Hurley's Gold

Jetlag...How do you guys deal with it?

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  • busykngt

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    Haven’t found anything but the passage of time to get my body clock re-acclimated to my current time zone. For me, the effects of jet lag seem to be worse when traveling from east to west. Most people say the opposite of this. I typically travel eleven time zones (11 hours) difference. That just makes your day of departure stretch on forever - which tends to wear me out. And usually costs me at least three days to catch up to some semblance of a normal schedule.
     
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    Riksors

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    My biological clock gets messed up traveling east to west. For me, flying with the flow of the Earth’s rotation is a problem. While flying the opposite is not.

    Proper hydration, changing my watch/time to destination, sleep, melatonins, exercise, seems to work first couple of days but then it creeps back up eventually. No matter what I do it still gets me.

    I wonder how the pilots do it. Hopefully, someone can shed some light on.
     

    Fishkiller

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    Not sure how the pilots do it. For me it was just grind it out. No fun being a zombie for a couple of days. I would usually crash about 2 in the afternoon. Nap for an hour and then good to go. East to west and west to east got me every time. My personal solution was I declined work that required me to travel more than 3 time zones, of course I had enough time in position and reputation that the man let me do almost whatever I wanted.
     

    BMF500

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    Coffee or Benadryl, depending or the symptom. It gets worse with age. Early 20’s no big deal, approaching 40 it takes 3-4 days to get right.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    It takes a couple days, but get back into your normal sleep habits immediately. If you went to bed at 10 pm in Germany, go to bed at 10 pm locally. Same for waking up. That is the quickest way to get over jet lag. No snoozing or napping during the day.
     

    Dawico

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    Always just had to work through it. Time healed.
    This.

    While I can't say me driving cross country really is considered jet lag I have had a few projects that had to be done at night.

    Power through it and your internal clock will adjust.

    That being said I have a physical job so keeping moving keeps me awake. Sitting at a desk or similar would be more difficult.
     

    majormadmax

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    You eventually get used to it. I have been traveling 1-2 weeks a month for almost the past nine years, and it no longer affects me as it once did. My distance record travels were from Germany to Okinawa, Japan to Brazil and a non-stop flight from the UAE back to the US. Those were some brutal trips!

    When I was in the USAF, the common belief was that it took a day to recover from every time zone crossed, but many times we were heading home before that occurred.

    I too find going east more difficult than the opposite direction, my solution is to try and get outside and walk around instead of going asleep as soon as I get to my destination (usually in the early afternoon when traveling in that direction). I also take an Advil PM or two when it comes time to sleep, but those tend to make me a bit groggy in the morning. Good German coffee is my solution to that!

    Another factor is altitude, I just spent a week in Colorado Springs and as many don't realize, it's actually higher than the "Mile High City" of Denver. I slept like crap the entire time I was there, and the dryness didn't help either. My sinuses were blocked solid every morning. That stinks as I love that area up there, but it does take some time to acclimate!

    Another suggestion is to stay well hydrated, eat well and stay away from caffeine and alcohol. Those last two are tough to do when I am overseas, but I try to put off both as long as I can (and usually fail).
     

    baboon

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    It's been a long time, but I asked my doctor for something to sleep because I was traveling. I'd go to sleep on the plane & wake up in the morning time I be getting up to hunt. Did the same on the return fights.
     

    Reinz

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    Ambien was my savior on all of my Hawaii trips - Zero jet lag. I know everyone reacts differently to meds, especially Ambien.
     

    toddnjoyce

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    Not sure how the pilots do it.
    I know this was brought up before the OP edited the first post.

    Here's the short answer: the schedule is built around circadian rhythms and mandatory rest periods.

    Long answer: The typical airline trip bid would be depart US on day 1, layover for at least 24 hours then return. The more senior guys will bid a morning departure from US and an early afternoon departure that's 36-48 hrs after landing for the trip back. One direction will mostly be in daylight, the other will be mostly dark. Then you get four to five days off and do it again. A lot of guys on those trips don't even attempt to adjust to time zones...they just stay on whatever time 'home' is.
     

    sidebite252

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    I always just worked through it on the work side of the trip. Busted it in a day or so but coming home you have to force yourself to be awake when you want to sleep in the middle of the day. Even when you wake up at 1 or 2 am and can’t sleep don’t take that 2 hour nap in the afternoon. It prolongs the torture.
     

    dsgrey

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    I got out of traveling for work just a few months before 9/11 and can't imagine long journeys now. Most of my staff are from India and one person left over the weekend for her every 2 year trip. She leaves her door in DFW and arrives "at home" in 36 hours via a couple of layovers plus the train ride since home isn't one of the major cities.
     
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