No longer lost in translation.

October 27, 2008 2:13 AM

Is it possible to launch a preemptive strike against jet lag--by gradually waking up earlier to adjust your biological clock to a foreign time zone?

On my last trip to Japan, I was the Bill Murray character in "Lost in Translation," wandering the corridors of the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel in a perpetual jet-lagged haze.

This time, I'm breaking in a new strategy. I'm going to bed and waking up an hour earlier each week. In the final week, assuming I stick with the plan, I'll turn in at 4:00 pm EST, then wake up at 12:00 am EST (2:00 pm in Japan after the end of daylight saving time.) That'll put me in striking distance of my usual wake-up time of 9:30 am.

Is this strategy workable? Will it be derailed by things I can't control, such as the effect of light and darkness on adjustment to a different time zone?

Also, are there any approaches I can take to simplify the process, beyond the obvious techniques of darkening the room and taking melatonin?

posted by Gordion Knott to health & fitness (15 comments total)

Alternatively, have you thought about fasting? I *haven't* tried it, and there's probably a much better link somewhere.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/26/fasting-may-prevent.html
posted by zeek321 at 2:20 AM on October 27, 2008

It may not be a silver bullet, but I'm having my watch displaying the destination local time when I board the plane.
posted by Baud at 2:37 AM on October 27, 2008

I typically find that my jet lag is more to do with eating schedules than anything, and as soon as I start eating on the new schedule, my body catches up. If you're going to try this strategy, therefore, I'd suggest also adjust your eating times accordingly. Otherwise your body will not only be tired, but it'll be hungry at all the wrong times (and might send you wandering around the corriders in a hungry haze, not a sleepless one).
posted by Planet F at 2:48 AM on October 27, 2008

The strategy that worked for me was to simply stay up through the whole flight. Don't nap at all. Not a wink of sleep. Tough it out. When I arrived in South Korea I was dead tired and slept all the way through the night. Day one, I was switched over and never looked back. YMMV.
posted by bwilms at 3:06 AM on October 27, 2008

Sounds workable to me. People who have circadian rhythm sleep disorders often have to do this to switch around their sleep phase. Melatonin can help, but it often takes some time to get used to, has wide variation in effective doses and can make sleep worse initially. So unless you've taken it successfully before, it might not be ideal to start now.

Humans set their internal clocks by reference to the outside world, identifying things that give clues to the time - the technical term is 'zeitgeber'. The sun's a major one, so try and dim the lights wherever you are a couple of hours before you want to go to sleep. Bright light an hour or two after you wake can also be a good idea, if it's possible. Shift your meal-times along with the sleep. You're trying to trick your body into thinking that midnight is breakfast time, so do everything you can to pretend that it really is.

Personally, I've don't get jet-lag because I have one of those aforementioned circadian rhythm sleep disorders and my day often shifts by hours anyway. So this may not work for you, but when I need to intentionally change my sleep-phase, I often stay awake for long periods of time so that my wake-up time is when I want it to be. I suspect that if you could do this a day or two before your flight, you'd go a long way to solving your jet-lag problem. It's 14 hours or so different, right? So that would mean you'd have to stay awake for 30 hours (which isn't all that difficult, really). But the gradual way is probably gentler.
posted by xchmp at 3:11 AM on October 27, 2008

I've tried a gazillion different ways to get over jetlag quickly and the only way that's worked for me is to stay awake the first day through. To ride out the oscillations between being hyper and lethargic I have a beer (no more than one... very important) when hyper and a cup of coffee or tea (again, just the one and a small one at that, no big gulp coffee cups, because then the caffeine crash will put you out) when lethargic. When I keep up this regimen I've usually been pretty fine the day after.

Now, I suspect your trick won't matter because jetlag isn't tiredness per se, it's the body thinking it should be light/night out and it isn't. All kinds of chemicals flood your brain depending on what time the body thinks it is. When you travel between lotsa time zones the body's chemistry gets all out of whack. So, without having actually tried your method I'm highly skeptical of it. But hey, it may work... I'm not a doctor, after all.
posted by Kattullus at 4:54 AM on October 27, 2008

My fiance has done exactly this, and it worked well for him. He had to work nights here in the States for a few weeks, and when he traveled to the middle east he adjusted immediately, didn't get sick like he normally does, etc.

On the other hand, he has a much easier time shifting his sleeping schedule around than I do -- it's why I've never considered working nights myself. So your mileage may vary.
posted by wyzewoman at 5:26 AM on October 27, 2008

Agree with the fasting/eating schedule thing, but have also heard good things about melatonin.
posted by idb at 6:16 AM on October 27, 2008

I've tried a gazillion different ways to get over jetlag quickly and the only way that's worked for me is to stay awake the first day through. To ride out the oscillations between being hyper and lethargic I have a beer (no more than one... very important) when hyper and a cup of coffee or tea (again, just the one and a small one at that, no big gulp coffee cups, because then the caffeine crash will put you out) when lethargic. When I keep up this regimen I've usually been pretty fine the day after.

I went to London, without having heard this advice, and I was off-schedule the entire week, and a few days after I got back.

I went to Dubai, and then India and following this exact plan I never had any jet lag. The "day" I traveled back wound up being over 40 hours long, but the next day I woke up at 9am bright and awake.
posted by paisley henosis at 6:22 AM on October 27, 2008

British Airways commissioned a sleep study on jet lag and ending up creating a calculator on their site that creates a personalized schedule of when to seek light during your flight and when to avoid it to try to minimize jet lag. (Jet lag calculator link)
posted by sharkfu at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2008

People think I'm crazy, but I've never had jet lag, even with long flights overseas. I have no idea if it has anything to do with it, but I make sure I am rested before I go (good sleep for at least a couple days), keep up with eating regularly (even just snacks, including on flight - and I bring enough for the first day in the new location), and when I touch down I just go - start off like I'm still at home and hey look, it's 7am. I eat when I'm hungry, but I stay up the whole first day so my sleep schedule matches up with local. Oh, and I hydrate like you would not believe (I always do) - water water water, including on the flight.
posted by KAS at 9:49 AM on October 27, 2008

I tough it out like bwilms above: simply stay up on the day of or the day before travel to match the timezone of the city I'm going to.

For example, on a night flight from Toronto at midnight to Hong Kong is a 12 hour difference, arriving at 7 in the morning local time. If you sleep shortly after departure as per Toronto time, you'll end up in HK with jet lag in full force. But if you stay up and don't give in to sleep until 8am Toronto time, you'll be effectively sleeping at 8pm HK time AND you'll be sleeping damn well on the plane to boot. So when you arrive, you'll be very close to local time and shouldn't have any trouble with jet lag.

If you're traveling in the morning, then it's trying to get as little sleep as possible the night before (hopefully you're not driving yourself to the airport). If you're traveling from Vancouver to Japan, toughing it out might be too much but if the timezone difference is less than 12 hours, it's not that bad to stay up and try to match timezones.
posted by tksh at 10:47 AM on October 27, 2008

A friend who is a neuroscience PhD/MD suggested either high quality melatonin, or a single dose of ambien for this purpose. Unfortunately, I can't remember the recommended regime for either.
posted by Good Brain at 10:56 AM on October 27, 2008

It worked very well for me, on a trip to the Netherlands. I had a cold before the trip, so it made going to bed earlier & earlier each day pretty easy.

I also tried the fasting method mentioned above (zeek321 at 5:20 AM), and IMO it worked even better (although it required more willpower).
posted by IAmBroom at 3:15 PM on October 27, 2008

Jet lag happens when the daylight hours don't match your waking hours, making you feel grody.

Your current plan means that instead of experiencing grodiness in Japan (which would be bad. You want to enjoy Japan) you will have a week of ever-increasing grodiness at home. (Which is hardly optimal, either.)

If I were you, I would try to book a flight which leaving around 8 or 9am EST. Then I would not go to bed the night before, step onto the plane exhausted, sleep my way to Japan, then wake up on arrival. (You'd lose a day, but you'd be on roughly the right sleep schedule.)

This is my usual technique and it works like a dream, but it's only suitable if:

You can find a direct flight leaving at the right time. (Not always easy.)
You are able to sleep on a plane. (I.E. Not a light sleeper.)
You are confident you won't fall asleep the night before then miss your flight. (I'm a last minute packer, so I tend to busy myself with this.)
posted by the latin mouse at 4:46 PM on October 27, 2008