Help me and my circadian rhythms.
February 14, 2010 1:58 PM Subscribe
First big international trip: help me keep jet lag at a minimum.
My family and I were just invited to St. Petersburg, Russia for a cousin's wedding at the end of June. We will be there from the 20th - 28th, returning to Ohio for 3 days, then leaving for Seattle from the 2nd - 10th of July. The trip to Russia will be my first long distance international trip (I went to the Yucatan on a study abroad in college and had no problem with the 1 hour difference) and I don't know how well I can quickly adjust to Ohio before we head off to Seattle. I'm not worried about the difference between Ohio (EST) and Seattle (PST), it's the trip back from St. Petersburg (8 hour difference) to Ohio. I've never experienced jetlag before, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
My family and I were just invited to St. Petersburg, Russia for a cousin's wedding at the end of June. We will be there from the 20th - 28th, returning to Ohio for 3 days, then leaving for Seattle from the 2nd - 10th of July. The trip to Russia will be my first long distance international trip (I went to the Yucatan on a study abroad in college and had no problem with the 1 hour difference) and I don't know how well I can quickly adjust to Ohio before we head off to Seattle. I'm not worried about the difference between Ohio (EST) and Seattle (PST), it's the trip back from St. Petersburg (8 hour difference) to Ohio. I've never experienced jetlag before, so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I've gone to Europe a lot, 6-7 hour time differences depending on the destination. For me, going from US-Europe is always the hardest. Typically the flight leaves the US at night, say 8:00 PM, and arrives the next morning, say 8:00 or 9:00 AM the next day. I'm lucky if I get 3 hours of real sleep on the flight, so I land in the morning with only a few hours sleep and a full day ahead. The trick for me is to stay awake until at least 8:00 PM the first day in Europe. Do not lay down on any surface or you will fall asleep, and be just as screwed up the following day.
Coming back to the US is usually pretty simple. A flight will typically leave Europe at 11:00 AM or so, and you arrive back in the US around 1:00-2:00 PM of the same day. All you need to do to avoid jet-lag is stay awake until a reasonable hour, say 9:00-10:00 PM. Much easier than staying awake a full day like the first day over in Europe.
I've never had any jetlag problems with the 2-3 hour difference in the US. But adjusting from Russia +8 to Ohio, then right around to Seattle -3 could be interesting. Don't schedule anything in Seattle for very early/very late in case your body needs a few days to catch up.
posted by BigVACub at 2:31 PM on February 14, 2010
Coming back to the US is usually pretty simple. A flight will typically leave Europe at 11:00 AM or so, and you arrive back in the US around 1:00-2:00 PM of the same day. All you need to do to avoid jet-lag is stay awake until a reasonable hour, say 9:00-10:00 PM. Much easier than staying awake a full day like the first day over in Europe.
I've never had any jetlag problems with the 2-3 hour difference in the US. But adjusting from Russia +8 to Ohio, then right around to Seattle -3 could be interesting. Don't schedule anything in Seattle for very early/very late in case your body needs a few days to catch up.
posted by BigVACub at 2:31 PM on February 14, 2010
Coming back (east to west) is rarely a problem. Left to their own devices, without Zeitgebers, humans' circadian rhythms tend to go on a 25- to 27-hour cycle. In other words, it's pretty easy to stay awake a few extra hours a day until you're back on EST, and then shift to PST when you return to Seattle.
As BigVACub says, you'll likely have problems going to St. Petersburg, because you'll have to get up a lot earlier than you normally do. My anti-jet-lag routine for traveling east (usually the US east coast to western Europe, a 6-hour difference) is:
* Try to book a flight that arrives after 8 a.m. in Europe, so you arrive when the sun is up.
* Try to get a window seat (presuming you're flying coach) so you can sleep without your seatmate(s) needing to get past you to go to the restroom.
* Eat a big meal at the airport before you get on the plane (presuming you have an evening departure). Have a drink if you normally drink, but don't drink too much as alcohol interferes with sleep and is a diuretic. You want to stay hydrated in the dry airplane air, but you don't want to be getting up and going to the toilet every 2 hours. The point of the meal is that you'll be eating at a normal time, or even slightly earlier. If you have an evening departure and you eat on the plane, you'll be eating later than normal, which will interfere with falling asleep.
* When you get on the plane, get your sleep kit ready (I bring earplugs, a neck pillow, an eye mask, and an iPod with earbuds in case I can't fall asleep quickly). After takeoff, let your neighbors or the flight attendant know that you will not be eating the meal. Set your watch ahead to destination time, and tell yourself that it is very late and it's time to go to sleep. Plug your ears, cover your eyes, lean back in your pillow, and try to go to sleep.
* If you don't fall asleep, listen to soothing music, or a podcast (preferably on a dull subject by someone with a monotonous voice), and try again to fall asleep in 15-20 minutes. You might be distracted by the sounds of the dinner service around you, but you shouldn't be hungry because you had a big meal at the airport.
* If you do sleep, great! If not, you still need to convince yourself on arrival that it's the morning. Stay up and stay active all day. Take a walk, visit a museum, whatever. As BigVACub says, do not lie down. Focus on the fact that you have just a week in Russia and you want to take advantage of every daylight hour.
If you can do all that, you should spend the first day in something of a fog but you'll probably have a good night's sleep once you do go to bed. The second night can actually be harder than the first, because you don't have fatigue on your side. It's important to get up relatively early, local time, on the second day, and continue to stay active, so that you're physically worn out by bedtime. At that point, a drink might help if you're the drinking type.
By the way, you might pack a granola bar or something similar so that if you wake up on the plane before breakfast, and you're hungry, you can nibble.
Even if you have terrible jet lag, just try to muddle through it. Will power can go a long way. When I'm going to Europe for a month or more, I allow myself a few days to get over jet lag; the times I have gone for a few days, I found that I could hit the ground running because I knew I didn't have the luxury of adjusting. In any case, have fun!
posted by brianogilvie at 3:20 PM on February 14, 2010 [5 favorites]
As BigVACub says, you'll likely have problems going to St. Petersburg, because you'll have to get up a lot earlier than you normally do. My anti-jet-lag routine for traveling east (usually the US east coast to western Europe, a 6-hour difference) is:
* Try to book a flight that arrives after 8 a.m. in Europe, so you arrive when the sun is up.
* Try to get a window seat (presuming you're flying coach) so you can sleep without your seatmate(s) needing to get past you to go to the restroom.
* Eat a big meal at the airport before you get on the plane (presuming you have an evening departure). Have a drink if you normally drink, but don't drink too much as alcohol interferes with sleep and is a diuretic. You want to stay hydrated in the dry airplane air, but you don't want to be getting up and going to the toilet every 2 hours. The point of the meal is that you'll be eating at a normal time, or even slightly earlier. If you have an evening departure and you eat on the plane, you'll be eating later than normal, which will interfere with falling asleep.
* When you get on the plane, get your sleep kit ready (I bring earplugs, a neck pillow, an eye mask, and an iPod with earbuds in case I can't fall asleep quickly). After takeoff, let your neighbors or the flight attendant know that you will not be eating the meal. Set your watch ahead to destination time, and tell yourself that it is very late and it's time to go to sleep. Plug your ears, cover your eyes, lean back in your pillow, and try to go to sleep.
* If you don't fall asleep, listen to soothing music, or a podcast (preferably on a dull subject by someone with a monotonous voice), and try again to fall asleep in 15-20 minutes. You might be distracted by the sounds of the dinner service around you, but you shouldn't be hungry because you had a big meal at the airport.
* If you do sleep, great! If not, you still need to convince yourself on arrival that it's the morning. Stay up and stay active all day. Take a walk, visit a museum, whatever. As BigVACub says, do not lie down. Focus on the fact that you have just a week in Russia and you want to take advantage of every daylight hour.
If you can do all that, you should spend the first day in something of a fog but you'll probably have a good night's sleep once you do go to bed. The second night can actually be harder than the first, because you don't have fatigue on your side. It's important to get up relatively early, local time, on the second day, and continue to stay active, so that you're physically worn out by bedtime. At that point, a drink might help if you're the drinking type.
By the way, you might pack a granola bar or something similar so that if you wake up on the plane before breakfast, and you're hungry, you can nibble.
Even if you have terrible jet lag, just try to muddle through it. Will power can go a long way. When I'm going to Europe for a month or more, I allow myself a few days to get over jet lag; the times I have gone for a few days, I found that I could hit the ground running because I knew I didn't have the luxury of adjusting. In any case, have fun!
posted by brianogilvie at 3:20 PM on February 14, 2010 [5 favorites]
A tip: take eye shades with you to St. Petersburg. I was there a couple of years ago during this exact week (yay White Nights!) and it doesn't actually get dark. A little dusky between midnight and 4am, but basically it feels like 24 hours of daylight. Not helpful for the jetlag!
posted by meerkatty at 4:20 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by meerkatty at 4:20 PM on February 14, 2010
The trip back to Ohio shouldn't be too bad, and I see that's your main concern. It's much easier to fly Europe--> US than to fly US --> Europe.
Basically, the day you fly back you're just doing the equivalent of staying up reeeeeeaaaallly late. When you get home, just try to stay up until an at least vaguely normal bedtime -- like 8 at the earliest. You'll be very tired, and shouldn't have too much trouble sleeping until a vaguely normal time.
Also: melatonin. Just be sure you don't accidentally buy the homeopathic kind, which doesn't actually have an appreciable amount of melatonin in it.
posted by kestrel251 at 4:25 PM on February 14, 2010
Basically, the day you fly back you're just doing the equivalent of staying up reeeeeeaaaallly late. When you get home, just try to stay up until an at least vaguely normal bedtime -- like 8 at the earliest. You'll be very tired, and shouldn't have too much trouble sleeping until a vaguely normal time.
Also: melatonin. Just be sure you don't accidentally buy the homeopathic kind, which doesn't actually have an appreciable amount of melatonin in it.
posted by kestrel251 at 4:25 PM on February 14, 2010
Go see your doctor, tell him you are going on this trip and ask him to prescribe you some ambien.
I went on a similar trip last year - from East Coast of US to Moldova, Moscow, Volgagrad and St Petersburg (don't miss the Hermitage) and had ambien and it allowed me to sleep at my regular times. You will still have jet lag, but you will get sleep when you want it.
You will likely want to use it when you get back as well to get you back in rhythm.
Some on trip used Red Bull and Vodka to "Push" through to the first sleep cycle, but they didn't get good REM sleep. They continued this practice and while happy, they were incoherent at times.
This is coming from a USAF Pilot with lots of long endurance flying experience (20-hour plus missions) where medication is part of the "game plan" to ensure you get sleep prior to takeoff, regardless of takeoff time, and to ensure that when you get to your destination, you are able to get sleep so that you can be alert when it is time to turn around and fly back.
I'm not usually a fan of medication, but sleep is a basic need and if you aren't getting it, your body really gets thrown for a loop -- you can try it, and if you don't like it you can try something else -- but I always like to have it as then I know that if push comes to shove, I will be able to get myself to sleep.
posted by cactus86 at 5:32 PM on February 14, 2010
I went on a similar trip last year - from East Coast of US to Moldova, Moscow, Volgagrad and St Petersburg (don't miss the Hermitage) and had ambien and it allowed me to sleep at my regular times. You will still have jet lag, but you will get sleep when you want it.
You will likely want to use it when you get back as well to get you back in rhythm.
Some on trip used Red Bull and Vodka to "Push" through to the first sleep cycle, but they didn't get good REM sleep. They continued this practice and while happy, they were incoherent at times.
This is coming from a USAF Pilot with lots of long endurance flying experience (20-hour plus missions) where medication is part of the "game plan" to ensure you get sleep prior to takeoff, regardless of takeoff time, and to ensure that when you get to your destination, you are able to get sleep so that you can be alert when it is time to turn around and fly back.
I'm not usually a fan of medication, but sleep is a basic need and if you aren't getting it, your body really gets thrown for a loop -- you can try it, and if you don't like it you can try something else -- but I always like to have it as then I know that if push comes to shove, I will be able to get myself to sleep.
posted by cactus86 at 5:32 PM on February 14, 2010
Would it be possible for you to arrive a day before when you're supposed to for the wedding? I did this when flying to Luxembourg from Chicago for a two week music festival this past summer and did not suffer from terrible jet lag like I did when I flew out to Spain a few years before that. Also get a plane ticket that'll land in the morning local time, it'll help you keep to a normal sleep/wake cycle. On the first day, try to keep to the local time schedule as best you can, but since you will be there an extra day, it'll be ok if you fall asleep really early (around 7 or 8pm). Make sure you eat dinner before going to sleep though. This way your body will actually wake you up in the morning when it's hungry again. Try to plan things to do on the very first day there because that will force you to stay awake even if you do want to sleep.
posted by astapasta24 at 6:28 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by astapasta24 at 6:28 PM on February 14, 2010
See if you can get a script for Modafinil. Skip the sleep you weren't going to get on the plane anyway and have a couple of beers and a 5-HTP before going to bed at a normal time at your destination.
posted by m1ndsurfer at 7:06 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by m1ndsurfer at 7:06 PM on February 14, 2010
Good advice above. I travel internationally at least on a monthly basis - sitting on a plane bound for Harare at the moment. Best one piece of advice I could give regardless of time zone change would be to STAY UP AS LATE AS YOU CAN on your first day/night at your destination. This applies no matter which direction you are headed.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:13 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:13 PM on February 14, 2010
Seconding hnnrs's recommendation of fasting. It worked for me on my most recent trip to the Netherlands (5-hr difference). My boss crashed mid-afternoon. I went to bed, tired but not stuporous, at 10:30 pm (their time).
posted by IAmBroom at 9:31 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by IAmBroom at 9:31 PM on February 14, 2010
I've been a huge fan of melatonin (used as directed on package) for many years and several very long international flights.
posted by intermod at 10:11 PM on February 14, 2010
posted by intermod at 10:11 PM on February 14, 2010
I flew transatlantic with a flight surgeon next to me a while back. Her advice:
1. drink water - lots - so you have to pee. Keeps you hydrated and ensures you get up every so often to go to the bathroom, keeping your legs from hurting
2. ensure you see sunrise and sunset on your first day there (not sure what that accomplishes - fooling your body?)
3. sleep on the plane. take pills if you have to, but SLEEP.
Tried it and it worked for me. My buddy didn't sleep, didn't drink, got bad leg cramps, and slept the whole first day there. Me = fine.
posted by Elagabalus at 11:28 PM on February 14, 2010
1. drink water - lots - so you have to pee. Keeps you hydrated and ensures you get up every so often to go to the bathroom, keeping your legs from hurting
2. ensure you see sunrise and sunset on your first day there (not sure what that accomplishes - fooling your body?)
3. sleep on the plane. take pills if you have to, but SLEEP.
Tried it and it worked for me. My buddy didn't sleep, didn't drink, got bad leg cramps, and slept the whole first day there. Me = fine.
posted by Elagabalus at 11:28 PM on February 14, 2010
This:
If you do sleep, great! If not, you still need to convince yourself on arrival that it's the morning. Stay up and stay active all day. Take a walk, visit a museum, whatever. As BigVACub says, do not lie down. Focus on the fact that you have just a week in Russia and you want to take advantage of every daylight hour.
is key. Stay up, all day. You will likely be a zombie by noon, but keep at it. You might go to bed early that day; that's fine. My family went to London from Ohio last summer and we stayed awake on arrival day, despite the difficulty. I think we ended up in bed for the night at maybe 7:00. Slept the whole night, no issues, and woke bright and early the next day to really get going.
Coming home and re-adjusting wasn't difficult at all, and we were in London for 8 weeks.
posted by cooker girl at 6:52 AM on February 15, 2010
If you do sleep, great! If not, you still need to convince yourself on arrival that it's the morning. Stay up and stay active all day. Take a walk, visit a museum, whatever. As BigVACub says, do not lie down. Focus on the fact that you have just a week in Russia and you want to take advantage of every daylight hour.
is key. Stay up, all day. You will likely be a zombie by noon, but keep at it. You might go to bed early that day; that's fine. My family went to London from Ohio last summer and we stayed awake on arrival day, despite the difficulty. I think we ended up in bed for the night at maybe 7:00. Slept the whole night, no issues, and woke bright and early the next day to really get going.
Coming home and re-adjusting wasn't difficult at all, and we were in London for 8 weeks.
posted by cooker girl at 6:52 AM on February 15, 2010
Nthing the do-not-sleep advice above.
When you arrive, don't sleep in the afternoon no matter how tired you are, because that "one-hour nap" will be five or six hours and you'll end up really awake at a really odd hour.
posted by Xany at 10:06 AM on February 15, 2010
When you arrive, don't sleep in the afternoon no matter how tired you are, because that "one-hour nap" will be five or six hours and you'll end up really awake at a really odd hour.
posted by Xany at 10:06 AM on February 15, 2010
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posted by devnull at 2:00 PM on February 14, 2010 [1 favorite]