Is there a natural remedy to help with shift work sleep patterns?

I am a 28 year old male. I am from India. I have a question regarding sleep disorder I have been observing recently. I am an IT professional and working in shifts. My shift changes every week from morning, afternoon and nights. Recently I have not been able to get enough sleep at night and even if I sleep, when waking up it does not give me enough freshness and everything looks foggy in mind. Due to shift patterns, I often change my lunch and dinner timings. This has impacted me on my memory and working skills. I don't really believe in medications, however I do yoga regularly but at different times. It seems that mind doesn't get tired enough and sleep is not covered in whole mind. Is there any natural remedy to this problem. Awaiting for your reply. Many thanks.

Answer

A good question and a common problem. Several helpful things to consider. Rotating shifts make it difficult for the body to know when to go to sleep. You can give the body cues (instead of it being dark outside) that teach it to go to sleep when needed if you need to do so at different times. These can include: 1- Find a special calming meditation that you only do 30-60 min before you intend to sleep, so your body learns this as a cue for sleep time. You can also add any or all of the below to help, but in time your body may take the meditation as an adequate cue on its own. 2- Melatonin 3-5 mg an hour before sleep 3- Ashwagandha an hour before sleep to lower cortisol (the product Sleep Tonight can be very helpful for this) 4- The smell of lavender helps sleep 5- Many herbs including valerian, passion flower, theanine, hops, jamaican dogwood and wild lettuce (The Revitalizing Sleep Formula mix) an hour before bedtime 6- A glass of warm milk when ready for sleep. All of these can be used as cues to your body to shift to sleep. Hope these are helpful.

L&B,
Dr. T