Sleep Apnoea, Shift Work and Your Washing Machine – What On Earth Have They Got In Common?

Author: Audra Starkey

Author: Audra Starkey

If youve ever suffered from sleep apnoea then youve no doubt spent plenty of time battling with constant fatigue and tiredness. When your sleep apnoea causes you to stop breathing during the night AND you get up at odd times (shift work), then its no wonder that you wake up feeling like youve just been hit by a Mac truck!

This disruptive sleep pattern is a bit like interrupting your washing machine as it goes through its wash cycles. (You probably think I've lost my marbles right now but just stick with me here).

You see, just like your washing machine needs to go through certain cycles to complete a wash, so too does your brain when its asleep.

In order for you to wake up feeling refreshed, its imperative that you wake up at the end of a completed sleep cycle. (In the perfect world we would because we wouldn't be dictated by our alarm clocks!) . In the example below, your washing machine has 5 cycles that it must complete in order for it to wash your clothes properly.

Stage 1: Loading of the machine and adding the powder.

Stage 2: The wash.

Stage 3: The rinse

Stage 4: The spin

Stage 5: The emptying of the machine.

Now imagine if you stopped the washing machine half-way through its cycle and you took out your clothes to wear. Im picturing wet and soggy underwear here - covered in clumps of washing powder! Not pretty. Your clothes would not be clean and rinsed because you didnt let the machine finish its entire cycle.

This is exactly what happens when you wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle (aka shift workers and sufferers of sleep apnoea). Your brain hasnt finished doing what its supposed to do.

So when your alarm clock goes off and you stagger out of bed in the middle of the night, your brain has been interrupted making you feel fuzzy and disorientated.

Its like trying to wear your clothes even though your washing machine hasnt finished its cycle. . Have you ever gone into work with your shirt still wet and covered in washing powder stains? I'm thinking (and hoping) not - but this is exactly what you're doing when you push your body to work against its natural sleep cycles. .

So to my fellow shift workers and sufferers from sleep apnoea dont beat yourself up that youre not bouncing out of bed when that alarm clock goes off. You cannot expect to function at 100% when your sleep is constantly being disrupted. Just manage it the best way that you can and if need be book yourself in for a bit of a nana nap later in the day! . Still need more help coping with shift work? Then I recommend you read an article called - Why Shift Workers Are So Tired, Unhealthy & Unhappy! This Free Report is a hands on report written from one shift worker to another and its going to open your eyes to a completely different way of coping with constant fatigue and tiredness. Click Here For Instant Access to Your Healthy Shift Worker Free Report About the Author:

Audra is a Shift Work and Airline Veteran based in Brisbane, Australia. She is the author and creator of 'The Healthy Shift Worker' - a website designed to teach people how to cope with the perils of working shift work.

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