What jet lag isn't..

Same experience you've had...going east is harder on us than going west.

I'm the other way. Going west is harder on me than east -- but both are manageable.

I think lag that is in 'near 8 hour increments' is the worst of all... being 12 hours off (exactly opposite) is tough... but trying to go to bed at the exact moment I woke up yesterday... ugh... 7 to 8 hour zone changes are brutal.

Yes! It took us a few days to feel "normal" but it did happen. Also, I do remember for the first two nights or so waking up starving...and with nothing to munch on (as I am not accustomed to snacking in the middle of the night). Thankfully our B&B did not have a ban on food in the room.

Coming home from Europe is the worst (west). My brother-in-law is a "sleep expert" and studies such things. He says it takes about one day to recover for each time zone crossed...seems about right to me...about a week to recover from Germany (7 time zones) before I was back at 100%.

Oops, I made a mistake, I meant I found jet lag going west was harder then east, but could be that arriving in Europe is just so much fun then arriving home!

Nice to hear someone saying the things I have been saying for years.

Travel fatigue is not the same as jet lag, and the things that work for one, don't necessarily help for the other.

If you flew from New York City to Chile, you would have travel fatigue, but not jet lag. Similarly, if Scotty beamed you instantly from Victoria to Frankfurt, you would have jet lag, but not travel fatique.

I have found that the only thing that works for jet lag is getting out in the morning in Europe in the sunshine, when your body thinks it is night time. That resets your biological clock.

As for direction, I find that adjusting in Europe is much harder on me physically than readjusting after I return to the US. In Europe I have to conform to their schedule, doing things during the day when my body is essentially asleep. But I get over it faster.

When I return, it's not so hard. I go to bed at 8 PM and wake up at 4, but no one objects to that schedule. I feel fine, but it takes forever to get off it.

Well, living in Germany, it is hard on me going to the US. It feels like the day that has no end. It just goes on and on and on. And the whole family wants you to stay up and talk since they haven't seen you in years! When I fly back to Europe, the flight is always over night and even though I never sleep on the plane, it feels natural to me and doesn't freak my body out so much. Going to California with the 9 hour difference from here was really bad for me. I can usually deal with it. Sometimes, before I go to the States, I start staying up later and later each day for about 2 weeks to get my body clock re-set. Works sort of.

Pat, perhaps because our travel distances to Europe are so very long, sheer exhaustion overrides any jet lag. From my house to Rome hotel for example, would be 36 hours or so. An early arrival, an day sightseeing, and then a good sleep. Coming home - travelling east -I arrive at the weekend and am back at work on Monday. School children are not necessarily kind and considerate of tiredness. The only problem I have is post holiday blues!!

Yes, going west is harder for me too, but I think I know why.

I'm tired out after my trip and that makes the jet lag harder to manage.

Also I take real pains to reduce jet lag going east, including special diet and use of melatonin days before departure. There are effective but disruptive and I don't do them to prep for my return trip.

I'd rather have jet lag here than there anyway.

Going east is harder for me. Coming back from Europe has never been as hard to overcome the jet lag as the trip over. Our arrival time back home is usually late afternoon so it is easier to blend back into the normal bedtime hours whereas arriving in Europe early morning and having to stay up all day makes for a tougher adjustment.

Going eastbound is harder for me, too. And I agree that the worst time zone gap seems to be the 7-9 hour gap. I jsut returned from a trip to New Zealand with a much much longer time gap --nineteen hours--and surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as my West Coast of the US to Europe trips.

The jet lag diet does helo, but it's really a pain in the neck to do--no way I'd spend precious Euro-eating time on it for the way back!

I have hard time changing my sleeping habits when I go to Europe. Even after a month I couldn't adjust to the Euro time.When I come back here, I have no problems switching back.

The only time I passed out sitting up was in Asia after traveling from the US (and I was young then), so probably worse going West.

I've noticed it takes me longer to get going after returning from Europe but I've always chalked it up to being excited about at the start of my vacation and worn out at the end.

This is a very useful info:
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/jetlag

I just got back yesterday from a month in Europe. In fact I woke up at 4 am and ate breakfast bacause I am jet lagged! I found that arriving in Europe i didnt have any jet lag. I was very tired but that was because i spent 26 hours between the air and airports and couldnt sleep on the flights. In fact, I arrivived in europe at 830 am and took a nap from 3 to 6 pm.. which i know is against the jet lag rules but i just had to... and had not problems. On the other hand, i was very tired coming back and arrived at 3am LA time and still couldnt sleep and am very thrown off! I think it just varies on the person and the schedule.

I have never experienced jet lag flying to Europe. I always have it for a day, sometimes two, when I return.

I think that how much you are affected by jetlag depends on how rigid a sleep schedule you adhere to at home. When I was thirty, I often flew from the east coast to the west coast with no apparent effect, but at home I had no regular schedule. I would be out on a date until 3 one night, then in bed by 10 the next. Now that I am older and more "routinized", I find it affects be more.

I also think that which direction affects you the most might depend on whether you are a morning or night person. I am a definite night person; flying east is the hardest for me.

And, Christy, I'm with you. I usually take about an hour's nap before dinner the first night. I don't think it has any effect, positive or negative, on resetting the circadian rythms, but it sure helps me to then stay awake until normal sleep time over there.

In fact, I think that getting up in the morning over there, and getting out in the sunshine when your body expects night-time, is far more important than if you take a nap in the afternoon.

Funny how you get such a variety of answers about jet lag. Ask 30 people and you get 30 different answers about the affect on each of them. Half of them feel it more flying West and half of them feel it flying East. Funny.

If you live long enough it should cease affecting you. After I passed age 70 I no longer am affected by jet lag at all--regardless of the length of flight or compass direction.

I get off the plane feeling normal and hit the deck running. It certainly makes air travel more pleasant.

However, I take the doctors advise and walk the aisle on the plane every 30 minutes during flight. If I nap, I try to limit sleep to 15 or 20 minutes maximum and get up and exercise. I do deep knee bends as often as I can persuade myself to do them. It is important to keep the blood moving in one's legs.

I also concentrate of drinking more liquids than I desire. You can see that I spend most of my time talking myself into doing many things that I normally dont want to do. But the results sure are helpful.

Gee Carl my 74 yr old dad would fight you on that one, he finds jet lag horrendus, he just returned from a month in France. Should add my dad is super healthy and fit, still competes in Masters Polevaulting , skis, and climbs so I don't thnk fitness level has anything to do with it.
You are right, everyone is different.