JetLag Tips?

[Pre]

My husband and I are taking a trip to Germany/Disneyland Paris. Does anyone have any tips to avoid/combat jet lag? Our travel plans are to leave Denver at 10.45 am, land in Minneapolis/St. Paul for a two hour layover and leave the U.S. for Paris at 4:25pm. We land in Paris the next day at 7:30am. We'll have another flight to Frankfurt Germany, landing at 3:00pm in Frankfurt. The first half of the trip will be for my Brother in Laws wedding. The day we arrive my Mother in Law wants to have a dinner for the whole family so that we can meet my future sister in law. I'm not a big fan of our travel plans as it looks like it is a total of 24hours of actual travel, but that's the way it is, trying to change it has been unsuccessful. So we will have to work with what we have.

Does anyone have any tips how we can
A) Survive 24 hours of actual travel
B) Be alert enough to endure a dinner with my In Laws after 24 hours of Travel?
C) Be alert the next day for who knows what my Mother in law has planned?

 

[NYCgrrl]

This has worked well for me in the past and allowed me to attend a business meeting a few hours after getting off a plane. I opt for the gradual sleep changing technique as more holistic but others I know swear by the medication plan:

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/travel/a-battle-plan-for-jet-lag.html

HTH

 

[scoutie]

I don’t have any magic tips, but try to stay on local time right upon landing, and don’t take naps. I usually make it an early night the first day. Sleep as much as you can on the plane, stay hydrated, and get out in the sun/daylight as much as you can to reset your body clock.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Get as much asleep as you can on the plane.
Even take something to help you sleep during the longest leg.
Then once you arrive absolutely do not let yourself go to sleep until the day is over.
If you think oh I can squeeze in a 30 minute nap prior to dinner DON'T!
Go to sleep once you will be able to sleep for a solid amount of time.

 

[firecracker725]

1. Abstain from caffeine for 24-48 hours before your flight. Upon landing, bolt for a double espresso.
2. Stay up! With your flight, I'd get up at 3am and stay awake until dinner is served on your flight to Paris. Take a melatonin (or Ambien even) right when they start dinner service.
3. When you get there, don't nap. Take whatever you need to be able to sleep at local time. Be aware of caffeine consumption after noon.

 

[sk!mom]

We've had great luck with sleeping on the overnight long flight- take meds if necessary. Upon landing, we get right out into the light and force ourselves to stay up until maybe 8pm local time. Finally we fall into bed and sleep for probably 12 hours. Starting that next day, we normally feel fine and adjusted to the new time.

I never plan a must do- must see on arrival day since we will definitely be dragging. In your situation, I'd take a walk outdoors and then head to dinner. I'd bail out on the dinner asap and head to bed. With this plan, I would feel well the next day.

 

[mnrose]

What's always worked for me is to TRY to get yourself on local time, even before you go. So, if Germany is 8 hours ahead of you (I think I'm right about that....), then you'll want to try waking up an hour earlier each day for 4-5 days. So, if your "normal" wake up time is 7 am, move to 6, then 5, then 4 then (gulp) 3 am. That means also going to bed by the same amount. By the time you travel, the "difference" is "only" 4 hours (which is much more doable than 8!). Sleep on the plane as much as you can. Avoid alcohol if you can. Stay hydrated. Then, once you arrive at your destination, resist with everything in you the desire to nap or rest. Stay awake until AT LEAST 9 pm local time. Get outside. Take a walk. Fresh air also helps. Make yourself get up by 7 or latest 8 am, and start living like a local. Won't lie. The first day SUCKS, but if you gut it out, you'll be good to go in 24-48 hours, vs. suffering for up to a week.

 

[mnrose]

Oh, and my longest continuous travel was 25+ hours. Bali to Singapore to Hong Kong to San Francisco to MSP. Staying hydrated is absolutely key. For me, that means the equivalent of 8 ounces of water per hour in the air Not all of your travel is in the air, which is good! Walk around at every layover. Stretch. Avoid high calorie meals. Just because they are serving it doesn't mean you have to eat it. For me, heavy meals interfere with sleep. Same with alcohol. Bring ear plugs and an eye mask If you are in coach, find a good neck pillow that works for you. I also have a light hoodie that I can literally tie so that only my nose and a bit of my eyes are showing. Looks stupid, I'm sure, but it helps block out what's around me. It's so hard for me to sleep sitting up, but the neck pillow helps.

Good luck!

 

[ronandannette]

I've only ever made one such trip. We left Calgary (same timezone as Denver) in mid-morning and landed in Paris mid-morning the next day. We forced ourselves to sleep some on the plane (DH dosed on Ativan and I used gravol). When we got to Paris in what should have been the middle of our night we hit the ground running and went straight from airport to hotel to DLP. I couldn't even tell you how that visit was because I was so exhausted I don't really remember. We ended up in bed around 10:00 pm (Paris time) that night and woke feeling fresh and normal the next morning. Voila - jetlag problem solved!

 

[Disney_Alli]

My husband and I are taking a trip to Germany/Disneyland Paris. Does anyone have any tips to avoid/combat jet lag? Our travel plans are to leave Denver at 10.45 am, land in Minneapolis/St. Paul for a two hour layover and leave the U.S. for Paris at 4:25pm. We land in Paris the next day at 7:30am. We'll have another flight to Frankfurt Germany, landing at 3:00pm in Frankfurt. The first half of the trip will be for my Brother in Laws wedding. The day we arrive my Mother in Law wants to have a dinner for the whole family so that we can meet my future sister in law. I'm not a big fan of our travel plans as it looks like it is a total of 24hours of actual travel, but that's the way it is, trying to change it has been unsuccessful. So we will have to work with what we have.

Does anyone have any tips how we can
A) Survive 24 hours of actual travel
B) Be alert enough to endure a dinner with my In Laws after 24 hours of Travel?
C) Be alert the next day for who knows what my Mother in law has planned?

In January this year I started work at 1800 Friday night, I left early at 05:15 Saturday morning to make our 07:30 flight to Newark. We had a 4ish hour layover before getting on a flight to Dublin. Having to work the night before was a little bonus for me but nonetheless I napped a bit on the first flight and then we had a good meal in Newark and then I stayed up for the afternoon (thanks knitting for keeping me busy). When they called boarding for our Dublin flight I took a VERY mild sleeping pill (Tylenol nighttime). I was able to sleep for the majority of the flight, wake up for the (many) meals and fall right back to sleep again. Not something this insomniac can typically do. When we arrived in Dublin we got settled into the house and then went on what was supposed to be a short 1.5 km walk that turned into a 3-4km ordeal (don't ask lol) we made it easily to an early bedtime and slept like babies. Hope your luck is as good! We had no jet lag the entire trip. The trip home is an entirely different story and I'm no help there at all.

 

[mousefan73]

I travel a lot between the Midwest in Frankfurt and I was gonna give you the best tip in my opinion but I don’t think it will work for you. If you take a flight that gets you in Europe early in the morning first thing I suggest if possible is to take a nap for four hours and get up at 12 and then you’re OK for the rest of the day unfortunately in your case you have that long a layover. Would you be able to get a sleep pod at CDG or a day room.

What you are dealing with is not actually jet leg what you were dealing with is simply sleep deprivation. Those are two different issues. Jet leg is on the next day waking up at four in the morning and not being able to fall asleep again.

Important is to drink a lot drink drink drink and also move about that’s just good for overall health.

I would highly recommend somehow trying to you and your layover to have a two or three hour power nap it really does help

 

[mousefan73]

For the trip back home there’s less exhaustion issue as most trans-Atlantic flights leave before noon so you’re basically on a flight the whole day and arrive same day. There it is important not to nap as most flights get in around noon or in the afternoon so just try and push through till evening. Jet leg does play a role here as you will most likely wake up at the crack of Dawn

 

[mousefan73]

If you got the miles or money I highly recommend a business lie flat seat but expensive if paying yourself.

Or check this out for day room
https://www.yotel.com/en/hotels/paris-charles-de-gaulle-airport/cabins

 

[mousefan73]

I don’t have any magic tips, but try to stay on local time right upon landing, and don’t take naps. I usually make it an early night the first day. Sleep as much as you can on the plane, stay hydrated, and get out in the sun/daylight as much as you can to reset your body clock.

I disagree on not taking a nap IF you arrive eastbound in the morning from an overnight flight and can sleep a few hours before noon or latest 1/2 pm. US to EU or EU to Asia. Westbound agree no naps, unless you doze in flight. That’s always good.