Jet Lag help
 

Hi! We have an overnight flight Texas to Italy and I was wondering if Dramamine on the flight, with Melatonin followed my Bstress complex when arriving in the morning will help offset the jet lag? I am very susceptible to drugs, and meclyzine keeps me awake. Thank you!

What ever you decide to use, make SURE you try it a few times at home before you go. Personally, I hate melatonin, it gives me very bad /bizarre nightmares.

My best advice is to consult with your internist, then try whatever he/she gives you at home before your trip.

Is Bstress fast acting? Would it do some immediate good? I would consider trying it before I leave for France if you recommend it, tlbrenn. What does it do?

Thank you, I took it once and I did not like melatonin either (Advil pm works better for me) but I read people raving on its natural benefits. I have Ménière's disease and have prescription meclizine that does NOT make me sleepy, so I was going to switch to Dramamine for the flight...I also have trans derm scop patches but that seems a little drastic. And Advil PM. What do you take?

Tuscanlifeedit B Stress Complex is for energy and eliminating stress.

I am taking the B Stress Complex when I land in the morning

I'd reiterate the advice to talk with your doctor, especially since you are already on medication for Meniere's. Also as others have said you should try out any alternatives before your actual flight. It would be much worse to have a bad experience with a new drug than to be jet lagged, at least in my view.

Personally I just have a horrible time trying to sleep on overnight flights. I try to mitigate that by pretending it's bed time right away, and try to refuse the food service and avoid the movies. I try to rest as much as possible even if I don't sleep much. On arrival I've found it's much better to avoid napping. Instead, I will be outside as much as possible, to tell my body what time it is. If it's a sunny day out it's even better. In addition to walking outside, I try to do something I'm really interested in, but that doesn't require a lot of concentration.

Thank you travelgaunta, I will try but don't think I can get to see a doctor in time, the Ménière's is a simple balance/vertigo thing that is treated well with the meclyzine when needed. I am just concerned with getting sleep more than anything, I get jetlag very bad. I will ask my pharmacist what he recommends to take with dramamine :)

For those with Ménière's I don't mean to down play it, the spinning and vomiting are horrible. But it's been manageable. If I get sleep....

I do as travelingaunta describes. No supplements, stay awake upon arrival by being active and outside as much as possible. Got to bed early-ish, of course, and presto--no more jet lag. (If you nap that first day, you're screwed. Jet lag will haunt you for days.)

Everything I've ever read about melatonin has said that you have to begin taking it days in advance in a certain regimen--at certain times of the day, I think, increasing dosage gradually--in order for it to be effective. It's not a wake up pill, nor a sleeping pill, but a way to reset your body clock. I would not mess with it, personally.

what works for one person doesn't for the next . . . or can even make matters worse.

My cousin - melatonin works a charm, me - it is horrible.

When are you leaving? I strongly suggest you at least phone your doctor and ask them.

Do you ever take any OTC sleep aids? Does it work? If so maybe just take that.

Some people are helped by NoJetLag -- it is an herbal supplement and likely won't conflict w/ any of your meds. It doesn't help you sleep, but is supposed to help reduce jet lag whether you can sleep on the flight or not.

On arrival -- lots of fresh air, no heavy duty sight seeing, a light dinner and to bed at a reasonable hour local time should also help.

Why do you need to take any kind of medication apart from prescription meds for Menière's? It seems risky to me to be taking a cocktail of different tablets which might potentially interfere with the essential meds just when your body is under peak stress (which can be a trigger for Menières - I'm not a doctor but I have a close family member with it).

I don't medicate on flights but I do sometimes use lavender oil (or a lavender sleeping mask) to help me sleep and if necessary, sniff grapefruit oil to wake up, and just live with the consequences when I get to my destination. The oils don't impact on medication at all. Like janisj says, plenty of sunlight and fresh air; light activities and no long-distance driving, and pushing yourself to stay awake until 4 - 5pm works in with your new local timetable. If you wake up in the night read for an hour and eventually you will go back to sleep, or you should make the effort to do so. After 2 - 3 days it will be normal.

Lavandula

Don't worry so much about not sleeping and if when you arrive you want to take a nap, do so. Ignore all advice that you should try to stay awake all day if in fact you want to go to sleep. That is the way some people like to travel, but not everybody has such huge problems taking a nap upon arrival. I live in Italy and have relatives in Texas, and thus have done that route. I take a nap upon arrival and am "normal" by dinnertime.

"Pushing yourself" is something some people think is the right thing to do (plus pushing other people, I've noticed). Even if pushing themselves works for them, it might not work for you. Also, there are plenty of people who land and feel full of energy. They get in cars and drive without any problems, or head straight for a great museum.

It would be nice if strangers on the internet knew when you should sleep and when you shouldn't and when you should and shouldn't look at art but they don't. Really. They don't!

In my experience, the only cure for jet lag is to reset your body's clock to local time as fast as you can.

For me that means:
- setting my watch to local time the minute I get on the plane, if not before.
- eating dinner before my flight, not staying up till the wee hours of the am (local arrival time)
- closing my eyes right at take off - and force myself to get as much rest as I can on the plane. I change into comfortable clothes that I can sleep in as well.

Upon arrival
Stay up until bed time - If I need to take a nap, make it a short, 30min or less power nap. A long sleep on the day of arrival will kill my sleep/wake cycle for several days.

And most important - get some vigorous exercise the day of arrival. Shuffling around town like a zombie does not count. Get in a good exercise walk, run, swim, bike ride, or gym workout so that the body is tired, not just the mind.

The first day there I try not to do anything that requires a lot of thinking, or I want to vividly remember. Just getting my bearings and enjoying the sights, sounds, and flavors is good enough.

Then go to bed around 9pm local time. That recipe has worked well for me on many trips to Europe.

I agree with most of what J62 wrote.

I always get up early so the day of departure is nothing different.

I try to get a few hours of sleep on the plane.

I set my watch to destination time as soon as I sit down on the plane.

I'm assuming arrival time is between 11AM and 4PM.

I never take a nap the day of arrival. I would not go to a museum or take a bus tour. I do as many very active things as possible.

I go to bet at a relatively normal "local" time as possible. This would be around 11PM.

I find that we get up the next day set to local time and ready to go.

Now, coming back from Europe to North America is a different thing. I find it takes anywhere from a couple of days to a week or more to reset. Part of that may be just plain fatigue.

Thank you all for the help!

Beware the transderm patch. It can make you extraordinarily dry and thirsty. Planes are already dry enough! It also has double vision as a side effect.

<Why do you need to take any kind of medication apart from prescription meds for Menière's? It seems risky to me to be taking a cocktail of different tablets >
I was wondering this, too. tlbrenn, do you know that you suffer terrible jet lag (some do), or are you just afraid you will?

sandralist, I do not advocate staying awake the day of arrival out of some misguided wish to "push myself". I advise it because it has worked for me and everyone I know. I have also gone the route of "taking it easy" (in your formulation, not mine) by napping when I felt tired--SO and I took this approach when we moved to Europe, figuring we had years to get over the jet lag. Well, it felt like it took years! I will never do that again, and cannot in good conscience recommend it.

J62's recipe works for me, perhaps excluding the vigorous exercise bit. :-) I do the "Shuffling around town like a zombie " thing and find that it suffices. Although I did almost get run over in Dublin because I forgot to look left!

In competitive sports like distance running or multi-sport events we have an adage "Nothing new on race day." No new foods or routines that you haven't tried before and know are ok.

I think the same adage applies to trying a cocktail of meds on an overnight flight. If you're going to do that, try it out several times at home. The last thing you want to do is screw up precious vacation time because you've messed around putting various chemicals into your body without knowing how you will react.