Jet lag prevention strategies needed

I actually had an easier time going east than going west last year. The good thing is that you after all that traveling, you will be tired. When you reach Madeira you will probably just get some food and want to sleep. Which is perfect because you'll wake up the next morning on schedule with Madeira time. I haven't taken any medicine or anything for it, so can't recommend those. But would just say that even if you do sleep on the plane, you will still be tired after making all of those connections (and plane sleep never feels that good anyways!) so in my opinion you'll probably set yourself on schedule.

Well, you will be just in time for dinner! Long flight... I find if I bring my own headphones and use those with the movies I can sleep better...kind of dozing really. I also tried tylenol pm and it seemed to help a bit. I always stay up the whole first day and never worry about what time it is at home, get right on their time. If you can sleep as soon as you get on the plane, I say do it.

I've tried this once, somewhat successfully: Don't eat at the normal times on the day of your flight. If you can delay eating until the time you'd be eating at your destination time, it is supposed to reset your body's clock. The theory is that light is the primary mechanism to set your body clock, but that lack of food is the secondary mechanism. If your body is hungry, it will readjust until you've found food. That is the theory. As I said, I was somewhat successful. I couldn't hold out the 12-16 hours recommended (I think I did 10). You may have more success.

Paul has an interesting theory, but one should eat every three to four hours, so not sure it would work for me. Your statement about getting on local time and thinking that way is what was key for me. As previously mentioned, you get to Madeira right at bedtime, so that should work in your favor of sleeping that night and hopefully waking up the next morning and being ready to go. The problem is the travel day. Drink lots of water, sleep on the plane from SF to London, and maybe a short nap if you can to Lisbon. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Nyquil always works for me for sleeping. Gross going down, but it makes me drowsy without making knocked-out tired. Also, it may fight off any illnesses you may get on the plane, although can't be too sure of this. Gets lots of sunshine (maybe sit by a window at Heathrow) and go for walks at the airports.

I don't think you can really avoid jet- lag, but you'll feel it much more coming home than going. I wouldn't worry about it. You'll be exhausted no matter what by the time you get there, then just go to sleep. Our last trip we arrived late and by the time we got to our B & B it was probably 9pm and we just went to bed. When we woke up we were comfortably on their time, but still tired some for a couple days. Your schedule sounds perfect. Just eat and sleep as needed and you'll be tired when you get there. Our first trip we took Ambien, but we were so excited we still didn't sleep and then we were drugged, exhausted, and extremely excited, not a good combination!

Staying hydrated and avoiding caffeine and alcohol on your flights will help. I always set my watch to my destination time when I get on an airplane. I try to follow the new time as close as possible. Even if I 'm not tired, I do nothing when it's nighttime at my destination. I do not eat the dinner offered if it's 3am where I'm going. (Which is along the lines of what Paul has suggested, only I don't fast for 12 hours.) I also try to stay awake when I arrive, or take a short nap only. The only thing that seems to work really well is to be young. And there ain't a pill for that (yet)!

As others have said, there isn't any way to prevent jetlag. Sleeping on the plane helps, even if it's just an hour. I've never taken any medication to help me sleep on a plane so I can't comment on that. You have a very long day ahead of you when you arrive in Europe, so it sounds like you'll fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow in Madeira. My advice is take whatever comes and tell yourself that you'll be over jetlag by the next day. If you're falling asleep on the flights to Lisbon and Madeira, don't fight it. If you're still on home time and can't go to sleep until 3am your first night in Madeira, then read or watch TV until you get tired. It's going to suck for the first day and night, falling asleep during the day when you should be awake and then maybe not being able to sleep at night, but it should go away the next day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjOU029ciOM

I disagree that you can't beat jet lag. And I think every thing you can do to mitigate jet lag is worth the effort and inconvenience. The objective is to reset your circadian clock so that your body shifts to Madeira time. Sleeping pills do not do this. Three methods that have been helpful to me are (1) diet, (2) control exposure to light, and (3) melatonin.

If you are planning on trying a medical aid, be sure to test it before your flight! I took Benadryl to knock me out on a flight but it made me twitchy and irritable -- I'd fall asleep only to jerk awake, adrenaline rushing. This was especially fun as we were on the tarmac for 6 hours before taking off!

It's not the "going"...I eat, have some wine. Its at night and I just try to relax. Some times I sleep a bit..But no medications. As someone suggested in a previous post, months ago,I hit the ground running. & no jet lag...but when I get home... I'm never going to go to Europe again! Then 2 days later my husband & I are talking about our next trip! One or two days of misery after our trip.......worth it!!

Ah yes, we are all a bit different in this category. The 9:00PM arrival at your final destination after two European layovers is interesting. You will be tired from lack of long, consistent sleep, but likely wound up from all the excitement and over-stimulated. So: Tylenol PM as you eat dinner on the SFO to LHR flight. You should get 2-3 hours good napping. (Test it a week or two before you leave home so you know the affect.) No alcohol, no caffeine until you "wake up" on the way into London. If you are caffeine afficianados, go ahead and "wake up" to London time with coffee or tea on the plane, another in the airport. Take a walk during your 2 hour layover in the airport. Exercise really helps overcome jet lag. Nap on the plane to Lisbon. No caffeine or alcohol. Same on the way to Madeira. Sounds like dinner in the Lisbon airport might be in order. Early for Europe but helping to get you on schedule. Take another walk if you can. Arrive at your lodging, have a glass of wine if you drink, but don't get smashed. Go to your room, settle in with a book and likely you'll be asleep by midnight. Next day, don't over schedule. Give yourself a rest in the afternoon. After all, you'll have to start staying awake for those late European suppers!

I have 2 scenarios. First, my best friend and I flew to Portugal (overnight flight) from the US and talked the whole way. Then, we stayed up (excitement) until a "normal" bedtime in Portuguese time. :-) Second, my husband and I flew to London. I had 2 beers on the plane and slept like a baby. Upon arrival in London, we cleaned up in the airport bathroom. I brought little throw-away packs with a ready-to-throwaway toothbrush, little bit of floss/toothpaste, and one of those "Olay soap clothes." I put on make-up, and we had coffee and lunch before departing for London. We trained to Bath, and took a shower...then, we stayed up until "nighttime" in the UK. Just brushing my teeth made me feel 1000x better :-) I always feel sluggish after medication, so I'd avoid that. That's just me though.

The best thing you can do is get out in the morning in London, while it is still dark in San Fran, and get your body to see it is on the wrong schedule. This is the way to reset your clock.

Adjust your day an hour or two pre-trip. When you arrive at your departure gate switch everything to local time at your destination and think meal and sleep times based on that. I like to arrive early morning. Eat a light meal on the plane then sleep. Skip drinks and movies. When I arrive, I force myself to go until a normal bed time the first day. Staying active and in daylight is the best way to keep going. After a night's sleep at my destination, I'm almost there. After that I usually adjust fairly quickly.

After flying all night and only napping a little, I rented a car and drove from Shannon to Killarney. We had an early dinner and an early bedtime. After that day we were fine.

In 2001, after an overnight flight to Frankfurt, I boarded a train for a 5 hour ride to the Allgäu. After about 4 hours, I fell asleep. I'm sure glad I wasn't driving.

I agree that you really can't prevent jetlag - if it's going to bother you, it will. Fatigue, on the other hand, can be helped by sleeping as much as you can on the plane, then staying outside and active until as close to your normal bedtime as possible (you might not get very close that first night). The next day I'm always fine.

Thanks to all you lovely folk for the advice. The excitement will probably keep us awake, but we'll avoid the food (not too difficult!) & try to nap as best we can as early as we can. Now I need to post another question about going through customs.

You can get pills from the Magellan Travel Stores. There are two of them. One is in Santa Barbara, Calif. and the other is in Santa Monica, Calif. You can buy them on-line through Magellan. They work great. Elaine Obermann, Mission Veijo, Calif. [email protected] We have used them to go to Austrailia and to Europe twice. We will be using them again this year.

My wife and I go to Europe every summer flying from Seattle.
We both take "NoJetLag" pills starting before we leave Seattle. I try to nap on the plane - she does not. After arriving in the morning there, we fly at night so I have a better chance of getting some sleep, I take a short nap (against all rules you will read here) while my wife goes on a walk. We do eat on the plane but no alcohol or caffeine. By the next day we are fine. We have never had a jet lag problem when traveling back to the US. We have learned this works for us after some not so good experiences with jet lag. Good luck with whatever you try.