When Does The Jetlag End?!

I'm not sure if this belongs here, or in travel, so mods, feel free to move it as you see fit!

I've been back in the US for nearly 2 weeks (it will be 2 weeks on Monday),and I'm no where near being back on DST.  I've been going to bed around 9 or 10PM DST and waking up around 5AM DST. When I wake up at 5, I want breakfast.  If I don't eat anything right away, by 9 or 10AM DST I'm craving LUNCH, and of course my evening meal time is screwed up by all this, too. 

I'm disappointing my mom, because she gets home from work around 5PM DST, and I don't want dinner (having had enough food to count as dinner around 2 or 3).  If Tim's on his 2PM (BST) - 10PM shift, he's also just coming off work at 5PM DST, so I wind up talking to him for a few hours before he goes to bed, but then shortly after he and I get off the phone, I go to bed, or worse, I ask mom if she wants to watch a movie or TV with me and I fall asleep on the couch in the middle of things!

Just....when can I expect to be back on DST time?  How long did it take any of you who spend a long period of time in the UK?  I was gone for just shy of 6 months.  My neighbour had a friend who's daughter went to the UK for a month, and her comment to me was "it took her a week to get back to normal, so I bet it takes you 6 weeks".  GAH! I don't have 6 weeks!  In 3, I'm heading down to my relatives in Florida and will be sleeping on the futon in the 5-yr-old's room. I can't wake him up at 5AM each morning!

(okay, maybe this belongs in grievances)

I suck with jetlag when I go home to the US. It's much harder for me than when I come to England/Ireland. I was there the entire month of March and it didn't get sorted out until my DH came the last Saturday of March. I feel your pain. I tried staying up as late as I could that first night I arrived. I managed to stay up until 10, then I was up at 2, 4, and managed to stay in bed until 6. This is how it was every night. I would stay awake until sometimes 11pm, I'd be exhausted, then I'd wake up multiple times and force myself back to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't do anything special to make myself finally get over it. I literally slept until 8am the day after DH arrived. As for the eating thing (which doesn't seem to be my problem  ) I would just try eating small snacks between meals and try to get your body back on track with meal times. Good luck, it's not easy!

When I landed in the UK, it was soo easy. Of course, I had slept on the plane, and Tim and I stopped and walked around Stamford on our way to Lincoln, then I took a short nap in the afternoon and went to bed the same time he did and I was fine, so this doesn't make any sense!

I stayed up all night the night I got back to the US, thinking that would help, but NOPE. 

It took me maybe a week to get over it, I think, and the last visit was 2.5 months or so. When I got to Birmingham I was exhausted since I was running on 3 hours sleep (forget me sleeping on the plane ), so I was off for a few days when I was there, because I kept waking up at 1am UK time. Then I'd just call my mom or something, since it was 6pm back here in Oregon And then I'd be nodding off in the afternoon while my fiance was up and around and all this stuff, and I just felt like a zombie.

I guess everyone's different kinda, I'm sure there's a load of factors in play. I was taking 4 hr long naps in the afternoon when I got home, and I lost a lot of my appetite (didn't help I was sick on the plane coming home, so I felt like death warmed over). Maybe I was lucky at only taking a week to adjust back, but it felt like a long week

Steve says it's much easier for him when he flies into the US than the other way around. When he flies in it's 10pm PST, so he just goes to bed with everyone else, and wakes up with everyone else--he's much better at getting up early than I am

It took me about a month to get over the jetlag fully. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. I was always tired.

It took me about a month to get over the jetlag fully. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. I was always tired.

blargh, yeah i was afraid of that.

I don't understand how it doesn't affect Brits visiting the US - whenever Tim's come to the US, he's been fine!

blargh, yeah i was afraid of that.

I don't understand how it doesn't affect Brits visiting the US - whenever Tim's come to the US, he's been fine!

What time does he usually fly into the US? That might affect it, since the Brits are technically going back in time instead of forwards like we are Like I said, Steve usually flies in at night so he slips into a normal schedule somewhat, so that's his excuse anyway. Whenever I fly to the UK I'm technically heading into the future, at least compared to my family back home

What time does he usually fly into the US? That might affect it, since the Brits are technically going back in time instead of forwards like we are Like I said, Steve usually flies in at night so he slips into a normal schedule somewhat, so that's his excuse anyway. Whenever I fly to the UK I'm technically heading into the future, at least compared to my family back home

Hmm.  He's only been to the West coast once (when we met for the first time!), but when he travels to the East coast, he usually lands around 7PM local time.  He told me if he goes to bed around midnight local time, he'll switch his sleep schedule and be fine. Totally not fair! 

Hmm.  He's only been to the West coast once (when we met for the first time!), but when he travels to the East coast, he usually lands around 7PM local time.  He told me if he goes to bed around midnight local time, he'll switch his sleep schedule and be fine. Totally not fair! 

Hehe, that's like Steve, we'll usually go to bed around 11pm PST once we get him back from PDX and get everything sorted and settled, and he'll sleep straight till about 7am the next morning. And then he'll function just fine. Me? I run around like a zombie for the first week, falling asleep at really bad times

I think everyone is very different, but for me I have the worst time traveling to the UK.  I have a pattern: The first night I stay up until around 10 pm and wake up at 6 or 7, having slept on the plane.  The next day I feel like I have the flu and need an afternoon nap to function.  I will most likely fall asleep at around 9 that night, and if we're out all bets are off- I have fallen asleep in the local.  Day 3 I can make it until 10pm without nodding off and Day 4 I'm right as rain.  When I came back to the US after staying several months (Aug-Nov) I had a few days of feeling crummy, but I took Tylenol PM a few nights and was able to get back to normal.  They say getting sunshine helps as well.  I hope you feel better soon!

Thought I might habe finally gotten things back to normal except for my appetite, but I was tired and fell asleep early tonight, so I'm awake at 1am DST, thinking it's 6.  ARGH.

I always get some jetlag coming from the US to the UK, but when I fly from Manchester to NYC its only 5 hours earlier, so I never get jetlag. Neither does my 3 year old luckily!!!

I never seemed to have jetlag going from the UK to the US, yet always got at least five days of it (took about five days to "re-clock" myself) when coming to the UK from the US. For some reason, going "back in time" for me, as others have found, seems to be easier to adjust to than "going forward".

I do 3-4 trips/month. I am usually feeling pretty rotten the first day back on either side of the pond but I take a prescription sleeping pill that first night back and that seems to help get me back on track fairly quickly. Good luck with it!

I do 3-4 trips/month. I am usually feeling pretty rotten the first day back on either side of the pond but I take a prescription sleeping pill that first night back and that seems to help get me back on track fairly quickly. Good luck with it!

Blrgh. Probably too late to try that, but I'll try to remember that next time.