Whenever I travel by plane, whether or not a time zone change is involved, it takes a day or two for my body to adjust, and I feel very fatigued. What may be the cause of this, and are there any recommendations on how to avoid this?
Thanks.
The following is a commercial site, but it mentions low cabin humidity as a factor. One of their suggestions:
I’m certainly no stranger to a drink, but I learned long ago that a drink on a plane makes me feel pretty yucky. Also, the decompression/recompression I would think might have some effect.
I think it’s a combination of time zone changes, possible drinking alcohol and coffee, and somehow your body gets more dehydrated on a plane (cabin pressure, air quality…?). I don’t have a cite (sorry, I know that’s practically forbidden here, but I don’t wanna google on it), I think that’s just what I’ve heard from various sources throughout my short life.
Lorie
I would guess cabin pressure and hypoxia. Check out this USA Today article.
What’s really wierd for me is that this was published as a front page article just 3 days after my father died of a sudden heart attack after a 2 hour plane trip. He had known heart problems and the cabin pressure just may have pushed him over the edge. I wish I had seen this article earlier.
Post thread with “airplane” in subject line… have pilot show up.
Ta-da!
Disclaimer: I fly little airplanes, not big airliners. However, many of these issues apply to airplanes of all sizes
Here’s a couple of contributors to those less-than-fresh feelings you get after air travel, in no particular order:
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Air travel of any sort is stressful. Sometimes, people want to pretend this isn’t so, but it is. Commercial air travel is even more stressful. You have to fight traffic, find parking, arrive on time - which is hours before you actually take off - “enjoy” our current “security screening” (getting inspected is inherently stressful, even more so if you get “lucky” and are pulled out of line for extra attention), and cram yourself into an aluminum tube with too-small seats, inadquate leg room, and a hundred or two people you don’t know, and lousy food (if any). Then there’s the ambient noise of the engines. It’s loud, despite cabin insulation. Loud, countinuous noise alone is fatiguing (although, in this case, less stressful than complete silence). And some anxiety at leaving the ground is normal. Putting your life in someone else’s hands is stressful. Stress causes fatigue.
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I mentioned noise already, didn’t I? I’m going to do it again. In addition to colicky babies, arguing drunks, and so forth, the engine noise alone contributes to fatigue, especially the low-frequency vibrations.
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Hi, Opal!
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If the weather is perfect, you can close your eyes and make believe you aren’t moving. The weather, however, is seldom perfect. Normally, the whole trip you’re getting little ups, downs, bumps, and shifts. The tendency is to shift slightly in reaction to each one, and all these little muscle movements are fatiguing (this contributes to fatigue on long car trips, too). Since you’re not used to these motions, this can mean using posture-maintaining muscle in ways you’re not accustomed to, leading to vague aches and stiffness a day or two later.
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The cabin air quality stinks. Literally. I don’t think it’s on the level of inhaling toxic waste but you are exposed to more germs than you would standing out on a sidewalk somewhere.
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Cabin pressure does not equal sea level pressure. Airliners are typically pressurized to 8000 feet sea level - higher than Denver, which is high enough to give low-landers problems with the altitude. This can cause more stress on a body. Certainly, anyone with a severe breathing problem or heart problem should discuss possible supplementary oxygen with their doctor. The airlines should co-operate with this need - they’d much rather have you curl up with an oxygen bottle than cause the diversion of a flight due to medical emergency. Also, they don’t really want to kill their customers, they just act like they do, sometimes. Not everyone with asthma or heart disease needs this, but some do. The standard cabin pressure is a comprise that works for 90% of the population. Make sure you’re not in the remaining 10%
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Dehydration happens. This isn’t the fault of the cabin air conditioning either - I have this problem flying low-level open cockpit, too. The higher you go, the drier the air. Also, for some reason, as air pressure drops you lose more moisture through exhaling than you do at higher pressure. Drink water. Lots of it. It will help, really. Avoid caffeine and alcohol, they just make you lose water faster. Also, alcohol’s effects become more intense with dropping pressure - and remember, your airliner’s cabin is only maintained at a mile and a half above sea level.
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Yes, the decompression/compression cycle probably causes some physical stress as well.
If you add up all of the above, yeah, flying is stressful and no wonder you’re tired and vaguely out of sorts. To recap, do the following to minimize the after-effects.
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give yourself LOTS of time to get where you need to be. Pilots have a saying “Time to spare? Go by air”. It always takes longer than you think it will. Allowing ample time will reduce stress.
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if you’re going through airport security be sure to leave all suspcious items at home or in checked baggage. The airlines will be happy to tell you what’s on the forbidden list this week.
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Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and anything else that can dehydrate you.
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Drink water!!!
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If you have a medical problem take precautions. Yes, you might look like a dork sucking on an oxygen mask, but you’ll be a healthy, less-fatigued dork. Unlike the drunk sitting next to you, who will feel like the bottom of a septic tank tommorrow morning.
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If noise bothers you, use earplugs. It won’t eliminate all the fatigue-inducing noise and vibration, but it will help.
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If, after all that, you’re still overly fatigued by flying accept this and don’t overschedule the day after you land.
Re: Point 7.
I’m a bit thirsty after flying in helicopters – at only 500 AGL. I’ve always assumed that’s because it’s usually warm or hot when I fly, and that I fly with the doors off. The heat makes me perspire, and the breeze evaporates it. After an hour, my body wants water.
Normally, I seldom get thirsty - except when flying.
It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s hot or cold, high or low, open cockpit or not, altitude sucks the water out of body. Of course, summer heat just makes it worse than ever, so in the summer I take water with me on board.