Time zone adjustment

lokie

I would like to know how long it took you to adjust after you returned home. I am trying to figure out how long I need before I get back to work. Our arrival will probably be on a Monday or Tuesday so I am thinking of going back to work at the end of the week. My husband seems to think he only needs one day. We will be coming back to the US so if someone within the same time zone (eastern) can answer. When I went to Hong Kong I had a horrible time adjusting to the time ... I was going to bed at 7p and waking up at 3a every day!!! Did anyone else have this problem with India?

indiamike

Personally I would 'Milk it out' as long as possible but bills still have to be paid. From my own experience it only took about two days until I returned to work.
You could probably do it with one but I don't think the next day after arriving. Takes a good full day for the culture shock to "set in" that your back home plus you have to use that day to full up on all the goodies that you missed from back home.

Mike

rab

It's all relative. I don't know if the other UK members agree but coming back from India you feel great. You get up about 6.00 a.m., are fresh and lively and feel like you've had a gorgeous lie-in!

It's going west to east I find hard e.g. coming back to the UK from the Caribbean.

I accept that America is a lot further west so you probably feel the difference more. Getting up at 3.00 a.m. sounds about right.

steven_ber

I agree with Richard, I've never noticed jet lag.

Even if I did, I would rather have a couple of extra days in India then a bad day at work, than come back early to re-adjust.

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shirleyart

I always experience jet lag and the rule of thumb is it takes about one day for every hour of time difference. I live in eastern Canada and it usually takes 7-10 days for me to feel normal again even when I follow the no jet lag diet recommended by travelling US presidents. bummer!

wilsoon

I have now been back two weeks, and I am still going to bed between 7 and 9 pm and waking at 3am - it is ridiculous - I mean I have crossed time zones before and recovered in 1 day! Obviously still desparate to extend the Indian experience!!!!

bijapuri

traveling west- nada
traveliong east -brutal

That's my experience

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beachchik4ever

I didn't have any problem at all while in India. I travelled from the EAst Coast USA but..... when I came home it hit me badddd. Four days of being completely screwed up and ten days before my normal sleeping pattern came back. I would stay away from work four days. I got back on a Wednesday night and went to work Friday morning. I won't make that mistake again.

KariB

Gosh Wilsoon, those are my normal bed/waking hours! (Especially since I just got my tickets, who can sleep, I'm way too excited!)I hope that's the only problem I have.

I heard about a jet lag pill/herb/something or other, that can be taken to prevent or reduce the symptoms.

Anyone else know what I'm talking about and the name perhaps???

indiamike

Never tried it but there is a product called No-Jet-Lag which is probably the one your thinking of.

It's available online under the term No-Jet-Lag in the search engines and I have seen it in some outdoor/travel shops.

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typhoidshaun

I went to India for two weeks and it took me about a month to get back to normal. For the first week, I would literally go to bed as soon as I got home from work at 3 PM. Then I would wake up at 1 or 2 in the middle of the night. I just had to force myself to stay awake until 8 o'clock or so.

Now if only I could get rid of the bug I got.

DianeN.

I travel a lot between the USA and Japan and what I try to do to combat jet lag is to sleep on the plane as much as possible. I get an incredibly runny nose every time I fly, so take an allergy pill before taking off and that usually makes me drowsy. I also bring my own pillow with me so I am comfortable on the plane. Don't know if I will bring my pillow with me to India though--that seems a bit odd. But just going from my place to my mom's is easy to cart a pillow.

Then try to stay awake upon arrival until a reasonable bed time. if my flight puts me in too early in the morning, then I'll take a nap but make sure I get up after only 2 hours and not sleep any longer. I take melatonin when I go to bed to try to avoid waking up in the middle of the night. Never drink alcohol on the plane, but drink lots and lots of water instead also helps.


You will feel tired and dragged out a bit--but I would rather go back to work and use my vacation days on a real vacation--rather than recovering from the vacation. Just don't plan anything too streneous at first.

Melatonin really works for me, and I swear by it for jet lag.

Diane

amarama

I dont think it did anything. But maybe it help at little. I d say wont hurt, so all your out is some money

Nick-H

A rediscovered thread, and an interesting one.

I don't have much travel experience, except between UK and India, but don't people say that you should change to local hours as soon as possible and not give in tp the temptation to take a "night" sleep just because that is where your personal clock is still set.

Ariving in India for me is usually early morning, and I agree with the advice not to allow more than an hour or two nap. One does have the incentive of the whole new world out there, just waiting to be explored!

Returning to UK usually means that, by UK time I have been travelling since before midnight the day before, and I am shattered. Again: postpone bedtime until at least mid-evening. I would not go to work the next day. The next few days after that used to be the only days in the year when I would be on time for work!

Melatonin seems to be the stuff to experiment with if one wants help. I never tried it.

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LindaK

I always use 'No Jet Lag' (see a few posts up). I think it works. You can get them travel stores and health food stores.
I am retired now, but when I was working I would always go back to work the day after returning from a trip. I wanted to use every bit of my vacation for travelling, not for resting up after travelling!
Nick mentions other good tips that I use (e.g. postponing bedtime to mid-evening).