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"MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 00:06post reply

I know that several of our patrons are -by choice or by circumstance- seasoned world warriors. Do any of you have methods for dealing with jet lag? I知 currently in parts unknown and while I知 doing fairly well this morning Mrs Ishmael looks like she went through the wringer. Any advice that would help avoid this situation in the future would be most appreciated.






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"Re(1):MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 00:58post reply

quote:
I know that several of our patrons are -by choice or by circumstance- seasoned world warriors. Do any of you have methods for dealing with jet lag? I知 currently in parts unknown and while I知 doing fairly well this morning Mrs Ishmael looks like she went through the wringer. Any advice that would help avoid this situation in the future would be most appreciated.



Some thoughts:
- a common cause of feeling crappy afterwards is a combination of sleep deprivation and dehydration.
- calibrating to a new daylight cycle can take time, and it can be exacerbated by lack of sleep: for instance, when I'm sleep deprived, I lose my appetite, but that has the additional negative of being short on food energy later on.
- depending on your flight and your arrival time, you might be in a situation where you have had no daylight exposure for much longer than you are used to, or way more daylight exposure than you are used to.

In my ideal case, I arrive early in the evening of wherever it is I'm arriving, because the sheer quantity of time spent being vaguely awake/not really able to sleep soundly on a plane leads to me being tired. This means I have time to get some food if I can stomach a full meal, or I can just hit the hay. By arriving early in the evening, I can get more sleep if needed, or if I wake up for a bit partway through, I still have enough hours to take a second nap.

Getting your hands on some sports drinks is good for replenishing your energy and fluids.

Sleeping with blackout curtains or similar light blockers helps a lot.





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"Re(1):MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 00:59post reply

quote:
I know that several of our patrons are -by choice or by circumstance- seasoned world warriors. Do any of you have methods for dealing with jet lag? I知 currently in parts unknown and while I知 doing fairly well this morning Mrs Ishmael looks like she went through the wringer. Any advice that would help avoid this situation in the future would be most appreciated.



I would recommend Melatonin if you are not used to adapt your biorhythm / sleep cycle to a new timezone quickly. It can be bought without prescription, is found in almost any pharmacy, and it's pretty safe with relatively few side effects. Usually they come in tiny pellets and you are meant to simply let one melt under your tongue (which shoud take a few seconds) about 30 minutes before going to bed.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by your pineal gland naturally when you sleep, so the idea is that the pellet tricks your body into adopting a new sleep cycle because it thinks the pineal gland is in busymode.

Artificially absorbing melatonin is not proven to be effective on a long term basis (i.e. chronic insomnia), either because there is a placebo effect at play or because your body quickly gets used to it, so it's far from a miracle solution. But it should do the trick when it comes to occasional jetlag and the cool thing is it's rather cheap, safe and simple to try your luck with it.

Or tell her to start reading One Piece.





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"Re(2):MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 01:20post reply

I'd vote against Melatonin, if only because the few times I tried it it absolutely wrecked me.
I slept, wonderfully, for sure. But for 12 hours of near-coma, and I was an absolute zombie for the following day. I can't remember the dose, but the following time I only took half and it had the same effect.
I guess some people are more sensitive to it...? Try it before taking it "in condition".

Dehydration is the most common culprit. Drinking small quantities often is the best way to deal with it. Some of these synthetic water beverages with extra ions and salts can be useful for emergency purposes, but plain water (if possible with gaz, even if you don't like it) works perfectly well. Keep a glass next to the bed when you sleep, and if you wake up during the night, have a sip.

A friend of mine has a pocket lamp that emits some sort of light that's supposed to make your body believe the sun is up. When she comes to visit me in England, she says it's a life saver, since we don't have a sun here and her body cannot adjust to the new time zone. She just uses the lamp 5-10 minutes in the morning, and she just goes with her day like a pretty flower.

Also, the obvious: no coffee after 2PM of the new time zone, and no screen watching (especially no telephone or Kindle) in the half hour before going to bed.







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"Re(3):MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 10:13post reply

World Warriors indeed, I love it. Yes, fight dehydration, drink on the flight, and eat at the proper times in your new destination. Try not to fall asleep mid-day, no matter how tempting.

I find it much easier returning to Japan from abroad because of the availability of hot springs and bathhouses. These always knock the jet lag right out of me. Obviously, availability is limited depending on where you are, but may even a hot bath or massage could produce similar?





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"Re(4):MMCafe travel thoughts and tips" , posted Sat 9 Dec 12:57post reply

Thanks for all the advice. While the better half is putting on a brave face when it comes to having her internal clock disrupted I知 doing well. Going against Maou痴 advice I took a nap but I often flop down and pass out like an old cat so this was within the realm of my normal behavior.