Surviving red eyes

[dhc8fo]

How do you guys force yourself to sleep during the day after a late flight followed by a red eye the next night?

I lay around all day trying to force myself to sleep after having slept from the night before. It's stressful and makes for an exhausting return leg.

 

[ERfly]

How do you guys force yourself to sleep during the day after a late flight followed by a red eye the next night?

I lay around all day trying to force myself to sleep after having slept from the night before. It's stressful and makes for an exhausting return leg.

I try to stay up pretty late on local time out west. The next morning, I set my alarm to get up fairly early, by 7:30 or 8am, local. I also avoid caffeine throughout the day. I try to walk around the area for a while, too, to tire myself out. By around 4 pm or so, I try to make the room as dark as possible. If I do that, I'm usually good for about a 4 or so hour nap before pick up. It doesn't always work, but most of the time it does.

I find that if I can get about 3-4 hour nap, I'm good for the flight back east. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Turtle21]

I stay up a couple hours out West also, Wake up by 9 am East time and then explore. Rent a bike and ride it 10-15 miles, or walk about eight, or jog five. Then sleep 4-5 before pickup. The only problem is that when I first started this I would only have to walk about 2 miles to be tired.

 

[RJLoser]

4-5 hour naps.... I'm impressed. Can't pull that off.

 

[jws717]

Wake up early get out, and dont drink coffee, after lunch you will sleep like a baby.

 

[waveflyer]

I imagine the routine is much different for east coast based pilots and west.
For us western night owls, all it takes is doing what we want to do and sleep til noon- then keep doing what we want to do and stay up til 4 west coast time- the red eyes I've done we're finished by then.

Darkness and Mack putty ear plugs were key getting sleep at the bustling hotels out east

Now east coast AMs and I'm in as much trouble as you- no caffeine and a killer workout are the key for me- exhaust, then a low carb big lunch/early dinner-(meat and veggies) keep the sugar high away and let the blood rush away from the eyes and brain to the stomach- you'll be all set
10 min cool->cold shower - 55* is the science, but it sucks for a solid 90 seconds!- do it though and your system will be in nap mode- make it bearable cool and you're still pretty good

(As a side, that shower is 1/3 of a nighttime habit to naturally increase testosterone- (Brazil nuts and a portion of lean red meat being the others) - I'm sure I'm not the only pilot here who got the bad end of that hormone drop off at age 40- good news is avoid the pills and do the above- usually fixes it combined with a bit of weight lifting) (ref "4 hour body" Tim ferris )

 

[UALX727]

When you get in from your leg inbound to west coast, stay up as long as possible. I would try to stay up until 3 am if I could(6am east coast). Then go to bed, and don't worry about getting up. Sleep in as long as your body wants to... If I got 8-9 hours sleep(11 am wake-up), I wouldn't need a nap the next day prior to the redeye. For me, it was always hard to nap prior to the redeye, simply because you had the pressure to fall asleep. If you didn't nap you were screwed, so knowing this it was tougher to go to sleep. So by doing the above technique..you can also try to nap...but if you can't fall asleep, no worries, because you slept in late that day. This would get me through the night until about 7am,,,where it would hit me. But I'd be at the hotel by then. There are many techniques, but this worked for me.

 

[DYLIN]

When you get in from your leg inbound to west coast, stay up as long as possible. I would try to stay up until 3 am if I could(6am east coast). Then go to bed, and don't worry about getting up.

Not trying to bash your technique at all because different things of course work for different people, but this sounds like a really difficult way. Instead of missing one night of sleep, you're missing two nights of sleep.

 

[dojetdriver]

you'll be all set10 min cool->cold shower - 55* is the science, but it sucks for a solid 90 seconds!- do it though and your system will be in nap mode- make it bearable cool and you're still pretty good

Depends on the "science" you're reading, it seems to be all over the place.

Some say a cool/cold shower to lower the body core temp. Others say the warm/hot shower, after getting out causes the body to cool down and help induce sleep.

You can quote articles from all sorts of sources/studies that cite either one.

 

[Flyer1015]

It's easy for me I'm a night owl

Our redeyes are pretty easy. Late check in day one on the west coast, fly east and land in the morning. Get 9-11 hr rest and then fly back in the evening. You credit ~ 12 hrs for approx. 24-29 hrs away from base. I sleep in on day one and get up around 11am Pacific time. Stay up all day and do the red eye. By the time we land around 6am or so EST, it's 3-4am for my Pacific time and I go to sleep. Wake up at 2pm (again 11am Pacific time) and do the evening flight back.

Done!

 

[waveflyer]

Depends on the "science" you're reading, it seems to be all over the place.

Some say a cool/cold shower to lower the body core temp. Others say the warm/hot shower, after getting out causes the body to cool down and help induce sleep.

You can quote articles from all sorts of sources/studies that cite either one.

True- for sleep quick warm shower is better- and the air gives that drop in temp
Cool is still good for sleep in a longer 10 min shower, the water itself provides the drop in core temp-
and has the added benefit of test production -

Point not lost- grab a shower and it helps

 

[vetrider]

Running sprints is another great way to fatigue yourself for good sleep later, and its good for us over 40 types to help keep our bone density and testosterone up. You definately need to ease into it at first, but once you get used to them, you'll most likely be addicted.

 

[jonjuan]

Running sprints is another great way to fatigue yourself for good sleep later, and its good for us over 40 types to help keep our bone density and testosterone up. You definately need to ease into it at first, but once you get used to them, you'll most likely be addicted.

Agreed-and curling more than 10 pounders in the gym will get the test up as well.

 

[FLYLOW22]

How do you guys force yourself to sleep during the day after a late flight followed by a red eye the next night?

I lay around all day trying to force myself to sleep after having slept from the night before. It's stressful and makes for an exhausting return leg.

Become more senior and bid off of them.

 

[FlyinGuy]

You guys got the wrong techniques. Try this......

 

[Dan Roman]

Skip coffee and workout in the morning. I can usually get a good nap after that.
When time zones reek havoc on my sleep pattern I've had good luck with a sleep aid I got at Whole Foods. It's called Power to Sleep PM. It's a melatonin supplement with some nutrients that aid relaxation. It seems to work quite well. For sure stay away from meds like Ambian. I know some who will take a Tylenol PM when they really need to sleep. I prefer the natural route.

 

[Ty Webb]

When I was doing redeyes, I would stay up a few hours on the West Coast, then get up pretty early. Get out and walk. Come back to the hotel around lunch time. Greasy Bacon Cheeseburger, 2 pints Sierra Nevada . . . . sleep, not a problem!

Wake up in the evening, hit the gym, head to the airport. Drink coffee until Memphis. Land. Go home.

 

[DA50pilot]

When I was doing redeyes, I would stay up a few hours on the West Coast, then get up pretty early. Get out and walk. Come back to the hotel around lunch time. Greasy Bacon Cheeseburger, 2 pints Sierra Nevada . . . . sleep, not a problem!

Wake up in the evening, hit the gym, head to the airport. Drink coffee until Memphis. Land. Go home.

You forgot, whine to my FO all the way!!!!!

 

[Ty Webb]

You forgot, whine to my FO all the way!!!!!

Hey, keep your shoes on, pal . . . . if you don't like it, you can always go back to flying for Mustache Pete and the S. Florida Jet Mafia. . . . we'll have him serve you up some of those 32-hour Bora Bora turns!

:laugh:

 

[Abernathy]

Regional guy here but with the kind of schedules we run, thought I'd offer my tip for falling asleep early...melatonin. Will gently get you to sleep for about 4 hours after which, oddly, you'll wake up totally refreshed. Your mileage may vary.