On how to deal with sleepiness

sunflower seeds -

 

Find a place and get yourself a two hour nap. Enough to get to REM and back. Nothing cures your being tired like a full night's proper rest. It's what we are wired for. Sleep is very important.

I like to think the days of sleeping next week are long over. The last time I drove a 18 wheeler sleepy was the last time I almost killed people with one.

You can postpone it a while but eventually you will get to sleep even with the eyes open.

 

I know people don't like this idea, if someone is always sleepy and 10-20 nap does not help. It's possible you have sleeping problem. I started taking naps. Then I was taking 3-4 hour naps and still did not want get up.

I found out I had Sleep Apnea. So I got sleep machine and now I can go all day without a nap. Basically I stopped breathing 80+ time per hour for only 10 seconds but it keep you from going into REM sleep. So my eye were closed all night but my brain and body we're running a marathon trying to keep breathing all night. That would cause my blood oxygen to drop more sleeping then awake. So you wake up feeling tired.

I'm just throwing that out as something to think about if a short nap does not help.

 

How many companies allow smoking in the cab though?

 

I would recommend not replying heavily on melatonin as it can screw up your natural production among other things.

The Dark Side and Downsides of Melatonin | Van Winkle's

 

Melatonin is great unless you need to get up too soon. Might as well be hungover on some serious infedlious bender.

 

I read that article Interesting... Doesn’t tell someone with common sense very much?

Let’s take a senario I went through an you will as a driver.
You get caught by the allowed driving/working time. You are driving at night. While having to sleep during the day. Nighttime produces melatonin. I had a few tough nights. Even though I did sleep during the day. I had to stop three times one night for a short power nap. It was bad. Sleepiness affecting my ability to function mentally. Better shut down and sleep. Then one night I took a power nap. Ended up sleeping through the alarm. Slept for three hours.
Remember...we develop melatonin in the dark...not in the light.
I had my melatonin with me. Just wasn’t using it. Next day I used the melatonin. That night I drove all night with no problem.
I also think repeated sleeping during the day that wasn’t deep at all...That added up.
I am a person who worked 3rd shift for years. I loved it. Had my bedroom dark during the day. All worked well.
Then I had to go to days. Have dealt with my body clock having reset to different time and all. Never quite got back used to days. I most often slept when I felt like it. After work for instance. Then I’d be up very early in the morning. Done that a lot. I would use melatonin here and there when I really needed it.
But now with driving. I have to sleep when I have to. When having to sleep during the day, and drive at might. Melatonin can be a life saver.

 

The oilfield has taught me a lot of things. One of them is to sleep every chance I get, no matter what time of day or night it is.

 

Here is a rarely mentioned solution to sleepiness:

Stop and sleep. The freight can wait.

 

Virtually all of them.