Jet Lag

[wiliferus]

Am currently on holiday in the Caribbean so east to west, day time flight with a -5 hour time difference.

First night stayed up as late as we could till about 9pm having been up since 6am UK time, so had been up about 20 hours. Woke up at 3.30 local time.

Second night tonight and I’m sat on the balcony at 5.30 wide awake after 6hrs sleep.

In the UK bedtime is 10 - 10.30 and I wake up about 7.

Any pro tips for adjusting my body clock, or is it just a case of suck it up and my body will slowly adjust. I thought east to west was meant to be easier. Going home should be fun.

TLDR: first world problem, can’t sleep on holiday. Help.

[rfsteel]

I used to do a lot of UK - Oz trips back in 2008-10 and the best thing to do is adjust your eating times to combat the jet lag, if you body is needing food, it will wake you up.

Best thing I found was to eat at the normal time in the time zones you are in, so that your body doesn't wake you up on UK times.

Either that or drink yourself to sleep, I'm afraid.

[GT03ROB]

It just takes a few days, but you will get there

[spikeyhead]

If you're not used to it, then it will take about a day for each hour of timeshift for you body to adjust.

[hotchy]

Don't worry. Around the second week you'll be rushing down for breakfast before they close at 10.

[Pinkie15]

Look on the bright side, you'll be one of the first in for breakfast and then the loungers by the pool that are in the sun all day

[67Dino]

I used to do a lot of long haul trips to the West coast.

What worked for me was:
- Get lots of sunshine
- Do some exercise
- Don’t drink too much alcohol
- Don’t nap during the day
- Go to bed only when really tired
- If all else fails, take a low dose of Melatonin before bed (available in health food shops and pharmacies, not seen as a drug over there, just a supplement).

As others have said, can take a few days to adjust.

Edited by 67Dino on Thursday 2nd June 17:29

[wiliferus]

Thanks gents. It seems to be slowly getting better. First day as said was about 3am, yesterday was about 5am, today I woke up at 6 - and I can live with that!

Appreciate the advice (not sure about staying away from alcohol )

Also, a gratuitous sunset picture

Enjoy your extended jubilee weekends.

[67Dino]

Beautiful pic of Caribbean sunset.

Mods - please move to “First World Problems” thread…

[schmokin1]

Try a west coast trip followed, after a couple of days off, with a Kuala Lumpur! Yours is nothing, ya big jess!

Get yourself to the bar and work up some tiredness. Hth

[wiliferus]

All sorted in the end. Back home tomorrow. So that’s when the fun starts. Night flight (I don’t sleep on planes).
I’m hoping my previous years as a shift worker may stand me in good stead for powering through the tiredness.

[GT03ROB]

schmokin1 said:

Try a west coast trip followed, after a couple of days off, with a Kuala Lumpur! Yours is nothing, ya big jess!

Get yourself to the bar and work up some tiredness. Hth

Fooking poof that is nothing….. we can all beat that…