Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattered

[zahra01]

We got home Sunday morning after 2 Weeks in Seychelles and then we broke trip home with 2 nights in Colombo. I went to work on Tuesday and then couldn't go today, I think I slept for 2 hours max. The previous two night I popped a temazapan. Whilst I was awake at 1am I am thinking this is the end of travel for me, maybe we can only go to Queensland now. I am 46.
i feel embarrassed not coming to work due to jet lag, and think that even the beds on the plane didn't really make a big difference.
anyone else fly j and still feel horrible at the end? I even took a shower in the Emirates lounge in Singapore, drank barely any alcohol, 1 glass if that.

 

[Denali]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Almost 50yrs here and Im finding the return jet lag a harder to deal with these days. My boss went to the UK for a few days and hes been back for about 4 days and hes still being knocked around at 3am and late afternoon. I usually return either Friday night or Saturday morning but next trip, we're coming home Wed night so I have a few extra days to get over it.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

We've noticed the return to Australia knocking us about too but seems like everyone is saying the same thing.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

I sleep poorly on planes, even in J and sometimes in F! However after many trips I think I have figured out the recovery - what to do when I get to the destination, either coming or going from Oz.

Everyone will be different of course, but for me its trying to do lots of walking in the sunshine (or at least the open) the day of arrival, then delaying going to bed as late as I can; taking some melatonin at that time (and for next few nights) and avoiding temazapan until I wake up at 1-3am. Sleep in, the first morning.

My last return from USA was actually my best - straight back into the home sleep rhythm.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

RooFlyer's advice is extremely sound and is the recommended way to recover.

However if in Y and off an overnight flight, I (if not going to work) collapse into bed soon after opening the door, and sleep for 10 hours. Sleep is sporadic then overnight, but I seem to then be more or less OK.

I have little doubt that as one gets older, coping with eastbound (strictly southeast from many origins) return flights is more difficult.

One other excellent strategy may be to adopt the drron approach and only travel by day, but not all of us have the time or money to choose only day flights and enjoy stopovers. Day flights can be annoying due to cabin crew insistence that window shades are kept down.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Emirates arrives into Adelaide at 8.50pm. Having left at 2.30am Dubai time. It's wicked.

 

[Denali]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Emirates arrives into Adelaide at 8.50pm. Having left at 2.30am Dubai time. It's wicked.

Do you stay awake during your flight because I have a hard time staying awake after 9.30pm.

 

[Mattg]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

On my first trip to Europe I flew straight through from/back to CBR in Y (without any stopovers). Going over to Europe was fine, I slept around 14 hours the first night and woke up at 7am the next morning feeling refreshed. The return trip though was horrible - it took me over a week to recover.

Since then I've rarely had too many problems with jetlag. But I also book my travel strategically now in order to minimise it. When flying long haul, I usually try to:

1. Have stopovers. Even just breaking up the trip for one night allows you to sleep in a proper bed and means you're adjusting to fewer time zone changes at once.
2. Avoid overnight flights. This is generally easier if you're travelling west, rather than east. Taking stopovers also helps.
3. Get a comfortable seat. Flying J helps, but if stuck in Y an exit row seat can make all the difference.

I have broken up all of my subsequent trips to Europe and never had any further problems with jetlag. On my next trip I'm spending a night in Kuala Lumpur and a night in Hong Kong before flying onwards to Frankfurt.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Do you stay awake during your flight because I have a hard time staying awake after 9.30pm.

That'd be impossible. It would mean over 30 hours with no sleep. ie wake in Dubai that morning say at 7.30 am, stay awake until departure at 2.30am (19 hours awake) then another 13 hours flight.

 

[bam71]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Coming straight home from Europe to OZ via either Asia or ME is no longer an option for us either. We're 45, it knocks us for six, days to get over it. We've found a stopover in Asia to be the best for us, afternoon arrival, a few drink and dinner then bed. Seems to work even though its only a 2 hr time difference to our home base BNE.

 

[pyffii]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

coming home from NYC we fly CX to HongKong spending a couple of nights getting over the flight and then take the CX midnight flight into Melbourne that arrives at 11.30am allowing us to wake at 9.00am local time and then easy to stay awake until late....find this works for us....We fly J and this leg is just part of our DONE5 and we have the time !!!

 

[blackcat20]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Emirates arrives into Adelaide at 8.50pm. Having left at 2.30am Dubai time. It's wicked.

QF10 isnt much better. Even in F I felt wrecked the next day.

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Almost 50yrs here and Im finding the return jet lag a harder to deal with these days. My boss went to the UK for a few days and hes been back for about 4 days and hes still being knocked around at 3am and late afternoon. I usually return either Friday night or Saturday morning but next trip, we're coming home Wed night so I have a few extra days to get over it.

Thank you, I thought there must be something wrong with me. I'd got the comfy flight and everything, I think I will start doing to stop over thing again. We used to do that years ago when we flew economy, but I assumed now when we often have a bed on the flight that we dont need to stop, but clearly we still do. The aircraft and timezones are draining regardless of seat.

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

We've noticed the return to Australia knocking us about too but seems like everyone is saying the same thing.

Thanks, I don't feel as bad now.

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

I sleep poorly on planes, even in J and sometimes in F! However after many trips I think I have figured out the recovery - what to do when I get to the destination, either coming or going from Oz.

Everyone will be different of course, but for me its trying to do lots of walking in the sunshine (or at least the open) the day of arrival, then delaying going to bed as late as I can; taking some melatonin at that time (and for next few nights) and avoiding temazapan until I wake up at 1-3am. Sleep in, the first morning.

My last return from USA was actually my best - straight back into the home sleep rhythm.

Thank you. I have never tried the Melatonin. I am glad others that have a F or J seat can still feel lousy too.

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

RooFlyer's advice is extremely sound and is the recommended way to recover.

However if in Y and off an overnight flight, I (if not going to work) collapse into bed soon after opening the door, and sleep for 10 hours. Sleep is sporadic then overnight, but I seem to then be more or less OK.

I have little doubt that as one gets older, coping with eastbound (strictly southeast from many origins) return flights is more difficult.

One other excellent strategy may be to adopt the drron approach and only travel by day, but not all of us have the time or money to choose only day flights and enjoy stopovers. Day flights can be annoying due to cabin crew insistence that window shades are kept down.

Yeah I think it is a little age related. I will build more time into itinerary in future and stop over at every leg i think !

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

On my first trip to Europe I flew straight through from/back to CBR in Y (without any stopovers). Going over to Europe was fine, I slept around 14 hours the first night and woke up at 7am the next morning feeling refreshed. The return trip though was horrible - it took me over a week to recover.

Since then I've rarely had too many problems with jetlag. But I also book my travel strategically now in order to minimise it. When flying long haul, I usually try to:

1. Have stopovers. Even just breaking up the trip for one night allows you to sleep in a proper bed and means you're adjusting to fewer time zone changes at once.
2. Avoid overnight flights. This is generally easier if you're travelling west, rather than east. Taking stopovers also helps.
3. Get a comfortable seat. Flying J helps, but if stuck in Y an exit row seat can make all the difference.

I have broken up all of my subsequent trips to Europe and never had any further problems with jetlag. On my next trip I'm spending a night in Kuala Lumpur and a night in Hong Kong before flying onwards to Frankfurt.

Yes I think stopovers is the key. The flying J hasn't made a big difference re our jetlag, but its certainly more comfortable at the time.

 

[zahra01]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Coming straight home from Europe to OZ via either Asia or ME is no longer an option for us either. We're 45, it knocks us for six, days to get over it. We've found a stopover in Asia to be the best for us, afternoon arrival, a few drink and dinner then bed. Seems to work even though its only a 2 hr time difference to our home base BNE.

yep, i think its back to stopovers for us again going forward.

 

[harvyk]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

Jet lag has very little to do with how comfortable you are on the flight, it's your circadian rhythm's which are been given the hit. You could sleep like a baby the entire way on a long haul, when those rhythms state it's now bedtime you will feel tired.

I find the best way to get myself back into rhythm is to simply push through the tiredness, making sure I don't lock myself away during the day. Having activities planned (beyond just vegging on the couch) is also relatively important, as I find as soon as I stop doing things tiredness can set in.

It's the only way I could possibly cope with 6 vastly different time zones in a week on some of the crazy trips I take. Of course YMMV.

 

[andmiz]

Re: Flying home to Melb from Colombo all in J on Ek and still jet lagged and shattere

You can't recover from desynchronosis by simply having a good sleep on the flight or when you arrive having a good snooze. It's completely regardless of how comfortable your seat is...you could fly in a VIP 747 with the best king-size bed, and still suffer the effects. It takes days to recover fully, as your body clock will synchronise by 1-1.5 hours per day. You can fight through the fatigue but it's no surprise you're waking up in the early hours of the morning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_lag

Just like 'curing' a hangover, no matter how much melatonin, blue light therapy etc. you try, the only guaranteed method is time.