jscarbary

We just returned home from Germany last Friday and I am still messed up. Flying to Munich from Detroit was no problem, I slept for a few hours on the plane and was ready to go once we were checked-in. Granted we did take a little nap on Sunday afternoon but we had been walking at least 5 miles a day. My sleep schedule is still messed up (my husband's too). I don't remember being like this when we came home from a shorter Paris trip a few years ago. Does anyone else have this problem?

logos999

I bet you usually get up at 6.30 every morning. There are different people, most it seems have fewer problems going west than east.

Robert2533

Generally it only takes me one day to adjust to the time change. The usual trip from Madrid or Paris to Seattle takes up to 22 hours, with connections. I usually stay up answering emails until early the next morning before getting a few hours. 24 hours later I feel fine. It’s always tougher going the other way.

Charlene29

I know this sounds weird, however...go and get a stone from your garden or wherever you are and hold it....it works!! I fly all over the world most of the year, it helps..strange to some but it does the trick for me!!

janisj

I never used to feel jet lag either direction. Then it would hit me a bit after my trip home - which I put to being depressed about my trip being over.

But now I can get jet lag either direction and I'd guess it is an "age thing". When I was young it never phased me and now it hits me worse.

travel2live

I always have jet lag returning to Canada from Europe - not on the way there, fortunately.

The worst time took THREE WEEKS to get over it. I would go to bed at 6:00 p.m. and get up at 2:00 a.m. I just could not stop! It was absolutely horrible.

Pegontheroad

I seem to suffer more from jetlag when returning to the U.S. from Europe rather than the other way.

Even though I usually get home around bedtime and get a good night's sleep that first night, it still takes me a week to get squared away. I agree that it seems to be worse now that I'm older.

One thing I noticed this trip is that I didn't feel well the day after I returned, but the following day I felt fine, except for getting tired at odd hours.

I live in Washington state, which means that the time difference between Europe and home is nine hours.

LoveItaly

Hello jscarbary, I never have jetlag flying to Italy (CA to Italy) but I always am in a "daze" after flying home. Various Italian friends of mine always feel jetlag when flying from Italy to CA but never have a problem flying home. We always laugh as the "experts" say that flying west to east is the worse but it sure isn't for any of us.

StCirq

Yup, I always experience jet lag coming back to the USA from Europe - and virtually none going over. It's more than jetlag at work, though, I think. It's the knowing I have mail to sort through and a backlog of work and I can't just wander around looking at beautiful things and enjoying myself all day. So it's a combination of jetlag and general pissiness that gets me for the first few days.

scatcat

Same here...no problem going but coming back to Texas is tough. I just got back last Thursday night and I'm still messed up. I wake up at 5:00 AM even if I get to bed after midnight. And I feel pissy too.

irishk

We find we have no problem flying east to west, but certainly have problems coming back home again (to Ireland). I think part of the problem is that when we are going west to the U.S. we are very excited to be on vacation and don't want to "waste" a minute by sleeping any longer than is necessary, whereas on our trip home - well, we're home and we are tired and we need to sleep (as well as the jetlag)!!??

jscarbary

We woke up in Germany at 6:30 a.m. on Friday and by the time we got home, visited with family and then with the neighbors it was again 6:30 a.m. Munich time. I woke up fine on Saturday at 8 a.m. and was good the whole day but since then I am still off on my sleeping.

kayd

I'm so excited to be in Rome or Paris or wherever I land that I take off running and adapt in a day or two, but it takes a week of waking at 3 or 4 am to recover upon my return to my daily grind in the US.

For me I suspect it is activity(new,exciting vs same-old) rather than direction (east or west) that governs.

I remember reading long ago that as a rough guide, expect recovery time to be about one day for each change in time zone, and I'm usually close to that (if I need to recover at all).

FainaAgain

For me, it takes one or 2 days to adjust flying "there" and up to 2 weeks coming home.

I just do my best in going to bed early, and when wake up at 5 pm, not to bother anybody, either write a trip report or go through the mail. Or plan the next trip

sshephard

A stone???

Charlene29

uhem, yes a stone, small rock anything connected to the earth..yes yes I know...I'm not a hippy..nor am I airy fairy! It just works!! try it!! I fly all the time and normally i'll get off the plane and lie on the tarmac!!! god I sound weird!!!

FainaAgain

WOW! This sounds weird even for San Francisco!

I admit... but not ashamed! I stole a rock from one special place and brought it home. The jetlag was as usual. Maybe I didn't handle it properly?

jody

Count me in..I never ,never am jetlagged when we arrive in Europe. But coming home it's a killer. I usually am a very early riser anyway...4:30-5:30...but all it seems I can do when we get home is stay awake 2 hours, nap 2 hours, etc. Thank God I'm retired and don't have to go to work.

Virgogirl

I'm so glad to have read this thread! I thought it was just me. We adjusted our watches when we flew from Denver to Munich on Sept. 16. We felt good and set out to sightsee a little and have dinner.

It took me 3-4 days to feel decent when we flew back to the US on Sept. 29. I felt crummy and kept waking up at 2 or 3 A.M. and couldn't sleep, making a miserable day back to work on Monday. We had little or no jet lag going to Europe, but it hit us hard coming home.

rkkwan

It just means you have a boring life or boring job at home that you can't stay awake during the day.