Leaving for Europe in couple of days, I'm wondering <BR>how to overcome this dreadful thing. Like most <BR>flights to Europe, we leave late afternoon, landing <BR>in Europe early morning, which is around midnight <BR>HERE, that makes sleeping an impossible mission. I <BR>read about Melatonin, but never figured it out, and <BR>I don't like taking any medication. Ideas, <BR>anybody

Amik, we too are leaving for Europe soon - day after tomorrow, in fact. My solution to jet lag has always been to take a nap for an hour or two upon arriving at my hotel. Then I can go out on the town until late and get up at a normal time. Others disagree with me, but it seems to work well for me...Have a great trip - see you there...

The aim is to adjust to the new time zone as quickly as possible, which means you have to try to stay awake until about 8pm before you go to bed for the night. I agree that's very hard. If you lie down at the hotel in the daytime, you are likely to wake up eight hours later. You also need to reset your body clock by being out in the daylight(which is what Melatonin does artifically). I suggest two things for the first day. The first is to go for a long slow walk (3 or 4 hours)in a park,and/or window shopping in the city, but stay outside most of the time. Art Galleries with good natural light are also suitable, but you may not remember much of what you saw! The second is to have short sleeps when you get desperate. Do this by sitting in an upright chair, so you can't get too comfortable and stay asleep for long period. <BR>Eat a good meal in the early evening, drink some herbal sleeping tea containing valerian (which you buy from health food places before you leave), set your alarm for a normal breakfast time at that location, and go to bed and read the local guide books until you go to sleep. <BR> <BR>From the next day onwards, keep up the short sleeps when really tired, but try to stay awake in normal daylight hours and eat all meals at the same time as the locals.

I travel a lot between the Mid-East, Europe & the US. I second what Jenny said. Adjust your habits according to the time zone you're in & your body will happily follow. I rarely have jet lag as long as I do that. <BR> <BR>As soon as they announce on the plane what the local time is in my destination, I adjust the time on my watch and in my head. Do NOT think about what time it is at home, my mother always does that (& also doesn't follow the "adjust-to-local Rule" & she gets really bad jet lag). <BR> <BR>I realize how tired one can be after taking the red-eye flights so characteristic of world travelling, but it is absolutely imperative that you not nap. Stay outside, or, if you must be inside, make sure it's a well-lit area. Careful if you're driving, though. <BR> <BR>Eat meals at the local times, even if you're not that hungry. In the evening, after dinner, you'll most likely conk out from sheer exhastion & wake up the next morning refreshed, with no sign of jet lag whatsoever. <BR> <BR>Works for me, hope it will for you too!

Much has been already said above. <BR> <BR>Best thing - immediately after take-off set your watch to the local time of your destination point and think, act (and make other people do so) as if you have been there all your life. <BR> <BR>A bit worse - do the above but take a short nap upon arrival. <BR> <BR>Bye.

Having flown to Europe many times, I'm always excited about my trip that I never worry about not getting enough sleep. Like some above, I change the time on my watch, try to sleep on the plan, and dive into the city I have arrived at. I don't nap after arriving, but am in bed around 8-9pm after a good meal. I just to the time difference very quickly. Try not to worry about it! Enjoy your trip!

I'm 70 and have been on the go here at home and overseas almost 50 years. My old body is telling me something more and more emphatically in recent years. It's not the going to the new place that is tough, it's the return home. You crash because you can. You almost fall asleep in mid-sentence. You could not add a column of figures accurately if your life depended on it. In a word, you are pooped. So why fight it? Drink plenty of fluids, avoid alcohol, get out in the daylight both going and returning, and return as quickly as possible to normal routines. Personally, when going to Europe, I always take a shower immediately on arrival, take a long walk, eat when the "natives" do, put my watch on their time when I board the aircraft, and pack along a paperback when I wake up at 1 a.m. (I'm soon asleep). On return home, do the same. Recently, we were 40 hours returning to our home from Adana, Turkey (including 10 time zones). Are we tired? Sure. Would we go again? You bet. <BR>

Maybe I'm weird, but the best thing that works for me is to stay up REALLY late my first night (like until 3:00am) and the get up early the next day (7:30 or so). If I go to bed at 8:00 or 9:00, then I just wake up at 3:00am and sit there, finally fall back to sleep at around 6:00am and then I'm all messed up the next day again. I take Dramamine the second I board the plane, and spend most of the flight in a half-sleep that makes me feel tired, but reasonably alive when I arrive. I hit a tired patch mid-afternoon, but work through it and keep busy until very late. Then I'm so tired I sleep right until morning and am perfect the next day. But, like I said, I might be weird!

Ok- I found some good websites on the subject- if you can guys fly on a 767 or a plane with more than 19 inches of leg room. Melatonin is a naturally ocurring hormone that is in your brain- it tricks the brain into thinking its time to go to sleep- it is sunlight that actually awakens you- that is why everyone says get in the sun and walk. Buy melatonin at a health food store or a drug store. They are small little white pills that melt under your tongue (sublinguals)sp? The work very fast and allow you to snooze en route. I also find that staying up really late when I get there is the way to go. We stayed at a Best Western in Amsterdam that had a 4th floor pool and jacuzzi and we stayed in there really late. It was locked, very private and warm. Felt really good. woke up just in time to walk to my first European bakery for yummy treats! Have fun!! <BR>www.nojetlag.com---try it!! <BR>

<BR>

Sorry, hit the wrong key up there. Our advice, take ear plugs (we use Quies), a neck pillow and an eye shade. Get whatever sleep you can and as everyone stated above, stay up as late as you can when you get to your destination. Old Al is right, the return is a lot tougher. On the outbound you're full of anticipation, on the return ..... <BR>

In addition to all above good advice - if an <BR>alcoholic beverage makes you sleepy (like me), <BR>have a drink earlier in the flight to help you <BR>sleep, or don't drink alcohol at all. Don't <BR>drink any caffein drinks during flight til <BR>towards the end of the flight, then have coffee <BR>if you're so inclined to do so with breakfast. <BR>I'm always so excited to just be there, that no <BR>matter how tired my body is, my mind is so hyped <BR>all I need is a shower and I'm ready to go (then <BR>I drop dead that night!) Bon Voyage!

The problem I have with taking a quick nap upon arrival in Europe, is the hotel room is never ready when we arrive. As said earlier, you leave the US at night and arrive in Europe the next morning --- before check out time. I find sleeping on the plane helps, and if a drink helps you to sleep, so be it. I know most disagree with me, but the quick nap helps me. Have a wake up call after one hour, take a shower, eat, and you're on your way.

Hey, everybody, thanks for your quick response! I'm <BR>going to print everything, get into bad tonight, and <BR>read... before falling asleep... <BR>I have one more day before departure, so any more <BR>suggestions are welcome, quick. Thanks again. <BR>Arrivederci. A

My husband and I both react differently to jet lag and after countless trips to Europe, here is our system. On the plane, drink a bit of wine and eat quickly. Tell the flight attendants you will keep your seat belt fastened OUTSIDE of your blanket, but please don't wake you until morning. If you must, take a sleeping pill. On arrival, I take a 2 hours nap, my husband toughs it out and stays awake, going for a walk in the sunshine--but he promises faithfully to wake me in 2 hours. After a nice dinner, we go to bed at the appropriate European time (I take a hefty sleeping pill, actually what I take is Atavan, prescribed by my MD) I once didn't follow this routine and was up for 3 days straight in Venice--a nightmare, literally. Next day we are both on European time and never look back. I think what I'm saying is that you will get many different opiniions and must choose what works for your poor body. I think all agree, no caffeine on plane, lots of water, and try to sleep--no movies and party time!! Have a fun trip! <BR>

I had no problem with jet lag on my trip to Italy. Due to circumstances, I only had a total of 9 hours of sleep for three nights. We arrived in Cortina at 4 am local time, got up at 7 am and skied all day. Had a good dinner, walked after dinner, and slept like the dead. We never noticed the time change during the next two weeks. I do think being outdoors all day and the heavy exercise was the reason. Coming back was difficult, no sleep at all on the plane because people were up the whole time, chain smokers, and sick as a dog, fever, everything. Yes, I crashed at home. For 2 months after we both woke up regularly at 4 am. Wide awake and ready to go! Go figure. <BR>

As has been said above: don't worry about it too much. Both times I've gone I've stayed up until about 8 or 9 pm on the day we arrive, and then force myself up by 9 in the morning. Usually I haven't slept the night BEFORE departure because of the excitement, so I don't wake up that first night in Europe feeling like it's the middle of the day, as some people do. Don't think about what time it is at home. Just agree that you are tired and you are going to deal with it. Drink LOTS of water and juice on the plane. Flying dehydrates you, so jetlag can feel much like a slight hangover if you don't get a lot of liquids (which is why drinking in excess on the plane is generally a bad idea -- you'll feel like you were HIT by a 727, not flying in one). <BR>I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seemed to me that on my flights to Europe they practically starved us, with meals on European schedules and coming home it seemed they were feeding us constantly to achieve the opposite, so I guess the airlines do try to help you deal with it in a small way. Coming home always seems to be worse, for some reason... but who cares? I'd rather be asleep at work than asleep when I could be wandering the Roman Forum or some other equally interesting destination!

I think what has been said makes a lot of sense. Kam was really on the ball by suggesting that you not party but rather sleep. Forget the movies. Right after dinner close your eyes and keep them closed and you will soon be sleeping or resting. Upon arrival I do not generally take a nap but try to be active, find an early place to eat and return to the hotel, shower and off to bed around 7 or 8. I can sleep up to 10 or 11 hours. The next day I run out of steam in the late afternoon, but by the next day I am fully over jet lag. The return trip is a different story. I am always totally wiped out for a week no matter what I do.

In all seriousness I heard that shining light on the backsides of your knees helps your body re-set your natural clock. I'm totally serious about this.

I'm just back from England, where I go regularly to visit family. My jetlag-fighting tactics: After you check in at the airport, set your watch to Euro time. That way, it makes sense to eat _before_ you get on the plane (no big loss to miss the airline dinner!) Take a bottle of water on the plane and keep drinking - alchohol is no help, because it increases your dehydration (and soda makes you gassy...) Once the plane has settled into flight mode, put on earplugs and eyemask and convince yourself that you will sleep (even if you only doze, you'll be ahead.) On arrival, have a good breakfast and coffee, and spend as much time as you can outside in daylight - physical activity keeps you going. If you really have to sleep, take a short nap after lunch (set your alarm and leap out of bed when it goes off.) Early to bed the first night, and you should be all set. <BR> <BR>I tried Melatonin for a larger time change when I went to Israel: I just took one 30 mins before bedtime on arrival day, and it did help me to sleep through the night. <BR> <BR>Coming home is another matter... speaking to you from my first day back at work! Have a great trip.