Jet Lag

Stoney · Post by **Stoney** » 10 Sep 2004, 11:19

Does jet lag gets worse the longer you spend in a different time zone?

Let me clarify my question to make it clearer...
Person A : Goes to America and stays there 2 weeks, then comes back to Belgium
Person B : Goes to America for 6 months and then comes back to Belgium.

Will person B suffer more jet lag than person A upon returning to Belgium? Or will this be the same, or less?

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 10 Sep 2004, 11:38

Why should person B suffer more !!! The jetlag is because of the change of timezone and has nothing to do with spending more time in the US.

Chris

AFApresident · Post by **AFApresident** » 10 Sep 2004, 14:33

It depends though, if you stay 2 days in the US your body won´t have adjusted to the US time zone since a rule of thumb says you need 1 day to adjust for every timezone you cross. So it could be easier to go back to europe if you return the following days (something which transcontinental pilots often experience). But as Avro said between 2weeks and 6months there certainly won´t be any difference. I could be wrong though.

Personally I have less jet lag (almost none actually) when going from Europe to the US than vice versa.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 10 Sep 2004, 17:58

Stoney wrote:Does jet lag gets worse the longer you spend in a different time zone?

Jetlag is actually caused by disruption of your "body clock" - a small cluster of brain cells that controls the timing of biological functions (circadian rhythms), including when you eat and sleep.
(Day)Light plays an important role. (btw That's why I will always travel at night, because then I have the max daylight before the journey, and in many cases after*)
Exposure to light at the wrong time can actually make Jetlag worse.

Try this one: http://www.bodyclock.com

*I had colleagues who used to go to sleep when arriving from long haul. I never did 1- because I prefer to travel by night, and the night is for sleeping - so no wine and dine on board, no movies but sleep. 2- because I experienced that walking in the garden, doing some tasks around the house was benificiary.

vliegtuigfreak · Post by **vliegtuigfreak** » 10 Sep 2004, 19:01

Well, when we go to America (mostly two weeks). When we come there you have nothing. You just stay up for more than 30 hours, thats all. Next day, after having a good rest, you are used to the American time. But when you come home in Belgium, you get very tired during the day! Mostly you have to go to sleep, because your eyes are VERY tired. Sometimes i stay up to get immediatly used to the Belgian time. Trust me, when you come back from the USA, you have to stay up. You have less sleepingtroubles then!

Greetingzz
Sonny

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 10 Sep 2004, 19:44

AFApresident wrote:It depends though, if you stay 2 days in the US your body won´t have adjusted to the US time zone since a rule of thumb says you need 1 day to adjust for every timezone you cross.

I agree on that, but after your used to the new time you can stay 2 weeks or an entire year, I don't think that there is any difference when coming back home.

Personally I have less jet lag (almost none actually) when going from Europe to the US than vice versa

That's for everybody like that

Chris

Stoney · Post by **Stoney** » 11 Sep 2004, 05:01

There was this thing in my head that the longer you stay in one time zone the more your body gets used to it...
But, thinking that way, I spend most of my time in Belgium, so my body has to be really used to that...
So, incorrect thinking

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 12 Sep 2004, 09:45

Stoney wrote:There was this thing in my head ... But, thinking that way, .... my body has to be really used to that... So, incorrect thinking

Don't think too much, Stoney, listen to your body.

Post by **sn26567** » 13 Sep 2004, 16:41

As a rule of thumb, count one day per time zone for your body clock to adjust. So, for New York, you will feel completely used to Eastern Daylight Savings Time in 6 days.

Argentina · Post by **Argentina** » 15 Sep 2004, 02:55

I became a jet-lag expert after being flying from Argentina to NL every two moths, for the last 2 years. Flight time from down here to Europe is never less than 12 hours, and time difference is +4/+5 (winter/summer).

When I fly from Argentina to NL, I don't feel any jet-lag. That said, when I go back to South America I tend to feel bad -- tired, headache. No matter had I slept or not.

This is me. I have spoken with lots of other people for whom it works on the other way, yet they don't feel any jet-lag at all.

Groetjes,
Marcos

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