Jetlag...what helps???

[SortCode]

DS arrived States Monday early hours...think he thought he would sleep and feel fresh!!!

Gone across 3 time zones too plus altitute sickness kicking in.

First koening he woke after 4 hours tokd him normal. Didnt nap at all yesterday but slept last night 10pm...woke 3.30am...went back to sleep till 4isham.

Told him that his body had a good 6 hours but his braim is saying hey it's 4am you should be a sleep...think this is what he's not getting

Feels yuk he says and no apetite.

Told him it's early days and all normal. Told him drink water, read also potassium helps so bananas.

Anything else he can do? I ferl so helpless being here!!!

Awful spelling sorry

I forced myself to stay up and went to bed at a normal time, and seemed fine after that.

That's normal imho. some people more affected than others. Tell him to try to get out in sun as much as possible in daylight hours.

I think the best thing is to adjust to the new routine straight away & stay awake etc. The one time I didn't do this & just slept when I got home in the day took me 2 wks to adjust!

He needs to be outside in the light as much as possible in daylight hours - that really is the biggest thing that helps. No naps,, bed at normal time and no phone for at least an hour before, try and stay in the dark (no phone) until getting up time. Plenty of water and it turns over quickly in my very extensive experience

We all had altitude sickness from flying straight from Chicago to Vail one year and it was horrendous. The best he can do for that is rest, no booze and loads of water. Pedialyte is good for nausea, if he is jet lagged then melatonin helps regulate sleep cycles and is available in any pharmacy, paracetamol for headaches which is called acetaminophen stateside and commonly sold under the brand name Tylenol.

My dh used to travel a lot for work, with time differences of 7, 8, 9 hours. He always maintained that getting up and going to bed at the normal time for wherever you are, was the only way.

Must say that when on jet-lag type holidays I have found it very difficult, though.

From experience, for some reason it’s worse when travelling west to east, than the other way around.

The only time I didn’t find it hard was when I once joined dh in Jakarta (Indonesia) with a many hours (later) jet lag. I took a night flight from the U.K. and after changing planes in Singapore, landed in Jakarta in the early evening, so just before dinner, a wander round the hotel gardens, and bed. Timing was perfect.

Melatonin helps get you back into the correct circadian rhythm, take it when you need to sleep. Available at chemists in USA. Get as much sun on face as possible during the day.

Buy over the counter sleeping pills- shame he's in USA already as Boots own brand ones are perfect.
I take them for first 2-3 nights in USA or NZ when we went and had hardly any jet lag as forces body into new time zone for sleeping

not eating during local night time followed by a good breakfast and doing light exercise in the morning.

He's been out twice today shopping and fresh air. Also eaten more today and got bananas!!! Not napped although he felt tired. He took a couple of ibuprofen as well. Its about 2pm now so hoping he can last till around 9pm rhen go to bed.

It's only his second full day...just think he thought he could over come it within 24 hours!!!!

It took me around 4 days to feel normal again when we flew back from the US. DH was as right as rain It's a really horrible sensation.

I've tried everything and not much helps.

Keep to destination time as soon as wheels are up on the journey.

As much exposure to natural daylight as possible once at destination.

But mostly just accept that your body will adjust by an hour a day and live with it.

Update - bless him he managed to stay awake all day, walked a dog, went to a park, ran a few errands. Ate better as well.

Held off till 11pm to sleep - he's just messaged me and wide awake - so had 2 hours sleep. He's got some sleep gummies so Ive told him to take them and get off his mobile and try and relax and go back to sleep.

Prob he should of taken the sleep gummies before he went to bed but I think he wanted to try sleeping.

He's feeling home sick as well so Im sure his mind is working overtime.

It's only been 2 full days so hopefully he'll now start to relax better and get into a routine, Ive told him to go walk the dog after breakfast and afternoon to get him out plus gives him exercise too. He starts school next Monday so once in that routine it will all fall into place

Medication is the way to go. I used to suffer from awful jet lag as I can't sleep on planes, but when we went to NZ in 2019 after not sleeping at all on the 24 hr trip, I was right as rain simply by taking sleeping tablets first two nights. Might have helped that I had the bed to myself as DH and DS flew over a few days later.