Jetlag minimisation/avoidance strategies

[turtlemichael]

I know that we are all different, but I would appreciate any advice from the much travelled here.

In early June I'm flying from Melbourne (ETD 2345) on the late Cathay flight to Hong Kong and on to London with HKG ETD O805 and London ETA 1515). I'm travelling in J and I am in London for 8 nights.

In recent years, I usually break flights these days with a stopover of a few nights but that is not possible this time so it will be straight through. In London, I will have a busy day and late night the day after arrival and several late nights in the 8 days there.

My current plan is to have a quiet day at home the day of departure, a nap in the afternoon and dinner before heading to the airport. I plan to watch movies, read and doze on the leg to HKG. From HKG to LHR I'll have the breakfast and lunch and try to get some (chemically assisted?) sleep in the 9 or 10 hours between. I'll get to bed first night in London by 2100.

I'm not worried about the return leg as I have no pressing engagements here.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what others do?

 

[DC3]

Melatonin. The proper stuff from the US. Not the one that we have in Oz.

 

[moa999]

West is best - so you are starting OK (basically just lengthening your day is easier).

And then anything you can do to get into the zone earlier - set your alarms half night before, clock on London time during flights etc

 

[SYD]

I wouldn’t try and over think it.

The arvo arrival in London and ability to go to bed not long after will help a lot - probably more so if you don’t sleep too much on the HKG-LHR leg - but we’re all different.

You will be wide awake early the following morning in London regardless. If you’re lucky, you’ll sync within a day or two.

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

Melatonin. The proper stuff from the US. Not the one that we have in Oz.

View attachment 438328

Or get your GP to write you a prescription for real melatonin from a compounding pharmac_

 

[dajop]

My ideal would have been the mid afternoon flight to HKG overnight and then the day flight to LHR (which I’d stay up for).

But that aside it really depends on how you deal with things. If it were me, I’d aim to sleep as much as I could on the overnight then try to get a few more hours at the start of the LHR flight and aim to be awake for the last 7 hrs of the flight (i.e. from about 8am London time). Easier said than done and we’re all different.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I wouldn’t try and over think it.

The arvo arrival in London and ability to go to bed not long after will help a lot - probably more so if you don’t sleep too much on the HKG-LHR leg - but we’re all different.

You will be wide awake early the following morning in London regardless. If you’re lucky, you’ll sync within a day or two.

Agree.

Everyone has different strategies for jet lag, but I subscribe to the ‘sleep if you’re tired’.

Being overtired can sometimes prohibit sleep in itself and muck things up.

I would sleep as usual on the overnight flight to HK, and nap during the day flight to LHR.

If necessary use assistance to sleep overnight in London.

Ready to go the next day.

 

[Quickstatus]

Unless you can do a week of night shifts and sleep during the day, JL is unavoidable.

As you are arriving in the afternoon, I second @MEL_Traveller 's suggestion.

Best thing that can happen is the cabin for the HKG -LHR stays lit and not dark for the sector.

 

[BenP]

Personally I don't like to think to much about that stuff so I just use the app Time Shifter it tells me when to go to sleep/get sunlight/avoid sunlight etc
Both times I've used it for long haul flights not a problem at all with jetlag

 

[SeatBackForward]

West is best - so you are starting OK (basically just lengthening your day is easier).

And then anything you can do to get into the zone earlier - set your alarms half night before, clock on London time during flights etc

My own experience is that anything Eastward <4hrs flying (eg East cost Aus to NZ) is fine and you just adjust as if you had an early morning start at home.

East between 4 to 8hrs is the killer, and if these are red-eye you inevitably either sleep very late, or not at all, then hit the ground for a full day head.

East >8hrs especially those 12hr+ flight where you pass through an entire phase of day or night during the flight don't seem too bad for me when I hit the ground, but the NEXT day is often the most difficult.

West anything <8hrs is treated as normal and I can adjust by sleeping earlier or sleeping in etc. But Westbound >12hrs has the same as effect as East >12hrs

But yeah, sleep when you can, if you have the luxury of having a day or two to acclimatise then don' t plan too many things for that time,

 

[turtlemichael]

"But yeah, sleep when you can, if you have the luxury of having a day or two to acclimatise then don' t plan too many things for that time,"

Unfortunately I won't have that luxury.

Many thanks for the responses. As I've got older, I have found it harder to both deal with jetlag and minimise its effects. Same goes for getting to and staying asleep on command. I've used melatonin (the Oz variety) and found it ok for assisting sleep but never used it on a flight. Getting older too for me makes such trips harder. I have done them many times but lately with a stopover for a couple of days which definitely helps me. That isn't possible this time.

Accepting that nothing is perfect and we are all different, the suggestion from MEL_Traveller appeals.

"I would sleep as usual on the overnight flight to HK, and nap during the day flight to LHR. If necessary use assistance to sleep overnight in London. Ready to go the next day." It's not what I was thinking but it makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[RooFlyer]

I've used melatonin (the Oz variety)

I have both - there is no difference except the American version is much cheaper and the Aussie one tends to be 'extended release'.

You sound very much like myself wrt sleeping on planes.

I used to commute regularly to western Canada (ie going the 'wrong way') and had to slip into working days on arrival. That's when I started getting a prescription for temazepam. It didn't do much for me on the plane (but it might you), but taken on the first couple of nights (especially he second night) really helped me get into sync.

Now-days, travelling only for leisure I've graduated to Stillnox on arrival (not on the plane), but just once, either the first or second night as long as not needed to wake early.

 

[Flyfrequently]

I know that we are all different, but I would appreciate any advice from the much travelled here.

In early June I'm flying from Melbourne (ETD 2345) on the late Cathay flight to Hong Kong and on to London with HKG ETD O805 and London ETA 1515). I'm travelling in J and I am in London for 8 nights.


My current plan is to have a quiet day at home the day of departure, a nap in the afternoon and dinner before heading to the airport. I plan to watch movies, read and doze on the leg to HKG. From HKG to LHR I'll have the breakfast and lunch and try to get some (chemically assisted?) sleep in the 9 or 10 hours between. I'll get to bed first night in London by 2100.

Your trip is similar to one we did in June 2023 @turtlemichael - apart from needing to be on point the next day!

We departed Melbourne on the late night CX flight, had dinner on board then slept for a good 5 hours - best sleep I have had on a plane, note I find CX cabins to be a tad warm.
5 hours transit in HKG, walked the length of the terminal more than once!

KLM flight to AMS kept myself entertained with movies, reading and food. Cabin wasn't dimmed initially.
Dozed maybe for 2-3 hours, we then had a short hop to Lisbon.
By the time we got there 11 pm, ready to sleep and did so easily. First time ever no issues the following days.
@MEL_Traveller has given a good plan.

Hope it works out for you and listen to you body.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have both - there is no difference except the American version is much cheaper and the Aussie one tends to be 'extended release'.

The various combinations of melatonin in the US is boggling.

They now have it in liquid for ultra fast effect. They also have one with turbo sleep-assist, followed by sustained release. And of course a dozen variations in between. Some are mixed with one or more other sleep-enhancing aids.

I think I get more anxious trying to decide which one i actually need.

 

[BCons]

Wud argue there is no substitute for sleep while travelling. Get as much whenever u can. Also keeps you from eating n drinking too much at wrong times in J..

The least affected trip (once on SQ but almost as good with EK) was midnight Mel departure, v little food/grog and thus some proper natural onight sleep. Felt ready to go again normally next morng in SIN, and a few hrs sleep on the long flt to Eu was enough to power me thru the anoon/eve on arrival, until a proper bed was again on offer.

But ppl are different - my wife sleeps less than I, and prefers anoon departures - she's happy to eat, watch movies n stay awake thru Sin, and then sleep once onboard the onight flt to Eu. Last time l tried that, I literally nodded off into the lakhsa after takeoff from Sin!

Melatonin seems to work, even the OTC stuff. Eye shade and ear plugs are also important to me. The number of times in the liminal zone of sleep when somebody turn on a reading light or clashes cutlery on china.. grrr

 

[RooFlyer]

The various combinations of melatonin in the US is boggling.

They now have it in liquid for ultra fast effect. They also have one with turbo sleep-assist, followed by sustained release. And of course a dozen variations in between. Some are mixed with one or more other sleep-enhancing aids.

Oh, yes - I stocked up last December . I was meaning in the sense of 'melatonin is melatonin'. Personally, being older and tending to wake during the night, I like the extended release.

 

[Quickstatus]

No one has yet mentioned the role of alcohol

 

[jb747]

Why not talk to a GP about Normison?

 

[DC3]

The various combinations of melatonin in the US is boggling.

They now have it in liquid for ultra fast effect. They also have one with turbo sleep-assist, followed by sustained release. And of course a dozen variations in between. Some are mixed with one or more other sleep-enhancing aids.

CVS pharmac_/Walgreens/etc, on the next US trip. The Oz Melatonin gets fiddled with somehow. I’ve tried both.

 

[DC3]

They also have one with turbo sleep-assist, followed by sustained release. And of course a dozen variations in between. Some are mixed with one or more other sleep-enhancing aids.

Along with the turbo, just for a bit of extra kick at the start?