Swingwing, you are correct.
I spent 4 years flying the 744 and did not think it was that bad at all.
That is, until I left.
After 2 months on the ground (ground school and simulators), I woke up one day and felt on top of the world. I felt happy. I could hold a thought. Unbelievable. Then it hit me....this is how normal people feel everyday.... normal. The insidious thing about long-term jetlag is that you never see it coming.
Little by little, your subjective version of what feels "normal" is slowly lowered. After a while, the reference point for what you feel is normal, is the same as what non-jet-lagged people would call "f---ing fatigued". But if that is all you know, and by now can remember, then that feeling is your own benchmark of normality.
I honestly felt like I "woke up", like Neo coming out of the matrix. My wife says she feels like she got back the man she originally married. It scared the living s--t out of me.
I have been flying domestic now for 7 years and thoroughly enjoying life. I will never go back to ultra-longhaul flying. Sure, I'd love the extra money, and sure, I'd rationalise that this time I could defeat it. But what stops me is that I know I would not see the fatigue coming.
Qf 744 flying is probably near the worst end of the scale. LHR-SYD-LAX equals 16/24 possible time zones. Throw in the occasional JFK and you get 19 hrs ! Out of 24 !
I would never have even come close to understanding this unless I had lived it. It will probably never be dealt with properly because of the cost. Eg- only allow your pilots to fly in the SIN-LHR or SYD-JFK or BKK-HNL timezomes, or whatever combination.
In answer to swingwing, subjectively you may feel that you do get used to jetlag. In reality, that's rubbish. I can claim the experience, but, I'll never repeat it.
Regards,
FLCH69.