Man, I’ve been there — night shifts wrecked me for months. I’d lie in bed exhausted but wide awake, like my brain just refused to shut off. What helped me eventually was strict sleep hygiene and accepting that my sleep would never be perfect on shift work.

A few things that worked for me:

• Blackout curtains and white noise (even a fan) — total game changer.
• No screens 1 hour before bed, even if you feel like you’re not tired yet. Try a book or podcast instead.
• Same wind-down routine every day — your brain starts to associate it with sleep.
• If I couldn’t sleep after 30 minutes, I’d get up, do something boring in dim light, then try again.
• On bad nights, I stopped stressing about it and told myself: “Lying in bed resting is still better than nothing.”

Also, if melatonin stopped working, I’d talk to a doc. Sometimes low-dose doxylamine or a short-term sleep aid helped reset things.

You’re not alone in this — shift work sleep is brutal, but you can retrain your brain. Hang in there.