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Are you switching from days to graveyard? That's a tough transition. Make sure that your bedroom is as dark as dark can be even if it's light out. You will need to convincingly fool your body into thinking it's night, though this won't really work. Your inner clock will end up screwy no matter what you do. You should stay up as late as you can, as long as you can, and get used to drinking coffee at incredibly odd hours.
Were you ever one of those people, perhaps in your younger years, that could just sleep at the drop of a hat? Take a nap or some such? Because trying to remember that ability may help a bit.
If all else fails, doxylamine succinate is a short-term sedative available over the counter. I find it puts me to sleep but I wake up without the grogginess that diphenhydramine HCL gives me.
Graveyard is the pits, but it wasn't as bad as the half-graveyard shift I worked throwing freight for Target one Christmas. I had to be at the store at either 2am, 3am, or 4am, depending on what we were getting in, so I would go to bed at 10pm with my SO like normal, get up, go to work, come home, and sleep some more. When I worked true graveyard, I would try and take an evening nap before work, then go to work, drink a lot of coffee, come home and sleep for about 4-6 hours. I could never seem to sleep more than 4-6 hours in the daytime without some sort of sleep aid.
Good luck!
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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