Jet lag

If we are going to Europe and the time difference is 6 hours we begin getting up and hour early 6 days before and continue adding an hour each day. The day of the overnight flight we get up quite early and go to the gym (open 24 hours) We then stay active all day, when we arrive at the airport we take melatonin, after dinner we put on sleep masks and go to sleep. We then try to stay awake all day until at least 8 pm and go to bed. Typically we wake up the next day rested and ready to go.

I do think I will try to shift my sleep/wake cycle starting 6days prior. That sounds like really good advice.

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Shifting the meal timing sounds like very good advice since often the wake-up trigger is feeling hungry in the middle of the night, since the stomach is still on back home time.

When IS breakfast at the new destination and work around that. However, lunch time for a displaced Californian in Paris is 3am. Have a sandwich ready on the bedside table because it always seems it is always the wee-small hours at first when I wake up hungry and am ready to go.

Handy hourly converter for your new destination to plot how your body is thinking at various times in your new destination, until the new mind-body truce is drawn. http://www.timebie.com/timezone/pariscalifornia.php

Better Homes and Gardens suggests some sleep-inducing food that might be handy to have ready when the early am awakenings happen: who knew packing prunes and pistachios would be a good idea is you can't find a banana or a chocolate bar. Camomile tea is always a traditional sleep inducer too.

If we are going to Europe and the time difference is 6 hours we begin getting up and hour early 6 days before and continue adding an hour each day. The day of the overnight flight we get up quite early and go to the gym (open 24 hours) We then stay active all day, when we arrive at the airport we take melatonin, after dinner we put on sleep masks and go to sleep. We then try to stay awake all day until at least 8 pm and go to bed. Typically we wake up the next day rested and ready to go.

Let us know how it works for you.

I DON'T Have a hard time switching time zones when going east from Boston to Europe, I have a hArder time adjusting when I tgravel west to come home. it takes me at least few days to get back on to Boston's clock.

I agree with the OP who stated there are those who can sleep on a plane and those of us who can't. First or economy, Ambien or not, makes no difference.

The only time I have ever arrived in Europe without jet lag was on an eastbound transatlantic cruise that took seven days to get there.!

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We change our watch the moment we board the plane.

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We change our watch the moment we board the plane.

 

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That sounds like a good idea too. Get used to seeing the time change right away. I don’t wear a watch, but my DH does. I can certainly change the time on my devices to the destination’s time.

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On New York to London flights (our most frequent) if it's an overnight, we grab a nap as soon after landing as possible: about three hours if no sleep on the flight, or no more than an hour if we did get some sleep on the plane. Then stay up until 9 or 10 PM London time - after a good night's sleep we're fully adjusted the next day.

Preferred is a day flight -about 8:00 AM NY to 7:00 PM London - do not nap on plane, have a light supper then go to bed about midnight London (7:00 PM your body clock, but because you got up very early to get that 8;00 AM flight, it is easy to get to sleep) then you wake up next day on local time,

The best thing we did when flying to Europe was to pay fo ra n extra hotel night and book the room for night before our morning afrrival. That enabled us to go immediately from airp;ort to our hotel room. WE always let the hotel know what we were doing so they did not call us a no show the day before. . Because we had paid for \the day before, our room was ready and waiting for us.

A fast shower, nice breakfast an we f were ready t o get going. :) I would do the unpacking while DH showered.

On New York to London flights (our most frequent) if it's an overnight, we grab a nap as soon after landing as possible: about three hours if no sleep on the flight, or no more than an hour if we did get some sleep on the plane. Then stay up until 9 or 10 PM London time - after a good night's sleep we're fully adjusted the next day.

 

 

 

Preferred is a day flight -about 8:00 AM NY to 7:00 PM London - do not nap on plane, have a light supper then go to bed about midnight London (7:00 PM your body clock, but because you got up very early to get that 8;00 AM flight, it is easy to get to sleep) then you wake up next day on local time,

I may try that next time! We’ll see how I manage with an overnight flight. I will let you all know how my nighttime flight works out. We leave in about a week and a half!

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We attempt to sleep as much as possible on the flight. Agree that staying awake, if able, until bedtime after landing helps with the jet lag. Although our schedule doesn’t always allow it, it’s nice when you can sleep until you wake up that first night of arrival, without an alarm clock.

If caffeine keeps you awake, be mindful of your hours (once in Italy, I drank a bottle of what I thought was lemonade...it was more like mellow yellow, oh my! I didn’t sleep much that night).

Melatonin helps me greatly.

The method the DW and I use is as follows:

 

1) Sleep as late as possible on your departure day.

2) Do not sleep on the flight over.

3) Tough it out the next day until at least 8:00 - 9:00 that night.

4) Wake up the next morning around your regular time.

 

While this can be a bit tough, especially as you get into the late afternoon and evening on your day of arrival, it has worked very well for us for over 20 years. Its gets our body clocks into sync with the local time as quickly as possible.

 

We also find that if we split a bottle of 5-Hour Energy in the afternoon, its helps get us past the hump. 5 Hour Energy is just basically a heavy shot of B-12 and other vitamins, no sugar or caffeine. We'll always pick up a few bottles at Wal-Mart before we head out for a TATL or TPAC.

Just, FYI

The product labeled as 5-Hour Energy (original) has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of 'premium' coffee, according to their labeling and product info. Their 'extra strength' product has caffeine equivalent to '12 ounces of premium coffee'.

Just, FYI

The product labeled as 5-Hour Energy (original) has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of 'premium' coffee, according to their labeling and product info. Their 'extra strength' product has caffeine equivalent to '12 ounces of premium coffee'.

They also sell a Decaf 5-hour ENERGY shot. "Its custom blend contains vitamins and nutrients, but only as much caffeine as a half-cup of decaf coffee."

We rely on a product called "No Jet Lag." It's homeopathic pills that you take every 4 hours on the plane if you are not sleeping. Helps you adjust to the new time zone. By the next day after arrival, we feel fine, which was not the case before we found this product! They used to only be available in the TravelSmith catalog, but now they are more widespread. I believe the last time I purchased them it was through Walmart online.

We rely on a product called "No Jet Lag." It's homeopathic pills that you take every 4 hours on the plane if you are not sleeping. Helps you adjust to the new time zone. By the next day after arrival, we feel fine, which was not the case before we found this product! They used to only be available in the TravelSmith catalog, but now they are more widespread. I believe the last time I purchased them it was through Walmart online.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS

The five homeopathic remedies listed below are the active ingredients in No-Jet-Lag.

Arnica Montana 30C (Leopard's Bane), Bellis Perennis 30C (Daisy), Chamomilla 30C (Wild Chamomile), Ipecacuanha 30C (Ipecac), Lycopodium 30C (Clubmoss)

NB: Chamomille tea is readily available and a long known sleep aide.

I preferf go skip those OTC's and self medication. I drink de beverages.

I preferf go skip those OTC's and self medication. I drink de beverages.

Not sure why OTC NoJetLag includes Ipecac, which induces vomiting.

I drink de-caf beverages and avoid any caffeine containing OTC meds.

I think I'll continue to avoid the ipecac

We flew home from Amsterdam to the East Coast on Tuesday, arriving early afternoon. Today, Sunday, 6 days later, is the first day that I didn't feel as though I walked into a brick wall at 7 p.m. (its almost 9 pm now). So for me, its true that you really need one day for every time zone you cross to recover from jet lag.

I can stuggle through once I get home. It will be not fun, I’m sure , to return to my job and be so exhausted, but I’ll make it! [emoji4].

Baggal, how’d you do flying in to Amsterdam? Are you of the opinion that it’s harder flying east to west?

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Not sure why OTC NoJetLag includes Ipecac, which induces vomiting.

Homeopathy is strange. I consider it quackery.

I can stuggle through once I get home. It will be not fun, I’m sure , to return to my job and be so exhausted, but I’ll make it! [emoji4].

Baggal, how’d you do flying in to Amsterdam? Are you of the opinion that it’s harder flying east to west?

 

 

 

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I suffer from jet lag going in both directions. This trip, we were able to check into our hotel room right away and slept for two hours in the morning. That helped a lot since I got very little sleep on the overnight flight. I do find that the negative effects of jet lag last longer coming back from Europe to the U.S. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

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Perhaps off topic- but a few years ago we flew to Stockholm from Portland, OR. I think we went through San Francisco and Frankfurt- at any rate, a very long trip. When we got in to Stockholm fairly early in the a.m. After getting through customs, etc. it was mid-day by the time we got to our hotel. I was determined to stay up until 10pm or so and then promptly fell asleep on the bed.

Woke up several hour later- hubs still asleep. It was light outside, so I decided to take a walk and look for breakfast. Only problem was is was 9 pm not 9am-- after I figured that out I went back to the room and took a Melatonin (natural sleep aid) and did fine the next day, Got to watch those Scandinavian countries in the evening-- they stay light very late in the summer!

Homeopathy is strange. I consider it quackery.

Chamomile tea has long been recommended as a sleep inducing herbal - a regular tea bag would probably deliver the same benefits. Yes the theory behind "homeopathy" has little to back it up other than personal benefit and/or the placebo effect. Something about minutely dilute amounts of known toxins are supposed to create just the opposite effect .

Such as the Ipacac found in this product which is used in regular amounts to induce vomiting, but in a extremely dilute amount this product can then claim to soothe one's stomach according to the principles of homeopathy. But then so does Chamomile tea. A price comparison would be interesting between the two products - the tea bag or the OTC propriatary.

An 8 hour flight leaving late afternoon and arriving 8:00am, what a dream flight. Us Aussies do it a bit tougher. Our flight to Fort Lauderdale last month was a 33 hour epic (7 hour lay over in LA). If we go to Europe its not much better.

I used to suffer badly from jet lag but now I just make sure I sleep on the plane. I spends hours with my eyes closed dozing as best I can when my body doesn't really want to be doing that and "wake up" when breakfast is served if landing in the morning. Once I adopted the strategy of applying the sleep pattern of my destination on the plane I haven't had a jet lag problem. In your case I would get up an hour or two early on the morning of your flight to assist sleeping soon after take off and then tough it out the first day at your destination remembering you'll be operating on a few hours short of 8 hours sleep. If you are going to take a pill you might not want/need to get up early on travel day.

I suffer from jet lag going in both directions. This trip, we were able to check into our hotel room right away and slept for two hours in the morning. That helped a lot since I got very little sleep on the overnight flight. I do find that the negative effects of jet lag last longer coming back from Europe to the U.S. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

 

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Coming back your body feels it is five or six hours later than East Coast time, or eight or nine hours than West Coast. What seems to work best westbound is to try to get an hour or two sleep on the plane - and then force yourself to stay up until your normal go-to-bed time.