Avoiding jet lag
 

How do you avoid jet lag? We are taking an overnight flight into London. We will arrive at 7 AM but will not be able to get into our hotel for a few hours, so we'll be on the go. <BR> <BR>I was thinking about waking up an hour earlier the day before we go, and then two hours earlier the day we leave, in hopes that maybe we'll be able to get some sleep on the plane. <BR> <BR>I'd appreciate any tips for avoiding jet lag and/or how to get some sleep in a plane!

If the wretched search engine is working, you'll find several long posts about this very topic. There are as many methods of avoiding jet lag as there are people who travel! <BR> <BR>My method: sleep on the plane with the help of a sleepaid, herb tea, mask, earplugs; no naps the first day; stay outside and doing things but make them not too taxing (boat cruise of the Seine vs jet skis on the Riviera); eat light meals the first day (save the 17 course Indonesian rice table for another night); go to bed between 9 and 10, and take a sleepaid; if I wake up at 4am, I don't get up, I stay in bed until my alarm goes off (this is why you bring a really good - or really bad - book).

Thank you for the quick reply! I tried the search engine, but it doesn't seem to be working today!! I'll try again tomorrow though!

Elvira, What type of sleep aid do you use? I cannot sleep on planes! Someone has recommended Ambien (sp?) to me, but I am trying to avoid a prescription drug.

Nancy I would reccomend going to a health food store or pharmacy and picking up a bottle of Melatonin. It is all natural and works wonders! The best part for me is that in the morning you awake refreshed and not groggy!! Try ot here first before you go and see how it works for you! <BR> <BR>Good luck!

Thank you Thumpy! Sounds exactly what I was looking for!

I use melatonin with good results. <BR>I'm a scientific sort and wanted factual evidence of its efficacy and was able to locate a couple placebo controlled randomized trials in which melatonin was shown to be effective. <BR>Unfortunately, the optimal method of using it (dose, timing, frequency) is still uncharted water. <BR>BTW Thumpy, "all natural" should not be understood to imply "safe". There are many potentially harmful drugs/herbs available in the USA without prescription which can be quite harmful. The FDA has no jurisdiction over melatonin and DHEA and androstenedione and the like, even though these are potent hormones which may well have harmful effects if used long term on a daily basis....though there is NO long term data yet, so no way to know for sure. DHEA (billed as an anti-aging miracle drug) is hypothetically likely to raise risk for prostate cancer, for instance. <BR>Just a word of caution.

In a health food store I found melatonin tea, which was a mixture of the aforementioned plus chamomile and other herb stuff. It tastes really good, and how bad can it be? <BR> <BR>I find Tylenol-PM works great for a sleepaid (Tylenol or other aspirin type stuff to ward off the aches and pains associated with lugging suitcases through airports, and the sleepaid for helping to fall asleep. If you don't want the aspirin part, Nytol is the same non-prescription sleepaid without grogginess or other any weird stuff). <BR> <BR>The best thing for sleeping is relaxing, which is why I recommend packing, confirming, cleaning, etc. at least a week before departure so that the last few days before your trip, you are mentally and physically relaxed, unhurried and unworried.

Ambien is a great drug. My husband and I used it on an overnight flight to Turkey last year. It only helps you get to sleep. When you awake there are no side effects. Don't drink any alcohol; it interrupts your normal sleep pattern. We won't travel overnight again without it.

I use Excedrin PM on the plane (try to sleep at least 5 hours) & around 8:00 the first night there. If you get up around 7am - you'll be on a normal cycle in no time! The sleep aid is a little stronger than Tylenol PM (38mg vs 25mg). I never wake up groggy from it. As the others have said, it's very important not to take a nap the day of arrival. The nap will end up to be about 4+ hours & will totally mix up the days and nights.