How to fix my crushing jet lag?

October 17, 2009 12:31 AM

JetLagFilter: Traveled from Beijing to New York 3 days ago, and I'm pretty sure my jet lag symptoms are getting worse, not better. How do I stop messing myself up and start improving things?

I've seen a lot of posts on dealing with jet lag when flying to Europe or other destinations about 6 hours away from local time. I'm operating on a full 12 hour difference right now and I need some help fixing the damage I've done to my circadian clock. I spent 6 weeks in Beijing on a sleep schedule where I woke up around 9 am, and then worked from 10 am till midnight or so. Now my schedule needs to be about the same, but 12 times zones different.

The damage: Departed Beijing around 11 am on the 15th, laid over in Shanghai, then arrived at LAX around 11 am on the 15th (again) Made it to NYC around 11 pm.
First night: Went to sleep around 3 am, woke up at 3 pm. Spent most of the day indoors, recovering.
Second night: Bed at midnight (as soon as I was tired enough) and wide awake at 4 am. Felt really disoriented and confused, but tried to spend as much time in daylight as possible.
Third night: Bed at 8 pm (exhausted!) and awake at 1:30 am, feeling sure it was actually 1:30 pm.

It's now after 3 am here, and I doesn't seem like I'll sleep again tonight. I'm expecting to get tired again by 5 pm, which will make things worse, not better, right?

I've never taken a sleep aid in my life, and I'm not sure that this is the time to start. (Maybe it is? YANMD, but maybe you have a really convincing argument?) Things like Benadryl knock me out in a way I find really unpleasant. Also not one for supplements in general and have never tried melatonin. I'm much more interested in zero-cost solutions like suggestions on what kinds of schedules to gradually force myself onto, whether or not short naps are beneficial, and ways to make me sleepy when I should be and alert when I should be without drugging me or tweaking me out.

What should my next few days look like?

posted by alight to travel & transportation (14 comments total)

Exercise, daylight, and caffeine are your friends in resetting West to East, particularly across the International Date Line. You should try to stay awake as long as possible today, perhaps using a good dose of caffeine for the present, with additional caffeine this afternoon. Eat lightly through the day, and try to eat mostly protein, and minimize carbohydrates. If the weather permits, get outside this afternoon, for at least an hour of vigorous exercise (brisk walking, jogging, hand ball, etc). As evening approaches, eat a normal evening meal, and don't take any more caffeine. Avoid alcohol, but take an Aleve/Advil/Tylenol (whichever OTC pain med works for you), if you are sore from exercise or travel, to help you sleep more deeply, without muscle pain. Read or do other quiet activities until you feel sleepy, but try to wait until at least 7 or 8 p.m. to sleep. If you wake in the middle of the night, try to go back to sleep, as soon as you can, but remain in bed until daylight, at least.

It may still take 1 or 2 additional days to push your circadian rhythms back to normal, but if you can continue to do this routine, you'll feel more normal, as they adjust.
posted by paulsc at 1:47 AM on October 17, 2009

A study out of Harvard last year suggests that fasting could help.
posted by embrangled at 1:54 AM on October 17, 2009

More information about the fasting technique in this NPR interview.
posted by embrangled at 2:37 AM on October 17, 2009

I gave the fasting approach a try last night/today (East to West, 13 hours, across the dateline). I fasted from 5 pm - 8 am for my new time zone; ate a hearty, protein filled breakfast; and I feel... absolutely terrible. I'm only on my first day in my new timezone, so I haven't given-up hope yet, but it certainly wasn't the magic bullet I was hoping for...
posted by cosmonaught at 3:47 AM on October 17, 2009

I've done the 12 hour time difference. It is a horror. I woke up at 6 and didn't know if it was 6pm or 6am, or where I was!

It is said that you take one day to adjust for every hour of time difference. I've generally found this true for me. So, it should get better, but it may actually take time - awful when you are working.

Recently, I have stopped eating on airplanes as much as possible (I sometimes have a chocolate bar, the crackers and cheese from the main meal, and a yogurt from the breakfast meal). I eat a meal before I go, and then eat something on arrival if it is a meal time there (and have a coffee if I need one to get to the new bedtime). I hadn't read the research, prior to it being mentioned here. This seems to have made a good difference to me in how long it takes me to adjust, but it is no good to you now!

I don't have any magic bullets for you though. I have sometimes found that a sleeping aid does make some difference in knocking me into the new timezone (whether that be an antihistamine, sleeping tablet, or a few glasses of wine). I find that napping (usually a favourite past time) is not such a good thing, and that I get onto the new time sooner if at some point I just push on and stay up until a normal bedtime - this can be awful on the day you do it (have extra coffee!), but it does seem to help me. A warm bath or shower before bed is good.

If you wake in the night, perhaps put on something a bit boring on the radio (quietly), but stay in bed with the lights off. I find eating breakfast and coffee at the right time (regardless of hunger) also helps start kicking into the new timezone.
posted by AnnaRat at 4:09 AM on October 17, 2009

Thanks for the advice so far guys, these are really helpful.

Update: Managed to sleep another 3 hours last night, from 5 am till 8 am. Perhaps this gives me a fair shot at staying awake till a reasonable bed time tonight?

Embrangled and Cosmonaut- I had read about the Harvard study, but a combination of an uncertain departure date and then celebratory lunches and dinners made it impossible for me to do the fasting thing.

Paulsc and AnnaRat- this is really useful stuff, and it giving me hope I might be normal later this week.
posted by alight at 5:14 AM on October 17, 2009

My experience traveling from NYC to Thailand (did it twice) was that it took me about four to five days to feel more normal. I didn't do anything special. I ate and drank on the flight, slept my usual amount of time on the plane (i.e., very little), and took no drugs or heavy-duty sleep aids. Have you taken any melatonin? That's could help your body "reset" its clock. You will feel better!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:56 AM on October 17, 2009

Ambien. It will take care of the night. That mess at day is all yours.
posted by cosmonaught at 7:14 AM on October 17, 2009

Sorry, just saw the not drugging you. So this time, with apologies: Ambien, maybe Ambien CR, Lunesta, Sonata,...
posted by cosmonaught at 7:23 AM on October 17, 2009

I did this quite a few times while going back and forth from the US to eastern Africa--going east is awful. All the expats I know just feel dreadful for the first few days. After about a week, you'll feel sorta normal, and by two weeks you should be on the right schedule.

Having a routine where you have to be somewhere (or at least up and awake) early in the day (even 10am or 11am) can make a big difference.

One tip is to go to bed/sleep at 6pm or 7pm or 8pm if you feel tired. Even if you wake up at 4am, at least you'll have gotten a few hours of sleep.

Also, if you wake up in the middle of the night, don't get your on the computer or watch TV. Sit in bed and relax and read. Something restful.

Good luck!
posted by bluedaisy at 10:02 AM on October 17, 2009

Just give it time, for some reason Beijing to the east coast is always much harder than vice verse.
posted by BobbyDigital at 2:56 PM on October 17, 2009

Three days is just the start of jet-lag, in my experience. The first two days are your body trying to continue the same pattern, and days three through five are the real jet-lag exhaustion days.

Beware that you may have a virus or something new from your landing location.

In either case, you should be nearly better by the end of Monday.

How to fix: Fluids, no alcohol. Eat and sleep on the new schedule only. Spend time outside during the day.
posted by cmiller at 4:48 PM on October 17, 2009

You should try melatonin. It doesn't knock you out like many other sleep aids, but resets your body clock without much grogginess. It's a natural brain chemical that controls your day/night cycle. Of course, YMMV, but I fly quite often and swear by the stuff. Take 3mg about a half hour before it should be sleepy time in your new time zone.
posted by yoz420 at 6:38 PM on October 17, 2009

My first time going home to the States from Beijing was absolutely horrific -- you have my sympathies. It does get a lot easier in future trips, but that's no comfort now.

As others have said: force yourself to eat on the appropriate schedule -- if you're not hungry, try soup or V8. Try to force yourself onto the new schedule -- I find being outside helps with this, as it counteracts the overwhelming desire to crawl back into bed. (And it's good to get as much sunlight as you can.) This may take a few days; do it in increments if you have to. (If you do, try to at least stay within a daylight / night cycle -- go to bed at 7 if you have to, but wait until the sun goes down.) Caffeine may help; on my first time back in the States I found that it just gave me massive whanging headaches, but YMMV.

For future reference, in case you have to make the trip again: I always stay up all night before a trip back to the US and try to go to sleep as soon as I get onto the plane. This, rather than after arrival, is the time I'll dose myself with sleeping pills if necessary -- they make me unpleasantly groggy, but better to have that be on the flight than on the ground.

Good luck -- first-time China-US jetlag sucks like nothing else I've ever experienced.
posted by bokane at 9:50 PM on October 17, 2009