July 07, 2004

Worse than the disease ?

Posted by John Quiggin

My preferred cure for jetlag is to arrive in the morning and spend a fair part of the day outside, resetting my body clock, then have as normal an evening as possible, before going to bed about 10pm. In most respects, my schedule fitted this plan perfectly. Leaving Paris on Monday evening, I got into Brisbane this morning (Wednesday) and the day was suitably sunny. With the State of Origin1 starting soon, there’ll be no problem about staying up2 .

The only unusual feature is that my normal Wednesday includes karate training. I can now report that this is a complete, if problematic, cure for jet lag. Whatever term might describe my post-training condition, it is not “jet-lagged.”

1 The high point of the Australian rugby league calendar, this is a three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales in which, as the name implies, players line up for their state of origin, rather than of current residence. The deciding match is being played tonight.

2 Wrong! The game was such a depressing walkover that I gave up and went to bed early.

Posted on July 7, 2004 11:02 AM UTC
Comments

Huh. I’ve found that vigorous exercise makes my jet lag that much worse, since my body then seems to neglect circadian cues in favor of physical ones.

Posted by Carlos · July 7, 2004 12:40 PM

Right now in paris : rain, thunder and hail.

“Suitably sunny”! Bleh.

Posted by yabonn · July 7, 2004 12:54 PM

Being from Victoria, I must point out that Rugby League is a nice diversion in the southern states but nothing on the main game - Aussie Rules. Go Bombers!

Posted by Chris Curnow · July 7, 2004 02:01 PM

I’ve found arriving exhausted at midnight and going straight to sleep works very well. I’ll feel fine afterwards, although for the next week or so I have to take a nap in the early afternoon.

Posted by duaneg · July 7, 2004 08:33 PM

cc, you’re right of course, but you can’t live in Queensland and ignore State of Origin. Now we can get back to watching the Lions win their fourth AFL flag in a row.

Posted by John Quiggin · July 8, 2004 12:29 AM
Followups

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.