RB! My last job often involved that shift and it really can be rough with BP. It might be that for some, a full-on shift in one's schedule helps ameliorate it, but that can be hard to do, depending on circumstances. In my situation, it wasn't feasible, as I also worked days and occasionally swing shift. Days worked and shift worked were random. That's undoubtedly the worst situation(!) One problem with that shift (in my case) was that instead of being tired come morning, I was wired. In a bad way. Also, sometimes visual perceptions went wonky. Rather freaky driving home sometimes. There were some hallucinations, even after sleep, both visual and motion. Those things can happen to "normals" too, but I'd have to guess we're more prone to it. I never knew where one left off and the other began.

If you are able to switch to days (or even swing shift), I'd really recommend it. Personally, I didn't find pills helpful. I very rarely have trouble staying awake for ridiculous spans of time, but on the rare sleepyhead occasion, caffeine pills were horrid. Talk about feeling shite. At the other end, trying to "un-wire" (mind you, "wired" did not require assistance) took too much chemical intervention, and even then was only successful for a few hours at best, and certainly nothing even approaching a decent amount of sleep. Then stuck in mental limbo-land. Oh. And med adjustment had no effect as it was not a med issue, but a circadian one.

Anyhow, yes, see if you can get switched to days. I was able to speak up both for days and for limiting graveyard shift runs w/o disclosing by simply saying it was "medically contraindicated" or that my medical provider had said that I shouldn't. For him, that was enough. (Didn't mean he never ever asked, just that I had established a boundary to refer to in turning it down when it came up.)

All that said, don't be too hard on yourself. Overwhelm/toilet time can happen on any shift, and has probably happened to all of us. And "normals" too. Your manager was impressed with your hard work and said so. I should think this would incline him(her?) to work with you in finding a schedule that works.

Good luck and keep us posted!