How do you defeat jetlag?

[maelia8]

It's 4am where I am, the birds are chirping, and the sky is a beautiful gray-gold dawn color ... and I am trying to ride the jittery jet lag wave of nine timezones crossed yesterday (or wait, now it's technically two days ago?). To my chagrin, I've realized that getting over jet lag does not come as magically as it did in my late teens and early twenties, when I would take one long nap and bounce back like a rubber band. 

For those of you who travel frequently over long distances, what are your best tips for getting over jet lag in a speedy and healthy fashion? I'm not one of those folks who wakes up at 4am and can't go back to sleep, but belong to the camp where everything just gets staggered way off from what it should be (i.e. can't seem to fall asleep until the wees and then when I do fall asleep, I sleep until afternoon). In other words, how do I get off this party train? 

Surrendering to what is clearly the perfect circadian rhythm for the European summer club scene is not an option

[Apogeee]

I heard that you should not nap and not eat anything for 16 hours before going to bed at the normal local bedtime the first day. But I didn't do that, because it sounds really hard to do. I am not a well-traveled person, and I am older, so maybe what worked for me was a fluke: I took one nap for 1.5 hours at about 11 am local time. When I woke up, I took a shower, ate a substantial snack, and went for a walk. Then I carried on with the rest of my day. However, I was only 6 hours outside my normal time zone. Maybe I was just lucky.

Spending time in Europe sounds lovely!

Edited June 16, 2016 by Apogeee

[hippyscientist]

8 hours ago, maelia8 said:

It's 4am where I am, the birds are chirping, and the sky is a beautiful gray-gold dawn color ... and I am trying to ride the jittery jet lag wave of nine timezones crossed yesterday (or wait, now it's technically two days ago?). To my chagrin, I've realized that getting over jet lag does not come as magically as it did in my late teens and early twenties, when I would take one long nap and bounce back like a rubber band. 

For those of you who travel frequently over long distances, what are your best tips for getting over jet lag in a speedy and healthy fashion? I'm not one of those folks who wakes up at 4am and can't go back to sleep, but belong to the camp where everything just gets staggered way off from what it should be (i.e. can't seem to fall asleep until the wees and then when I do fall asleep, I sleep until afternoon). In other words, how do I get off this party train? 

Surrendering to what is clearly the perfect circadian rhythm for the European summer club scene is not an option

Hey! I've done A LOT of long distance travel and have gotten pretty adept at conquering jet lag. Some of my tactics are a little late for you this trip, but I'll outline them anyway.

1. Before you travel, try to shift your regular schedule an hour or two in the direction you will be going. This effectively reduces the time difference. So if I (in the UK) am going to the east coast of the US, I might wake up an hour later than normal, eat lunch an hour later, go to bed an hour later. Obviously if your work isn't flexible this is less easy and not necessary but it does help.

2. Get a good nights sleep before flying. Ensure you're very hydrated. Eat healthy food (yes junk food is tempting but it makes your body feel like crap which is exacerbated when traveling). Move around on the plane. Avoid alcohol if possible.

3. As soon as you get on the plane, change your watch to the time zone you are headed to, then try to do everything to that time zone. This may be out of sync with the rest of the cabin but again, it's trying to familiarise your body with your new time zone.

4. Depending on when you arrive, eat a meal at the local time zone appropriate time. Go to bed at a normal time for that time zone. You'll feel groggy and non-responsive, maybe a bit hungover if you've landed early that day but push through. When you go to bed you should be exhausted. If you've jumped forward in time and it's meant to be bedtime but you're still very much awake, go through the routine of bed time. Have a shower/hot bath, brush your teeth, do your moisturizing/facial routine, tuck yourself up in bed with a book (avoid screens). If you find you're still not sleepy, try some meditation and if all else fails there are some excelllent youtube videos on meditating yourself to sleep (it's practically hypnosis). I find these very effective.

5. Set your alarm to wake you up at a reasonable time the following morning. Regardless of how you feel, get up, eat breakfast, do some light exercise (go for a walk, a swim, do  some stretching, something to get the blood flowing) and set good intentions for the day. Remember to still drink lots of water - you'll be dehydrated from flying for a day or two afterwards.

There is no easy fix for jetlag but these tips do help minimise its effects. 

[maelia8]

@hippyscientist Unfortunately I failed at all of those excellent prep tips, and am now stuck in a terrible intermediate place where I go to sleep between 4 and 6am and wake up at 2pm. I considered setting an earlier alarm, but realized that if I only slept for a couple of hours I'd need to nap in the afternoon, which might mess me up further. I did turn out the lights and attempt to power down at midnight, but it really wasn't working and lying in the dark trying so hard to sleep made me really irritable, so after a few hours I gave up and read until I was able to fall asleep

[sjoh197]

Fuzzy had some great advice... but if you're already past the point of no return, go to the local drug store, pick up a pack of 10mg diphenhydramine sleeping tablets, take just one about a half hour before you want to sleep. Do this 2 or 3 nights in a row and you'll be back on schedule. 

This obviously isn't a good long term solution, as sleep aids can be addictive long term, but I find that it really helps when I shift more than 2-3 hours in any direction.  

[hippyscientist]

5 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

Fuzzy had some great advice... but if you're already past the point of no return, go to the local drug store, pick up a pack of 10mg diphenhydramine sleeping tablets, take just one about a half hour before you want to sleep. Do this 2 or 3 nights in a row and you'll be back on schedule. 

This obviously isn't a good long term solution, as sleep aids can be addictive long term, but I find that it really helps when I shift more than 2-3 hours in any direction.  

This is pretty good advice but I'd maybe suggest something like Kalms which promotes sleep but is non-addictive. Normally, not good for regular travel, but if you're at the point of no return like @maelia8 I reckon a good suggestion! Maelia, Hope you get it sorted soon

[sjoh197]

@hippyscientist Hahaha. IDK why I thought you were Pink Fuzzy. I guess I had just read the Whine and Wait thread. Lol. It's too early. I'm only on coffee #1.

[hippyscientist]

2 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

@hippyscientist Hahaha. IDK why I thought you were Pink Fuzzy. I guess I had just read the Whine and Wait thread. Lol. It's too early. I'm only on coffee #1.

That's okay, I'm on coffee 8...I might have developed a slight addiction. It's 2.15pm here, I've been in the office since 6.30am and I'm going a bit delerious (hence the grad cafe break).

@maelia8 Try something like this at regular bed time 

 If that particular video doesn't work (I'm not affiliated, just find they help!), there's plenty out there. I find I put it on on an ipad or something, turn it over so the screen is facing down and i cant see it and then I listen and it distracts me from not feeling tired. Might be worth a go if medication is your cup of tea.

Edited June 16, 2016 by hippyscientist

[sjoh197]

I've been in a medicated induced sleep for the last 10 hours lol. My Dr. put me on some pain med whose main side effect is "extreme drowsiness". Take before bed. Lol. At this rate, I will never have jet lag problems ever again. 

[TakeruK]

This advice is for what happens when you already need to switch your schedule (above advice about what to do before travel is great). My usual plan for flights across continents is to take a red-eye that will leave during the evening (as late as possible) in North America and arrive in the other continent during the morning/early afternoon. Then I find that if I get at least 8 hours of sleep (doesn't have to be continuous) during the 11-16 hour flight, then I am good to go until evening in the other continent.

I occasionally work the "graveyard shift" to do telescope work, where I have to shift my sleep schedule to sleeping at around 9am and waking up at around 4pm. When changing sleep schedule, I find that it's much easier to stay up tired than it is to go to bed earlier. I also found that I can effectively move my sleep at most by 4-5 hours each day without completely screwing me up.

Normally, I am awake for 16 hours and sleep for 8 hours. On the first day of adjustment, I will try to stay up for 20-21 hours straight and then sleep for 8. Normally I go to bed around 11pm-midnight, so the first day, I'd still wake up at 7am like normal, but not go to sleep until 3am or 4am. By then, I'm usually super tired and it's easy for me to get 8 hours of good sleep. Then, the next day, I can move everything another 4-5 hours forward.

Basically, I think my limit on being awake is about 22 hours in a row, and the best way to make myself fall asleep at a certain time is to set it up so that I am awake for about 20 hours by the time I want to sleep and then I go right to sleep. So, if I am falling asleep at 4am and waking up at 2pm, I would probably take a few days to move my sleep forward. Here's a plan that I might use:

Day 1: Wake up at 2pm. Stay up until 9 or 10 AM on Day 2. Sleep for 8 hours.

Day 2: Now I'd wake up at 6pm. Stay up until 2pm on Day 3. Sleep for 8 hours.

Day 3: Now I'd wake up at 10pm. Stay up until 6pm on Day 4. Sleep for 8 hours.

Day 4: Now I'd wake up at 2am. Stay up until 10pm on Day 5. Sleep for 8 hours.

Day 5: Now I'd wake up at 6am (or I can sleep in a bit too). Now jetlag is defeated!  (hopefully)

This could take fewer days if you are able to sleep for more than 8 hours (i.e. you can do it in one fewer day if you're able to stay asleep for 10 hours). 

[St Andrews Lynx]

One very classy person once explained his secret to avoiding jet lag: drink 1 Bloody Mary while on the plane, drink a 2nd Bloody Mary once you have arrived at your destination. I don't actually drink alcohol, but I tried it a few times with tomato juice...and I didn't have any jet lag issues that trip. YMMV.

Avoiding caffeine & naps, getting plenty of fresh air and sunlight at my destination, doing some light exercise all seem to help me, too. 

[Guest]

I just completed a flight from Singapore to UAE to Washington DC. I was living in Singapore for four months.As I returned t the US, I did not sleep during the flight..It was a 32 hour flight (stopover time includced).

Yet, I  slept nonstop for 3-4 days once I returned to my home in the States. I think my sleep pattern is still out of wack even as I have been back in the States for 2 weeks now.I guess it will take time...because I dealt with months of living in a another country with a waaaaay different timezone.