How to Survive Jet Lag, My Take

The scourge of the long haul flyer.

Yes, the loss of sleep, the heavy head, the tired eyes, the feeling of fatigue and irritability. These are the psycological and physiological effects that will weigh you down for several days. Is jet lag avoidable? Or can it at least be managed so that it doesn’t wreck travel plans? Here’s what I think…

I will be honest, in my early days of crossing multiple time zones I too suffered the occasional jet lag. The only way I knew how to counteract the effects was to just go to sleep at my earliest convenience. I basically tried to sleep it off, but of course that caused other issues. I would be out of kilter for a few days with a stuffed up wake and sleep cycle.

What did I do to make things better? Well, I didn’t go looking for a scientific solution or researched what caused jet lag. I didn’t even bother to seek help or ask what others were doing about it. I just went ahead and tried to work out a way myself. I knew that flying in one particular direction, east, was going to be harder on the body than flying west. The duration of the flight, the time of departure and arrival and the time laying over in transit all played a part too. So I had to consider all these factors and work out a solution that gave me a chance to minimise and recover from the effects.

At the beginning it was hard to work out a pattern to follow. Luckily I’m one of those that can handle doing most things (that are not too critical) even with little sleep. Just give me a short moment of time to re-adjust and off I go. I managed this when I had to drive long distance (8 hours) overnight and would stop mid way and catch some sleep, about 2 to 3 hours rest. Of course it’s not exactly the same as crossing multiple time zones and finding yourself all of a sudden in daylight, but it did help my body adjust to lack of sleep and fatigue.

I tried to sleep as much as I could on the overnight flights regardless if they were going west or east. The fligths westward all departed late at night or early morning and arrived after day break. Those flying eastward started in daylight and moved into night within 4-5 hours and then arrived at day break. It wasn’t easy so I had to come up with a way that would limit the effect of jet lag when at destination. I eventually settled on sleeping in short bursts, a technique I perfected over time. Flying eastwards is much harder and requires a slightly different approach. Now, when I say long haul I mean anything around a dozen hours or more but no shorter than six hours, especially at a time when the body says you should be sound asleep. It gets a little harder as you get older. You seem to require more good quality sleep to remain sort of fresh. Important is to get REM sleep. The deep sleep that recharges your batteries.

Is everyone the same? I’ve never asked anyone how they coped but I bet not everyone reacts in the same way. Some can manage with a little sleep and are fine and can re-adjust, while others require the recommended 7-8 hours or they can not function. Changing time zones makes it challenging even for those that can adjust their sleep patterns. Probably the best solution (as recommended by many) is to fit in as quickly as possible to the new time zone. This not only affects your sleep but also eating and going to the toilet. It changes your daily routine.

As you have gathered I base recovering from jet lag on how much I sleep and when. Other daily routines, like when to eat can be done at any time, but preferably morning, midday and early evening. Bowel motions and going to the toilet is harder to predict. Constipation is also possible. Sitting down for too long doesn’t encourage things to move along, so getting mobile will help and eventually all will fall into place in due time.

Flying West

Now this is my experience flying long haul in Economy Class with Singapore Airlines, my preferred airline flying out of Australia. Since I fly out of Adelaide (ADL), my home town, Singapore Airlines only has one regular flight a day in the morning. At some other time during the year there is a second flight in late afternoon, early evening. Both flights land in Singapore (SIN) from where at different times there are flights to destinations in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America. I’ll describe those to Europe since they depart after I have arrived in Singapore and are going westward.

Flying out of Adelaide in the morning at around 09:30-10:00 and arriving in Singapore at 15:00 is pretty straight forward. It’s a daytime flight and you’ve only crossed one time zone. Then if you want to fly to Europe most flights are late the same day or an hour or so after midnight (next day). So the layover can be lengthy. Sleeping here is not required but if one wants to slip in a nap or siesta of twenty to forty minutes it won’t harm your sleeping pattern for later. Changi Airport, Singapore’s airport has plenty of areas and space to rest. They even have a small cinema but I don’t recommend going there to sleep, it’s not appropriate. You could also book a room at one of two transit hotels, one airside the other landside (requires passing immigration), and have a rest for a minimum of 6 hours. Personally I don’t sleep or take a nap.

Anyhow, with a late flight to Europe, in this case to Rome Fiumicino (FCO). It’s a long layover after landing in Singapore in mid afternoon and then taking off and hour or so after midnight (between 01:00 and 02:00). Best thing to do is have dinner at the airport (in my case in the lounge) and then on the plane try to sleep as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off. Perfect if you have seats to yourself. This means forgoing the meal that is about to be served. A small tradeoff. Remember to notify the flight attendant(s) you want to rest so you don’t get disturbed. If you find yourself in a position where you have other passengers around you who will be eating then you’ll have to wait until the meal has been served and all has been cleared and lights go off to get to sleep (or rest). Now I know it all depends where you are seated and who is around you. Your fellow passengers in many cases will not be obliging. Let’s say you are able to get rest. Cut out all the light around you (wear an eye mask) and sleep in whatever manner you can. The most straight forward way is lay the seat down and stretch out. Close you eyes and clear your mind or if you prefer count sheep. If you know how to meditate and control your breathing you are a step ahead. If you don’t just relax. Not an easy thing the first few times you do this. You’ll probably fall asleep and wake up many times. What matters is you are keeping light away from your eyes. On a 12 hour flight I can sleep anything between 4 to 6 hours. I know that because I check the flightpath and where we are and the time (of departure and arrival etc.). On this flight they serve dinner as soon as the seatbelt sign comes off at about 15-20 minutes after takeoff. So expect about an hour, an hour and a half for dinner time and cleaning up. During the night there are snacks which you can refuse (as you are sleeping) or grab and put aside for later. Breakfast is served a couple of hours before landing so make sure you have had your sleep by then. Pretty easy to work out a schedule on the 12 hour flight you have roughly a 7-8 hour window to choose when to sleep. Then when at the hotel which will be early, anything between 08:00-09:00 have a shower and either get sunlight or have a snooze for a little while but not more than an hour and then get into motion and have lunch and have a normal day. If the hotel will not give you a room early then leave your luggage and go out and return when the room is ready and have a siesta, again no more than 40 minutes or else you’ll end up waking up as the sun is going down. It has happened to me in the early times so I know.

Flying East

Again flying Singapore Airlines long haul. Now flying east is the hard one. Less dark and more light. Since the flight back to Singapore from Rome leaves in late morning (around 11:00) and the flight takes about 12 hours the arrival time in Singapore will be just before 06:00 but on the clock back in Rome it is midnight. You are still running on Central European time so you should technically be in bed by an hour or so or going to sleep. If the return flight to Adelaide is in late evening (for arrival in the morning next day) you have a long day ahead and no way can you be awake for all that time without it affecting you. It is too much of a hard slog. So the only solution here is to sleep as soon as possible and try to get 5-6 hours rest. I usually book a room at the Ambassador Transit Hotel in Terminal 3 for 12 hours. That gets me plenty of time to rest, have a place to leave my carry-on luggage and shoot off to the city for a few hours before returning to the hotel, check-out and go to the lounge before the flight back home. On the six hour or so flight departing just before midnight I try to get two hours sleep early in the flight. Arrival is about 08:30 and a whole day is ahead to re-adjust. When home I have a shower and go out to do shopping, have lunch and then have a siesta in the afternoon and hit the bed at the normal time. The next day things won’t be 100 percent. It will take this day at least for things to start to get back into the normal cycle.

If there is a morning flight from Singapore there will be only an hour or so transit. It will be a day time flight back to Adelaide. Now this one I have done a few times. It is hard on you as you try to rest while others around you are wide awake and carrying on. This happens on both flights, the one from FCO to SIN and SIN to ADL. To compensate I try to fit in two hours sleep just before breakfast is served on the leg from Rome. Arrival in Adelaide is late afternoon so the best thing to do is have a shower, eat dinner and hit the bed. You will wake early but as soon as the sun has risen get up and do your best for the rest of the day and hit the bed again as late as possible in the evening. Again a day or so before some normality comes back.

Other people’s experiences may be different on these same flights. They’ll definitely be different if flying to Europe via the Middle East, as timings and length of segments are different. Flying through other Asian gateways will differ only marginally as long as they fly to and from Adelaide direct. Through other Australian cities with the extra hop (layovers and extra flying time) the experience would be different again. Those flying to and from New Zealand via Singapore and other Southeast Asian gateways or the Middle East will have an even harder time as they’ll be in the air an extra couple of hours.

Medications

I have never researched or enquired whether there are any drugs approved for jet lag. Logically speaking from my point of view, anything that gets rid of a mild headache should do in the short term. Also wearing sunglasses (shades or sunnies as we call them), strictly not a medication, but they do alleviate strain on the eyes by cutting back the harshness of the bright sunlight, thus giving the eyes some time to acclimatise.

For prevention and treatment of jet lag some people take melatonin. Others take sleeping pills to aid sleep. I’m not too keen on taking any medications. I prefer my body to do the work naturally even though melatonin is a natural hormone. If melatonin or sleeping pills are prescribed by your doctor/physician then do so. But always under their direction and take what is prescribed for that time period.

Other Solutions

Another solution to help alleviate jet lag is to break up your travel with an intermediate stop. Avoid back to back long flights with only an hour or so layover. Being in the air for 20 hours or so with a short layover that will not contribute to any (good) sleep, is pushing it. Trust me.

What about 20 hour non-stop flights? I’m not too keen on these flights planned by QANTAS to Europe and back. Even on the Airbus A350 which has better air pressurisation (and humidity) than some current and older planes. Being enclosed in a tube for that length of time is not my cup of tea. Fresh air and stretching my legs on “terra firma” is more important to me than getting there quick. Health comes first in my opinion.

If you can not avoid long flights with no rest in between perhaps book one night extra of accommodation for the day before you arrive so when you arrive at destination you can go straight to your hotel room as soon as you check-in. Especially if it’s an early morning arrival. That way you can rest or freshen up and have breakfast (either early or late but within the alloted time) so this gives you some respite before heading out for the day. Then perhaps go to bed slightly earlier than normal. You’ll wake up earlier too but eventually you’ll fall into sync as long as you are staying in the same time zone for a while. If not then you’ll have to adjust your timing.

When on board your flight I suggest spending less time as possible watching the screen. Light is the major factor that causes jet lag. The more you can rest your eyes during long haul flights at night the better. I have found the biggest problem is your fellow passengers. Some have no idea and think that by watching a movie or a show, or being on their laptops for the entirety of the flight they can somehow overcome jet lag or fall asleep by getting their eyes tired. This stray light is an issue that you can only subdue by wearing an eyemask. You can supplement the mask with earplugs (or noise cancelling headphones) if sound is annoying you. I over time have become so accustomed to engine noise that it isn’t a factor anymore. Even on Boeing 777s which have the loudest of engines. Another factor that may affect some is the level of humidity in the cabin, or the lack of. On newer planes with carbonfibre (composite) bodies, like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, humidity is much friendlier as is the cabin pressure. This definitely aids in better sleep. A huge step in the right direction.

In closing, I think the best way to manage and have some control over jet lag is to:

• Before Departure
• Keep fit and supple
• Eat normally (carbohydrates are best)
• No alcohol (or in moderation)
• No caffeine
• During the flight
• Exercise (to avoid DVT)
• Eat your meals
• Drink plenty of water (keeping hydrated)
• No alcohol
• No caffeine or other stimulants
• Sleep (during night flying)
• After Arrival
• Into sunlight as soon as possible
• Eat meals according to time zone

Take an afternoon siesta at destination only if tired, but only a small nap and then off into the sunlight as soon as possible and get into your normal daily routine. If you arrive at another time fit into the time zone. While out eat often as mentioned. That will keep you busy and awake.

Circadian Rhythm

Quick note explaining how jet lag comes about. It occurs when our circadian rhythm is disrupted. The circadian rhythm is the body’s master clock that controls the sleep/wake cycle, eating and digestion. The sleep/wake cycle is synchronised with the day-night cycle. Sleep at night (when dark) and wake during the day (when light).

Jet lag happens when the circadian rhythm, which is regulated by our brain cells, more precisely the neuronal oscillator cells, can not adjust quickly enough to the changing of time zones. This puts our metabolism and sleep pattern, etc., out of whack for a few days until it corrects itself.