How to Avoid Jet Lag

Has anyone managed to successfully avoid jet lag? At the end of June I am headed to Hawaii to dog sit for a friend while they vacation on the mainland. Hawaii is in a time zone 6 hours behind mine. The last time I traveled like this, the jet lag and time difference just about killed me and really affected my enjoyment of the trip. I usually only sleep 6-7 hours/night, but I really need those hours!

Is there a way I can easily acclimate myself to the new time zone before I go? I could try to stick to my regular schedule regardless of the time there, but that might not always be convenient and it might not work for the dog, either. I have heard that melatonin works, but I tried that the last time and all it did was give me a headache.

Thanks!

Going west to east, I try to a take red-eye flight. Get there in the morning, go to bed that night when my hosts do (3 hours earlier than I’m used to, but since I was on a plane all night the night before, it’s no problem). The next day, I’m pretty much acclimated.

I’ve found that any sleep I can get on the plane is very valuable. I normally have more trouble going east than I do west.

I take a couple of tylanol PM with me, then take them early in the flight (sometimes with a glass of wine). I’m out within a half hour or so. I may sleep a couple of hours (sometimes more), but it works well for me.

Unfortunately, I do not sleep well on airplanes, even on an overnight flight or with “medicinal help.” My flight back will be a red eye.

Try Jet Lag Rooster. It calculates what you out to be doing in terms of sleep, waking, and exposure to light in order to help adjust to your new time zone quickly.

Exposure to light (or darkness) is a big factor. This is what synchronizes your circadian rhythm, and it’s why artificial sources of light at the right or wrong time can help or hurt you.

Sleeping on the plane may or may not be a good thing, depending on the timing of the flight and the relative time-zone shift involved. Wife and I have flown from Detroit to Japan a few times (a 10-11 time-zone shift, depending on DST) , We leave Detroit early one afternoon, and after a 13.5-hour flight, we arrive there late the next afternoon, having been awake for a good 32 hours at that point. We continue to stay awake as late as we can, typically surrendering at around 9PM the first night. We sleep in as best we can the next morning (~4AM), and repeatedly do our damndest to stay up “late” and sleep in. We’re generally in pretty good shape in ~4 days or so.

6 hours is a pretty good jump, but you ought to be able to get a solid head start on the adjustment in the week or so before you head out there, so that you’re only off by 2-3 hours when your trip begins - and you ought to be able to force yourself to cope with a 2-3 hour offset during the first couple of days.

Don’t try to stay on your own schedule, that’ll kill you.

I was in Europe last week, flew back on Sunday. The best way I’ve found to combat jet lag is to get on the new schedule as fast as possible, and expose yourself to light. We had an overnight flight there, 6 hour difference. Left here at 6pm our time, stepped off the plane at 11am their time. Forced ourselves to stay active and out in the sun as much as possible - we made it until about 9pm.

Both of us felt fine (if a little tired) the next day.

Coming back was harder; I figured I was up for 22 hours on Sunday, and I’m still tired enough that I took a nap a couple hours ago. But still, I was back on my normal schedule as much as I could be on Monday morning.

When you get to your hotel take off your shoes and your socks and stand on a carpet and, now this may sound crazy, make fists with your toes.

Then get hammered. The next day you won’t know if what you’re feeling is jet lag or hangover so just roll with it.

When traveling west to Hawaii, do not sleep on the plane. Stay awake. You will likely arrive midday or early afternoon. Don’t go to bed early. Stay up to your normal bedtime based upon local time. You should be very tired when it is time to go to bed, as you will have been up for six more hours than normal. As a result, you should sleep well that night and will have the most success at switching over to local time.

When flying east back home, you will normally take a red-eye (or overnight flight). Try and sleep as much as you can on that flight, as you will normally arrive early in the morning.

What I always do is find out whether I’m going to be arriving in the morning or the evening and dependent on that restrict how much I sleep the night before the flight. If I’m going to arrive in the morning, then I want to sleep on the plane, so I’ll not get too much sleep that I can’t do that. If I’m going to arrive in the evening, then I’ll want to stay awake on the plane and be super tired when I arrive, so I’ll adjust the amount of sleep I get so that I can stay awake through the day and then through the plane flight all the way to my destination.

In a sense, you’re still making yourself tired, but you’re getting it done before you get to your destination, and there’s something different about tiredness (which is unpleasant) and jetlag (which is disorienting). I prefer the former.

I find going west harder than going east, probably because I’m an extreme morning person. I try to be as well rested as possible the day before. I have everything packed and ready two to three days ahead and leave the day before departure as stress-free as possible, go to bed early, no drinking or celebrating for 2 days ahead. Then I try to rest on the flight, obviously.

My main techniques are psychological. As soon as I get to the airport, I set my phone, watch, and “internal clock” to the local time at my destination. So if a Europe flight leaves at 6PM, well, that’s midnight and I better sleep. I try to eat and sleep on their schedule before arrival, as well as mentally adjust. I find stopping thinking about “home time” really helps.

Thsnks, everyone! I appreciate your input!

Well, I guess taking the train is out…

Our family flies jet-lag-inducing trips all the time, so I feel like a bit of an expert on this subject. **Machine Elf **in post #5 has the premier advice, I think.

To this I would add: drink endless fluids on the plane. This will make you need to get up and pee - which is a good thing because you should keep moving as much as possible. Walk around the plane cabin as much as you can. While seated, do those in-seat exercises that you can usually find a guide to in the in-flight magazine: rotate your ankles and shoulders, flex your toes, swoop your head around, etc.

With respect to the light, I read a while ago that there seems to be some particularly photo-sensitive skin on the back of your knees. True or woo? I have no idea, but it’s harmless to give it a try: make sure you expose that part of your skin to the natural light of Hawaii as much as possible as soon as you arrive.

Take heart from the fact that going east to west is, as several people mentioned, usually easier. Also, don’t sweat it if your schedule is a little “off” for the first couple of days! Up crazy early in Hawaii? Hey, what better place to be enjoying the peace and beauty of dawn, right? Nodding off a bit early? Well, hey, if you aren’t there for the night life, who cares? It’s a vacation, you can sleep when you want.

Having said all that, I’m pretty sure that experience also counts. The first time I flew across the US, I experienced jet lag. Now the thought of being affected by travel from Boston to San Francisco seems quaint - bring out an 8 hour time zone change, then we can maybe start to talk. So consider that maybe your body will deal with the travel better than it did last time.

I think genetics may be a factor in response to jet lag, too, but you can’t do anything about that so never mind.

I’m in Australia right now. I fly home on Friday. I’ve been flying here a couple of times a year for the past three years or so. I also make semi-regular trips to Europe. I’m expected to get to work in the morning after I land. Both coming and going. The secret to jet lag? There is no secret. Just suck it up. Sleep on the plane when they turn out the lights. Sit up and eat when they feed you. If it’s still light when you land, stay up until the normal bedtime. It’s already dark when you land, set your alarm for the normal time and get up then. That’s all there is to it. There is nothing more.

For me I just stay awake though out the flight. Then wait for the next appropriate bed time upon arriving at my hotel.

Refuse to adjust to the new time zone and live on your own terms!

You can adjust to the new time zone before you go if your schedule is flexible. Since you are travelling west, stay up an hour or two later each night for three to five nights (and try to sleep an equal amount longer) before you travel. Bring sleeping pills and take them the first night you are there so you get a full night sleep.

Thanks, guys, all the ideas and opinions are useful. I think I’ll try to ease into Hawaii time before I leave and do the best I can by drinking lots of water, eating lightly, and getting bright light. And, as someone suggested, will suck it up. :wink:

Ambien is your friend. I’ve been doing Asia US trips at least a few times a year for the past 30 years.

Being well rested is the #1 thing IMHO. The worst part of jet lag is waking up at 2:00am wide awake for several nights in a row.

On flights I take ambien and try to sleep as much as possible. Do beware of blot clot risk. I got that once and it sucks big time as well as being potentially fatal.

Take ambien (or sominex or zopiclone) to sleep through the night. Ambien isn’t the best sleep but it’s better than no sleep.

Even better, I discovered a long time ago that half an ambien makes you sleep half as long. As in, if one ambien is good for 8 hours, half an ambien is good for 4 hours (and for me a quarter ambien will put me back to sleep if I’m lying very quietly in bed but can’t sleep).

Typically, I am exhausted and just fall asleep without taking anything. Then, when I wake up at 2:00am, I take half an ambien. I end up with 6-8 hours sleep per night. I keep taking half an ambien when I wake up in the middle of the night until I no longer wake up in the middle of the night.

Getting sunlight works wonders as well.

Again, I’ve found having a decent amount of sleep every night is key. Jet lag still hits during the day when you’re body tells you it’s 3:00am, but if you’re rested it’s something you can cope with. I also find when that 3:00am home clock hits, standing up helps me get through it. I also eat only a tiny lunch and have little appetite while jet laggin.

The other trick is don’t stay too long. 5-6 nights and my body clock starts to flip. If I stay longer, then when I come home I have to reset all over again. 2 week long trips are the worst because just when you’re getting fully acclimated, then you return home and have to spend up to 2 weeks getting acclimated back all over again.

Ambien is good. I’ll be flying to taiwan and china on sat night and back the following fri…