Dealing with Jetlag

As you may already know, I’m an avid traveller when I have the opportunity, and since my way often brings me to the United States (from Germany), jetlag is always a concern, especially when travelling as a family with small children.

The following tips are my personal experiences, they must not work for everyone, but they worked great for me so far.

My first tip is more about preparation for your trip, it helps if you can change your eating habits a bit according to your new time scheme. Starting two or three days before your trip, try to already exchange the meals to accommodate the time at your destination. This helps your metabolism to already adjust to the new time plan.

Next, be very careful with caffein! Especially when you are a habitual coffee drinker, plan ahead. Do not forget that the effects of caffeine are actually not experienced right after you drink it, but hours after that, so especially when you travel to the East (like from the US to Europe), which actually shortens your day by 6 to 9 hours, drink as little coffee in the morning as you can and restrain from any more over the day. Your goal is to be tired early and being able to go to sleep after a short day, so everything that interferes with that is detrimental!

There we come to the next point on the list: try to not sleep too long the night before your trip. For both directions, I always recommend to be rather a bit tired as too well rested.

One of the tips, if you travel to the East (say from the US to Europe) is to chose a flight that brings you to your destination, if possible, around the late afternoon. If that's not an option, take a nightflight, which means, depart as late as possible.

If you have kids, the night flight has the advantage that they will most certainly sleep during the flight, which really helps them to cope better later, but it also means that you will be at your destination really early, which makes it sometimes harder to get over the day without a nap.

And that’s a really, really important tip: keep your self as busy as you can, don’t give in to the temptation of going to sleep, even if it’s only for a nap! You will pay for this nap in the night and the days thereafter and it will take you longer.

As a general rule, adjust your watch after the start of the airplane and try to talk yourself into this new time without calculating back. Stick to the new time regimen, which means, stay awake when it’s day and go to bed when it’s night. It just takes one or two hard days and you will be over it so much faster.

But never forget, no matter in which direction you fly: being jet lagged is not much different as being drunk, so don’t force anything that requires high concentration, like long car trips or things like that. You will feel light headed and drowsy and you don’t want to bring anybody in a dangerous situation.

Many people, me included, experience some drowsiness and a slight nausea due to jet lag, so I recommend to have the following homeopathic remedies at hand:

(Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor or in any way a medical advisor and I recommend to consult your physician, if the usage of these remedies is recommendable for you!)

- Arnica Montana (sleeplessness and restlessness, a feeling of being over-tired)*

- Bellis Perrennis (waking up mid-sleep, sleep interruptions)*

- Chamomilla (emotional and mental stress, impatience, intolerance, disorientation)*

- Coffea Cruda (troubles sleeping, nervousness, fast heartbeat, over-excited)*

- Graphites (Sleepiness, tiredness, general travel remedy)

- Lycopodium (Jet lag, anxiety, anitcipatory fears, apprehension, digestive problems, difficulties to adept new surroundings)

- Pulsatilla (sleepiness, tiredness)

- Ipecacuanha (constant and intense nausea)

I always use globules in a D6 potency and dissolve 5 of each remedies in a small glass of sparkling water which I drink in small sips. The remedies with an “*” I use before going to bed, the others over the day. Since there is practically no over-dosing of homeopathic remedies, you can repeat the formula as often as you want, for example drinking one glass of the evening mixture one or two hours in advance and one immediately before you go to sleep. The same applies to the day mixture, naturally.

What is also very important for overcoming jetlag quickly is natural light. Try to get outside as much as you can! Don’t stay indoors, expose your eyes to natural light, which has a very different frequency as indoor lighting. Engage in a light and easy program, like a city walk or some tourist attraction that keeps you interested even though you’re tired (especially with children, try to keep them awake as good as you can over the day, by keeping them interested in some activities.

When you fly to the East, wait until past 8 or 9 p.m., and then, at the slightest sign of tiredness, go to bed and try to sleep. Don’t overgo this point! Your body comes soon after that in its day-rhythm and it gets harder and harder to go to sleep after that. If you’re a light sleeper and easily disturbed, use earplugs and a sleeping mask, make sure that you’re not kept awake by outside influences.

For flying to the West, I recommend to shorten your night before the trip as much as you can (it really doesn’t matter how tired you’re on the trip, it will make it easier for you to fall asleep during the flight). Then, try to get a few hours of sleep on the airplane, have a sleeping mask, earplugs and warm socks ready, unless you fly first or business class, there you get it handed to you in a little bag anyway. This flight time is your night time, so make good use of it. Usually, I go to sleep as soon as they have served the meal.

If you drink coffee or not during the flight depends on your personal preference, I already said, I’m very careful with it, because I know that I deal with the effects around 6 hours after intake, so I don’t want stimulation at the wrong time in this situation.

In any case, drink plenty of water during the flight, to keep your body hydrated and your blood flowing correctly.

If you fly with kids, in my experience it is best to arrive quite late at your destination, so that with getting out of the airport, having dinner and getting to your hotel, you already solved the problems of the first day and were up long enough without even noticing it really. If you arrive early, chances are that somewhere around 4 or 5 p.m. the little one’s will pass out, which means that they’ll be fit in the middle of the night when you try to sleep.

In my experience, jetlag can be overcome within two or three days, and being a bit more disciplined on the first day pays a huge dividend over the following days.

I hope you all enjoy your trips to the fullest and return to your homes safely and full of new and wonderful experiences.

© 2011 Dorothee Geray

Thank you for reading the whole article, I very much appreciate all comments, tips or every feedback! If you liked it, share it with your friends on facebook and other social media, many thanks!