"Sleep disorders plague police officers"

[WillBrink]

I finally feel like my fitness and weight are almost under control. I would have to whole-heartedly agree with the weight factor. when I strated the Dept. I was 6'2", 215. When I promoted to Sgt. I all but stopped working out and rocketed up to 250

AKA "officer spread"

(still a force to be reconed with, just took a bit longer to get there). Thats when I really started to notice my problems. I've always been athletic and in fairly descent shape. But, the job took it's toll and I got stuck in a rut of eating crap, working long hours and dealing with stress over a rum and coke with my partners. I'm now 218 with 210 and fit as a goal.

Congrats to you sir!

I saw an ENT Dr. for the sleep study that, as much as I didn't like him, made sence when he told me if I lost 20lbs., I'd notice a difference. So, I entered a 3k mud dash and thats what kick started the drive for fitness. I've entered a 1/2 marathon in April... God help me! I'm going to echo the other posts; our Depts. fitness standards are a joke and I wish thye had a "pass or die" policy.

When you make chief, make it happen!

I'm working one PD at a time, kicking and screaming (with limited success...) to make LEO fitness/health/performance more than a catch phrase that gets lip service.

My seminars start out with a slide called "nutrition vs kevlar" and I go onto explain the reality that LE wear their vests to prevent GSW, when statistically speaking, CVD is what will kill them.

That always gets their attention.

"Back in the day" I would lift heavy and skip the cardio. But, I've done a 360 these days and, at 43, It's working out much better. Despite my attempts to fill my life with all sorts of hobbies or distraction, without the fitness it would be all for not.

Word. I stayed out late and partied last night (currently in Panama) and feel not up to spec at the moment, but I'll get some exercise today one way or another. As the saying goes "you don't have to like it, you just have to do it."

[ScarceChalice9]

I have not slept more than four hours in a row in two weeks. I just left work early, the first time I have used sick time in five years. At this point I am thinking I need to break down and go see a sleep doctor.

Has anybody else seen a doctor for sleep problems? What did/didn't work?

Yep I did a little while back. 19 years of LEO shiftwork, on a variety of shifts. My current is 4 on 4 off - 12 hrs shifts 2 days then 2 nights. Add 2+ hours of travel each day before you get anything else done, and you can imagine the quality of sleep I get.

Leaving aside body shape, fitness, sleep debt and stress, all of which are major factors, I'd really recommend seeing your doctor about sleep issues. There could be a number of underlying factors you're not aware of.

When I spoke to my doc, the first thing he did was refer me to a sleep specialist who put me on a 'recording machine'. Basically a couple of sensors you wear one night that measures many different aspects of your sleep. Once the readings of that come back, they're in a better position to help you.

I'm currently using a CPAP too. No, it's not the most comfortable to get used to, but it records all your sleep data so the specialist can review it. Seeing how many 'interruptions' I was having compared to how many when using it makes me stick through the inconvenience of it.

Go see your Doc.

[NC_DAVE]

My dept. does a 12 hour shift on a 28 day rotation from days to nights. Work M,T, off W,Th, work F,S,Su then off M,T, work W,Th, off F,S,Su. Seems the standard police schedule in this area. Been doing it for almost 4 years with a few longer stays on nights due to squad movement. I average 4 hours, 5 if I'm lucky. It's about to get worse as my wife is due July 15 with our first child. I think vitamins help...and having a "whatever" attitude about office politics...and a supportive wife.

To answer some of the OP's questions, we have no formal fitness test or program for officers to work out. I would say over half of my dept. has some form of health issues, overweight, smoking, back problems, sleepy.

I work the same schedule but we switch from days to nights every time I come back to work. My Dept. does have health evaluations, but employees only have to participate they dont have to pass. They say we can work out on the clock, BUT due to man power issues IT DOES NOT HAPPEN EVER.

Oh and by the way congrats on the baby..... glow worms are your friend.

[RioGrandeGreen]

This thread has hit home for me. Wife finally got tired of my snoring. I just went to a sleep study and the Dr. said I have severe sleep apnea. Tuesday, I get the results of the second study and what kind of cpap the Dr. recommends . I could stand to lose 20-25 pounds though. I am going to start working out to lose some weight. Sucks getting old.

[Abraxas]

I am getting back in shape, but my sleep still sucks. It has ever since the Marine Corps. At least I feel better though. I never had a weight problem and was even warned about climbing into a patrol car, but never thought it would hit me like it did.

[Ken1973]

Sounds like I work the same schedule as many of you. Work 12 hrs Mon,Tues,Fri,Sat,Sun the first week and Wed,Thur the second week. We switch Days/nights every 6 weeks. Have been working it for almost 6 years and have tried sleeping every which way. Excercise has helped a lot maybe even more indirectly by just making me feel a little more motivated to get my crap together.

Working nights I would run into the same problems. Depression, lack of motivation, trouble sleeping etc. What I have settled in to is when I get out of work Monday morning, I stay up all day with the kids (girls 3 yrs and 7 months) and after the wife gets home sleep for a good 10-12 hours. Up during the day with the kids tues, stay up a little late then sleep another 10-12 hours. Then back to work Wed night. Repeat for Fri and weekend. On the next week where I only have 2 days off I stay on a night schedule, do the dishes and all the laundry (this keeps the wife happy(er) when she has to get up at 6 am with the kids and I'm "sleeping the day away").

The benefits of this I have found are more time with the kids, more time with the wife (wife happy=everyone happy), save money on daycare, feel less like a zombie. Also the wife is less pissed when I take off for a day of shooting/training. The downside is the long days. This comes with it's own health concerns, but for me it seems to be better than the alternative.

Other stress like money, bills, health issues seem to have a great effect on my ability to sleep. When I was having a lot of trouble sleeping I was also being stupid with my money. Having some money in savings and not living so "paycheck to paycheck" is a huge relief and if at all possible I will never go back to that. Oh and auto-pay for bills is frickin awesome, especially when you work a shit schedule and can't remember what day it is.

Got a little long-winded sorry.