How to deal with the jet lag?
 

Hi everyone!
I bought my ticket from lessno.com to fly next month to Australia with my boyfriend. We've been planning and dreaming about this vacation for a looong time and we want to make the best of it.
So, can you, please share you ideas and experience on how to beat the terrible jet lag? We don't want to spend half of our vacation sleeping:)

10nx a lot!

Venera, we haven't found it terrible, and I suspect we're considerably older and feebler than you. Just stay awake on the day you arrive, even if you're knackered, and go to bed at a roughly normal local time - no earlier than 9 pm. Resist the urge to take a nap during the day. You should be fine next day. Don't get yourself psyched out by horror stories about jet lag.

I have to agree with Neil. This is always what I do and I have never had bad jet lag whether it be flying into America or Europe. Nor am I fighting myself to stay awake for that first day either as I am usually so keyed up about my trip. There is nothing like some fresh air to keep you awake.

I think the best way is to get lots of sleep before the flight, watch movies on the plane, and change your watch as soon as the plane takes off. Avoid thinking what the time is back home. Save the museums, musicals and operas for the second or third night.

Gotta agree and disagree with Wally.

Agree with: set your watch to the new time once you're on the plane, and forget what time it is at home.

Disagree with: I really think you should try to sleep as much as possible on the flight, especially towards the middle/end. If you're flying from the US-SYD, you'll have about 14 hours in the air, and typically will arrive in the morning. Since you'll want to stay up as long as possible, you'll need to get some sleep on the plane.
Whatever you do, try not to take a nap. Just stay up as late as you can (might only be 7pm), but if you do that and get a good night of sleep, you'll likely be in good shape for Day #2.

Some people just can't sleep on a plane. So, don't force yourself. Watch a few movies and if you fall asleep, great!

As others have stated. Set you're watch to the time zone you are going to and try to sleep during hours that would be appropriate for that time zone while you're on the plane. After arrival, force yourself to stay awake and active until regular bed time the first night. After that, you should be good to go.

I hate to disagree with Wally, but I know for an absolute fact that my entire trip would have been ruined if I had not slept on the plane. SLEEP ON THE PLANE. YOU MUST SLEEP ON THE PLANE. Try to time it so you wake up an hour or two (no more) before you land.

TAKE AMBIEN. It works, and should have no unpleasant side effects like some other pills. It's the only sleeping pill I've ever been able to take.

Start adjusting several days before you leave; if you can even change an hour or two beforehand you'll be very happy. Keep in mind that the time difference (from the West Coast) is 18 hours earlier but FEELS six hours LATER. So it's really not that bad.

Aside from sleeping on the plane, the important thing is to STAY UP when you get there. You'll want to shower up and get changed but DON'T lie down on the bed, even for "a second". You'll spend your whole trip wandering around in the dark. Get out of the room and see something. Assuming you're coming into Sydney, just spend that first day around the harbour, there's more to see than you'll be able to take in, what with the Quay and the Botanic Gardens and the Opera House and the Rocks. Drink LOADS of water and take it easy and you'll be fine. If you're like me, you'll be getting enough of a workout walking around all day that you'll sleep like a baby and awake refreshed, even if it seems ridiculously early.

If you're like me, the hard part's going to be after you get back!

There have been some interesting stories on the news about people who take ambien. Heard they were walking to the refrigerator asleep and eating and gaining weight. One guy got in trouble on a plane for rude behavior.

These posts got me thinking. My husband and I are flying to Sydney on July 1 on Quntas. We land at 8:35pm. I thought this would be a good time to deal with jet lag. Our plan is to check into our hotel and go to bed. Are we screwing with our sleep cycle by doing this?

Indianagirl:

No you will not be " screwing up your cycle."

It is just not that simple to take Ambien or any other sleeping medication.

There are some things to consider when you are taking a sedative.
for example:

1.Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep after and hour or so of taking the "sleeping "pill?

2. How long is your flight trip?

3.What time are you going to arrive at your destination.?

4.What are you going to do upon arrival.?

You see if taking Ambien , it's pharmacological profile is similar to of Benzodiazepines!

Hey,what is this Benzodiazepine stuff!!

Well ,I am sure you have friends that may have used Ativan ,Xanax or Valium sometime in the past for sleep and / or anxiety.

These are all the same class of drugs:
Valium is Diazepam
Ativan is Lorazepam
Xanax is Alprazolam

You see they all end in "am"

You for sure do not want Valium it has too long of a half-life.

Is half life important..you bet it is...so is the duration of the onset of the drug.

But since your flight to Sydney (from LA I am assuming ) is 14 1/2 hour long, you can take a medication whose onset is rapid and whose half life is relatively short.

But wait a minute is is not as simple as that because

1.You are not going to sleep the minute Qantas takes off.
2.They will serve you two meals and one or two snacks during this flight ( including coffee and/or tea).

3.There are up to date movies (back of the seat screen)...so just when are you going to try to sleep on the flight... is it going to be the last 4-5 hours of the flight?!

If so then the best sleeping medication to take Halcion...why because...

1. It has a rapid onset of action and
2. It has a half -life of 3 hours.

Hey, what is all this half life stuff.!!

Well did you ever take a sleeping medication in the middle of the night and then got up early in the morning(alarm) with that fuzzy feeling that you are trying to shake ...but cannot until about 1 PM in the afternoon.

That is because too much of the drug is still in your body,doing what is is suppose to do...trying to make you sleep.!!!

If a sleeping pill has a half life of say 10 hours...it does NOT mean the drug is ALL gone in 10 hours.

It means half of it is gone in 10 hours and then half of what is remaining is gone in the next 10 hours..then half of that in the next 10 hours....and soon and so on.

You see now why people are "groggy" for a full day after arriving !!

I flew to Sydney from LA about 6 weeks ago .... what did I take....well I

took a sublingual Ativan (the lowest dose) about 7 hours into my 14 1/2 hour flight.

You live in the USA ( I am assuming),so you can buy Melatonin over the counter.

This is a pretty safe drug, no side effects or drowsiness.

You are coming into Sydney at 8:30 PM

Okay by the time you clear customs and get to your hotel and register and have your bath and go to bed it is safe to say it will be about 11PM.

Do this at bedtime:

1. Take a Melatonin tablet.

2.Have a glass of Milk and a few cookies ( or anything else high in sugar content).

3.Turn off the lights and KEEP them off until morning.

I could give you all the details of why
but I think you have read enough.

(Hi to Neil_Oz)

Percy

In my experience, don't plan anything too important for the first day. Just have a bit of a stroll around somewhere (ie Harbour area) and do some shopping or go to a cafe. By early evening you should be well and truly ready for a long sleep, but should be fine the next day.

If you're landing at 8:35pm, and assuming you're coming from the US, here's my suggestion:
- Try to sleep for some of the first half of the flight.
- Try to stay awake for most of the 2nd half of the flight

By the time you get checked into your hotel, around 10-11pm, your body will think it's morning (if you're flying from the US). However, if you can get a decent night sleep, you should be good to go the next morning.

If you are going to sleep for the first half of the flight
........then you better tell the Stewardess not to wake you up if you are asleep and meal time arrives.

I hope you are a sound sleeper sitting up because if you ARE asleep with your seat reclined ... they WILL wake you up to tell you to straighten up your seat so the person behind you can eat.

Now since you are "awake" now anyway you might as well have dinner...right !!! or are you going to try to fall asleep again while everyone else is klanging their utensils and drinking all about you.

If you can sleep through all this you do not need any help from anyone....and I would...
appreciate knowing your secret.!!!!

Percy

Hi, Percy. Coincidentally my wife talked to her doctor yesterday about sleeping problems and she was given a cautious suggestion to try a melatonin supplement, as well as get more exposure to sunlight. The caution was indicated by the fact that "further study is needed to find out more about melatonin's side effects, especially delayed or long-term effects" (www.familydoctor.org)

The same website (published by the American Academy of Family Physicians) notes that there are two types of melatonin are used in these pills - natural and synthetic.

They recommend that you do NOT use the natural version, which may be contaminated with a virus. Use ONLY the synthetic version.

"Natural" is not always better!

Everyone's experience is going to be different. My remarks were based on a morning arrival. For afternoon arrival, your plan would be different. The idea is not just to sleep on the plane, but to sleep at the appropriate time for your destination, which on a long flight like that is going to fall at least partly within the flight.

Melatonin has never really done much for me. It's not a sleeping pill, either; I think it's a hormone, but whatever it is, it helps regulate your sleep cycle, which is why you take it at a certain time -- it's not helping you sleep, it's helping you adjust to the time.

Ambien is a true sleeping pill. And it is particularly notable for avoiding the kind of after-effects (grogginess, etc.) that some other pills can cause. After an Ambien sleep, I wake up truly refreshed, which is not true with the other ones I've tried. Again, your reaction may be different.

If I was arriving at 8:30 PM, your brain is going to think it's 2:30 PM, so you may not be tired enough to sleep. In that case maybe exhausting yourself on the flight is a good idea. Percy's advice about the light, though, is good -- if you can't sleep, getting up and turning on the light and being active is a bad idea, as you are postponing the inevitable. Lay there in the dark, and in the morning FORCE yourself to get up, even if you're useless; once you get out into the sun and the excitement of a foreign place you'll forget how tired you are.

Unless you want to spend most of your Australian daylight sleeping!

As I said before, for me the hard part was after I got back. It's a heck of a lot harder to get excited about going in to work when you're exhausted than it is to go down to the Quay and hop on a ferry in the prettiest harbor in the world!

Hi Neil_Oz
and
Hi fnarf999:

You both bring up some good point so I will explain a bit more.

Yes, Melatonin is a natural ocurring hormone in your body.

It is secreted by the Pineal Gland (in your brain,just under the crisscross of the Optic Nerves( below the Optic Chiasma)

The production of this hormone at night helps to regulate our sleep pattern and helps reduce jet- lag.

The main advantage here is that taking Melatonin avoids the side effects that are so prevalant with all sleeping medications.

It is Darkness that increases the Natural production of Melatonin.

You see this lady was coming in at 8:30 PM.... so she will be in bed about 11 PM.

Now I mentioned milk and cookies ( or any sweet carbohydrate will do )

The brain feeds off sugar first and at the fastest rate...now you know why Diabetics faint when their sugar gets too low.!!! or you get shaky when your sugar is low!

The milk is because it is high in tryptophan...which increases the production of serotonin( which is a neurotransmitter ,BUT that is another story!!), it is also a calming agent.

So after you have take this milk and carbohydrate (and a 0.5 mgm tablet of Melatonin...you are going to bed.

Now you are in the Darkness and Tryptophan (from the milk) helps to increase the production of melatonin from your Pineal Gland ,which is your OWN natural occuring sleep hormone.

All this works in combination.

If you think you are going to take a Melatonin tablet at 3 PM in the afternoon and get some sleep.....forget it !

Yawn.. getting sleep boys
Good Night !!

Percy

There always is coffee or Red Bull.

Hi wally34949 !

Is Red Bull an alcoholic drink or and energy boost drink!??

Sometimes I see empty Red Bull cans lying around here and there... maybe the next time I will pick one up and read the label!

Is this the one with the Red Longhorn Steer's head on the can !?

2 years ago I ate chocolate covered Costa Rica coffee beans in Costa Rica.

I was eating them like peanuts .!!

About an hour later and after maybe one pound of coffee beans consumed I was ready to fly home without the plane !!!!

Take Care
Percy

Percy--you are very informative and witty! Great thread!

Thanks amtraveler....just trying to help

since I know a "wee" bit about the medications.

Percy

Hi, I have done alot of long distance traveling and I use to get to my travel destination totally exhausted because I couldn't sleep on the plane. What I do now is I get on the plane stay up until after they serve the meal and then I take a Xanax. I take a half of a pill only about .125 mg or one pill .25 mg which is pretty low dose and then I usually can easily fall asleep. I usually can get anywhere from 3-5 hours of solid sleep and then I find that I dose on and off for the remainder of the flight. When I get to my destination I get out and walk around and stay up till 7-8 P.M. local time. Usually it's not too dificult and I seem to be able to get into the local time zone fairly easily and I'm not tired. I also am someone who has insomnia at times and I do take Ambien at home but I am afraid to take it on a flight. I know how it makes me feel at home when I take it. I only take half a pill-5 mg and if I don't immediately go to sleep in about 5 minutes it makes me feel VERY strange.Almost like an out of body experience. I just came back from Russia and a lady took an Ambien on the plane to sleep and she was so drugged up that she was falling asleep in the middle of her meal- she was asleep with her head at a totally unnatural angle and she would fall asleep in the middle of a sentence----too scary for me. I just would not recommend it.I am an R.N.

nomadwoman:

Good for you that you take half of a 0.25mgm pill.

You know it is alway easier to add medication....once you swallow a bit much..it is too late to take it back !!!

I take Ativan(on long trips only), as you know there is little difference between Ativan and Xanax ( in simialr dose capacities that is.)

My only reason for chossing Ativan is that it also comes in a Sublingual dose, that is you put it under your tongue and it dissloves in about a minute..

So no water is required and the pill is soooo small anyway .!!!

As you know Ativan comes in 0.5 mgm ,1 mgm and 2 mgm pill doses.

So when I take a 0.5 mgm dose of Ativan ...this is the lowest dose... I can always add another 0.5 mgm in a few hours IF I need to.

At home I have both Xanax and Ativan but for effect,duration of action and half life....it really is six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Thank You for you good comments.

Percy

My husband and I just returned from Australia (we live in Indiana) and we had little problems with jet lag on our way to Australia. We set our clocks to Sydney time as soon as we left, drank lots of water (or just a little wine to help us sleep on the plane.) When we arrived we walked around the city to leisurely see some sites. That, along with our excitement to be there, helped us stay awake until bedtime.

Coming back to the States, we did experience jet lag, (we flew out of Perth back to Indianapolis). But were back home with our normal work schedule - which required us to stay awake. It took almost a week to feel completely back to normal, but it was well worth it!

Hi all,

As someone that has spent way too much time on a plane (over 1/4 million commercial air miles in 3 years), I found that the easiest trick to fighting off jet lag is to spend as much time as you can in the sun.

As most people have said here, just go out and spend the day out walking around. Stay away from caffine, energy drinks, sugar, or anything that will artificially stimulate you. The problem with these things is they only last a short period of time, and then you will crash (end up more tired than before).

Be sure to drink lots of water, especially on the plane. Inside the plane, the oxygen levels and the air pressure is much lower than on the ground. This will cause you to dehydrate faster than normal. So drinking water is a very important part of staving off jet lag.

Enjoy your trips, I'll be visiting you guys in August. :)

On January 1st, I flew from Sydney to Bangkok, to London to Miami. I did have one hour for refueling in Bangkok and a change of planes in London for 1 hour. Talking about a long flight--and with 22 drinks I was really missed up. So why did I fly this way? It was cheaper.

I agree with Dirt4fun

My posting to Indianagirl was because she was coming into Sydney at 8:30 PM and to her hotel at about 11PM

It is a whole different story if you are coming into Sydney in the daytime.

Yes water is the best drink you can have on any flight ,especially the very long flights.

And alcohol is the worse drink... hmmm, does anybody care!!!! On any long flight I have been on..at least half the plane is boozing it up.!!

Heck they are even selling you the alcohol, encouraging you to drink alcohol!

wally:

I hope that "milk run" of yours was really a LOT cheaper.!

Take Care
Percy

Selling it, Percy? The last time I flew Qantas they were giving it away.

Hi Neil_Oz

Gee, I am glad Qantas is giving it away!!

Airlines I have flown on to Mexico nd Costa Rica were selling their drinks.

In fact many airlines sell alcoholic drinks.!

Air Canada gives you absolutely nothing as you will unfortunately find out when you come to Victoria British Columbia.

Also Northwest Airlines sells you both food and alcoholic drinks.

I am looking at the itinerary for a flight from Edmonton to Minneapolis (USA) and it states:

"nonstop"
"food to purchase"
flying time "2:40 hours"

Maybe on longer flight the airlines feed you ( I do not know)

How nice of Qantas to offer free drinks, I wonder if all their flight are that way or just the long flights from LA to Sydney for example.

It matter little to me as I only have wine with the meal when it is offered.

Take Care Neil

Percy

My opinion closely resembles fnarf(sp). Here is what I've done-just my own experience so please don't go off on me telling me I'm right or wrong!

I fly from NYC and take a small nap on the plane. I can't usually stay up anyway on planes or trains so that's the natural thing for me to do. I then usually have a layover at LAX and I eat-a lot. Not a big fan of airline food but by then it's my dinnertime and I'm hungry. Then I get on the plane to Sydney from LAX and by now it's after 9:30 PM. Since it's a LONG flight I usually stay up for the first 4 hours or so by watching movies and having a few drinks to relax. Then with about 8 hours to go I pop ONE Ambien. I know, I know, not supposed to take with alcohol but I do. As I said-don't attack me! It's just how I do it and I don't have side effects from Ambien! I usually wake up with about 45 minutes to go so I get situated and then we land. It's a major struggle but I've spent the first day staying awake b/c I get in in the morning/early afternoon and I know if I sleep my whole cycle will be off. I usually don't do much the first day but walk around and eat. My friends have to keep me awake but it works. Then I sleep at a normal hour and the next day I'm fine and it's all good!

Returning home is definitely harder. The first time I went to Australia it took me 3 weeks to adjust. The second time it took me 1-2 weeks. Then it stopped and for the past 2 visits it took no time! I guess I got used to the trip.

In any case, have a wonderful, fabulous time and don't worry so much about the jet lag. It's a small part of the trip which I'm sure will be an awesome adventure.

Abbey43

You are right when you say "do not worry about the jet lag."

There is not much you can do about it and it is not something that is totally avoidable.

I had no trouble getting to Sydney...no jet lag at all , BUT coming back it took me a week to get back in the groove.

I envy those people that can sleep at the drop of a hat !!!

Percy