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Dealing with Jet Lag

JM Aggie08

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
So, I've been in India since later Saturday night, and have slept around 10 hours since I've been here. 7-8 hours on Saturday (Sunday morning to afternoon), zero sleep on Sunday night, and around 2-3 hours Monday night. Currently sitting up at 1AM, feeling wide awake.

I feel fairly tired throughout the day, but as soon as I get ready for bed, I'm wide the fuck awake -- almost like adrenaline. All I can do is toss and turn. Unfortunately, I don't have any melatonin, and it's been difficult to find meloset (indian version) anywhere nearby.

What the hell can I do to fight this? I feel like I'm losing my mind, and I'm not sure how many more sleepless night I can take. Tired during the day -- wired at night -- please, please give me some guidance here.

I'd appreciate serious replies only, as I'm kind of freaking out about this.
 
When a friend and I were in Germany, he took an ambien every night until he got used to the time change.
 
You'll need to stay up long enough that you find yourself pretty much conking out during the night for more than a few hours (helps to be physically exhausted, as well), and then get as much daylight exposure during the day. Completely avoid caffeine, unless its a very small amount (like a cup of tea) early in the day. Melatonin does help a little bit, in the short term if you do manage to find it. It won't make you feel sleepy, though, it will just help you fall asleep quicker and a better chance of restful sleep. Try and avoid getting stressed out about not falling asleep, because that itself will keep you up. Minimize any exposure to bright light - including smartphone use - 30 minutes before you go to bed.
 
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Melatonin sometimes helps, Ambien sometimes helps. Time always works, eventually.

Good luck and try not to have a psychotic episode.
 
That's a tough one man. It's like flipping your internal clock completely upside down. Sleep when I'm normally awake and awake when I'm normally asleep. When we went to Spain/Portugal it took me a few nights before I was on their schedule. The first few nights were the worst, I'd wake up at 1AM wide awake with nothing to do. Wear yourself out the next day though and hopefully you'll be tired enough to sleep.
 
i used to commute to Australia and back to the US ever 30 days or so. It would take me about 3 nights to get on the right time. east seemed to be harder than west. A little drinking does not hurt, Wearing your self out and not sleeping too much on the plane worked for me.
 
I've done 8 trips to India; hell I just came back. Those 2am landings in BOM are awesome eh?

Here's how I solved my jet lag issue GOING to india: total commute is ~22 hours. You want to stay up 5, sleep 12, stay up 5. Then when you get to your hotel room around 4am Sunday morning, sleep alllllllll day. Wake up, eat, drink copiously, then pass out again (hope you stocked up on alcohol at the duty free OR your company reimburses you). Wake up again around 5-6a Monday Morning. You should be well rested enough going to work on Monday and then tired enough Monday night to pass out again. Due to the copious sleep you've gotten, you should be pretty much good to go on Tuesday.

Going BACK from India...I hope you're going business class. IF SO, go to the business class lounge. They will offer you a 15 minute reflexology session - if you look at the sign, you can get a back massage instead of a reflexology session. You can also get a 20 minute upgrade for 1250INR. So grab a glass of wine, get your 35 minute massage session for $20, and then take a shot of johnny walker as you head out the door to board your plane. Sleep your first leg, stay up the beginning of the 2nd leg, and then drink/pass out until you land. When you wake up again, it'll be afternoon-ish on Saturday. Since you just slept for 8-10 hours, you should be good to go until it's time to sleep again at night.

Guaranteed sleeping pill = 3 glasses of wine + first 20 minutes of 2001 A Space Odyssey.


Timings are approximate depending on which route you took - Asia, EU, or ME.
 
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I travel internationally fairly frequently.

For better or worse, I cannot sleep on planes, so I tend to be dead tired by the end of the trip. I try to schedule my flights so that it's late enough at the destination where I can sleep relatively shortly after.

The hardest one for me was South Korea, going there was no problem but coming back was horrible. The only reliable thing I've found is time. Try taking 1 hour naps during the day when you're tired if possible to get *some* rest. Drinking alcohol is fairly reliable but even that doesn't work all the time. Wine always makes me tired so I usually start with red wine if I really want to sleep. I would try to sleep here and there to preserve your sanity when you feel tired in the day and eventually it will work itself out.
 
Just got back from Hawaii last Monday. 6 hour time shift for me compared to NC. Finally starting to get back to my normal sleep mode.
 
I took a plane ride from Philly to LA, then LA to Seoul: 22 hours. From Seoul I took a bus to Jeonju: 4.5 hours.

I didn't sleep once. Got into my apartment at 10:30pm and the director of the school I was teaching in told me to come into work the next morning at 9:00am. Went into work and taught until 7:00pm. The director kept telling me "you look so tired." Well duh you idiot. I just flew from half way around the world. She gave me a few books to read, and I was like the hell with this. I went to my apartment and got 12 hours of sleep.
 
I know the feeling. I'm a night owl, I can't fall asleep early. I can be laying in bed for hours completely out of my mind trying so hard to fall asleep. It's mentally exhausting.

That's why I work mostly night shifts. I sleep much better during the day. Switching from nights to days is a killer though.

The few times I went on a plane I was too amazed at the view to even think about sleeping so was wide awake the whole time. It was a pretty awesome experience. I was not travelling in any significant time zone shifts though. Maybe a few hours, so no jet lag.
 
It takes me about 3 days to get used to the time change. I found fighting it doesn't really work and I pay for it later if I do.
 
I don't know if you can get it in India, but Diphenhydramine HCl (Benadryl) is the best that I've found. Take it 9 hours before you want to get up the first two nights. No more jet lag. Plus it is generally quite safe.
 
Watching something really boring helps me but it doesn't last long. I only slept 2 hours last night after my way back from China...
 
Too late now, but the best way to handle it is with advance planning. Figure out the time change vs body clock thing in advance so that you know what time it will be once you arrive and what time your body will think it is. Then work out a nap/stimulant schedule so that when it's bed time in the destination city you're really tired. Sometimes just taking coffee/no-doz to do a 20-24 hour awake period can get you back into a normal rhythm in a single sleep cycle. You'll suffer a lot on that first day as your body will start craving sleep and you won't let it, but you'll get over it sooner.
 
Got my first real night of sleep last night -- the hotel came through and was able to procure some Meloset. Coupled with a glass of red wine, I was able to sleep peacefully 🙂
 
Yep -- I was having the wine thinking that would be my best bet for the evening, then received a call several minutes later stating that they'd gotten Meloset. Honestly, I had serious doubts that they'd be able to get it.

A coworker is flying in and will have some more legitimate Melatonin for me this weekend :thumbsup:
 
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