sunshinedawn Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I need some advice on how to overcome jet lag. We arrived on Sunday morning and I've not slept properly since we've landed. I went to bed at 10pm last night but woke up a couple of hours later wide awake even though my body is tired o couldn't get back to sleep. Any advice would be great x [emoji42][emoji42] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcguinnessp1968 Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I will watch this thread with interest given that I fly out tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcguinnessp1968 Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I’ve heard btw that melatonin helps 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themaccas Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Go back to work or spend the day out and about. The quicker you get into a routine the quicker your sleeping pattern will return otherwise it will take a week to correct. One of the best ways to not have jet lag I have found is to try and get flights back that arrive in the evening so when you get home it’s nighttime and you go straight to bed. Always works well for me and I’m a bit of an insomniac! If that’s not possible then I try and get back to work the next day. Forcing your body into a routine works very well too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinedawn Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 I stay awake all day in the hope of having a good night's sleep but it's not working for me at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themaccas Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 You need to be active during the day, either go to work or go out for the day, take a long walk, visit the city, plan a day out. Just ‘being awake’ and sitting around (if you are) won’t help much I’m afraid. I’ve tried and tested so many ways to beat jet lag and now have a formula that works for me! Get the right flight times and I go straight back to work :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinedawn Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 This is what we've been doing. We've walked all around the CBD each day since we got here. Maybe there's no hope for me!! Destined to not have sleep anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bound4Tassie Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 My life with 3 small kids is like permenant jet lag so I'm not sure I'll know the difference! Lol! 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyraceway Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 I need some advice on how to overcome jet lag. We arrived on Sunday morning and I've not slept properly since we've landed. I went to bed at 10pm last night but woke up a couple of hours later wide awake even though my body is tired o couldn't get back to sleep. Any advice would be great x [emoji42][emoji42]You arrived on Sunday, as in 2 days ago? Just give it time. Jet lag takes a number of days to fully recover from, particularly when flying West to East.Someone mentioned melatonin and that certainly helps. I’m a shift worker so use it to sleep during the day but the stuff over the counter is not strong enough and I import it from the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 It can take a week or so to get over it. Tbh I’d do things like read before bed, have a soak in the tub and not look at any kind of screen for an hour before trying to sleep. Also, if you need a nap in the day and it turns out you sleep for a few hours solid, just go with it. Your body will slowly adjust. Just get up at a regular time regardless and follow a daily routine with meals etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 It can take a week to get over jet lag. You need a good bedtime routine, maybe a soak in an epsom salt bath, read a book, no screen time, reasonable bedtime. You also need plenty of exercise in the day. Try and get out into nature, be amongst trees or on the beach and have a good long walk. That will help much more than walking around a city environment. If all else fails, try and remember that it will pass, and you will feel normal again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinedawn Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 Thanks everyone I will just have to carry on doing what I'm doing and see if it improves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 16 minutes ago, sunshinedawn said: Thanks everyone I will just have to carry on doing what I'm doing and see if it improves You will be back to normal soon. I never seem to suffer from jetlag flying to the UK but do when flying back here. Strange! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 4 hours ago, themaccas said: Go back to work or spend the day out and about. The quicker you get into a routine the quicker your sleeping pattern will return otherwise it will take a week to correct. One of the best ways to not have jet lag I have found is to try and get flights back that arrive in the evening so when you get home it’s nighttime and you go straight to bed. Always works well for me and I’m a bit of an insomniac! If that’s not possible then I try and get back to work the next day. Forcing your body into a routine works very well too. Yep pretty much what we do, try and find flights which land late afternoon / evening then stay awake until normal bedtime, we also do not try to time any sleep whilst on the plane just doze off from time to time when sleep has more power than the film. We just got back from UK last week landed Brisbane 00.45 home by 02.00 in bed by 03.00 up at 05.30 at work by 06.30 and bed that night by 22.30. Works for us whichever direction travelling, however the biggest killer is a long layover, so again we find flights which have minimum layover times, anything over 4 hours are rejected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Melatonin or Avomine (travel sick pill) and be as active as you can during the day and don’t worry about it, worrying makes it worse imho. Mind you, my philosophy is that I don’t believe in it, I just chalk it up to sheer bloody exhaustion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallyman Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 It took me 5 days to get over it this time , the first two days being the worst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I averaged 6 long haul flights a year for 10 years. Now thank goodness only 1 a year. Do agree west to east is worse. Sometimes I was absolutely fine after a couple of days, other times I could feel absolutely lousy for at least 10 days, even though I had done nothing different, and if you told me that I was really ill I would have believed you. So I have no solution to jet lag, if I had I would have bottled it and made a fortune!!! Some people swear by one or another solution, but no one I know who have flown loads has an answer that works for everyone. I do find breaking the journey helps me, even if it's only a few hours sleep in the airport hotel. Don't know how my husband coped as a long haul pilot, he never had as much trouble as me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celt Down Under Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 On 31/10/2017 at 11:00, Toots said: You will be back to normal soon. I never seem to suffer from jetlag flying to the UK but do when flying back here. Strange! Same here. Think because we are flying with the time as opposed to flying against the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABG Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I do a fair bit of traveling for work, usually 8 hour time zone shift, and I find exercise helps me get on the new timezone quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 On 10/31/2017 at 06:18, sunshinedawn said: I need some advice on how to overcome jet lag. We arrived on Sunday morning and I've not slept properly since we've landed. I went to bed at 10pm last night but woke up a couple of hours later wide awake even though my body is tired o couldn't get back to sleep. Any advice would be great x This always happened to my kids when we traveled to Australia. We used to get up with them for an hour or two when they woke up. We kept the lights low, so just put on a lamp or something, and let them watch some TV quietly. We would have a cup of tea and a biscuit and the kids had a biscuit and we would just chill for a while then go back to bed. The kids would usually settle back to sleep without too many problems and then we would just get up at a reasonably normal time in the morning. It would still take about a week for them to get over the jet lag but it was much easier to just go with it than try and fight it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouDYorkie Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I’ve heard btw that melatonin helps Yes, you can get it from the pharmacist without prescription I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderingaloud Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 The first time we came to Australia we flew at 22.00 so we were awake all day for a start, and landed at 6am. We then tried (and failed) to stay awake as long as we could and it basically meant our first week was awful! I have never let my parents come out on that same flight or one that lands in Brisbane in the am. In the 6 or 7 times they’ve been over, they’ve been over the jet lag in 1-2 days because they landed at a sensible time and pretty much went straight to bed. Anyway, for us that first time around, night after night we’d be waking up at 1am, 2am and not being able to go back to sleep (largely because we’d go to bed in the afternoon ‘just for a nap’ and we were so shattered we just ignored the alarm and kept sleeping). But it did get better. I dare say if we’d stuck it out and stayed awake we’d have been forced into a routine and might’ve overcome it a lot quicker. Sounds like it’s really early days for you so just go with it and don’t be too worried. Your body is making a huge adjustment and that will take time. If you don’t usually have problems sleeping I would avoid going down the medication route but that’s just my personal opinion. All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Wonderingaloud said: The first time we came to Australia we flew at 22.00 so we were awake all day for a start, and landed at 6am. We then tried (and failed) to stay awake as long as we could and it basically meant our first week was awful! I have never let my parents come out on that same flight or one that lands in Brisbane in the am. In the 6 or 7 times they’ve been over, they’ve been over the jet lag in 1-2 days because they landed at a sensible time and pretty much went straight to bed. Anyway, for us that first time around, night after night we’d be waking up at 1am, 2am and not being able to go back to sleep (largely because we’d go to bed in the afternoon ‘just for a nap’ and we were so shattered we just ignored the alarm and kept sleeping). But it did get better. I dare say if we’d stuck it out and stayed awake we’d have been forced into a routine and might’ve overcome it a lot quicker. Sounds like it’s really early days for you so just go with it and don’t be too worried. Your body is making a huge adjustment and that will take time. If you don’t usually have problems sleeping I would avoid going down the medication route but that’s just my personal opinion. All the best Flying late at night is perfect as you have been up all day so you get on the flight and sleep. You then sleep again on the last bit of the flight into oz, and should be able to stay awake until the evening. Sleep till morning, get up and get going on australian time, jetlag greatly reduced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus1 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 First time I came to Australia on holiday, I was in bed for about a week with jet lag, think my relatives who I was stopping with were worried they wouldn't get to see me Second time in 2006, I was up all night for the first couple of weeks, body clock totally out of step, although I did get to watch every game of the world cup, so it did have its advantages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderingaloud Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 7 hours ago, Nemesis said: Flying late at night is perfect as you have been up all day so you get on the flight and sleep. You then sleep again on the last bit of the flight into oz, and should be able to stay awake until the evening. Sleep till morning, get up and get going on australian time, jetlag greatly reduced. No, not for me. Can’t sleep on flights. I try and try and wish that I could be one of those people that can drop off anywhere but it’s to no avail. I think I might have half dozed at one point but that’s about it. So the above combo of late night flight and morning arrival meant I was awake for around 40+ hours. It absolutely buggered me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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