How can I adjust my sleeping pattern to work for my evening shift?

[Jessica]

My work calls it a Night shift but it's more of an evening shift to me. However, it's from 4.30pm to 2.30am and I get home about 3, after i've got ready for bed and taken my make up off, i'm in bed by 3.15ish. My body is having the biggest trouble adjusting to it. I can't seem to adjust. It's making me tired, hungry all the time, irritable and emotional too it seems.

I generally try sleep from 3.15 to 10.30/11am so I have a few hours during the day, but when I get to work i'm starting to get hungry as I know dinner is usually around 6-7 and our dinner breaks aren't until 9.30pm, so I snack a lot. I've gained 5kg since doing this evening shift. My body automatical around 10 wants to go to bed. Even though it should be wide awake from the 8hrs sleep. If I sleep until 1-2 for that 10hrs... It's still the same. It's really annoying, no matter how much caffine, tea or soft drink I have, I cannot wake myself up. It's really effecting my work. Not to mention I do some very repetitive and easy work, only a few people work in my area of the office so there isn't much social interaction and I get so bored doing it too... My body just won't adjust. Any tips would be amazing. I can't keep this up.

[Quincy]

What my dad did was he stayed up all night then slept the night h need to go to sleep he did untill he was used to sleeping durning the day

[Tutamen]

See if you can blag a prescription for Methylphenidate or Methylphenidate Hydrochloride from your local pharmacist. Unless of course you've been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, in which case you can simply approach your general physician with a request. Either way, it is a stimulant and a focusing agent. It works wonders if one wishes to stay up for long hours and study, but I also believe it could help you with your general 'shift readiness'. Simply take one prescription dosage before work coupled with a big mug of coffee, and your physiological internally based 'routine' ticker will be easy to block out.

The drug can be dropped when the routine sets in, it just seems like you need something that will take your focus away from your body and put it more into your mind while your body finally stops griping. And that's pretty much the idea of the drug in question.

Note; it's often marketed as Ritalin - a name you may have heard of.