13 August, 2006

The Jet Lag Blues...


I go back and forth between North America about twice a year and the jet lag is just incredible. Does anyone out there have a suggestion about overcoming jet lag as efficiently as possible?

Tips?

Home remedies?

Cocktail Recipes?

6 comments:

trailingspouse said...

Drink loads of water on the flight (may not be so easy nowadays if you can't take your own water on board).

Try to go to bed at the normal (local) time and get up at the normal local time (or earlier, if you can't sleep).

Take Melatonin before going to bed for the first 3-4 days after a flight (helps you stay asleep).

Resist the temptation to catch up on sleep by taking long naps during the day.

bandicoot said...

Bobo - This link seems useful; and may be you also want to check this one out. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Start time-shifting a few days before by about an hour a day - it shouldn't disrupt your life too much and it will lessen the shock to your system when you get there. As soon as you get on the plane reset your watch to your destination time. On the flight drink loads of water (about half a litre per hour if you can manage it), eat vegetarian food and however tempting it is DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL (sorry)! Walk around as much as you can on the flight (if you drink that much water, trust me you will be doing plenty of walking!). Try not to sleep too much on the flight unless its a night (at your destination) flight. Once you arrive get straight into the local time, keep moving and limit naps to 30 minutes but only take them only if absolutely neccessary. If you are feeling wiped out go to a gym and do some cardio, it might be the last thing you feel like but you will feel better afterwards!

redstar said...

Melatonin - which is now available in Dubai. Makes a big difference.

I fly every week and go to California four or five times a year, so jet lag feels normal to me now!

Anonymous said...

best medcine is drink lots of wine and use ur mind power to convince urself ur not crossing timezones. works for me.

nzm said...

Bobo - we go back and forth to the US at least every 6 weeks.

Here's what works for us - without fail.

As soon as we get on the plane, we change our watches, computers and our minds to the time in the place that we're going to be landing in. And then we act like we're in that place already. If it's time to sleep, we sleep. If it's morning, we work or we watch the entertainment program, talk, read, eat if it's mealtime.

Ignore all that's happening around you with the other passengers; don't get sucked into watching movies, eating etc if it's time to sleep.

If we have a stopover - i.e. we mostly fly through Germany, you can do the change in time in increments - i.e. first set yourself to German time for the DXB-Germany flight, and then set yourself to US time for the flight from Germany to the US.

And as trailingspouse says, drink lots of water, avoid heavy meals and be strict with yourself by adhering to the timezone of your place of arrival.

Works every time for us.

cheers
nzm

Post a Comment

NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them.

To read the rules click here

If you would like to post content on this blog click here