Part of my job duties involve being the tech person on standby during intentional video conferences held regularly in my job.

After setup and testing, usually this involves me sitting in a chair facing a room full of VIPs and jumping up when there's issues, cameras need to be adjusted etc.

The problem I'm facing is I keep having "micro sleeps", especially when ill (and unable to call in sick for various reasons). I'd doze and jerk awake when my head falls.

And I'll doze despite being cold, despite having a laptop in my lap to monitor the connection and despite being extremely anxious.

As I'm in the front of the room, people have noticed and this work environment has cases of people being barked at for having a sore throat rendering their speech less clear (Yep, I'm not a fan of the work culture). It's only a matter of time before I encounter someone who'll complain.

Any tips? Pinching myself doesn't keep me alert.

[sito]

I take 3 caffeine pills to stay awake

[notz]

Have you thought of standing instead?

Drink water?

[hopealwayz]

I agree with the standing.

Hmm, I'll try standing! Thanks, I honestly didn't think of such a thing.

Not sure about water, depends if there's a break where I'm "allowed" to hit the bathroom.

[sito]

IT Admin don't usually stand up while working. There chairs in most companies.

[sito]

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Drink water?

I drink water too but it doesn't keep me awake. I just pee alot more

[seesaw]

Are you taking any medications that could be making you drowsy? Could you adjust the time of day you take them? Also, could you ask your psychiatrist about nuvigil or provigil? They are drugs for helping people stay awake. My psychiatrist was going to put me on Nuvigil at one point but I managed to address my fatigue by adjusting my current medications.

Honestly, before meetings at work, I often drink an energy drink to I'll have enough energy for that meeting, so I know what you're going through.

Seriously, i would talk to your doctor to see if they can help you find a solution. Also, maybe a sleep study is in order to make sure you are actually getting enough sleep.

Good luck,
seesaw

I'll try coffee before the meetings if I've time before having to rush in. Some of these are really short notice - drop everything and go kind of thing.

I do take my antidepressants at night, I could take them earlier in the evening, just in case because I've occasionally had that drowsy problem without being sick before.

I no longer really have a psychiatrist. Last appointment with him is 5 months away, unless I talk to the case manager to insist on being stepped down to a GP which is what my psychiatrist wants. I don't think he'd prescribe me those drugs because he's pretty dismissive of my concerns / reluctant to adjust my medication as I'm "stable".

I think I'll see if I can bring a bottle of water into those conferences and stand periodically. As well as hope there's a toilet break as these things can go for 4 hours at a stretch without breaks.

[leavesfall]

I wash my face usually or stand up and walk around

[Justbyou]

I was having a super hard time staying awake at work and could fall asleep anywhere within just a couple of minutes. It was horrible. So bad I did a sleep study and was diagnosed with hypersomnia. They prescribed the medication seesaw was referring to. Provigil. I'm taking the generic form of it, but it has helped tremendously. I can now go to meetings and focus instead of worrying about falling asleep.

Okay, just had one hour long videoconferencing where I drank strong coffee 10 minutes beforehand stood the whole time and sipped water.

Didn't doze, but boy I felt I had heavy eyelids though the coffee helped somewhat with alertness levels. High anxiety and definitely jittery. Not to mention a full bladder.

Maybe it's sleep problems since I got 6 hours last night. :/

There's another videoconferencing later today expected to last about 2 hours. Will see how it goes. :/