COVID Jetlag, Our Hormones, And What to do About it
By: Patrick S. Cross, LMT, CPN, CET
If you are like me, your normal routine has been completely obliterated in the past few weeks.
Some of the changes have been pleasant, like waking up with the sun, then leisurely making coffee and reading instead of my normal 5:30am, drag myself out of bed in the dark and go running, routine. Or taking nice, long naps at no specific time of day.
Other changes have been less enjoyable, like consuming a bunch of food I don’t normally eat that, while serving an emotional need, leaves me feeling lethargic and unmotivated. Or trying to figure out a proper at-home workout routine and feeling like I’m accomplishing half of what I would normally in the gym. Or feeling wide awake at midnight and watching Netflix instead of stretching, meditating, and getting back to sleep.
There have been other ups and downs through all of this, but recently I’ve become acutely aware of the fact that this will eventually pass, and when it does, I would prefer a smooth transition back into my normal routine over a harsh, weeks or months long coming out of COVID jet lag.
What I want to convey here is that a solid routine is extremely important. We’ve all heard of circadian rhythms regarding sleep cycles, but it’s important to understand that circadian rhythms are based around hormonal and other physiological cycles that effect not just our sleep patterns, but also our energy levels, motivation, productivity, hunger, ability to concentrate, mood fluctuations, and overall experiences throughout the day and night.
We’ve all probably noticed that when we go on vacation, especially to the other side of the world, we experience what we call jet lag. Jet lag basically means that we feel awake when we shouldn’t, tired and groggy when we want to be awake, and basically, all around out of whack.
The reason for this is that our hormones are on rhythmic cycles, just like the tides of the ocean, rising and falling throughout the day and night in accordance with the routines to which we have become accustomed. When we quickly shift into a different routine, it takes our hormones time to adjust, and we feel very off in the process.
For example, melatonin, a hormone that tells your body it’s time for bed, isn’t being produced when it’s actually time for bed. Cortisol, one of the main hormones that makes us feel awake and alert, is active at the wrong times, and not active when we want it to be. Leptin and ghrelin, hormones that tell us when to start and stop eating, and even hormones like HGH (human growth hormone) which help us recover, are not doing their job when their job is supposed to be done.
All of these out of sync rhythms mean that we feel tired and groggy when we aren’t supposed to be, jazzed up and hungry at the wrong times, and all around not ourselves. This is what we refer to as jet lag, because normally we don’t experience a major shift in our routine unless we hop on a jet and travel to the other side of the world.
Most of us, however, are currently experiencing a major shift in our routines. This shift, coupled with much higher levels of stress hormones and much lower levels of hormones like oxytocin and dopamine (which we get in large part through quality social interactions) means that we are certainly not operating optimally right now, and that it’s going to be a jarring experience when are able to start getting back to normal.
My suggestion is that we start back on the road to a normal routine right now.
Consider what time you would normally wake up and start waking up at that time again. Look at what time of day you would normally exercise, and get back on track with that, even if the workouts aren’t quite the same. Think about what time you would normally start work each day, and even if you’re currently out of work, work on something for an equivalent amount of time. Take lunch and breaks at the normal time, start getting your evening routines back on track, and even consider what times of day or night you would normally interact with other people and try to recreate that online or over the phone to whatever degree you can.
Continue on the way most of us have been, and we’re likely to have a rough transition back to our normal routines. Start reorienting back to our pre COVID routines now, and the transition forward will be much smoother, and the days leading up to it will feel at least somewhat more normal, productive, balanced, and hopefully fulfilling.
