joybelles

help help its our first trip overseas have 22 hrs flying each way has anyone any suggestions on how to avoid jet lag had someone mention rescue remedy and arnica does this work if taken daily a week before or should we just grin and bear it and become zombies

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Here is a useful website with all you need to know about jetlag and how to combat it:

http://www.jetlag.org/

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Here's another site that might be useful:

http://www.travelsmartnewsletter.com/po_jetlag.html

tcreath

Everyone has their own methods of trying to combat jetlag. Its not an easy thing!

What works for me is Ambien. I've been using it for years and won't travel overseas without it. I call my doctor before my trip and he prescribes just enough to get me through the trip, usually 4-5 pills. I take one as soon as I get on the plane and end up sleeping usually about 7 hours or so. I wake up in Europe fairly refreshed (well, as refreshed as one could be given I was sleeping upright in a cramped seat!) and can usually stay awake the first full day. I take another Ambien before I go to bed, get a full nights sleep and am fine.

As I said though, each person has their own methods. If you do want to try a prescription sleeping aid, I would suggest trying it at home a few days before your trip to make sure you don't have any bad side effects. You would hate to find out that you have an allergy or a bad side effect while on your trip!

Tracy

suze

As above, everyone finds their own way. Some people nap upon arrival, others swear by staying awake to get on the local time.

Alot depends if you are able to sleep on the plane. I am not, and yes I am a zombie and i just grin and bear it.

I also travel with a prescription from my doctor for the plane ride and the first few nights to help me get sleep and onto the local time schedule.

Betsy

When you get on the plane set your watch to the time at your destination. This facilitates a "mental shift" that seems to make the transition between time zones easier.

Weadles

In the last week or so, The New York Times science section ran a very interesting article about how eating dried cherries, which apparently contain melatonin, can help you sleep, thereby decreasing jet lag. I will try to find exact date.

Betsy

Interesting, Weadles. Intrigued, I looked up the article.

Dried Cherries May Help Travelers Fight Jet Lag

By JENNIFER CONLIN
Published: April 8, 2007

Instead of pretzels, long-haul flight attendants might want to consider handing out bags of dried cherries to passengers. According to Dr. Russel Reiter, a nutrition researcher and one of the world’s authorities on melatonin, cherries might help fight jet lag. “Tart cherries contain melatonin, which is then absorbed into the blood stream influencing your biological clock,” he said.

According to Dr. Reiter, when flying east (say from New York to London) travelers should eat a handful of dried cherries (which have even greater levels of melatonin than fresh cherries) 30 minutes before trying to sleep. Once at their destination, they should eat a handful of cherries 30 minutes before going to bed every night for the same number of nights as the time change. (For a five-hour time shift, eat cherries for five consecutive nights.) When heading west, do the same regime, only eat your cherries the night before departure.

“We have not tested them on humans specifically for jet lag but think it should work,” he said, adding that concentrated cherry juice, and even cherry pie should have the same effect." For more information go to www.choosecherries.com

My comment: Seems as if Dr. Reiter is employed by the Cherry Marketing Institute, which sponsors choosecherries.com. Although cherries are delicious, I think the evidence for their preventing jet lag is flimsy at best.

liver227

Here is the article from the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/tr...scherries.html

suze

I've tried the watch forward thing when getting on the plane, it makes me even more confused(!) I wait until arrival and then go on to local time.

Pegontheroad

Since I don't sleep easily on flights to Europe, I bring out the big guns! I take benedryl and a couple of tranquilizers. (I get 10 tranquilizers a year for use solely on overseas flights.) I also use an eye mask, earplugs, and a neck pillow.

Left to my own devices, I'd undoubtedly have a nap for a couple hours after we land, but my travel companion insists that we hit the bricks running. Well, not running, but at least moving.

Thus, on her first trip to Europe (and my umpteenth) while she was gazing wide-eyed at Notre Dame, the Left Bank, etc., from the bateau boat, I was slumped in a corner, my head hanging painfully to one side, snoring gently, a thread of drool oozing from the corner of my mouth.

It was after this experience that I decided to get serious about getting a good sleep on the plane.

So we do some gentle sight-seeing during our first day and then go to bed early. We never, ever drive a car that first day.

Contrary to what others say, I find the jet lag to be more noticeable when I return home to the inland northwest. Our trips to Europe always involve somewhere between 18 and 24 hours en route, and I find myself unexpectedly exhausted at peculiar times for days after I return. Perhaps that's because there's a letdown when I am back at my normal life.

cupid1

We used to use Rescue Remedy for our pets (it promotes calm and helps relieve anxiety) but never heard of it mentioned for jet lag. Not sure how it can regulate the body clock. Arnica is usually used in conjunction with bruising and pain, so again, I'm not sure how the connection is made.

There IS a homeopathic product from New Zealand called No Jet Lag that seems to work very well for a number of friends who travel across time zones. We aren't lucky types who can sleep on plances and I can't be jet-lagged when I return home because I typically return to seeing clients the same day. Sometimes I use it but generally we rely on walking around outdoors after we arrive to help our bodies adjust.

The one for-certain thing you can do to help yourselves acclimate and actually enjoy your trip is to not schedule anything taxing or important the first day after you arrive. This would include driving!

kerouac

I have discovered that every moment that I can get myself to sleep on the plane, even if it is something like 10 a.m., is time saved from jet lag. And the moment the plane takes off (but not before!), I set my watch to the new local time and think only in that time.