Jet-lag

I have never been so cranky after a flight; I was a walking time bomb and the hubs could see I was fuming at everything! Its been a looooong journey so far and we've still not arrived at our destination yet! The local time is 11:02 pm, my body clock on the other hand is working in a different time zone and its currently 4.00pm where we were originally. I could'nt sleep so I decided to read up about the weird and wonderful world of jet lag.

"The symptoms of jet lag can be quite varied, depending on the amount of time zone alteration, time of day and individual differences. They may include the following:

• Headaches (on the flight!)
• Fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, insomnia (HELL YEAH!)
• Disorientation, grogginess, irritability (Most definitely..)
• Mild depression (Probably not..)
• Constipation or diarrhoea (not to be descriptive but yes the latter!)                        

There seems to be some evidence that for most people, travelling west to east is more disruptive. This may be because most people have a circadian period which is a bit longer than 24 hours, making it easier to stay up later than to get up earlier.

It may also be that flights to the east are more likely to require people to stay awake more than one full night in order to adjust to the local time zone. For example, comparing a typical schedule for a traveller flying to the west vs a traveller flying to the east:

• Westbound from London to Los Angeles. Time zone difference: 8 hours.

Westbound	Biological clock London local time	Los Angeles local time
Departure	JAN 29 – 10:05	JAN 29 – 02:05
Arrival	JAN 29 – 21:10	JAN 29 – 13:10
Bedtime	JAN 30 – 06:00	JAN 29 – 22:00

• Eastbound from Los Angeles to London.

Eastbound	Biological clock Los Angeles local time	London local time
Departure	JAN 29 – 15:50	JAN 29 – 23:50
Arrival	JAN 30 – 02:00	JAN 30 – 10:00
Bedtime	JAN 30 – 14:00	JAN 30 – 22:00

The first scenario is equivalent to staying up all night and going to bed at 6 a.m. the next day—8 hours later than usual. But the second scenario (eastward) is equivalent to staying up all night and going to bed at        2 p.m. the next day—14 hours after the time one would otherwise have gone to bed. Some sleep onboard may help the situation somewhat.

  
(This is actually quite accurate, I always suffer (more) from jet lag travelling from West to East!)      


There is a jet lag calculator online where you can key in the relevant information and they suggest a solution, apparently for me this is recommended for countering the jet lag this time round:


TRAVELLING EAST
DAY 1
AVOID LIGHT between 08:00 and 13:00 (1:00pm) then SWITCH to SEEK BRIGHT LIGHT until 16:00 (4:00pm)
DAY 2 
AVOID LIGHT between 05:00 and 10:00 then SWITCH to SEEK BRIGHT LIGHT until 13:00 (1:00pm)



SEEKING BRIGHT LIGHT
When it calls for bright light (frequently this turns out to be after you have arrived) you should spend time outdoors if possible as normal indoor lighting or the light coming through a window is not bright enough to reset the biological clock. (The amount of light you need is about enough to take a photo with a low cost camera without using flash). 


AVOIDING LIGHT
The Trip Guide indicates specific times when exposure to light would be counter productive. Stay indoors and away from windows if possible during these times. If you need to go outside at a time the Guide tells you to avoid light, wear appropriate light blocking glasses that are designed to reduce light to appropriate levels (normal sunglasses typically are not dark enough). Take care not to wear them in a situation where the light level is too low for them to be worn safely. 


I wonder if this method works... am going to try and sleep now, as I have to wake up at 4am!