During the flight…
• Make sure that you drink plenty of water whilst flying – at least 8 – 12 fluid ounces every hour, preferably mineral water or some other higher quality water that you brought with you yourself rather than the water that is served on the plane (although if this is all that is available, it is better than nothing).
• Avoid coffee and alcohol on the plane, as both are diuretics and they can therefore cause you a dehydration problem. This will make you feel considerably worse whilst on the plane and probably also exacerbate your jetlag problem as well.
• Use lotion to avoid dehydration of your skin.
• Walk around the cabin reasonably regularly as this stops your body ‘stiffening up’ and can help to prevent other potential problems that will be highlighted in the next chapter.
• If you are due to arrive at your destination in the morning, try to sleep on the plane. Use a mask, earplugs and an inflatable neck support if these things help to induce a sleepy condition or increase your comfort so that it is more likely that you can sleep.
• If on the other hand you are due to arrive in the evening, try to stay awake on the plane. Keep yourself busy by watching the in-flight movies, listening to music or doing something reasonably active like puzzle solving.
• Avoid taking sleeping tablets, because whilst they will send you to sleep, the sleep that tablets put you into is often a very deep sleep, meaning that you hardly move in what amounts to a chemical induced comatose state. This naturally means that you hardly move whilst sleeping which again can induce other major problems to be highlighted later.
• Set your watch to the time at your destination as soon as your plane takes off because by doing so, you start the process of mentally preparing yourself for arrival.
After you arrive…
• If at all possible, try not to go to bed until the nighttime after you have arrived. Do this and it really does minimize your jetlag problems, probably the single most effective step for doing so.
• In the arrival airport, use the stairs and walk about as much as possible to get your body moving and back to normality as quickly as possible.
• Your body has a natural electromagnetic system which will have been thrown out of synch by flying. Hence, when you arrive at your destination, try to swim in the ocean (for the salt water), take a warm Epsom salts bath or walk barefoot on the ground in an effort to return your system to its normal state.
• Get outside and go for a walk, especially if you can do so in the sunshine. Both the sunshine and the exercise help to reinvigorate you, meaning that you will feel less tired or jaded. This helps you to get through the day so that you can sleep at night which is a big step towards restoring your circadian rhythms to normality.
• Take a nice long relaxing shower or bath as a way of rehydrating your body, and keep drinking plenty of water. In the first few hours after arriving, it will probably help if you can avoid coffee,
tea and alcohol for exactly the same reasons as highlighted previously.
• Try not to think about the time difference, and forget whatever time it is ‘at home’. Irrespective of why you have travelled, this new place is your home for now so try to ignore the time difference, because it is essentially irrelevant to you until you go back.
• Some studies suggest that taking melatonin tablets for three nights after flying just before bed helps to promote quicker recovery from jetlag, although not every expert agrees with this suggestion.
Nevertheless, as melatonin is a natural hormone secreted by the pineal gland that is believed to have a direct relationship with your circadian rhythms, there is reason to believe that taking melatonin for this short period of time could help your circadian rhythms to get back to normal.
One 0.5 mg tablet every night for the first three days should be enough but do not take the tablet before leaving or during the flight as this is believed to knock your circadian rhythms even further out of synch.
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