I chose to post this question on The Asia site because this is where most of the long haul (North American) travelers might be. I'm thinking of jet lag of about 12 hours.

My past experiences have shown me that it takes me a few days to adapt to this kind of time change. It's not bad enough to be on the opposite side of the clock, but the fatigue of 24 hours of travel does get to me, and I always travel in coach.

I am able to get some sleep on the plane, but not enough to keep me going. I have never used any kind of sleeping pills but may consider this.

Any recommendations appreciated.

Go to bed with a good book or someone that has read one!

Seriously, we just allow a day to get over it! We've used melantonin (not sure of correct spelling) on our four trips from Oz to the US & Europe and our trip to Sth America. It worked a treat on one trip then did not help on the others.

We have a couple of drinks (or 3) and try to get some sleep by using an eye mask & ear plugs.

Usually we find a good night's sleep and we're back to normal. It's the bugs we pick up like awful colds & flu that knock us around. Good luck!

stay up as late as you can and get as good a nite's sleep that first nite as possible...take a sleeping pill maybe...eat light the next day and take it easy...swim if a pool is available...early to bed and expect day 3 to be a normal day...

We've found that going from US to Asia, we get over the jet lag in a day or two, no problem. On the way back, it takes a week or two for our sleep patterns to normalize. To answer your specific question, we deal with jet lag by going to bed early and waking up absurdly early. I was in the office yesterday (5 days post return) at 4o a.m..

If you fly out of the evening and arrive early 3rd day (like most Asian carriers - Cathay, China Airlines, EVA, SQ), <b>do not</b> sleep through the first day after you arrive. Have some light activities; and if super tired, take a short nap. The effect isn't too different from going to Europe.

If you take a US airline - like NW, UA - you shouldn't have problem going to bed the first night - you'll be pretty exhausted. But you'll feel tired the next day - again, don't sleep for long during the day. Short naps only.

I have thought a lot about this as my flight to BKK will be on NW airlines Miami-Detroit-Norita-BKK, about 21 hr. flight, but I arrive in BKK at 11 pm and by then I figure I'll be exhausted and will get a good night sleep.

I travel often and travel coach, but I'm the kind of person who sleeps through entire flights, even long, and most times I have to be waken up before landing, so I'll try to get some sleep in the plane as well.

If I get too sleepy the next day during the day, I'll try to drink as much coffee as possible - or even take one of those caffeine pills if necessary - to keep me up at least until 8-9 pm and go to bed again. If I need sleeping aid, I take Tylenol PM, which does not give you any side effects in the AM and since I don't usually take any pills this works great for me.

I hope this helps in any way.

I used a pill called &quot;No Jet Lag&quot; that I got at a travel store. It is a natural thing, no major sleeping pill. I used it on our LAX-BKK trip and it worked GREAT!

I am a melatonin repsonder. I used No-Jet-Lag on the flight and then took melatonin when I went to bed at 11 pm japan time after arrival. Got up on Japan time next mroning at 9 am with no jet lag at all.

Did the same thing on way back. No jet lag at all.

I usually have terrible jet lag going to and from Europe without taking anything.

I'm also a melatonin responder. I really don't sleep on flights, so by the time I get to bangkok around midnight, I'm really tired. When I get to my hotel, I take a melatonin and go to bed. I always wake up reasonably early and I make sure I get out and get some morning sunshine (that helps re-set your body clock). I am more tired teh first few days, but really, it only means that I opt for canapes and cocktails in the Club lounge in place of dinner and go to bed early. AFter that I'm fine.

I really don't have much difficulty when I get home. My flight arrives in Seattle about 9 am. I try to stay up all day, but by about 7 pm, I'm done. I get a long night of sleep that night (with melatonin) and i'm pretty much back in the time zone within a couple of days.

I too would like to be a &quot;melatonin responder&quot;. Wish I knew what it is and where to get it. Also, &quot;No-Jet-Lag&quot; is what I'm all about. Don't know where to get that either. I assume that you don't need a supplier that you meet in some dark place (lol).

If you live in the US, melatonin is available at any pharmacy. It's in the supplements section; choose one from a reputable supplier and choose the lowest dose available (usually 2 or 3 mg). About one-third of people are not melatonin responders.

No Jet Lag is a homeopatic remedy.

This is probably not a good advice. I don't suffer from jet lag or better yet, I don't endorse the label. On the plane, sleep when you're sleepy. When you get to your destination, sleep when most normal, &quot;un-jetlagged&quot; people sleep. In other words, as soon as you reach your destination, switch your brain to the country's time zone. It's all in the mind, but should you feel sleepy, take a nap and have someone wake you up after 2 hours. Don't sleep any longer or you'll never get over it. I never take pills. En route you will notice that plane staff serve you the appropriate meal at the corresponding appropriate time zone. Go with the rhythm and you won't have a problem. If you sleep through breakfast because it's your normal sleep &quot;time&quot; back home, you're in trouble.

I think preparation has a lot to do with eat, you will speel better if you are tired, eat light before you travel, get packed and organised several days before the trip and have everything 'done' a day or so ahead, good books, get early to the airport, avoid alcohol, lots of water and 'relax'. Take it easy and don't worry about it too much.

As noted elsewhere, I have memorable jet lag. JamesA's advice not to worry about it too much is perfect. Eventually, things will normalize. There's no reason to add anxiety to jet lag.

I totally endorse Iklibuhay's advice. Very early in the flight, I change my watch to the destination time and from then I no longer allow myself to think about what time it is at my place of departure. On arrival I eat and sleep according to the time of day there. Works a treat, except flights to Asia are about 12 hours for me. I have never had to endure almost round the clock flight times, like many fodorites.

I agree that on the flight, it is generally best to simply sleep when you are sleepy - don't take pills. They could make you groggy and potentially feel worse.

Then, when you arrive at your destination, get on their clock as best you can. Push through until evening and then take a melatonin for the first few nights to help you sleep at the appropriate time. Melatonin is a very mild, natural hormone/enzyme that your body produces when the sun goes down. It is NOT a sleeping pill. It just helps you set your body up for sleeping.

Well, no matter what I do, I've found sleeping pills make my life so much easier. I don't notice any ill effects and they pretty much guarantee me 6 hours of sleep in the appropriate time zone of my new setting. I get outside in the sun as much as possible the day of arrival and for the next few days, walk a lot, stay awake during the day -- but an ambien at night lets me sleep past 2:00 am.

It takes me almost a week to adjust to the time change between the States and Asia. That just seems to be the way it is. The excitement of starting a trip is a big boost, though, and it's never stopped my sightseeing!

This is what I have been doing for the past 4-5 years. Prior to that I was unable to sleep on the plane. I &quot;cocoon&quot; myself in. Ear plugs, eye covers and a neck pillow - then get the blanket around me just right. My last trip to Asia I slept 7 hours! I have told a few others and they have been able to make this work for them too. I personally prefer to arrive in the a.m. Thereby saving a hotel night and getting the most out of my vacation days. I think I would have trouble falling asleep until many hours of unwinding after arriving at the hotel and at that point it would be about time to get up. Most of my long flights have been to Europe and that is really the only option there. I sure wish that the folks who cannot sleep on the plane would BE QUIET though. It amazes me that they can see that the majority of the plane is asleep and they just yammer to the top of their voices for hours. My personal luck of being in front of crying babies and kicking toddlers is in the high 90%. It has become a huge joke it happens so often.

I can't drink wine and don't take sleeping pills, but I would like to share and incident that happened to us. The flight was underway when the plane experienced mechanical difficulties. We returned to the airport with firemen, foam the whole deal on the runway. Everything turned out o.k., but many had drank wine and/or taken sleeping pills. We were stuck at the airport for about 6 hours while they found a replacement airplane. These folks were in a world of hurt. Passed out everywhere on the cold dirty floor. That incident was enough to make me never consider sleeping pills. Not to mention if our landing and mechanical problems would have been more serious.

Now returning home is a whole different story. Wish I was as excited to be home as to not be home. We never have sleeping issues on vacation and this last trip took us forever to get adjusted to sleeping at night. We were bouncing around on 3-5 hours of sleep for weeks.

I've heard one story of folks being carried off a plane when it had to unexpectedly return to the airport. These people could not be awakened because of the sleeping pills they'd taken. So, I don't take them on a plane either. I just find them useful on land.

I came home from 3 weeks in Bangkok just a little over a week ago and am still jetlagged. I always end up like this coming from Southeast Asia. I have to take a 30-60 minute nap in the middle of the day, everyday, for two weeks before my system is back on track. Happy Travels!