I've not slept all night and now got to do a 12 hour shift in hospital

[sunshineandkindle]

Would you do it? I started a new medication for my fibromyalgia and I haven't slept the whole night as it turned me into an insominic. Aibu to call in sick

I’ve done this many times over my 20 year career. I’m clinical based with patients but not the responsibility of life or death decisions more a therapeutic role.. I just caffeine up and crack on. I’d have been pulled up for sickness if i’d took a day off every time i don’t sleep. I actually function fine on no sleep: I feel a bit tired around tea time but the days nearly done. I know plenty of staff that barely sleep when onn night shifts esp the first one.

I don’t have fibromyalgia though so i understand that adds another layer.

Depends . If you have insomnia often or not.

if you have it often then you know that you will be ok and will have coping mechanisms. I have gone to work many times on no sleep.

if it’s a one off then stay at home as you will be in shock. I remember he first time . It felt like the worst thing in the world. I called in sick the first few times it happened.

I tried duloxetine for pain and it ultimately helped with the pain, but I felt so ill, like I had flu all the time. Went on for five weeks until I called it a day. Hope you can find a way to make it (or something else) work. And yes call in sick (sounds like you already have).

pers I don’t think it matters what your job is, I think it only depends on whether you think you can work through or not. If you don’t think you can, you shouldn’t , if you have in the past and feel this is just a thought, then you can. I don’t think your job should make a difference

As someone who has suffered from insomnia in the past, if it is 1 night only and you got 5 hours + other nights, you'll muddle through. If you weren't sleeping much for a few days before this, call in sick

https://www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/the-impact-of-staff-fatigue-on-patient-safety/

Take the day to consider a route forward.

Firstly I hope you manage a quick rest at least.secondly annoying how often new meds often have this effect. A steroid cream was prescribed. No mention until looked up online

I am a GP ..I have called in sick when I have been awake all night.

Have a couple of coffees and get on with it. A bath and early night tonight and you’ll be fine again.

If you have to drive to get there, then I’d take the day. Tiredness/lack of sleep for over 24hrs is as dangerous as drink driving and medically related insomnia is no defence if you kill someone (and not much comfort to your family if you are injured or killed either).

I’d take a sick day (you ARE sick), but book a medication review with your GP if your reaction to the medication does not resolve by Sunday. It may be worth speaking to a pharmacist tomorrow if it persists as there may be steps you can take (eg take the medication earlier in the day etc).

Call in sick if you work in healthcare. It’s not fair to the patients.

I am clinical and also work 12 hour shifts. My sleep pattern is all over the place and trying to survive the day can be really tough. Its is harder when you have a few in a row too. I truly empathise. Hopefully you've got the weekend off to catch up.

Call in sick.

I've done a day's work after a night of no sleep. Your usual daily rhythms plus adrenaline tend to kick in to enable you to cope, though it's not fun. I hope you sleep better tonight, OP.

People shouldn't be going to work while sleep-deprived. I'm amazed how many people do and how it's seemingly fine and okay with management (who probably don't see people as human anyway).

For goodness sake, Duloxetine is a terrible drug! I can't believe you have been prescribed it for fibromyalgia. As you've only just started it, you can stop it now and won't be worse off for it. It is absolute Hell to come off if you've been taking it a while. It seriously messes with your brain. Some doctors won't prescribe the drug and there have been calls for its withdrawal here and in America.

If you are on facebook there are several groups devoted to duloxetine (Cymbalta).

I have suffered with insomnia for over 20 years and worked within the nhs. I would often worked 13 hour shifts on literally an hours sleep. Management were very unsupportive and each separate time off sick triggered a strike if it was in a certain period of time - 3 strikes led to a disciplinary so I had no choice but to go to work. After 3 separate days off sick with insomnia I was eventually called in for a disciplinary even though my professional record was exemplary and I was pretty much the best employee in my team.I actually jumped before I was pushed and left my job as I didn’t want to be sacked. I’m not sure if the nhs still functions like this now but it never made much sense to me - working in a clinical environment with zero sleep is potentially quite dangerous but I had no choice because if I didn’t I would have lost my job which I did anyway - employees with genuine insomnia should be praised for having time off not punished. It’s a terrible situation - I hope you are ok

How did you get on OP? My shift turned out to be ok - busy the full 11 hours but manageable but that's to do with a good team on, I'm not sure if same goes for next weeks shifts.

I was tired, struggling by 4.30 but done it but I'm not sure if I would have, had I been in pain like you.

I don't get this diagnosis of Fibro - needs to be more about it - it's a physical illness quite clearly but the tests for anything are never positive for anything, I have a family member with it. I hope you get a solution to it all.