Community Chat

[Yardlie]

I don't fly a lot...a couple trips at year. Everytime I fly, it takes me 3-4 days to recuperate from the flight. It isn't jet lag, because I'm not always crossing time zones. Sometimes it is just a North-South trip. I read the following explanation about why this occurs, but what can you do about it? All I want to do is sleep for 3 days after a flight. Those of you who travel for business certainly can't do that. What helps? Here is the explanation I found:

"Commercial aircraft are pressurized... You'd be uncomfortable if they weren't, but they are only pressurized to a comfortable equivalent altitude. What does THAT mean?

That means when you're flying at 35,000 ft (10,670 meters), the cabin will be pressurized to about the equivalent of 8,000 feet (2440 Meters)... so it will feel like you are in the mountains... high in the mountains.

If you've been hiking or skiing at those altitudes, you know that the air is thinner, and you easily get out of breath. There is less oxygen in each breath you take because of the lower air pressure, and that lower oxygen level tends to make your brain fuzzy."

Thanks for any tips!