The Plight of the Night Owl

Are you a night shifter, or even just a run of the mill insomniac? Having been a nurse for almost fifteen years (damn, that sounds like a long time) I've done my share of night shifting. Companies can sure make it sound enticing with fat shift differentials and the absence of management raining down extra tasks on you, but as we all know, everything costs something, and night shift costs sleep. When I first dabbled in night shifts I told myself I could sleep when I'm dead. I soon felt like that appointment would come quicker than expected if I continued to deprive my body of this fundamental need. One weekend, when I was desperate to get a dog fence put up, I remember working all night at the hospital, sleeping two or three hours, fencing the rest of the day, then going back to work at night. That's probably not the the nurse you want caring for you when you come bursting into the ER mid stroke, but in reality, sleep deprivation of night shifters is more common than you might think. It doesn't take long to feel its effects either. I generally got a little snappier after my second night shift, and by the end of my third it took little more than a gentle breeze to send me into a tirade that would ultimately end in frustrated tears.
Even one night of little to no sleep  can leave a person feeling foggy, depressed, stressed or ill, but the effects of long term night shifting can be more permanent. In fact there's an umbrella term for the prevalence of certain diseases among night shift workers: Shift Work Disorder. Some of these diseases are heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, depression and even cancer. That's scary, and when I think about it, I do know a handful of night nurses who have at least one of these diagnosis's, the most common being diabetes. The go to answer is to get off the dang night shift, but that's not possible for everyone. And sleep deprivation isn't limited to just shift workers either. It could be new mom's and dad's, or frequent travelers suffering from jet lag, someone who is caring for a sick loved one, or just a good old fashioned insomniac, but all these branches have the same root system: the circadian rhythm, or our bodies sleep/ wake cycle.
I've always thought that one of the most challenging departments of health care is endocrinology, aka the study of hormones. While the word hormone might provoke an image of a self conscious teenager with new onset acne and a very confusing new sex drive, there's a lot more to it then that. Hormones are responsible for everything your body does from how quickly you grow, to how often you pee, to stimulating your appetite, to how high or low your blood pressure is. They're not the only factor in these processes, but they're key players. In fact, there are about fifty different hormones circulating in the body, and many of them have impossible names, such as adrenocorticotrophic hormone. The circadian rhythm regulates the release and suppression of many of these hormones, and tampering with this orchestra of chemicals has effects you can notice almost immediately. I won't get into all the hormones effected by sleep because I'd have to take a serious refresher course and then basically write a text book which no one wants to read anyway. But if you do want to know more about all the hormones involved here's a link to good article:

https://www.sciencealert.com/chemical-messengers-how-hormones-help-us-sleep

I just want to focus on one hormone, the one responsible for getting us to sleep so the other hormones can do their jobs: Melatonin. Maybe you've heard of it before. Maybe you're mom suggested you pick up a bottle of it at grocery store when you first complained of not being able to sleep. After all, it worked so well for your aunt Gladys, but you know that all homeopathic bullshit won't work like Ambien, and you're right. But before you go out and get a prescription for a controlled substance, consider that the function of the Melatonin already in your body is to promote sleep, and it may not be that you don't have enough of the sleepy substance, it may be that you have suppressed its release. Seems obvious that by staying awake all night under the florescent lights of a factory or a hospital you are preventing the build up and release of Melatonin, but it might not be so obvious that you are doing the same thing by looking into a screen before bed. Well, the hard truth is that the blue light given off from TVs, computers and smart phones aren't doing us any favors when it comes to sleep. I know many people who don't sleep well at night, and many of them spend the better part of their evening in front of a screen of one size or another. I personally like to end my day by watching brain polluting youtube videos like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8EZf4gm2Ag

 But meanwhile, in the pineal gland, blue light has tricked my body into thinking it's daytime and suppressed the release of Melatonin. You might have noticed after an evening of tapping away at your computer keyboard, or bingeing on Netflix you find yourself tossing and turning once you go to bed. Well get comfortable because it's gonna be a couple hours before enough Melatonin has built up to put you to sleep. After an hour of this you might exclaim "This is pointless!" and get up, thinking more activity will make you tired. Might as well check your newsfeed and see if Marsha had her baby since you're up. Bad choice, the Melatonin that was building up is now going away again and before you know it you've pulled an all nighter. But there's an easy solution for both night shifters and insomniacs, and it comes in the unsuspecting form of ugly sunglasses. Not just any gas station aviators will do though. These are blue light blocking sunglasses, and they look like this:


Damn! Who's big sexy in the orange shades?! Not your type? Well there is a slightly less creepy option, slightly being the key word:



The trick is to put them on two to three hours before you go to bed. This will trick your body into releasing Melatonin no matter how much sunlight is accosting you as you walk out to your car in the morning. Or, if you're in the camp of late screen users, they will start neutralizing the trick the blue light is playing on your endocrine system in enough time to get a good supply of Melatonin build up so by the time you're ready for bed your body will be too. What's nice about this solution is you don't have to quit your job or change your routine to get the benefits. They're easier and less expensive than a sleep supplement or prescription drug, and once you order them (most are between $9 and $50) they cost only your vanity.
People say they are a game changer. Of course other things help too, such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and a dark, cool bedroom. All in this in conjunction it can bring your sleep deprived body a big step closer to the state we all strive to be in: homeostasis.