You'd think a person who has lived overseas for 20 years would have figured out three things: how to enjoy flying on an airplane, how to get over jet lag, and how to pack lightly.
You'd think, but you'd be wrong.
Jet lag is the worst, especially when traveling from west to east, but I finally found something that works for me. (If you do not travel through time zones, this post will be of little interest to you.)
Step one: Sleep on the plane as much as you can. Of course, this will probably be only be an hour here or there during the 26-hour journey, even when sleeping aids are involved, but TRY.
Step two: When you arrive at your destination, go to bed at the local bedtime, even though you are not sleepy. Whether you feel sleepy or not at bedtime, take a mild sleeping aid anyway. I take over-the-counter Unisom melt-in-your-mouth cherry flavor tablets; the manufacturer's recommended dose is one tablet but I take no more than 1/6th of a tablet and it is more than enough. Your body is going to wake up in an hour or two after bedtime, so the sleeping aid will help you overcome the urge to get up at 2 a.m. to make a cup of morning coffee and toast a bagel.
Step three: When you wake up at 2 in the morning and can't go back to sleep, stay in bed, in the dark, with your eyes closed. Do not under any circumstance turn on your TV to watch reruns of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News (he'll just agitate you) or turn on your computer to check Facebook. Hopefully the sleeping aid will continue to make you a little sleepy and you can eventually go back to sleep. Take 1/6th more of the Unisom if needed.
Step four: This is the most important step. On your first full day in your new destination, go shopping! Yes, go to the mall. I am not even kidding at all. This is really helpful if you've been living in a developing country and need to go shopping anyway. It may seem cruel to your family that you are spending more time at Auntie Anne's than you are with them, but you'll overcome jet lag a full week FASTER and be able to spend more quality time with them than if you stay home on this first day (and fall into a 6-hour deep sleep before the noon news comes on). If you really can't bear shopping, think of some other activity that requires standing all day. Standing and sunlight exposure combined is key.
Step five: When you get tired at the mall, find a place to sit down in the middle of mall traffic and rest your feet. I found a seating area that had sofas. Apparently this seating area was designed for husbands waiting for their wives to finish shopping, because I was the only woman sitting there. I would have been too embarrassed to fall asleep at the mall in front of so many people, so I sat there about 15 minutes and drank some bottled water I brought from home. Drinking lots and lots of water is actually helpful. If you can't find a free area to sit, of course locating a coffee shop works.
Step six: Stay out and stay active as long as possible. When you run out of steam at the mall, head over to Target or Wal-Mart. Do not under any circumstance let yourself fall asleep driving a car. Call for reinforcements if needed.
Step seven: Repeat similar activities for 3-4 days. Once you've made it three consecutive days with no daytime sleepiness, you can declare yourself jet lag free!
Other tips:
Do not sit in a dark room or in front of a TV. You'll be asleep within five minutes. My sleepiest times were around 2 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Fight to stay awake until 10 p.m.
If you mess up even once by taking a nap during the day (or laying awake even one night), you'll extend your jet lag misery for days and weeks. Do NOT take a nap.
Eat three light meals a day according to the local time, even if you are not really hungry at those times. This will help your body clock reset itself.
On this trip, I have not "really" fallen asleep during the day the entire time. I got over jet lag in record time! (On my first two days, I did fall asleep during TV commercials at the 7:45 p.m. time frame both days, but woke within 2 minutes and forced myself to stay awake until bedtime.)
By the way, if you suffer from ongoing fatigue, as once I did, you have a distinct disadvantage. You physically can't force yourself to stay awake through an entire day. Jet lag may take you several weeks. Unfortunately, few people understand this and will think you are anti-social. I understand though.
Anyway, the reason I took a whole week to post is not because I was suffering from jet lag, but because I've been out shopping all week. :-) Just kidding, we went to the doctor with my mom, celebrated my mom's birthday, and went to church too.
You'd think, but you'd be wrong.
Jet lag is the worst, especially when traveling from west to east, but I finally found something that works for me. (If you do not travel through time zones, this post will be of little interest to you.)
Step one: Sleep on the plane as much as you can. Of course, this will probably be only be an hour here or there during the 26-hour journey, even when sleeping aids are involved, but TRY.
Step two: When you arrive at your destination, go to bed at the local bedtime, even though you are not sleepy. Whether you feel sleepy or not at bedtime, take a mild sleeping aid anyway. I take over-the-counter Unisom melt-in-your-mouth cherry flavor tablets; the manufacturer's recommended dose is one tablet but I take no more than 1/6th of a tablet and it is more than enough. Your body is going to wake up in an hour or two after bedtime, so the sleeping aid will help you overcome the urge to get up at 2 a.m. to make a cup of morning coffee and toast a bagel.
Step three: When you wake up at 2 in the morning and can't go back to sleep, stay in bed, in the dark, with your eyes closed. Do not under any circumstance turn on your TV to watch reruns of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News (he'll just agitate you) or turn on your computer to check Facebook. Hopefully the sleeping aid will continue to make you a little sleepy and you can eventually go back to sleep. Take 1/6th more of the Unisom if needed.
Step four: This is the most important step. On your first full day in your new destination, go shopping! Yes, go to the mall. I am not even kidding at all. This is really helpful if you've been living in a developing country and need to go shopping anyway. It may seem cruel to your family that you are spending more time at Auntie Anne's than you are with them, but you'll overcome jet lag a full week FASTER and be able to spend more quality time with them than if you stay home on this first day (and fall into a 6-hour deep sleep before the noon news comes on). If you really can't bear shopping, think of some other activity that requires standing all day. Standing and sunlight exposure combined is key.
Step five: When you get tired at the mall, find a place to sit down in the middle of mall traffic and rest your feet. I found a seating area that had sofas. Apparently this seating area was designed for husbands waiting for their wives to finish shopping, because I was the only woman sitting there. I would have been too embarrassed to fall asleep at the mall in front of so many people, so I sat there about 15 minutes and drank some bottled water I brought from home. Drinking lots and lots of water is actually helpful. If you can't find a free area to sit, of course locating a coffee shop works.
Step six: Stay out and stay active as long as possible. When you run out of steam at the mall, head over to Target or Wal-Mart. Do not under any circumstance let yourself fall asleep driving a car. Call for reinforcements if needed.
Step seven: Repeat similar activities for 3-4 days. Once you've made it three consecutive days with no daytime sleepiness, you can declare yourself jet lag free!
Other tips:
Do not sit in a dark room or in front of a TV. You'll be asleep within five minutes. My sleepiest times were around 2 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Fight to stay awake until 10 p.m.
If you mess up even once by taking a nap during the day (or laying awake even one night), you'll extend your jet lag misery for days and weeks. Do NOT take a nap.
Eat three light meals a day according to the local time, even if you are not really hungry at those times. This will help your body clock reset itself.
On this trip, I have not "really" fallen asleep during the day the entire time. I got over jet lag in record time! (On my first two days, I did fall asleep during TV commercials at the 7:45 p.m. time frame both days, but woke within 2 minutes and forced myself to stay awake until bedtime.)
By the way, if you suffer from ongoing fatigue, as once I did, you have a distinct disadvantage. You physically can't force yourself to stay awake through an entire day. Jet lag may take you several weeks. Unfortunately, few people understand this and will think you are anti-social. I understand though.
Anyway, the reason I took a whole week to post is not because I was suffering from jet lag, but because I've been out shopping all week. :-) Just kidding, we went to the doctor with my mom, celebrated my mom's birthday, and went to church too.
1 comment:
Interesting ideas! I always find my jet lag is worse flying overseas than returning to the US, no matter what direction. I have no idea why.
Here's how I get over jet lag...
1. Do not sleep AT ALL on any of the planes. I have an amazing ability to do this without trying.
2. Make sure that at least one of your flights is significantly delayed. Again, I have great abilities in this area.
This ensures that you arrive at your destination late at night and exhausted, so you manage to sleep for hours the first night. You'll still be extremely tired the next few days, but you'll be sleeping at the right times from the beginning.
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