How To Reduce The Effects Of Jet Lag.

[orchis]

in plane no coffee or alcohol but water, lots.

try to sleep or close your eyes at thai time in airplane.

on arrival sleep two hours, not more and get up again,

take a swim between 4 to 6 pm.

no coffee after5 pm.

take melatonin the first three days , 15' before bed time.

[69690jay]

drink lots of water:bring an empty 1.5 ltr plastic bottle with you so you can avoid asking for water every hour, empty as they will not allow a full bottle on board, you can ask the steward to fill it for you.

Ear plugs, never thought this was true but someone told me the noise adds to the jetlag, I swear by them now, make sure i have a good set with me, the stewards can give you a set from first class if you forget.

Get up and walk around the plane do some stretching, knee squats, etc.

Lastly I try to adjust the internal clock before departure and resetting the internal clock by forced sleep on arrival, this is where a sleeping pill can help.

Flying from North america to asia or vice versa is always harder than flying from asia to australia,time change is 13hrs dif compared to 3hrs.

[britmaveric]

^water is necessity - drink heaps of it.

[tomth]

I travel back and forth to Thailand from the UK every month and can't say I really suffer, I usually arrive back in England midday on the wednesday, then straight on the train to Aberdeen for 7 hours, to bed, then up early for check in, 1 hour flight to Shetlands, then 1 hour on a chopper to the rig, and then straight to work.

I do feel knackered for the first 2 days, but i think that has as much to do with going back to 12 hour shifts as it does with jetlag!!.

Oh yeah, and I don't get wanke_red on the flights anymore, even to Thailand, that certainly doesn't help your case.

Tom.

[Gobbledoc]

Your body will naturally change about 40mins a day when you arive.

[sokal]

I travel back and forth to Thailand from the UK every month and can't say I really suffer, I usually arrive back in England midday on the wednesday, then straight on the train to Aberdeen for 7 hours, to bed, then up early for check in, 1 hour flight to Shetlands, then 1 hour on a chopper to the rig, and then straight to work.

I do feel knackered for the first 2 days, but i think that has as much to do with going back to 12 hour shifts as it does with jetlag!!.

Oh yeah, and I don't get wanke_red on the flights anymore, even to Thailand, that certainly doesn't help your case.

Tom.

I couldn't handle that. 12 hour drilling rig shifts are murder, drillers are jerks, are you a driller ? I work on a service rig.

[witold]

24 hours of travel time from US East Coast.

No problem.

I stay up the night before (on way to and from LOS). I use this time to pack, etc. This essentially shifts my clock 12 hours. On the plane, I sleep, make sure I drink a good bit of water, and wear ear plugs. Ear plugs help a lot, as noise contributes to making one feel tired I think...

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I personally would never take a sleeping pill unless prescribed by a doctor. They tend to be highly habit forming, for one thing, and do cause drowsiness which could effect you in an emergency.

Emergencies that you can do something about would be near departure and arrival anyway. And, the goal is to get to sleep, not to completely knock you out for the duration. I would agree to have them prescribed by a doctor of course. In fact that's the easiest, most convenient and only legal way to even get them in Thailand.

As for habit forming, I don't fly every week.. I have maybe four long haul trips a year, so would take pills on 8 occasions during flights. That's not habit forming. It's habit forming for people who take them all the time either to sleep or for anxiety related reasons.

Anyone know where to buy ambien or other sleeping pills (without going through the whole hospital visit procedure). I am aware you can get them as friends have had them before but all the pharmacies I have been to refer me to a hospital. So if anyone knows please PM me. Thanks

I wouldn't know in Bangkok, but in Chiang Mai there are clinics that are every bit as convenient as walking into a pharmacy. And it's an actual doctor selling them to you; I keep the card to show I have them prescribed. Typically you'd look for mental health clinics.

Edited April 5, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Choscura]

Don't use pills or caffeine. your body will stay active despite one and become inactive and run (temporarily) on the other, so you sleep and wake up still tired, or you try not to sleep and wind up zonked on the city bus.

the easiest way to stay alert is to regularly get up, stretch, exercise, and to drink cold water. Both together work best- one or the other by itself works just fine. If you really have to push it for a few days, get some food ever few hours- just a handful of some complex carbohydrate (brown rice, whole wheat bread, fibrous fruits like dates, etc) and some protein and a small amount of fat. The easiest example of this would be to eat a piece of fruit like an apple and have a handful of peanuts or cashews. avoid sugary drinks and food because you'll get a sugar high, your body will rely on that sugar rush and then all that sugar will be used up and you'll crash.

[Svenn]

I have yet to feel fully rested in Thailand no like I do back home in the states, no matter how long i stay. The combination of jet lag, heat, humidity, pollution, and accommodation that isn't ideal always leaves me tired. I'm wondering if I should get a dehumidifier and air filters or something for my bedroom in Thailand to achieve something more like home...

[waza]

Body clock sleep problems have been linked to a hormone called melatonin. Light and dark affect how the body makes melatonin. Most melatonin is made at night. During the day, light tells your body to make less melatonin. Recent studies have shown that the greatest source of Melanin is in urine, and recomends the first pee in the morning has the highest concentrations. So in conclusion drinking urine will reset your body clock.

Edited April 5, 2010 by waza

[bifftastic]

I personally would never take a sleeping pill unless prescribed by a doctor. They tend to be highly habit forming, for one thing, and do cause drowsiness...

Well, they wouldn't be much use if they didn't cause drowsiness!

I can never really sleep on the plane, I found the non-direct flights better, even though they're a couple of hours longer.

I guess the fact that I do shift work at home means I don't really have a body clock as such, or if i do it's been broken by now!

it's been a total of about 26 hours door to door, getting to the airport (an hour and a half in London and about the same in Chiang Rai) flights, hanging around in airports (5 hours in swampy and one in Mumbai) I felt tired (surprise surprise!) but not jetlagged as in falling asleep at weird times unexpectedly.

Must be horrible. I do what I do to get ready for my shift changes at work, adjust to the time I'm going to be in, if I can I'll force myself to stay awake until a sensible time in the time zone I'm going to and make sure that if I can't sleep I rest, not stress out about not sleeping.

Definitely gonna try the earplugs, the plane noise does my head in!

[yabaaaa]

also buy some sound reduction earphones these are great they reduce the sound of flying significantly. £18 ebay. Good to listen to the movies too on the plane.

[Kf6vci]

try Melatonin 3 mg, taken 2 hours before you want to sleep.

Chris

[PeaceBlondie]

I have yet to feel fully rested in Thailand no like I do back home in the states, no matter how long i stay. The combination of jet lag, heat, humidity, pollution, and accommodation that isn't ideal always leaves me tired. I'm wondering if I should get a dehumidifier and air filters or something for my bedroom in Thailand to achieve something more like home...

I never sleep well traveling by plane, train or bus. My trip can last 3 days. It's the entire travel that wears me out.

[craigt3365]

I don't believe it wise to take a sleeping pill during a flight. If there is an emergency on board, you want your wits about you.

I do take a sleeping pill upon arrival at my hotel. (arrival time around midnight) I wake up six to eight hours later in broad daylight to Thai time with no jet lag.

I travel to/from Las Vegas. It is a long, dam_n flight, and the time difference is almost 12 hours.. BKK to Tokyo to LA to Vegas. Horrible. Basically 24 hours door to door. We do this several times a year.

I take a sleeping pill from Tokyo to LA (or the reverse). Get a good rest and stay up the rest of the flight. I have had to wake up after taking the pill and it was no biggie. I "borrow" a few Ambien pills from my Mom. I use to use drammamine, but I found it does not really let me sleep very well.

The arrival night, I take another to get to sleep (sometimes for several nights in a row). And try to sleep for at least 7 hours. The next day, stay outside as much as possible...and avoid a nap if you can....which is a HARD thing to do. Sunlight helps to adjust your body's internal clock to the new time zone. I drink some coffee in the morning, some weak tea after lunch...and struggle from there. A pill allows me to sleep with no problems for almost 8 hours.

I am pretty well adjusted after 4 days or so. But still struggle for a full week. NO FUN!

As for avoiding booze...that is no fun either!!

[IanForbes]

I am getting sick of drinking coffees at 7:00 in the evening just to stay awake, then when 4:00 am rolls around I cant sleep. The 4am sight seeing tours on Koh San road are getting old.

Is there some theory about keeping your same sleep habit by sleeping at the right time on the plane ?

Sorry for laughing, but I'm experiencing the same thing. I just got back to Canada (30 hour trip) two days ago and I'm a walking zombie. I live 50 miles from my grand kids and one was having a birthday party the day after I got home. I get energy at the wrong time and want to sleep all day. It didn't help that I didn't get much sleep the week previous to my departing Thailand. All my lady friends wanted to get their last few pay days just before I left. I'm hoping to recover in about a week. Luckily I don't have to work at a regular job for a living.