officer, came to me after a near miss on duty. Now he'd been struggling, he'd been told all the time, heavy snoring, waking up gasping, just waking up exhausted. He thought it was nothing, wrote it off completely to shift work, had a sleep study. What did the sleep study show? He was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. He's now on CPAP and he cannot believe the difference. He said to me, I just didn't realize how foggy I'd been for years until the fog lifted. CPAP. Serious. Now, these unfortunately are not rare stories. They're everyday realities for people who just chalked it up to shift work until something serious happened. When we dismiss these issues, we're not just risking our own health. We're actually risking the safety of patients, of colleagues, the public, and also ourselves. We can't walk around wearing chronic fatigue as a shift worker as a badge of honor. We have to stop this. We have to look at it for what it actually is. Because fatigue-related mistakes in front-line jobs can literally be catastrophic. And long-term sleep disorders will increase the risks of heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, depression, and even will bring on dementia, Alzheimer's. The damage to the brain is ridiculous, and you've got to really look at this. Now, there's one thing that I do really want to talk about, and I want to talk about medicated sleep. I've done podcasts on this before. But let's talk about something that I see far too often. And let's see if you can relate to this person at work. And this is the person that relies on medication to sleep. So here's the thing, and it's important for you to understand this. We are not actually sleeping on medication. We are unconscious. Now there is a massive difference. True sleep cycles, deep sleep, REM, recovery, all get disrupted. Have you ever noticed this? Think about the person that comes into work after night shift and says, Oh, slept like a baby today, slept for about nine hours. And you look at them and you think, are you kidding? How on earth did you do that? I took half a rest of it. Took a rest of it. I always do. Have you ever noticed that that's the same person that's falling asleep when you're out and about on the truck? Or the one hanging off the nurse's station or sitting there in a chair with their hands in their head and they just cannot keep awake. Eyes half shut, struggling to stay awake. That is because of medicated unconsciousness, not restorative sleep. Have a think about it. You all know those people, the ones that tell you they got so much sleep. And then they go and say, I need to do this. This is why I need to do it, because I am so tired. No, you need to work on routines, hygiene and routines to help you to get to sleep. Now, I'm not, and I want to be clear on this, I'm not saying that there is no place for short-term medical support. But we do need to question it carefully. If a doctor just says, oh, you're a shift worker, here's the sleeping pill, you need to question that. Because they don't fully understand the impact that this actually has. They're treating the root, they're not treating the root cause, they're treating the symptom. And this is what we need to be doing all the time. We need to be looking at what the root cause is. So if you're taking pills to get through every time you're on night shift, you are not solving the problem, you are actually masking it. So how do we know when it's more than just the job? So here are some signs that it's it's time for you to take some action. Number one, you are constantly tired, no matter how much you rest. That is a red flag. Your partner says that you snore loudly or you gasp or you're actually stopping breathing. Listen to what they're telling you because it could, well, it is a red flag. You can't fall asleep or stay asleep, even on your days off. Your legs keep you awake at night with twitching or crawling feelings, or you've had near misses at work or driving home from fatigue. Don't go back to work and laugh about it. Get it addressed. Think of the consequences of that. Now, if any of those ring a bell at all, please, I beg you, don't just shrug it off. Because research is very clear and it shows that what actually happens is a lot of shift workers write sleep disorders off literally just because they're a shift worker, when there are underlying problems that can actually improve the problems. So, how do we navigate this? Talk to your GP, explain your symptoms clearly, and make sure you say that you are a shift worker. But also, when he just goes to write the sleeping tablet for you, question that. Ask them, am I actually sleeping on this or am I unconscious? Challenge them on that particular point. Now, there are particular medications that will help with shift work sleep disorder, so there is a difference. But if you just go down to the pharmacy and you start picking up things like RestiVit or things like that to help you to sleep, then you are creating a big problem for yourself. You can see your doctor and ask about a referral to a sleep specialist, or take part in a sleep study and don't accept that it's just shift work. Push for proper testing. Push for proper testing for all sorts of things. Combine that medical with your practical strategies, light exposure. How much caffeine are you having and when are you having it? Exercise. Do you exercise? Do you have a constant routine? Because our body thrives on constant routine. These things all matter, but they will not replace a proper diagnosis, particularly if it's something like sleep at CPAT. So let's look at a mindset shift. Because as shift workers, we've been conditioned to just tough it up. We pride ourselves on pushing through, but ignoring those sleep disorders is not a strength. It's literally a risk. Taking your sleep seriously isn't selfish. It's literally being responsible. Those people that you see up late until 11, 12 o'clock and getting up and doing the 4:30 a.m. starts, that's not clever. That's stupid because they're actually setting themselves up for bigger problems down the track. So here's my challenge to you. If you have been struggling with sleep and telling yourself, oh, it's just shift work, I want you to ask yourself, is it really? Because if it's not and you ignore it, the cost could literally be huge. But if you get the right help, you can actually change your health, improve your energy, and even improve your safety overnight. So thanks for listening to a healthy shift. If this one hit home for you, share it with a mate who's also struggling through their shifts. And if you would like more support, you can always connect with me at ahealthyshift.com or over on Instagram at a underscorehealthy underscore shift. Sleep well when you can, look after yourself, and I'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.