Pam

I'm wondering just how tough jet lag is and what can you do to possibly conteract the effects? I leave NYC at 6:30PM arrive London 6:30AM. I've heard you should NOT go to sleep upon arrival the first day, but attempt to acclimate to the new time and then go to bed at a decent hour. Any first hand tips would be greatly appreicated!

Lanny Morry

I go to London at least once a year and staying up on arrival is vital. If you can make it through to 7 or 8 in the evening there you will find on day two you will be over the worst of the jet lag. Several things on the flight over. Don't load up on booze; if you must have a drink have it early in the flight and then switch to water, pop, juice etc. Drink lots of non-alcoholic fluids -- flights are dehydrating. It is essential you get up and walk around the cabin or just stand up and get the circulation in your feet and ankles working every couple of hours. Don't expect to sleep much, but spend your time resting with your eyes shut and don't fret about the missing sleep. Put your headset on an easy listening music format and you may be lucky enough to get a bit of rest on the way over. Try to get a seat assignment from your travel agent before you ever go to the airport and as a first choice get an aisle seat -- you can stretch your legs better there change positions more easily. If you are with a spouse, take aisle seats opposite each other, or take aisle and window and hope no one gets put into the middle. If they do then you have another party to talk to; if they don't you have an extra set of room in which to relax. As an alternative, if you are travelling alone take the window as you can still move around a bit and keep your circulation up there. However, at all costs avoid middle seats. I categorically refuse to be seated in them. Jammed between two heavyweights with the passenger in front of you reclining their seat into your lap the whole flight can be torture because you cannot move. Hope these tips help.

Tricia

Hi, This blasted computer just erased my entire message. Oh well, here goes again. Saw an article in LA times about jet lag and since my husband works overseas sent it to him. Says most businessmen take an herb that helps them sleep, think its called Melantonin. Also said to avoid alcohol and to have something to cover your eyes with. We found a section at Target, cometics department, that has insulated eye mask to help you sleep.

Lynn Fellhauer

Just returned from similar trip to France. I used the Melatonin on the flight over and also bought the eye patches. It helped. Usually unless you request early check in, your room will not be ready til after 12. We had breakfast and walked around a bit. After check in, I did rest for a couple of hours, it didn't hurt my sleeping later in the evening and frankly I was too tired to do much. By the 3rd day you should be on schedule. The first two are get aquainted with the wonderful differences of their country and ours. Enjoy.

Yan

Hi, I live in NY myself and I am a pharmacist so
I guess I can give you some advice.Deffinetely
get some Melatonin .It does help .You can find it in your local drugstore.Get some Cola Syrup if you
get nausea or dizziness when you fly.Cola syrup is cheap ( $2.99 for 4oz bottle) and it helps.Deffinetely avoid alcohol.Someone said you can drink lightly -DO NOT. Listen to light music
and keep your eyes closed ,relax and enjoy yor stay!

Pj Schott

The New York Times had the melatonin info. Good chart too. Send me your "real" address if you want me to send it to you.

J. Broderick

I travel overseas several times a years (mostly Philadelphia to London). The two best bits of advice I can offer on beating jet lag are: 1) drink tons of water on the flight. I usually take a 1 liter bottle and drink most of it on the flight. This in turn requires you to get up and walk around, back and forth to the bathroom! But it's well worth it. 2) When you get to London, don't sleep if you can help it or limit yourself to a 1-2 hour nap. Stay up as late as you can on your first night there. Then you should be fine for the rest of your trip. When you arrive, take a shower, get some breakfast, and take a walk around the city to wake up. I've found that these rules help me beat jet lag almost every trip. Have a great time!

Carol

I usually fly to London from Newark at least once a year and the advice about staying up the first day you are there until a normal bedtime does work...but you usually have some trouble sleeping the second night. However, on my most recent trip I took a morning flight out of Newark and arrived in London at night. By the time you get the luggage, go through customs etc, grab a bite to eat and it is really dark out you are ready to go to sleep. We had booked a room at an airport hotel and went to bed when London went to bed. We woke up refreshed and never had another jet lag problem the rest of the trip. (This does cost you an extra night's hotel room.) Have a nice trip!

Maggie

What we did was the night before we flew out of San Francisco, we stayed awake all night so that by morning we were exhausted, we flew from s.f. to detroit, Michigan, then boarded and departed detroit at 7pm and arrived in frankfurt germany at 9am the next day, we slept almost the entire time on the plane, so that when we had arrived in the morning, we were not tired, then we stayed up all day.

David Powell

Go directly to a theater box office and get tickets for that nights performance. Threat of loosing that money will keep you awake. By all means hit the ground running! You will set the momentum for your entire trip. No one you'll know will see you looking bleary-eyed. Sounds like the Virgin flight(?). No sleep there, it is fun!

Beth

I happen to be a flight attendent and fly to London about 5 times a month from NY. Most of the advise is good. Because you leave NY so early in the evening when you get to Londo it will be about 1;30 in the morning (NY Time). I have found sleeping on the flight (not while I am working) doesn't do me too much good because it is so early in the night. I always take a 2-3 hour nap when I arrive because if I don't I feel like someone has drugged me. Then I make myself get up, drink coffee, take a shower and walk around a bit. Then that night I may take a sleeping pill or Melatonin (although it does not work for me it keeps me up which is one of the side effects) and sleep through the night. Don't get frustrated if you cannot sleep. Pick up a book or watch TV (Brittish TV is not that great during the day much less at 3 in the morning but there is always CNN or MTV)Let your body do what it wants. It takes a few days to adjust completely. There is no cure for jet lag. It just plain sucks! On the plane definatly bring water and get up and walk so you are not stiff. But I would not take any pills on the plane. Your body will be relly wacked if you do. you want it to adjust while you are there. there is not much you can do before you go besides sleep good the night before and drink lots of water. Good Luck!

Donna

First of all, don't worry too much about jet lag. You will adjust quickly. Do whatever you feel like doing. If you want to take a nap, do it. It really is good to have a bottle of water along at all times. Take a sip whenever you feel like it. You'll want to get up early and stay up late and walk all over. When you get home, you'll probably be exhausted, but you'll snap right back. Consider all advice and tips. But, then just do whatever appeals to you.

becky

A friend and I recently took the Newark-London (Virgin) flight which arrives around 6:30 am. The flight arrived arrived early; by the time we got luggage and the train to Victoria it was barely 8 o'clock. Since it was Sunday, we dropped our luggage at the hotel and went to St. Pauls. I've never seen London so quiet...we had coffee and waited for the 11 am service which was a sung Eucharist. Whether you are religious or not, the music is wonderful and the Cathedral was full....it was a memorable experience. I've always found that an afternoon nap, followed by a hearty dinner and regular sleep time really helps....as do all the other suggestions...water, no alcohol and moving around. Changing time zones is just plain stressful on one's body. The best way to aviod jet lag is to stay home, but that is boring!

Greg Fernandez

All of the advice sounds good. I agree, I have traveled back and forth to Greece from Phoenix several times a year for 10 years and what a long trip. Arriving in Europe in the morning is challenging but take the advice, take a short nap (1-2 hours) wake, shower and hit the streets. You will probably be ready for bed by 900pm. Melatonin works but it has different effects on different people, try it at home first. My biggest problem has never been jet lag arriving there, it's the jet lag when I come home that I have yet to conquer. But again Phoenix is much further than New York. Good Luck!

JOAN DOYLE

I agree with all the no-booze-enroute advice as well as the getting up and walking (if only to the loo at the back of the plane). Personally, I'm always so zonked by the time I get to London (and to my sister's flat from Gatwick) that I eat a bite of breakfast and hit the sack until dinner time when I wake up long enough to eat dinner, watch the BBC news, and exchange a few civil words with my sister. After that it's back to bed until morning London time when I get up and take a half-mile walk, then back to the flat for breakfast. By that second morning I'm usually back to almost normal. I do envy the lucky travelers who get to take the day flight east though.

kathy

I agree with everyone, except that I have to have a bit of a nap in order to stay up until a reasonable bedtime. Sometimes I don't even sleep, just stretch out and relax. I tried omitting this once and was up for 3 days until a physician friend put me on Valium. Awful experience complete with nightmares!I guess the best advice is not to get crazy with it, just listen to your own body! (I does help to live in San Francisco for a 10 hours flight--you Easterners are closer but never get the chance to sleep cause it's too early and too short) Most of our flights leave 5-7pm. and arrive in London late morning. ) Only took a day flight once--it was heaven, but I can't remember where we were going--no jet lag as you go right to bed!

diane

Hi, you have gotten a lot of good advice.
I make three or four trips to Asia each year, and six or seven to Europe (all from NYC), so I have some good experience. I hope it is useful.
1) Take a melatonin pill when you get on the plane. Eat the dinner. Use the eye mask. Rest, but don't worry if you don't sleep. If you do sleep, don't let them wake you for breakfast, if you think about it, a trip to Europe from the east cost of US, is only 5.5 to 7 hours. The first two are consumed by "dinner service" the last two by "breakfast service" Skip breakfast on the plane, and rest instead.

2) When you get to your destination, STAY UP! Hot shower, and a good breakfast (eggs(protein), toast (carbs), juice (sugar), and of course, the requisite caffeine).

3) If it's pleasure, walk around, nothing to taxing. Have an early dinner, take a melatonin, and hit the pillow at 9. You should not need melatonin more than one or two nights, and then again when you get home. You should be fine.

I hope this was help

Lynn

I'm glad I clicked on this topic. I will be flying on my first trip to Europe in two weeks from the eastern U.S. to London then Copenhagen to take a European cruise. I'm a little worried because we will get there at 8:00 a.m. and the cruise ship departs at 5:00 p.m. Probably the best thing to do would be to sightsee in Copenhagen, get on the ship, take a little nap, go to dinner late and try to sleep that night. Can the pharmacist or someone explain exactly how melatonin works. I remember from a recent biology course that melatonin is naturally secreted in the body at night to help you sleep. How long does it take Melatonin to take effect if you take a pill--is the purpose to help you sleep, stay awake or both? Thanks to all.

Victoria Cohen

I've taken quite a few transatlantic trips and am about to go again. Thanks to all the people who replied and recommended Melatonin, I'm going to the drugstore tonight to pick some up! One thing nobody else has mentioned yet, though, is that a big component to jet lag is in your mind. My tip is this: as you're waiting for your plane to take off from the States, go ahead and set your watch to the local time of your destination. Likewise, reset the time on your travel alarm clock before you zip up your suitcase. This way, when you're going to sleep on your first night in, say, Vilnius, you won't think to yourself, "Oh no. If I set my alarm for 8 hours from now it'll be like waking up in the middle of the night back home!"

Tricia

To Lynn, The purpose of melatonin is to help you sleep. Just returned from London. Waited for stewardesses to serve dinner and took one. It works fast and you sleep good, for serval hours, with no afteraffects. I am still suffering from wanting to stay up all night and sleep all day-- went to bed at 7 p.m. last night and woke up at 3:00 a.m. Thought, oh dear, can't sleep anymore, so took one pill and didn't wake up til 7:30 a.m. -they are great!