Bkk - Usa How Best To Avoid Jet Lag?

[Shoeboat]

It will be a three flight journey which will take a day and a half. I've been warned that the jet lag may spoil my entire trip which is only for 1 week. However, my sleep is very arratic anyway and I don't ever suffer from jet lag when flying to the UK and back, so I might be okay but I don't want to take any chances.

In the weeks prior to my trip I will get as healthy as I can and try to get some Xanax on prescription when I go for my annual check up next week. I have been recommended this my several businessmen.

Other than sleep as much as I can on the main leg (Tokyo to Seattle) and drink lots of water - are there any other useful tips? Is this a valid concern or is everybody different at the end of the day?

Would be interested to hear some opinions/experiences.

[geriatrickid]

IMO jetlag is more common on shorter longhauls than on the transpacific flights.i.e. going from east coast north america to LHR or FRA. You can't get any decent sleep on those flights. I've been making regular trips for the past few years between the east coast and BKK, usually on Eva. The 12-14 hr flight is ok, because I can manage to get 6-8 hours of sleep. I think the Xanax advice is bad. It disrupts your REM sleep and screws up your chemistry. It also presents a serious life and safety issue. If you are in a chemically induced sleep, do you think you would be alert enough to wake and exit the plane in an emergency situation?

[jacktrip]

its not that bad. just allow 24 hrs to sleep when you arrive, then your good to go. having a nice hotel and bed helps.

[JSixpack]

Xanax or Valium (or Ambien) is your friend. Sleep on the flight, then use it to get to sleep at normal hours after you arrive for a day or so.

Better living thru chemistry.

[kennedy]

Never have been able to sleep on a plane no matter what class. maybe cat naps 10 minutes? Anyone else have that problem?

[lomatopo]

What is your final destination in the U.S? I'm assuming you have BKK-NRT-SEA-???

What time are you leaving BKK, arriving at your final destination?

I live in Bangkok but return to the east coast every 45 - 60 days - so six trips on average each year for the least 12 years, my stays in the U.S are short, never longer than 7 days.

I leave BKK very early in the AM, arrive the same day on the east coast just about 26 hours later, so ~ 8:00 PM local time.

I never, ever have a problem going to the U.S. - I might sleep a little on the plane - I fall asleep that first night then am fine - maybe a brief fade in the afternoons but nothing a cup of coffee can't solve.

Now coming back to Bangkok I almost always have problems re-adjusting.

I am fortunate in that my upgrades (from economy to business) almost always clear but in September I was on a non-upgradeable series of flights: BKK-NRT-HNL-SFO-BOS/BOS-LAX-NRT-BKK (HNL-SFO-BOS and BOS-LAX were upgraded to domestic first so not horrible), and didn't sleep at all in either direction. But even in business, with lie-flat seats I rarely sleep - maybe 2 hours eastbound, and 3 westbound - usually NRT-BKK which probably screws me up on my return.

For east coast trips I have found it better to fly one stop via Europe: BKK-FRA-BOS but that routing can be quite a bit more expensive - I usually redeem a first class award for this trip/routing.

I would avoid caffeine - maybe even for a few days prior to your journey, avoid alcohol; stay hydrated; maybe carry some healthy snacks and fruit; walk as much as you can during stop-overs.

I do attempt to move to earlier wake up times in the days preceding my trip - so work my way from 06:30 to 04:30 - but sometimes get a bit lazy on this.

Edited November 4, 2012 by lomatopo

[Neeranam]

Melatonin is very good for sleeping.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

My methods, either direction:

Completely avoid alcohol, caffeine and heavy meals for the duration of the trip. Try to get as much sleep as possible during the trip.

If I have a choice, I try to arrive in the afternoon or early evening, and force myself to stay awake until after 9pm local time at the destination, not take any naps, and even if possible to maintain a high level of activity - maybe even physical exercise - so I'm right and truly tuckered out by the time I hit the sack, if necessary even staying up later than you usually would, rarely so in my case, usually dying to get to sleep as early as possible.

Try to set up your sleeping arrangments so you don't get disturbed, ideally your room won't admit much if any sunlight the following morning and sleep in as long as you like, until you actually feel like getting up, even if that's after noon. But then get out and about, get in a fully active day, again, no napping until bed time.

One more good night's sleep on the local time clock and I'm usually 80% recovered, the rest just takes a few more days of regular sleep patterns.

A relevant snippet from one of my favourite authors:

=========================================

Five hours' New York jet lag and Cayce Pollard wakes in Camden Town to the dire and ever-circling wolves of disrupted circadian rhythm.

It is that flat and spectral non-hour, awash in limbic tides, brainstem stirring fitfully, flashing inappropriate reptilian demands for sex, food, sedation, all of the above, and none really an option now.

Not even food, as Damien's new kitchen is as devoid of edible content as its designers' display windows in Camden High Street. Very handsome, the upper cabinets faced in canary-yellow laminate, the lower with lacquered, unstained apple-ply. Very clean and almost entirely empty, save for a carton containing two dry pucks of Weetabix and some loose packets of herbal tea. Nothing at all in the German fridge, so new that its interior smells only of cold and long-chain monomers.

She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien's theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can't move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage.

[MahaYellow]

Strange that you didn't "ever suffer from jet lag when flying to the UK and back".

I for one find jet lag worse when flying from Bangkok back to the UK (East to West)

rather than from the UK to Bangkok (West to East).

Normally takes me a few days to settle after BKK to MAN flight.

Maybe the anticipation of my mia noi meeting me at Bangkok airport and being

whisked off in a taxi to the condo for steamy sessions of you know what prevents

the jet lag.

[jacktrip]

covering my face with a blanket or jacket really helps for me, and I can sleep badly this way. my whole head needs to be covered, not just my eyes etc.

something about having my face exposed prevents me falling under, some self-conscious thing I suppose. i have to be ready in case someone sticks there finger in my mouth or something. and also it feels more like im breathing my own air, and not breathing in someones elses exhaled air or farts.

a couple times a lady in the seat next to me let me use her pillow, but it kept me up, rather then helped me.

[CaptHaddock]

Everytime my wife and I fly to the East coast of the US it takes us 15 days to adjust to the time zone difference in each direction. Boeing did a study at one time and concluded that it takes one day to adjust for every one hour of time difference. So, our experience aligns with the Boeing study. I know others report much shorter episodes, but that has been our consistent experience for ten years.

Therefore, I take ambien on the plane and every night during the whole two week visit in the States and for a while after coming back. I recommend it. While you will still be jet-lagged you won't be exhausted since you will be able to sleep at night.

[tartempion]

There is no hope for me.

Just spent one month in Europe and woke up every night between 02h and 04h.

I don't take any meds, fly business class with Middle east stopover because i sleep max 4h each leg, thus get at least 6h sleep each way.

Back here one week and all is fire, did sleep a lot first 5 24h's here though.

Edited November 6, 2012 by tartempion

[Lukjaa]

Going from Canada to BKK through Chicago or Fankfurt is fairly easy - sleep a little bit and with the hot girlfreind waiting for me in BKK, its easy to stay awake.

The return flight back to Canada is normally about 28 hours and leaves around 8 AM or midnight. I drink about 6 glasses of wine and beer and then drift off, wake up a few hours later, drink more alcohol and sleep / watch movies and so on. Once I arrive home I'm completely screwed and fall asleep late afternoon and wake up around 2 AM. Each day I can stay up an hour later and wake up an hour later so 5 days later I'm pretty good. Alcohol each way is the way to go as you feel great, its easy to sleep when you want and you can often keep drinking in the cab on the way to Pattaya and roll in at 2 AM to hit Insomnia if you have no one waiting.

[Shoeboat]

Going from Canada to BKK through Chicago or Fankfurt is fairly easy - sleep a little bit and with the hot girlfreind waiting for me in BKK, its easy to stay awake.

The return flight back to Canada is normally about 28 hours and leaves around 8 AM or midnight. I drink about 6 glasses of wine and beer and then drift off, wake up a few hours later, drink more alcohol and sleep / watch movies and so on. Once I arrive home I'm completely screwed and fall asleep late afternoon and wake up around 2 AM. Each day I can stay up an hour later and wake up an hour later so 5 days later I'm pretty good. Alcohol each way is the way to go as you feel great, its easy to sleep when you want and you can often keep drinking in the cab on the way to Pattaya and roll in at 2 AM to hit Insomnia if you have no one waiting.

I need a window seat, that's for sure - and I don't have one. I need to contact Delta and sort this out. Can't do it today as I have not slept well in 3 nights, despite being off the booze. I'll try without smoking next time, but tonight i'll need to take a Xanax and have a productive day tomorrow.

My girlfriend is picking me up in Vegas. The whole 7 days is just going to be a blur of jet lag, insomnia and alcohol. I wish teleportation was possible.

[Jigger]

Much easier if you charter a private jet.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I need a window seat, that's for sure - and I don't have one. I need to contact Delta and sort this out. Can't do it today as I have not slept well in 3 nights, despite being off the booze. I'll try without smoking next time, but tonight i'll need to take a Xanax and have a productive day tomorrow.

My girlfriend is picking me up in Vegas. The whole 7 days is just going to be a blur of jet lag, insomnia and alcohol. I wish teleportation was possible.

I might be off base here, but your double mention of alcohol may be significant.

If it's possible you're physically dependent then you're better off maintaining your normal patterns, the trick is disrupting your system as little as possible.

Of course then you have a bigger problem to work on once you're over your jet lag, but no one can say but you. . .

[mogandave]

I sure miss the BKK-LAX nonstop...

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I sure miss the BKK-LAX nonstop...

Not to mention BKK-JFK in 17 hours! Not that I could afford it anyway these days but it was nice to know it was there in the event of a family emergency. . .

[NanLaew]

As i get older, booze has too much of its own recovery payload to mix with long flights. I have never tried self medicating either; it ain't natural. So when i have a long flight to Texas starting early morning, i purposely avoid all sleep the night before. It sometimes gets tough staying awake in the lounge but once onboard, i tell the cabin crew not to wake me for anything. No meals, nada, even in biz class. I am usually conked out some time between push back and rotation. The Narita stop is a bugger and i usually try and get the connection with the shortest layover and grab some noodles and a large beer. If not, wait until flying again and have some fruit or a sandwich and loads of water i brought onboard myself. Maybe try and read or catch a movie but usually i am quickly off to sleep for another 4-5 hours and then its time for the landing card palaver before landing. I usually get some more zzz's on the hop from SFO headed east. During that first day in my final destination, i fight thru the first sleepiness attack and go for a 'second wind'. When the next bout of sleepiness hits, it is time for bed, usually a good 5-6 hours and pretty much in sync again.

Sent from Tierra del Fuego with an Asus eePad Transformer TF201 thingumabob.

Edited November 7, 2012 by NanLaew