Following this year’s trip to Asia, I’ve been hit with the worst case of jet lag ever.
After our first trip to Bangkok years ago, Clyde and I both suffered from jet lag, but our most annoying symptom was a tendency to doze off the minute we sat still. (This makes watching television a near impossibility, by the way.) This year, I’m got that symptom … and more!
– Going to bed at 10 pm, and waking up feeling clear-headed, refreshed, and ready to start my day … at 11:15 pm.
– Feeling a powerful impulse to sleep every moment of the day, then lying there wide awake for hours after going to bed. (Last night, I was awake from 11:15 until 2:30.)
– Feeling unfocused and short-fused.
Strangely, when traveling to Asia, I don’t feel any jet lag at all when I reach my destination — it’s only when I get back home.
So: any tips for overcoming jet lag? We’re taking melatonin at night and trying to spend a little time in the sun each day … and, at this point, I’m willing to try almost anything!
Who you tellin? I don’t have any tips, but I’ve been feeling some jet lag myself. I usually never get jet lagged.
I have noticed how much worse it always is in the Eastern direction, vs. traveling to the west. Not sure why that would be but it did factor into my decision not to work on the East coast and Europe – I would suffer from what you’re going through now while trying to attend business meetings and conferences.
About all I’ve found that helps is staying up a full night while traveling, then staying up the whole next day until evening at the destination. That seems to reset the clock for me. Don’t know if you can try that now that you’re home…
Whew! Last night was my first full night’s sleep in ages (from 9:30 to 5:30), and I feel much, much better.
Thanks for the suggestion, T. — I’ll give it a try next time around!
M.