Cant get over jetlag

owenc

Been back 3 weeks after a 5 week trip. (5 hours behind)

In America I had a bad sleeping pattern 2am to 11am.
When I got back I tried to adjust but after like 3 days I gave up. I just couldn't get to sleep, I tried everything.Even Melatonin didn't work. So for about a week I just went to bed at 4 as it was summer. Then I tried again and I thought I could adjust back but I can't!

Yesterday I woke at 3pm and now its 5:48 and I haven't slept since! I am wide awake and can't sleep! This is ruining me, I need to get back to my sleeping pattern quickly! Someone help!

People who say that they can adjust in like a day are really talking **** with the experience i've had so far! When I tell people they just laugh at me but I actually can't adjust, its impossible!! My brain doesn't WANT to sleep!!

salamanca22

When I do it op I just force myself awake til a proper time to sleep. If I have to be awake for 30 hours then so be it! That usually does it for me and I am okay in about 2 to 3 days. It can be hard though.

I have had much worse symptoms than a bad sleeping pattern from jetlag in the past including horrible stomach cramping that made me bedridden for a day or two and horrible nausea.

Del2005

owenc wrote: »

Been back 3 weeks after a 5 week trip. (5 hours behind)

In America I had a bad sleeping pattern 2am to 11am.
When I got back I tried to adjust but after like 3 days I gave up. I just couldn't get to sleep, I tried everything.Even Melatonin didn't work. So for about a week I just went to bed at 4 as it was summer. Then I tried again and I thought I could adjust back but I can't!

Yesterday I woke at 3pm and now its 5:48 and I haven't slept since! I am wide awake and can't sleep! This is ruining me, I need to get back to my sleeping pattern quickly! Someone help!

People who say that they can adjust in like a day are really talking **** with the experience i've had so far! When I tell people they just laugh at me but I actually can't adjust, its impossible!! My brain doesn't WANT to sleep!!

I do day and night shifts so have a 12 hour change every month. The only way to do it if you can't get it right the first day is stay awake till its a proper time to sleep, as said it does be fun if you are awake 24+ hours so don't drive.

owenc

Good morning.

I am up now having only slept 6 hours. Thanks for the advice.
It really annoys me when people laugh at me when I say i'm still not over the jetlag, people seem to think you can get over it in a day. They do not realise that going eastbound is extremely hard and the fact that I did not sleep one ounce on the plane back.

Hopefully getting up early will work. But yes I am dead from tiredness!
Oh if only the whole world used the same time it would be so much simpler.

iusedtoknow

I do the 9 hour time difference between California and the continent 4 times a year for work, and jetlag only lasts me a maximum of 4 days either way. This time was actually the worst due to the timing of my flights. I usually have 1 recovery day both sides before having to be back at work

1. On the flight, I force myself into the "correct" timezone. I only eat on the plane if it is the correct time to eat.
2. Try and sleep during the normal time on the flight

Once I get to the destination

1. Light - even if I am dead tired, I get out for a walk to "reset" to the correct time. I try and eat sometime on the correct schedule
2. Bath - a bath before the normal bedtime is a great relaxant
3. Tiredness - the first few days, you will...no matter what have a crappy sleeping schedule, despite your best efforts you will wake up at ridiculous times and feel like you can't get to sleep. Instead of fighting it, get up and read (no computers, especially at night, as the backlight can fool you into thinking it's day time).

You're home long enough, the general rule of thumb is 1 day for each hour changed. This has crossed from jetlag and into something that you may need to see your doctor about.

owenc

Well my flight left at 11pm so I couldn't exactly adjust to that..

?Cee?view

owenc wrote: »

B

Yesterday I woke at 3pm and now its 5:48 and I haven't slept since!

What are you doing in bed until 3pm?! Get up. Have you nothing to do. Your body will soon adjust if you get up and get back to normal e.g. up at 7am, keep busy during the day doing whatever you do, get a bit of light exercise if possible.

If you're staying in bed til 3pm you yourself are prolonging your jet lag.

owenc

Yea I think maybe thats what it is.

I'm off so I never really bothered trying to adjust lol but now that i'm trying I can't really do it.

Reindeer

I read an article not too long ago that stated it can take up to 2 weeks to adjust to a new sleep schedule with any sort of consistency. I personally just force myself to stay awake with coffee a few days. I had a 2 weeks day shift and 2 weeks night shift schedule - it was killing me.

mel.b

I fly to Australia to visit family at least once a year and I am over jetlag in a matter of days. As another poster said, put your watch on your destination time as soon as you board and try to match that as much as possible. Yes, it's difficult if your flight leaves at 10pm and it's really 7am in the country you are flying to, but I try to then stay awake for as long as I can - movies, books etc. Or if I have to sleep even if it's midday in the country I've just left, I have an eye mask and music and I put the chair back and a do not disturb sticker on the my seat and just shut my eyes. Eventually I'll fall asleep. I find after arriving in OZ, around 5 - 6pm is the worst time for me for a few days - I could fall asleep then but that is no good as I'd be awake at 3am in the morning. Instead I get up, go for a walk - anything to keep moving and within a few days I'm fine.

owenc

How anyone can put their watch to 4am and expect to suddenly sleep is beyond me.

smurfjed

4am and expect to suddenly sleep is beyond me

Stay away from coffee, use eye shades and ear plugs, try to live a stress free life :) The opposite side of this problem is trying to stay awake when your body wants to sleep, especially in a dark cockpit.

jaymcg91

Exactly, most people get over jetlag fairly quickly. Plus 5 hours isn't that much really (I do it about once per month - the joys of a long distance relationship). California is much worse at 8 hours. I can only imagine how **** it is coming from Australia or New Zealand.

Although a plus / negative for me is that I often have to go to work pretty much straight after landing, so I can't really indulge in jetlag, I have a job to do. Earliest I'll sleep then is 7pm, which is perfect.

owenc

No 5 hours is worse than Australia because you don't get any time to sleep!!

You leave at 11 and then all of a sudden its 10.

Greenmachine

owenc wrote: »

No 5 hours is worse than Australia because you don't get any time to sleep!!

You leave at 11 and then all of a sudden its 10.

Care to explain?

owenc

You can sleep on the plane..

salamanca22

owenc wrote: »

You can sleep on the plane..

In fairness you can also sleep on the plane from the US to Ireland too. I have done it and vice versa. I have also done it vancouver - heathrow on an 8 hour flight.

owenc

Try and sleep for 5 hours. Aye so beneficial.

salamanca22

owenc wrote: »

Try and sleep for 5 hours. Aye so beneficial.

I think you need some sleep op. You are cranky.

iusedtoknow

owenc wrote: »

Try and sleep for 5 hours. Aye so beneficial.

I average 4 or 5 hours sleep on most of my transatlantic flights. It's enough to kick you into the next day.

From what I understand, this is your first time going to the US. A lot of us take whatever we can get with sleep on the flight, especially when we're doing it a few times a year

From NY on the 10 pm flight...I would forgo food AND alcohol, put on the eyemask and earplugs and try sleep as much as I can. Even just 3 hours is enough to get you started for the day, and maybe a 30 minute nap in the afternoon to get you through to 9pm or 10pm. The mistake a lot of people make is having a big dinner before leaving the US, when it's better to join the flight not starved, but not full either. Also..a couple of beers on the flight does nothing for your sleep.

I've gotten of flights and been at the office the same day - it's doable, especially when you have something

In short...you're going to have to force yourself into a regular pattern from now, even if you have nothing to get up at 8am for.

ProudDUB

Not everyone can sleep sitting up, or sleep at time that isn't their regular bed time. It can also be hard to sleep when it isn't dark, when there is noise from other passengers and cabin crew and, when the vibrations from the engines all conspire to keep you awake. That is how it is for me anyway. I envy people who can sleep wherever they are.

OP, I lived in the US for 18 years. For years, I followed all the rules - don't drink, get into the timezone of home as soon as possible, don't eat a heavy meal before flying, don't go to bed till bedtime when I get home. I did it all by the book, yet my first week at home was still wreaked by jet lag. I'd fall asleep at 11pm ok, but I'd be wide awake from 2am-7am. I'd sleep from 7am to 3pm and lost half the day coz I was sleeping. It was bloody awful.

Then by accident, I found a solution that worked for me. I now have two glasses of red wine on the flight. (I know, I know, it is breaking rule #1, but screw it. ) The vino gets me sleepy enough, so that I can doze for a bit on the plane. I don't fall completely asleep, but I am out of it just enough. Then it is straight into bed as soon as I get home. I sleep for 2-4 hrs. No more. Then up and at it for the rest of the day. On night #1, I go to bed at 11pm. Sometimes I sleep like a log, sometimes my sleep is a bit patchy. But I get up at 8am the next day, no matter how tired I feel or how little sleep I got. Do the same the following night & morning.

Getting up at 8am on the first couple of morning is hard initially. It is very tempting to sleep on, especially if you don't have to get up to go to work, or you just had a patchy nights sleep. But it is important to get up. If you sleep in past that, it is asking for trouble. I am pretty much useless for first 2-3 days home. But at least the entire week is not flushed down the toilet the way that it once was. My body is now able to adapt to an Irish sleeping pattern, in less than half the time that it used to take.

I think that getting to doze on the plane and the short nap when I get home, fools my body into thinking that it got a good nights sleep, when it really didn't. My internal biorhythms think that I did & that is what that matters.

owenc

Fell asleep at 12 and up now! Still tired though.

Bummer1234

It takes alot of work OP,

I was the same coming from Boston,What you need is what a few peeps here have been saying...Stay awake all you can, Do something outside even if you don't wanna, Mine been head out for a few drinks with friends, Set alarm clock for your ordinary waking up time before you head out and it'll gradually come back to you.

Reindeer

owenc wrote: »

Try and sleep for 5 hours. Aye so beneficial.

I get that amount often without the benefit of jet lag.

Sounds like you need to man up some.

endofrainbow

I must be the exception to every rule - I suffer flying east to west but am back to normal the next day flying west to east.

biddywiddy

endofrainbow wrote: »

I must be the exception to every rule - I suffer flying east to west but am back to normal the next day flying west to east.

Me too!

Going west to east, I try to get some sleep on the plane (maybe an hour or two but, often, I don't get any sleep), then after landing in the morning, just try to stay awake til 10 or 11pm. Get up the next day as normal.

I'm always wiped out after east to west. Though lately, as east to west happens after visiting home, I'm probably exhausted from trying to fit everyone and everything into a short visit.

circular flexing

What I find helps is setting your watch to the timezone that you are arriving in as soon as you get on the plane. This means that before I even arrive home, my brain is thinking in the correct timezone and that helps a lot, imo. Also I try to get some sleep on the plane by avoiding coffee the day before, having a light meal at the airport, not watching any inflight entertainment and not taking any meal on the plane. I did this the last coming (coming back from Vancouver) and was over jetlag in a day.

FatherTed

owenc wrote: »

Try and sleep for 5 hours. Aye so beneficial.

I rarely get more than 6 hours on a normal basis.
Go to bed at a normal hour and stop sleeping until 3 in the afternoon even though its hard.

breadmonkey

I used to do night shift work and would often switch back to a daytime sleeping pattern by going out for the night and getting absolutely blitzed! e.g. finish work at 7:30, go home and sleep until about 17:00, then go out that night, in bed by say 3:00 and then I'd be back on a daytime rhythm when I woke up again.