Reply With QuoteGo to CVS or any other drug store and buy some melatonin (classified a food supplement over there but prescription only here). As someone who has flown many red-eyes, this massively helps reduce jet lag.
So I flew from LHR to LAX two weeks ago and once on the plane I set my watch to LA time and slept accordingly. The flight was mid-afternoon BST and landed into LAX about 7pm. After this trip I hade zero jet lag, wihin day one I was sleeping 8hrs and getting up at my usual time.
Now I have the flight back tomorrow at 5pm LA time that lands into the UK at 3pm.
How can I avoid jet lag please as the last time I travelled from the west coast to the UK I was a mess for days. Sleeping is OK on the plane as I have a bed.
Go to CVS or any other drug store and buy some melatonin (classified a food supplement over there but prescription only here). As someone who has flown many red-eyes, this massively helps reduce jet lag.
....but what is it? :0Originally Posted by Christian
I flew San Jose to London yesterday. Also been remarkably fine with jet lag. Our timings were 8pm to 2pm so very similar.
Meal service took about 2.5hrs in reality, even in row 1, which I stayed up for. Went to sleep at 11pm West Coast time, woke after 4hrs (ish), had breakfast and carried on with my day. Around 4hrs sleep was just right as I was tired on boarding (long week travelling West Coast and Canada), but didn't sleep too long as I knew I wouldn't sleep last night otherwise. Likewise fully flat seat, ear plugs and eye mask all deployed.
Also to add I'm usually awful with jet lag.. And feeling right on schedule today. Eating at the right times when home is key.
I always struggle with jet lag when I come back from LV, LA or even Orlando unless I'm careful.
I find the day I arrive back I want to have a nap and that's the worse thing I can do as I'm then awake half the night. My suggestion would be to try and get yourself to sleep as early as possible on the plane and wake yourself up as close to 8 or 9am UK time as you can and then to stay awake all day. It might mean only 3 or 4 hours sleep and be very hard, but it is resetting your body clock to UK time straight away.
Whilst sleeping tablets aren't good if it's a one off it might be worth it.
Pretty good (and balanced) article here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...t-lag-insomnia
I know people who swear by it. I've never used it. I always get back from the US, suffer from jet lag and lie in bed wide awake wondering why (again) I forgot to buy some while I was in the US...
Return flights from the US are called "red eye" for a reason.
Personally I treat them like an early night. Have dinner, a couple of glasses of wine plus a Night Nurse, put on the Bose and eye mask and stettle down for a nice long sleep. Upon arrival in the UK stay awake as long as you can - 23.00 is good and then go to bed. There were times when I even went to work direct from the Airport.
jet lag is for wimps.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Get your eating routine back onto UK time as soon as possible, that helps significantly with the body's routines.
I think there's some science behind it* but I've found it helps. I'd also echo Andyg's statement about staying awake as long as possible the following day and the food routine helps that too.
*citation needed but I think I read in Julia Enders book "Gut".
Last edited by tiny73; 23rd June 2017 at 23:17.
Used melatonin on many long hauls, works for me.
Not tried melatonin (yet) but the return trips from the US are what hits me hardest.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
If anyone can find a genuine cure for jet lag, they will become a millionaire within days.
I have tried melatonin but it doesn't seem to work for me. My routine for heading back from the US (usually California) is to get home and go to sleep for 3hrs (roughly two sleep cycles). I set an alarm and force myself up. I then stay awake as late as I can, usually around 23:00/00:01. I then sleep until I wake naturally the following morning (no alarm). This has worked for me for many years of very frequent travel. I recommended it to a friend after we returned from skiing at Tahoe and he's now a convert.
Last edited by Skier; 24th June 2017 at 08:48.
I don't think I've ever had 'jet lag'. As soon as I get on the plane I set my watch to destination time and treat my flight accordingly.
Although I behave the same on every flight - I have a childlike sense of wonder, and a fish like sense for drink!
I would't have any issue using hypnotics on a very temporary basis to stop jet lag. Better than Melatonin is a Temazepam...although they are harder to get hold of.
Had my best ever sleep off the back of spending 6 weeks on the west coast of the States when I returned home. Think I arrived home late morning and stayed up until early evening then was out of it for about 14/15 hours solid, no pill assistance. Woke up feeling pretty good!
Last edited by Christian; 23rd June 2017 at 23:49.
Three days before your return flight from LA get up at 5 am. Then two days before get up at 4 am. You guess it on the day of the flight get up at 3 am. That should got a good way to getting you back on UK time.
Putting up with jet lag probably easier than this.
- Set your watch for the destination local time before take-off (you may find that this is a good excuse for buying a GMT or other watch with a quickset hour hand).
- Don't start watching videos or movies - they're unhelpful stimulation and will tend to keep you awake because you won't want to switch off part-way through. Better to read a book.
- Eat the evening meal they offer, but avoid alcohol - or keep it to a minimum.
- As soon as they clear away the meal, put on your eyeshade and earplugs or noise-cancelling headphone, recline your seat and go to sleep.
- Get as much sleep as you can.
- When you get back, stay awake until your normal bed time. DO NOT have a "quick half-hour nap" during the day, or you probably won't wake up until your normal bed time, and you'll stay on LA time.
Melatonin, been using it for years, works for me both ways. Learnt about it in the late eighties, from air crew I was sharing a hotel with. Its herbal, but not sold in the UK, but you can buy it over the counter in any US drug store. We always have some in the cupboard. It is also pretty good if you can't sleep at night, no side effects for me :)
I'm not convinced there's a magic bullet tbh. I've tried melatonin, sleepers etc but still find west-to-east jet lag really throws me - esp e.g. West coast US where it's 8 hours. I'm not a great sleeper at the best of times, so it takes me days to get right. I agree that trying to get up early on the last few days does seem to help a bit though. Plus, get an early night and decent kip on the plane on the way back. I always take a few days off when I get back.
East-to-west isn't as bad in my experience - a couple of tired evenings and early mornings, then I'm fine. Obviously it's easier to stay awake when you're tired, than wake up when your body wants to sleep.
As much as I hate the description 'herbal,' Melatonin is very definitely NOT herbal. Melatonin itself is a a naturally occurring hormone in the body that regulates the sleep/wake cycle. Synthetic melatonin (that you can buy over the counter in the US) replicates this but in no way could be described as 'herbal.'
To be honest, I haven't looked at whats in it, but I was told in the US it wasn't a drug per say, and was a natural product, I will have a look at the ingredients of the tub I have upstairs. Just checked on the net, yep its artificially produced, but apparently there seem to be no issues with short term us, upto 3 months. Its available over the counter in the US as its seen as a supplement and not a drug. I've never had any issues, but then again I don't take it for 3 months.
Last edited by casbar; 24th June 2017 at 15:13.
I've never had jet lag.
Cheers,
Neil.
You've either never flown long haul or you're very fortunate.
Sounds like a mixture of sleep, watch setting and no UK cat-napping is the key.
I've seen that stuff from CVS before but a bit reluctant to take it. Although feedback seams to suggest it's OK.
8 days in LA and 6 in Vegas now means I need another holiday to recover!
Thanks all.
Flown to the US many times over the years and never a problem, never flown any further though.
Cheers,
Neil.
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