Originally Posted by
CVividasku
Hi
I have now more than a 1000 hours on the bus, and I've noticed that I'm experiencing a special type of fatigue on a regular basis.
I am a night owl rather than an early bird. So it's no surprise that I experience some fatigue if I woke up too early without sufficient sleep. This is not really my question.
My question is about fatigue not related to insufficient sleep. For example, after 3 flights in the afternoon, say a 2PM-11-PM shift, I will experience a weird sort of fatigue during the 4th flight (it's also starting to grow during the third). It's similar to sleep related fatigue but it's not, because as soon as I come home, I'm very awake and unable to go to bed before 3AM.
I'm not really able to explain or even describe this type of tiredness.
Sometimes, a word that comes to mind is "weariness", fatigue related just to the routine nature of the activity and the fact that there still is pressure to do everything right, even if it's easy on a given normal day.
Am I the only one to experience this ? If not, are there ways to lessen this feeling ?
Thanks
These are likely the symptoms of increased cortisol levels, which are quite common in our profession. Sleeping alone won’t suffice to bring it down and sometimes you won’t be able to achieve a good sleep due to those high levels.
You need to disconnect for a while and engage in relaxing activities and light physical exercise. Try also getting bored; when you’re to hyped up between flights and possibly other company related engagement such that you feel you’re close to your maximum EGT, switch off. Do nothing. Look for boredom and hang there for a while. It works a bit like a computer reset. Whatever you do, make sure you engage in something you really enjoy - it is the best way to rebalance hormone levels.