Julias back today...

Julia · Post by **Julia** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 1:24 am

Still awake!
Jet lag isnt fun!

Getting WASTED in the bar before you leave and then on the flight home is though! :lager:

CB · Post by CB » Thu Aug 14, 2003 1:36 am

Ok so I'm predictable - but its true. Jetlag DOES NOT EXIST.

Trust me.

Mr_AWOL · Post by **Mr_AWOL** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 1:43 am

Trust me.

charlieannear · Post by **charlieannear** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 1:51 pm

I have to agree with you CB, it's all in the mind.

Julia · Post by **Julia** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:38 pm

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Cappy · Post by **Cappy** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 7:25 pm

But if you travel through different time zones it must affect the body some how.

stephen T · Post by **stephen T** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:15 pm

i dont think it exists either.

Pauline · Post by **Pauline** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:27 pm

I get it going west but not coming back east - went to San Fransisco (8 hours time difference) a few years ago and trying to eat out with friends at 7pm on the first evening was weird - it was 3 in the morning to us and I was knackered! We ended up having a 32 hour day

But I was wide awake at 3am - thankfully McDonalds was open for breakfast just round the corner

Coming home was easier - I enjoyed having a 16 hour day - got up, ate, and then practically went straight back to bed

MattB · Post by **MattB** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 9:34 pm

When I went over to USA I was fine. We left UK at about 10am and after an 8 hour flight I felt fine. I finally got to sleep at about 4am our time (11pm USA) and woke up the next day withuot any problem.

When I came back from USA I felt terrible - 7 hour flight and we got in at 9am Monday. I stayed awake all Monday and went to bed at about 10pm. I tried to wake up on Tuesday morning but it didn't happen!

It took me a good week or so to get my sleep patterns back to normal and not feel so incredibly exhausted.

Whatever you want to call it, jetlag or no jetlag, it really messed me up!

CB · Post by CB » Fri Aug 15, 2003 8:38 am

Its not jetlag - just an interruption to your regular sleep pattern. The human body is a sucker for habits, and if you go to bed at the same time and get a regular amount of sleep each night, it rebels against it when you do something "out of the ordinary"...Ask any Shift Worker...it takes time to get into the pattern. A study a few years ago suggested it takes the human body nearly two weeks to recover from staying awake for two nights (sleeping in between) - like the transition us shift workers in the military and the firemen do (the difference is that firemen don't stay awake all night - thay get a bed in the station). I work 2 days, 2 nights then 4 off, my sleep patterns are regularly fucked and to the individual not used to this kind of irregular sleeping it can induce similar symptons to jet-lag. But you get used to it over time (to a degree). I used to do a job where i spent the majority of my year flying, both East and West and after a while time-zone changes don't affect you at all (top tip, set your watch to the local time of your destination as soon as you get airborne, and take your meals at the new local time, no matter when they try and serve you on the plane) - why do you think Aircrew and Cabin-Crew don't walk round in a full-time zombie state? Because jet-lag is a misconception. IMHO

charlieannear · Post by **charlieannear** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 11:38 am

(top tip, set your watch to the local time of your destination as soon as you get airborne, and take your meals at the new local time, no matter when they try and serve you on the plane) - why do you think Aircrew and Cabin-Crew don't walk round in a full-time zombie state? Because jet-lag is a misconception. IMHO

And don't just sleep the whole way either.
I think consumption of booze is down to personal preference, but I tend to get a trolley dolly to show me where the beer is kept, then do my best to empty said location. :lager:
To minimise disruption to my sleep pattern, what I do is this:
Arrive at your destination- if it's morning stay up until everyone else goes to bed, and if it's night time, go to bed.
The next morning get out of bed and get on with life.

Jet lag is for wusses.

MattB · Post by **MattB** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:00 pm

Umm.. I thought that jetlag was just the name given to a interruption of sleep patterns due to the timezone difference...

In which case I was suffering from jetlag, which is what CB has described it as being...?!

charlieannear · Post by **charlieannear** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 12:45 pm

Sorry Matt, I gues I didn't use enough smileys on that post!

Yeah, as you say, it's just knackered sleep patterns, from which you were suffering.

I was just trying (unsuccesfully) to put forward my way of coping with it.
Deny it!

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 4:20 am

I agree with MattB. Jetlag is an interruption of sleep patterns due to timezone differences experienced by air travel. I hardly get it at all going west (I was practically fine when I arrived in UK) but I do going east (I was shattered for 2 days when I got back, despite immediately changing my meals and sleep times and a bit of chemical help as well).

CB, sorry mate but you described it perfectly. And therefore it exists. Trust me I'm a doctor...

Mr_AWOL · Post by **Mr_AWOL** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:27 pm

why do you think Aircrew and Cabin-Crew don't walk round in a full-time zombie state? Because jet-lag is a misconception. IMHO

Because their flights/shifts are deliberately scheduled so that they are not affected at the time of flight, if at all