Jet Lag

Gavvler

Arriving in Sydney on the 23rd wondering is the jet lag as bad as people claim it is?

Were flying the whole thing on one day, Any tips on how to beat the jet lag and get operating on Australian time as soon as possible

Zambia

Gavvler wrote: »

Arriving in Sydney on the 23rd wondering is the jet lag as bad as people claim it is?

Were flying the whole thing on one day, Any tips on how to beat the jet lag and get operating on Australian time as soon as possible

Yes it is. Arrive and get hammered drunk before sleeping then go to bed.

Might work,

Daithio

It's pretty bad alright. What time are you arriving, morning or evening? If you arrive in the morning it'll prob be around 6am. Go to bed for like 2-3 hours, and force yourself to get up at like 10am, then force yourself to stay up until normal going to bed time. Arriving in the evening is much easier. The worst part though isn't the feeling tired, it's the not being able to sleep at all during the night, and then during the day feeling like you need to sellotape your eyelids open. I'd recommend getting some decent sleeping pills for the first couple of nights to avoid waking up at 4am. If you don't want to go prescription, pick up a couple of night nurse over the counter. Two of them will knock you out!

Edit to add you can't get night nurse in Oz, so pick them up in Ireland before leaving.

The Sweeper

Yeah, if you arrive in the morning the worst thing you can do is try and force yourself through until the end of the day. You'll just cave at 7pm, sleep and wake at 3am, bright as a button. Best off taking a few short hours kip, which you'll manage because you're not totally exhausted yet and therefore you will get up two or three hours later, then go through the day until about midnight and try sleeping.

Arriving in the afternoon is somewhat better. From now on I'm going to try and schedule my flights to arrive in the countries in question, after 24 - 30 hours on the go, at about 4pm. I should be able to manage six or seven hours before falling over.

kittex

During the afternoon and evening your body releases melatonin to tell your body it's approaching sleepy time. You can actually buy this in Oz. Not sure about Ireland. I had awful jet lag when I got here and couldn't sleep right for a week. Finally got these off the pharmacist and within 2 days was grand. You take one at 3pm, one at 6pm and one before bed.

They recommend it's better to take on the plane, at what would be 3pm and 6pm of your destination, to avoid jet lag entirely.

brendansmith

Zambia232 wrote: »

Yes it is. Arrive and get hammered drunk before sleeping then go to bed.

So......sleepwalk to bed???

Mr Benevolent

It's bad alright. Don't plan on doing anything interesting, although I was shuffled around the Opera House and Bondi beach two hours after touching down, then onto a house party. I didn't recover for a week, hallucinations and all.

jank

When on the flight to OZ, set your watch to OZ time, if its dark outside the plane try and sleep.
If you arrive in the morning dont go to bed, stay up until at least 6 then go on a long sleep. If you arrive in the evening go to bed straight away. You will be fine the next day even though you may wake up at like 5 am. But still well on the way to getting your body clock in order.

Also stay off the booze!

If you cant sleep on a plane get a doc to give you Valium. Works a treat!

Gavvler

Thanks for the advice!! My flight is leaving London at 11.00 tommorow morning and arriving in Sydney at 8pm the next day. I have a 2 hour stopover in Singapore.

So your advice would be to set my watch to Australian time and sleep if its dark on the plane and then when i arrive have one long sleep right?

Norinoco

Gavvler, might not read this before you go but...

Good idea setting your watch to sydney time in london...

Try sleep on the first leg to S'pore (when we are asleep) and stay awake for the second leg of the flight, which is going to be hard but try .. you'll be good and tired for landing in Sydney at 8pm, will prob be 10pm before your head hits the pillow.

If you have a mild sleeping tablet take it before going to bed and that should keep you sound until the morning.

Not in your case but for anyone else, too sure about jank's advise on going to bed at 6 ... you'll be wide awake come 3am, try stay up as late as possible the day you land.

Drink lost of water on the plane. Bring a normal size pillow with you too...priceless on long haul flights.

Have a safe flight :-)

pclancy

Avoid alcohol at all costs and drink plenty of water. Unless you're loaded and can afford business class I find its the actual pain of the cramped stuffy seat more then jetlag that will driv you mad. I try and pop a sleeper then sleep through as much of the flgihts as possible.

Ozeire

Just back from a moths trip back to family in Melbourne and yeah the Jet Lag is bad .

As everyone else has said try and get the time adjusted on the plane . Try and sleep when its night time in Oz . That will help a bit but also as stated if you arrive in the morning stay up as long as you can . If you arrrive in the evening go to bed as soon as you can .

You might find that over a few days you will find your self a bit tired during the the day . Just take a few naps here and there . After a few days your've body clock will adjust .

On the way back east to west not half as bad with jet lag as you gain hours .

Hope this helps and ejoy your trip down under . The weather was in the 20's to 30's in Melbourne when i was there .