How do you beat JETLAG ?

Hi:)
Just wondering how people try to beat the dreaded Jetlag[xx(],
always worse travelling West to East.
There are some herbal tablets called something like NO JETLAG
available in the USA:D
The drive from the airport after flying into U.K. is always hard work
Regards
iAN

Hi Ian

Several years ago I tried something called "melatonin" or something sounding like it ( not sure of the correct spelling ).

It is available off the self in the US from most chemists and from memory I think it was "herbal" based.

It seemed to work ok - it tended to "relax" you rather than make you sleepy.

In recent times I have taken "Nitol" which can be found in the UK and this has helped me get a few hours rest / sleep on the plane, but still leaves me awake enough for the drive home when we land.

In my experience - 20 years as cabin crew - the best way to beat/ease jet lag is to go straight on to local time. You will recover much quicker.

West - East as you say is worse, try to get a nap on the Red Eye over night and then if possible go on to local time when you get home.

Julie R

Melatonin works well, but until recently, it was only availble in the US. My wife always keeps an in-date stock for us to use. I think Melatonin is now availble in the UK at selected Chemists, but not marketed for Jet Lag. Worth trying, though.

Herbal (green packing) Nytol is useless for Jetlag. The regular Blue packed Nytol helps a bit, but not as effective as Melatonin.

But one of the most effective methods is to drink plenty of non-fizzy, non-alcoholic and non-caffeinated beverages on board. Still Lemonade works quite well, believe it or not.

Mr Fibble

I have bought the No Jet Lag through an online chemist in Covent Garden. I will have a look just now and get back with the website address for you if you would like.

I know people who swear by it.

www.garden.co.uk

ordered a pack of Jet Ease for £6.50. delivered in 2 days

As above, We always go to the local time, so we try to sleep on the overnight
flight, the next morning just keep yourself busy, but have an early night. Seems
to work for me

I used to have jetlag for at least a week after returning home but not since I discovered Melatonin! It's wonderful... [msnwink]

Hi:)
Thanks everybody so far so good
keep them coming.
I also have beans on toast as my first meal when I get home
why is that[msntongue][?]
I once changed to UK time the day before I flew back which meant eating breakfast at 04:00hrs
The next day I was bright as a button[msncool]
Bit drastic though !!!!!!
I agree about the drinks though lots of them and no alchol.
Cheers
Ian

I'm quite fortunate in that I can do quite well on little sleep. I never have a problem at all going East - West, it's just like having a late night. West - East, I find it best to come home and get straight into doing something (and not have a nap) and then go to bed as near to normal time as possible. This way I'm back in sync by the next morning.

My Hubby has a different cure - he sleeps virtually all the way home on the plane, naps for 5 hours or so when we get home, and can STILL manage to get to sleep as normal at night!

I was interested in Melatonin and looked it up... the info I saw on various websites seems to say that it is an artificial hormone

There are several sites which enable us to by the product in the UK ... However I have also found this article from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3354147.stm

which gives some info about its use.
Of particular interest is that the product is "off licence" in the UK- There are some contra indications found in this article....

I am not saying dont take it or do take it - just thought while ai had time on my hands Id read about it - hope its of some use to someone???

Ana

Im laughing reading your last post as its like my husband all over again.

Im the one left to keep my 4 year old amused for the 8 hour flight while he sleeps and then goes straight to sleep when home.

What a life!!!

Thats why ive got the jet ease for myself

"The drive from the airport after flying into U.K. is always hard work"

Ian we always get a lift to the airport and get picked up so we don't have the drive. It's about 45 mins from Gatwick to here and when I was at work 18yrs ago for Marconi Avionics, 4 of the tops managers were critically injured and almost died after the one who was driving nodded off at the wheel, this was before we had ever been to America but it made me acutely aware of how easily it could happen so we won't take the chance.

My hubby and daughter both usually sleep when they get home and suffer more from jetlag than I do , I try and stay awake until normal bedtime and then seem to get back quite quickly. It helps to set your watch to UK when boarding and work to that routine so we usually have a good meal before we board and then we don't have to wait for food to be served before trying to sleep.

This year we have booked a mini coach to take us and pick us up from Gatwick, the drive
home last year round the M25 was a nightmare and I didnt feel safe at all.

We always get taxi / minibus to and from airport. I totally agree that it's so unsafe to drive even if you are feeling ok.

My advice as a seasoned traveller on the transatlantic routes (5th crossing tonight in 9 days) is that nothing beats drinking plenty of water, eating lighlty, sleep if you can, and avoid alcohol at all costs. you'll find that just laying off alcohol helps even if you dont manage the others.

My advise on beating jet lag is as soon as the plane takes off change your watch to the time into which your flying then always refer to the new time when you want to having said this I work nights and quite often go without sleep for 24 hours so I generally don`t have a problem...except when we arrive in Florida as the 1st night/morning Iam up and rareing to go at about 3.30am quite nice to sit round the pool in the quiet and watch the sun come up before the kids and hubbie get up and the mayhem starts;)

Kym, that always happens to me too, first night in the US I am always awake at 4, unfortunately, this morning I was watching the snow in New York and not a nice florida sunrise !
Setting your watch as soon as you take off is something I do too.

I'd have to agree with Chris - hire a taxi or driver.
I am lucky enough to have my parents pick me (us) up at the airport when we visit UK (I am in usa) but when my parents visit us they hire a cab to take and collect them (from Dorset so a few hours) and it cost wise is comparable with parking fees at the airports - not to mention the relaxation bit

Jackie D

We always suffer for about a week when we come home, can't get to sleep until about 3am and so are exhausted by mid afternoon. Don't nap in the day at all, so its a real pain. Might have to try the jet-lag pills next time just to see if they help.[msnsmile]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:We always suffer for about a week when we come home, can't get to sleep until about 3am and so are exhausted by mid afternoon. [/quote]

About the only good thing in being my profession is that one gets so used to irregular patterns of sleep (and sometimes none at all) that jetlag seems a trivial problem in comparison. Unfortunately, we've got to be back at work 48 hours after landing back in the UK. :(:(

Nostromo

I have landed at 7am and been back at work for 1pm the same day. Must admit jet lag wasn't an issue that time as I couldn't go to sleep because I was at work. My boss wouldn't let me have anymore time off work[msnmad].

Claire

I have to be back at work after getting off the flight tomorrow morning.....you get used to it. I'll collapse in bed tomorrow night not having had time to think about sleep and it tends to be the best sleep I get so its not all bad.[msnscared]

Ive a few times landed and had to go straight to work, luckily the times this has happened
its been quiet with not too much work going on

This year we fly the red eye saturday night, and im due back Monday morning

Think of the poor pilots and stewardesses! They work and get jetlagged at the same time! No wonder they get all laid over [msnwink][msnwink]between flights.....I mean their "layovers" of course.

I've never tried medication - might give it a go this year - I've tried every sleep pattern, staying up till bedtime, thought I might kill someone if they said anything out of place, going to bed till I woke up then couldn't sleep when I should. Found the best pattern for us is to go to bed as soon as we get in as long as that is around 8am and set the alarm for 1pm and make sure we then get up and try to behave normally (if I every behave normally).
We always set our watches to the local time of were we are going when we get on the plane, this does help.

Lyn

ps when we first went my son was 5 he cried for a week every night when we got back wanting to be back in Florida, this was partly due to the jet lag but it did not help my temper!! He also did it on our 2nd trip when he was 7 it's a miracle we ever went again.

I must confess.....when I travel for work I am fortunate enough to turn left at the aircraft door to go to my seat, I wouldn't do it as much as I do if I had to turn right[:p]

hi all
My advice would be to have to kids who won't allow you to have a full nights sleep until they are 3 or 4 yrs old, just to get used to it.
I've been toying with the idea of getting up early for the last few days and going to bed earlier, it might not take so long to get back into UK time.
My wife's a night nurse like Kym so it doesn't seem to affect her

I have been doing the melatonin for many years now-and it really does help.

Something else that helps is homeopathic cocculus. You should be able to get it here but if not-Chamberlins the proper health shop at the bottom of the John Young Parkway (The first shopping plaza after you've turned right off the 192) sell that and more.

Another thing to try that has been recommended is Pycnogenol -you can buy it here. It is supposed to be very effective against DVT-and unlike aspirin does not cause stomach bleeding. It's made from pine bark from the trees in SW France-it's high in anti-oxidants which prevents the blood platelets forming clots.

I use melatonin when I travel internationally. I am a former nurse, and I do work related to pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Periodically I check the medical literature for reports of side effects and have not seen anything of concern to me. I also check the FDA's reports of adverse events, and although nutritional supplements are not regulated by FDA, they do get reports on those types of substances (even more so after the ephedra problems of last few yrs.) But I have not seen anything I considered a problem that would make me think twice about using it. If one was going to take it longer term, I would hesitate as these suplements are not regulated for safety as well as effectiveness, But I only use one dose per trip, that is all I need. I buy melatonin that is produced from a reputable manufacturer, as these nutritional supplements are not regulated for purity either; that is probably my biggest concern about these things. For example the problem several years ago with L-tryptophan that had impurities in it; it gave people a muscular disease. But again, that was longer term use, and the problem was limited to one manufacturer (or possible a few, they got the L-tryptophan from the same contaminated source though.) So I do think about these things, but the melatonin works so well, and I stay w/the reputable manufacturer's version, and I only need one dose, so I continue to use it once a year or so when I am traveling internationally.

Hi:)
What about your first meal when you get home[?]
Anybody else for beans on toast[msntongue]
Ian

so where and in what form do I get melatonin - and is it to take when travelling out or on return?
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caseyd
I use melatonin when I travel internationally. I am a former nurse, and I do work related to pharmaceuticals and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Periodically I check the medical literature for reports of side effects and have not seen anything of concern to me. I also check the FDA's reports of adverse events, and although nutritional supplements are not regulated by FDA, they do get reports on those types of substances (even more so after the ephedra problems of last few yrs.) But I have not seen anything I considered a problem that would make me think twice about using it. If one was going to take it longer term, I would hesitate as these suplements are not regulated for safety as well as effectiveness, But I only use one dose per trip, that is all I need. I buy melatonin that is produced from a reputable manufacturer, as these nutritional supplements are not regulated for purity either; that is probably my biggest concern about these things. For example the problem several years ago with L-tryptophan that had impurities in it; it gave people a muscular disease. But again, that was longer term use, and the problem was limited to one manufacturer (or possible a few, they got the L-tryptophan from the same contaminated source though.) So I do think about these things, but the melatonin works so well, and I stay w/the reputable manufacturer's version, and I only need one dose, so I continue to use it once a year or so when I am traveling internationally.
[/quote]

You can buy Melatonin from Wal-Mart or any Pharmacy or probably any health food store in Florida. As with taking any medication, always, always check with a pharmacist in the store that it's not going to interfere with anything else in the way of medication that you happen to be taking.

Mine came as small tablets. You normally get about 50 in a bottle and, as you'll only take a few on each trip, get a bottle with a long sell by date on it!

I don't bother with it on the way over as the time difference just means you wake a bit earlier in the morning. It's when you've arrived back home, when you're wide awake at 2 or 3 am and you have to go to work the next day, that it comes into its own!

I agree with getting your mind fixed on local time. Set you watches as you take off.. We take Nytol on both east - west and back again.Also try to eat at 'meal times' when you get there, even if it is just a snack. It helps the body system to adjust. Otherwise it adds to you body clock getting you up halfway through your first night. Even If it is a day flight. Works for us.!

great - will definitely be on my shopping list when we get to Wal-Mart this time - thanks for the advice
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott
You can buy Melatonin from Wal-Mart or any Pharmacy or probably any health food store in Florida. As with taking any medication, always, always check with a pharmacist in the store that it's not going to interfere with anything else in the way of medication that you happen to be taking.

Mine came as small tablets. You normally get about 50 in a bottle and, as you'll only take a few on each trip, get a bottle with a long sell by date on it!

I don't bother with it on the way over as the time difference just means you wake a bit earlier in the morning. It's when you've arrived back home, when you're wide awake at 2 or 3 am and you have to go to work the next day, that it comes into its own!
[/quote]

I have a friend who takes "night nurse" just before her return journey.... it seems to work for her!!!!

Nope - usually a good curry for us [msnsmile2]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by mr flibble
Hi:)
What about your first meal when you get home[?]
Anybody else for beans on toast[msntongue]
Ian
[/quote]

If you can't find melatonin at Walmart's-there's a vitaminworld at Lake Buena Vista Factory outlet and a GNC at Premium outlets in the food court.

They do a Super Snooze -that's mealatonin and Valerian.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by mr flibble
Hi:)
What about your first meal when you get home[?]
Anybody else for beans on toast[msntongue]
Ian
[/quote]

Definitely Indian!

Hi:)
Indian food for breakfast !![msntongue]Now that`s a thought
It`s always late morning when we get home.
Now how do I convince my wife to eat indian at 11:00hrs[?]
Whow................
Ian