Jet lag

Bard

I fly west on Saturday through 5 time zones. My phobia of flying aside, I'm fairly sure I'll get jet lag.

Now, I've seen a number or suggested treatments for jet lag - melatonin, bright light, Acupressure and more...

Can anyone recommend a treatment or preventative measure that they have experience of - that WORKS...?

TIA

Hobart

Sleep lots on the way over (Hope you get Business Class). Don't get pissed. Drink loads of water. Take you shoes off (Don't know why but it helps me). And most importantly whatever time you land in your eventual destination try to stay awake until your normal bed time (even if it means going out). Where are you goin BTW? (If its not a personnal question)

Bard

Business class? Hell no! lol... it's economy all the way

Thanks for the suggestions, Hobart. I'm flying to Washington DC.

davros

Get up an hour or two later (if that's practical) in the days before Saturday and go to bed later too. Then you will be closer to US Eastern Time.

Bard

Not practical, unfortunately, - I still have to leave the house at 7am each morning for work. The flight is early in the morning too - will have to be at the airport at about 6.30am

MiCr0

i've always thought that jet lag was over played.
the day you arrive in washington - just stay up until their bed time
and get up as normal

the whole day will be tiring any how so it shouldn't be much of an issue getting to sleep

Wook

Well i went to thailand this year and timezones..well i have passed some
removing shoes actually does help to make you feel much more comfortable. wear something light and fluffy but do get something with you because of the aircon it could be pretty chilly.
sleep a lot...
don't drink
walk around once in awhile
Demonstrate the use of earplugs when you happen to sit next to somebody who likes to tell all about their lives.
google the stewardess
join the Mile-high club

Ruu_Old

Sleep is the best thing to do, as much as possible Bard. Ive gone to Chicago three times, going over didnt bother me at all, its when i came back to Ireland i was knackered Good luck, have a good time

Mountjoy Mugger

Fwiw, Bard. The last time I flew to DC I found that by staying up until about 11ish that night, local time, I was fine the following morning. Coming back home was a bit*h for the jet lag though..

Evil Phil

Yeah, going over you going to be okay. Drink water, take of your shoes and watch the movie. Coming home is when you'll get the jetlag.

Bard

Originally posted by Evil Phil
Yeah, going over you going to be okay. Drink water, take of your shoes and watch the movie. Coming home is when you'll get the jetlag.

Well, last time I went over there it happened the other way around.

I'm not too worried about it, to be honest. I don't expect it to affect me too badly.

Originally posted by Hobart
Sleep lots on the way over (Hope you get Business Class).

I had the pleasure a few weeks back of flying BA club world to New york. The seat reclines to a fully flat bed 6 ft long.
After dinner on royal doulton china( they asked me what way I wanted my steak done and it was delicious!) I slept , almost the whole way as if I was in my own bed.I arrived totally refreshed and raring for action.

The best thing though from an experience point of view, was the trip back, BA were running a promotion on club World to NY of a free upgrade to either first class on one of the legs or concorde.
I chose concorde
I wouldn't fly concorde again but, I'm now Ruined as I'll never want to go economy long haul again.
You get some shock , I can tell you when you stroll down the plane from club class through curtain one to Premium economy and then down the back to Economy.
mm

bucks73

Jet lag usually doesnt affect you when you are travelling west because you are travelling during the day and your body doesnt need sleep anyway.

Of all the tips the best one I have found is no alcohol and plenty of water.

I always get it bad coming back from the US though as I can never sleep on flights even though I travel business class (thanks to work).

Three years ago I returned from a trip to Oz which took thirty five hours and I slept for only two hours on the flights.

RicardoSmith

Have to say I never really had a problem going west either, its only coming home again. Like the others have said. Get lots of sleep, personally I like a glass of vino to get me sleepy but no more than 2 or you'll have a raging headache when you land. I also like to kick of the shoes and walk about a bit.

Was in club on BA back from Denver once. Verrry nice.

unkel

Well, last time I went over there it happened the other way around.

LOL How did this happen? Never heard about jetlag going west just across the ocean. If you have to get up at 7am local time the next morning, just go to bed at say 9pm local time the night before. You'll probably be nackered by then since it's 2am irish time. Surely 10 hours sleep should do it.

Coming back, surely you'll be f****d. Best advice I got is to NOT go to bed when you arrive in the morning (when most planes from the USA land in Dublin). Force yourself to stay up till at least 9PM and then go to bed for the night. Changes are you'll be grand in the morning one a flight only across 5 time zones. Haven't gone further than that myself, no doubt its way way worse going to the other side of the world

Whatever you do, don't sleep on the plane, alcohol only in moderation (you have to have some, c'mon lads!) and loads of water. Try and relax and wath the film. The flight is not really long enough to be afreaid of DVT

Good luck anyway m8

esentziak

I agree with the advice given in the other posts but have found that I simply cannot stay awake until 9pm when coming back from the States.

A friend who travels back and forth quite a lot suggested taking a nap mid-morning after landing back in Ireland. Go to bed, set your alarm clock to wake you up after a couple of hours, go about your business and if necessary have another nap (about one hour, again set alarm clock).

This helps to keep going until you can go to bed at a decent Irish time. When the alarm clock beeps, you will feel groggy but it's worth making the effort to get up. A good shower will help to awaken you.

I found that it worked (for me, anyway) and I did not experience the week-long jet lag I had suffered previously.

I also found Melatonin helped to regulate my sleep pattern. You'll need to buy Melatonin in the States since, as you probably know, it's not available in Ireland.

Esentziak

LFCFan

5 hour difference shouldn't give you much jet lag. Heading to the likes of Australia will screw up your internal clock alright. Like most people have said. Just go to bed at your usual time when you are in the States and you'll be grand. It's more tiredness than proper Jet Lag going through 5 time zones.