no-jet-lag remedy

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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has anyone ever tried this? www.nojetlag.com

I've never taken ANYTHING for jetlag, just made myself stay awake the first day and was all set on the new time the next morning, but I will be going to New Zealand which will REALLY put me upside down (not to mention the brutally long flight). so I thought I would try this, or something different in general.

thanks!
 
woodstock said:
has anyone ever tried this? www.nojetlag.com

I've never taken ANYTHING for jetlag, just made myself stay awake the first day and was all set on the new time the next morning, but I will be going to New Zealand which will REALLY put me upside down (not to mention the brutally long flight). so I thought I would try this, or something different in general.

thanks!
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I usually just get schnockered the first night. I end up feeling like complete crap the next day, blame it on the hangover and I'm fine after that. :D

(I'm kidding...kinda)

Sleep deprivation never bothers me too much until I pass 48 hours. But I've also got the somewhat unique ability to sleep anywhere, anytime, regardless of surroundings. Learned it in the Army. ;)
 
lucky you. I rarely get much sleep - I read, listen to music, and so on. then again my usual flights to Europe aren't long enough to get real sleep - the first two hours are foofing around and eating, and the last 1.5-2 hours are foofing around, eating again, and it's light out, etc. so good luck on getting more than 3 hours (unless you make yourself fall asleep immediately).

My flights to Brazil and Argentina actually were a little better for getting more sleep, but you still felt wiped out because they were such long flights.
 
Going west bound never bothers me, maybe it'll be the same for you on your trip.

For the trip home from vacation I never care what I feel like once I'm back at work.

:<)

Len
 
Eastbound, say to Eastern Eurpope, I just stay awake, no matter what, till I can get to a bed. Next day I'm pretty much OK. Westbound (going home) we always seem to leave in the AM (Germany) and hit Atlanta 1:00 PM (Atlanta time). I seem to be getting up at really odd times for a few days when I get back, no matter what I do coming home. I usually nod off during the traditional Mexican Resturant adventure on my return from overseas. A couple of Dos-Equis and some cheese dip is a good start to recovery.:cheers:
 
woodstock said:
has anyone ever tried this? www.nojetlag.com

I've never taken ANYTHING for jetlag, just made myself stay awake the first day and was all set on the new time the next morning, but I will be going to New Zealand which will REALLY put me upside down (not to mention the brutally long flight). so I thought I would try this, or something different in general.

thanks!
Click to expand...

Eastbound: Melatonin at bedtime of the ARRIVAL city for 3-4 days in advance, the day of departure, and a day or so after arrival. For Europe, the timing works out so that the Melatonan is taken as just after you board the plane (and works quite well with a glass of Champagne, thank you). Order the express meal, get served less than an hour after departure, put earplugs in and light shades on, and wake up refreshed.

Westbound: Stay awake with Power Naps along the way. Melatonin will help readjust, but I don't generally need it as I'm usually pretty tired by normal bedtime at arrival city.
 
woodstock said:
has anyone ever tried this? www.nojetlag.com

I've never taken ANYTHING for jetlag, just made myself stay awake the first day and was all set on the new time the next morning, but I will be going to New Zealand which will REALLY put me upside down (not to mention the brutally long flight). so I thought I would try this, or something different in general.

thanks!
Click to expand...

When we went to Oz in October the trip out was easy. The flight left LAX late afternoon and arrived in Auckland Newzeland at 7 a.m. Slept as best we could on the flight over and went about seeing Austrailia when we got there. No naps, just keep going. The flight coming back was a lot harder(mostly cause we did not want to leave).
Don
 
wsuffa said:
Eastbound: Melatonin at bedtime of the ARRIVAL city for 3-4 days in advance, the day of departure, and a day or so after arrival. For Europe, the timing works out so that the Melatonan is taken as just after you board the plane (and works quite well with a glass of Champagne, thank you). Order the express meal, get served less than an hour after departure, put earplugs in and light shades on, and wake up refreshed.

Westbound: Stay awake with Power Naps along the way. Melatonin will help readjust, but I don't generally need it as I'm usually pretty tired by normal bedtime at arrival city.
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Eastbound is even better on one of the (few) flights that leaves in the morning. You get in early evening local time, grab something to eat, go to bed and get a full night's sleep and your clock resets itself. Too bad that doesn't work westbound...
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Eastbound is even better on one of the (few) flights that leaves in the morning. You get in early evening local time, grab something to eat, go to bed and get a full night's sleep and your clock resets itself. Too bad that doesn't work westbound...
Click to expand...

on this particular flight, I land around 10 AM in NZ, and coming home, I land at Dulles a little after midnight. assuming I can get right to sleep, I should be able to sleep at least 5-6 hours before the cats start pouncing. although when I get back from trips I am usually so wired I am up for hours.
 
I just force myself into the local time when I arrive. Sometimes (rarely) I get some sleep on the plane, but more typically the edge of the seat starts digging into the back of my legs just as I'm ready to nod off. So much for sleeping.

The first day is OK. The second day in Europe is usually the toughest for me. Now, we'll see in May how the trip to Singapore goes. Leave SEA on Monday, fly to NRT. NRT to SIN, arriving about 11:45 PM local time on Tuesday. Try and get a little sleep, then meetings Wednesday and Thursday. Early morning on Friday I retrace my steps (SIN-NRT-SEA) and get home Friday morning. No chance at all that I'll stop in the office as I drive by on my way home.:D
 
wsuffa said:
Eastbound: Melatonin at bedtime of the ARRIVAL city for 3-4 days in advance, the day of departure, and a day or so after arrival. For Europe, the timing works out so that the Melatonan is taken as just after you board the plane (and works quite well with a glass of Champagne, thank you). Order the express meal, get served less than an hour after departure, put earplugs in and light shades on, and wake up refreshed.

Westbound: Stay awake with Power Naps along the way. Melatonin will help readjust, but I don't generally need it as I'm usually pretty tired by normal bedtime at arrival city.
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Yes. My Uncle, now deceased, was a respected neurosurgeon who swore by Melatonin. He took it as you described: at bedtime for your destination city, although he would not take it until the day of takeoff. He also took it for as many days as the number of time zones that he crossed. He also took mega-doses (like 5 to 10 times the RDA on the bottle). I tried it on one trip NYC-Hong Kong - NYC and it worked well.

YMMV

-Skip
 
Skip Miller said:
Yes. My Uncle, now deceased, was a respected neurosurgeon who swore by Melatonin. He took it as you described: at bedtime for your destination city, although he would not take it until the day of takeoff. He also took it for as many days as the number of time zones that he crossed. He also took mega-doses (like 5 to 10 times the RDA on the bottle). I tried it on one trip NYC-Hong Kong - NYC and it worked well.

YMMV

-Skip
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ok, so if NZ is 16 hours ahead (or, 8 behind) I should take it practically when I get up, the day I leave. and continue taking it for 8 days. at what point do I switch taking it to my old time zone - the day I head back? in which case, take it after lunch and before dinner?
 
Ghery said:
I just force myself into the local time when I arrive. Sometimes (rarely) I get some sleep on the plane, but more typically the edge of the seat starts digging into the back of my legs just as I'm ready to nod off. So much for sleeping.
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really? first day? I am JELLO the first day, but I stay up til 10 or later, go to bed, sleep 9-10 hours, and I am completely on the new time zone - in Europe anyway. but that first day in SUCKS.
 
Have your doctor prescribe Ambien for you. It is a very fancy/strong prescription sleeping aide. It works very well for me. I worked last summer in Athens for NBC on the olympics. On top of the travel, they changed my working hours several times with a 12hr offset! I was sure glad a took a few pills with me and had no problem.

The downside is that it is quite strong. On the flight home I paid to upgrade to first class. I took the pill when I sat down, thinking I would fall asleep after my meal and maybe one movie. I don't even remember the takeoff. I slept soundly until landing. I guess that first class upgrade was a waste of money!
 
I just got back from NZ and Oz in February and honestly didn't find the time zone change to ba as big a deal as going to England. It's almost a full day (which your body doesn't recognize). The hourly change wasn't terribly significant. I think we went to bed a little early the first day but after that nothing. Took no pills but did sleep on the plane which left LA at midnight local time.
 
Domestic and Internationally, I do the same thing for jet-lag. Yes, my charter hardly ever goes internationally but I used to travel to see my father in China on numouers occasions. I cannot sleep on airplanes. I have tried and tried but to no avail. So on the aircraft, I drink lots of fluids (water or other depending on where I am seated). Then I get to my destination, I do a light cardo workout and eat a light meal. As night falls, I sleep and wake up on another zone. I feel better when I wake up if I did the light workout for some weird odd reason.

Brent
 
A day or two ahead of the flight I cut down eating any kind of heavy meals. Simular to Flannagan's post above I cannot sleep on planes. For east bound flightsSkip the meal on the plane if less then 10 hours. Drink lots of water and try to move around some. At destination take it easy first day. take a nap inthe afternoon. At night live on local time with dinner and sleep. next day is great. For westbound Less then 10 hours again skip the meal and drink water. Whe at destination just have dinning and sleep. Over 10 (12 -30 hour trip duration) hour flights I try to get salt free or low salt meals and move around the cabin to keep the circulation up to snuff. I do not take any pills. it works out well and the after effects foi me are minimal. Drinking lots of water really helps out. Keeps you hydrated.

Enjoy you trip

John J
 
I have had little trouble going to/from Europe where there is only a 5-7 hr time change. Heck I vary my bedtime/wakeup by several hours from one day to the next when at home quite often. Trips to east Asia with a 13-15 hr change are tougher in either direction. I've tried melatonin and it does seem to help. I also try to get some good strenuous exercise a few hours before local bedtime so my body's in need of sleep. One other thing I think helps quite a bit is to arrange to be in bright lights (sunshine is best) as soon as you get up in the morning and keep the light to an absolute minimum starting an hour or two before local bedtime. I think this is somehow related to how melatonin works.

The think I have the most trouble with is sleeping on the airplane itself. Maybe because I'm a pilot?
 
Being in Germany for the fourth time this year (and over 100 trips over the years), I can comment on this one. I have tried everything from Halcion which I'm prety sure you can't get anymore to Melatonin. Sleeping pill things like Halcion put me out, but it isn't normal sleep. I'll bet an honest double blind test of Melatonin and a placebo would show no difference.
For me the only thing that works is to act according to the local time immediately. Don't arrive and take a nap unless it's already night. Don't drink more (or probably less) than you normally do; and in general just gut it out until you adjust.
 
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