Your Checkup: Health Education Podcast
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Your Checkup: Health Education Podcast
82: Jet Lag and Travel Fatigue
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We share newlywed joy, wild plane moments, and a clear plan for beating jet lag using light timing, hydration, naps, and simple habits that work. Direction matters, and we explain how to prep differently for eastward and westward travel so your body clock adjusts faster.
• wedding highlights and travel
• plane etiquette and seat recline awareness
• jet lag basics and circadian rhythm cues
• symptoms that signal body clock mismatch
• westward strategies: evening light and short naps
• eastward strategies: morning light and earlier sleep
• hydration, caffeine timing, and melatonin
• DVT prevention: movement and compression socks
• practical packing and flight timing choices
• simple arrival routines for faster adjustment
You can reach out to us by sending us an email, yourcheckuppod@ gmail.com, find us on Instagram, but most importantly, stay healthy, my friends
Production and Content: Edward Delesky, MD & Nicole Aruffo, RN
Artwork: Olivia Pawlowski
Hi, welcome to your checkup. We are the Patient Education Podcast, where we bring conversations from the doctor's office to your ears. On this podcast, we try to bring medicine closer to its patients. I'm Ed Delesky, a family medicine doctor in the Philadelphia area.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm Nicole Rufo, I'm a nurse.
SPEAKER_00:And we are so excited you were able to join us here again today on the first episode that we are returning to your checkup, married.
SPEAKER_01:We're married.
SPEAKER_00:We did it. You probably noticed if you're a return guest that we gave you two reboot episodes because we took some PTO to one, get married, and two, go on a crazy, amazing two-week honeymoon that you're gonna hear a lot about when we when we do this in our banter section over the next like God knows how long, maybe forever.
SPEAKER_01:Probably.
SPEAKER_00:So as things come up more organically, I can share more about the like greatest day of my life, which was the day I got to marry you. And you know, I obviously there are people there who saw it. It was fantastic. I I mean there isn't too much I there's a lot to say, but yet not so much at all because it was just simply that the best day of my life. Um we did get to spend most of the day together.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that was nice.
SPEAKER_00:Um, which was like I I couldn't I don't understand the um the whole like not staying together thing, and like yeah, me neither.
SPEAKER_01:And it made the day feel like longer. Because I feel like everyone has said to us, like leading up to it, they're like, oh my god, your wedding day goes by so fast, and like it feels like it didn't happen. But I feel like that's because people like don't see each other until like five o'clock.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know?
SPEAKER_00:We took that advice sincerely too.
SPEAKER_01:And then like we like spent all day together. And then at the end of the night, we were like, wow, that felt like a really long day.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we felt like we scratched a lot of itches and like kind of got it all done. And then we whipped it around. Like, I mean, right now we're still reeling from uh to be completely authentic, like you're probably hoping for this like charged up episode, and it may lead there, but we are jet lagged.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm struggling a lot.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like that's what actually what the episode is gonna be about today. But um, you're having a rough time with this.
SPEAKER_01:I am. And we got home Wednesday morning, and it's Saturday morning now, and I'm like every day I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go to bed, I'm gonna get a good night's sleep because I'm so tired. And you know, wake up, I'm gonna feel normal. Because that's what happened when we got to Bali. Yeah, and like the timing of our flights and how we slept was like perfect, so that when we landed, it was really early in the morning, and we were kind of just like felt like we were tired because we had woken up early and then we were like tired that night. We went to bed early, woke up, and then we're fine the entire time. Yeah, but I guess going back in time is a little worse, which was like what we did on the way home.
SPEAKER_00:But that's what we're going to talk about today.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my god, I like cannot believe. I feel like I'm like drunk, like I'm so tired.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:No, and like, I mean, and we were like, uh, I mean, you've also been like kind of on like a weird sleep schedule. I don't think as bad as I have been. Not as bad as you, but a little bit. But even like last night, or yeah, like when we first got home, we were like, all right, we're gonna power through, we're staying up. We were both knocked out on the couch by like 3 p.m. And then we're like kind of hazy, had dinner, and then went to bed right after.
SPEAKER_00:But the first night we got back, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then like last night we I thought we were getting better, but then we 6 30 knocked out on the couch, and we woke up in a haze at like 10 o'clock and like stumbled upstairs.
SPEAKER_00:Worst thing you could do.
SPEAKER_01:But then, like the first night I woke up.
SPEAKER_00:I think I still had a piece of pumpkin bread in my mouth.
SPEAKER_01:The first night I woke up and I thought it I was like, okay, it's gotta be like 4 a.m. Like I definitely have slept for like 10 hours, and my phone said 1127, and I was like, oh my god, this is gonna be such a long night. And it was, yeah, and then like this morning we were both just like up at like 4 a.m.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:And we tried to like lay there and go to sleep, and then we were like, all right, let's just go downstairs and make coffee and like watch our show. Like we're up now.
SPEAKER_00:We just got started. This has been like the longest morning ever, which is great. So cozy. Um, you know, 11:30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01:And we've been up for eight hours.
SPEAKER_00:This is awesome. Um, yeah, so I think things are gonna come up organically, but there had to be some organization to how we share our memories. I've been into making these like funny Instagram videos to try to encapsulate like pictures and videos that we have and doing voiceovers. But for the good people who don't follow like my personal account on Instagram, we have some stories that we have to share that we'll just deliver in as explicit detail as possible as we always do. Um, I think it's appropriate to start with the flights. Yeah, I feel like that's a great place to start. So, you know, we get on this flight from Philadelphia to Seattle, and you know, this flight is the least comfortable of all of the ones that we're gonna have. There's three on each side, and there's for some reason like this like meaty guy sitting in front of me who's restless, and he is like reclining the chair all the way back and rocking back and forth.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it was too like his wife, I think, was next to him, and she she wasn't as bad as him, but it was like every time he like adjusted in his seat, it almost hit my forehead the entire seat. I'm like, but then I did notice them, they were like on the little train thing when we got to Seattle. Not to like sound rude, but I'm like, why are they so aggressive in their plane seats?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, these people just kept rocking back and forth, and like it really like there was one point when like the iPad fell from like I was watching, and I was like, Jesus, what is going on? And like it was on top of the there's like a special place in hell for the person who without I got a whole list without a whole regard for the person who reclines in their airplane seat as far back as they can with no regard for the person behind them.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Some of those seats, like there is a whole um I can't think it's my jet lag. A whole like spectrum of people on the internet who talk about like reclining seats and how like you either shouldn't recline your seats or people are like, no, I paid for this seat. This seat reclines, I can recline it, like blah blah blah. Which, like, yeah, I get. And like honestly, if someone reclines your seat and they're sitting in your lap, like just isn't it like the zipper something like just recline your seat back and it like makes the same distance? Whatever. I think now is the appropriate time to talk about that guy on the way home, even though we were talking about our way there.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. So it's just in the same theme of like the reclining people. What did you experience?
SPEAKER_01:So our long haul flight on the way home from Bot or from Taiwan to Seattle, it was like 11 hours. It was pretty empty our flight. So, like we had um, it was like a 333 setup. We were in a three in the middle. There was no one else in our row, which is great. And then there were a bunch of rows that were just completely empty. One of those rows was right in front of us. So there's a guy in like the section next to us, a couple rows up. He like the doors close, everyone's on the plane. So he comes over to the empty row. He's like talking to his buddy, he's like, Yeah, I got this whole row to myself. He moves over, sits right in front of me. There's no one in the row in front of him, and then Eddie and I are behind him. This guy, two seconds into us being in the air, hits that button, whoop, all the way back. This guy's in my lap. And I'm like, You have actually got to be kidding me. This is an 11-hour flight. This is not your seat. Pick literally anywhere else that doesn't have anyone behind them if you want to do like a full-on recliner. So I'm getting all mad. Like, my I have like left Bali, all of the like Zen has left my body. The Italian comes out and I'm over to Eddie. I'm like, is this guy for real? He's gotten like, no, I'm literally, this isn't even his seat. I have to go. I'm no, I will tell the flight attendant that he has to move, like, whatever.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So then, or I was gonna go.
SPEAKER_00:No, you didn't.
SPEAKER_01:So, and like I actually moved my stuff in a not discreet way because I'm like, so then Eddie comes over. He still had the Bali Zen in him, which he like kind of has at baseline already. And he's like, Hi, excuse me. Um, would you mind coming to sit over on this seat and the recliner's like really bothering my wife?
SPEAKER_00:I was just so excited to be like, my wife, I need to take care of my wife.
SPEAKER_01:And we hate when I'm bothered, so I do.
SPEAKER_00:I certainly do. And then he smiled and said, I was like, is that reasonable? And he's like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then he subsequently moved, which I feel like I got some good husband points.
SPEAKER_01:You did, but like the total lack of like, oh my god, I can't, like, literally, what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00:Well, now that I live. I know. Yeah. Now that I lived that, the guy behind me was sitting in the seat next to me, but behind me. So, like, not to be impacted by the recliner at all. And I even looked back and made eye contact before I reclined. And I looked for the affirmative thumbs up for permission. And he was like, Oh, yeah, go ahead. Like, if you're gonna do it, I feel like that's how you have to do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, like but and if you're gonna move a seat, that's what like pissed me off because he completely like this was not his seat. He just moved, like, go somewhere else. Yeah, there are like 50 other seats with no one behind them, dude. Go literally anywhere else.
SPEAKER_00:Big lack of awareness there. So if you're taking a flight somewhere, think about that before you Yeah, the common courtesies. Yeah. Um, and then there was a um, so while we're on this theme, I was subject to this multiple times on this trip and like couldn't get away from it. But when it happened to me, I just found myself laughing and just saying, like, I this is so hilarious that this keeps happening to me. Like, same thing, like people back in my lap. So now we're on the trip from Taiwan to Bali. And again, empty flight. And I'm in the window seat. We discovered that you're an aisle girly. I like to be cozy and protected, either on the inside, in the middle, or the window. And here we are, empty flight, like even more empty than this long haul flight. And this girl immediately during takeoff slams the recliner back. And I was like, Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01:And those planes, I feel like those um seats like had reclined more than I've like ever seen a plane.
SPEAKER_00:She was so comfortable.
SPEAKER_01:She was like in your lap, like she could have like looked up and like just like kissed you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, a little Spider-Man kiss, a little kiss on the forehead. Yeah, that's what it would have happened there. She so I will leave your imagination to this because I want to protect some sort of professionalism on this. But she rocks back and she's in my lap. So I turn with this smirk, this grin on my face, with my head angled down, with my eyes at the top of my vision, looking at Nikki, and I'm like, looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson. And you can imagine what happens next. I'm gonna leave it up to your imagination what actually happened next to for her to be taught a lesson. No physical contact was made. I did not interrupt woman, no one was harmed, nothing, but a lesson was taught for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Wait, we didn't talk about the lady on the flight from Seattle to Taiwan.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, we're going to. We're going to.
SPEAKER_01:Is she for a different segment?
SPEAKER_00:She could be. She could we can keep going all day with this. There is one person that I because I'm in a special class of humans now. There was a flight. Oh my god. The flight from Philly to Seattle. We're at the tail end, and the flight attendants are going up and down, and they're talking about how people are trying to get to their connecting flight, and they're trying to organize the dismount from the plane. Is that the word dismount? True. They're trying to organize that. So then this flight attendant's walking up and down, and I have a question, but she walks past me. And so I raise my hand in the air and with one delicate index finger, touch her arm. You would have thought I committed murder. And she whips around. I'm in a special class of humans now, and she says, Don't touch me. And I'm so startled. First of many startlings on these flights, and I'm like, oh my God, I'm I'm so we're making an emergency landing.
SPEAKER_01:He's getting kicked off a plane.
SPEAKER_00:Like, I'm so sorry. And then she barges off, and I'm like, that's it. I'm mortified. That's the worst.
SPEAKER_01:You're on a Juno fly list.
SPEAKER_00:She eventually comes over and she goes and like starts talking to us and answering our questions. And she's like, I don't know why people do that all the time. They, do you touch your beg teller? Do you touch your waitress? No, you don't do any of those things. Why do people touch me? I had an injury to my shoulder. And I was like, oh my God, this is the worst thing ever. She answers my question and we move on, and the flight lands in like half an hour. And then we're leaving. And much like the bar owner down the street, like publicly shamed me when Ollie pee's on their things. And she's like, Oh, there they are. She saw me again, and she's like, Oh, there you are, leaving the flight. And I was like, Really, I'm I'm so sorry. I'm mortified. I'm on a special list of humans that like touch their flight attendant. And like, this is not what I wanted or pictured for my life at all, especially as I'm starting on my honeymoon, this new part of my life. I'm so sorry. And she's like, No, no, like, really, it's okay. And I'm like, No, I'm on a list now. I'm on a list. Yeah, you can't be doing that. So I learned my lesson. Don't touch your flight attendant. Can you tell us about this lady? Um, what did you see? What did you experience? Oh my god. Or maybe I tell it, I don't know, but what happens?
SPEAKER_01:The lady on from flip the people.
SPEAKER_00:We're now on the flight from yeah, where are we going?
SPEAKER_01:So we get on our flight from Seattle to Taiwan.
SPEAKER_00:Going there.
SPEAKER_01:Going on our way to fly.
SPEAKER_00:You couldn't gather. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So it's like the bigger plane, long haul flight, blah, blah, blah. We're in the middle, three. It's a 333. And um this lady who is of some sort of Southeast Asian descent doesn't speak a lick of English and like told us that. Like she like sat down and she was like, oh no, like, I like to introduce myself to the neighbor on the flight. He's that guy. So she, this lady, this cute little lady who's like maybe like I don't know, 4'10 on a gun. Built like a linebacker in the shoulder spot. She was short but broad.
SPEAKER_00:Which impacted the amount of space I had in the middle.
SPEAKER_01:And she is first of all, like raw dogging this long haul flight. Like no entertainment, not a book, not like not watching anything on the screen, not like a nothing. A word search, like nothing.
SPEAKER_00:Nothing.
SPEAKER_01:She's just sat there with her like arms crossed the whole time. At one point, she like had her feet up on the tray table, which was like a little icky, but she's very flexible. Very flexible.
SPEAKER_00:I can't do that.
SPEAKER_01:We're like getting close to landing. It's like the end of the flight. And this lady, this like little lady, like swan dives. I see her go in between Eddie's leg. And she's like rummaging around, rummaging around down there for a solid like 30 to 45 seconds. I want to say.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was hot.
SPEAKER_01:And then he's just like sitting there and like looking at me and looking at her and then looking at me. And he's like, Well, I guess I can't really do anything. Yep. So she couldn't do anything. What was I gonna do? She's like fishing around. And then she like pops back up, holding like the blanket that they give you, which I'm like pretty sure was yours. Technically, like you weren't using it, but like she pulls it up. It's like still in its little package, and she has the biggest smile on her face. Like she just got a golden ticket to go to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and she's like so happy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, she was overbooded.
SPEAKER_01:And then, like, at the end, didn't she like give it back to you? I think she did. She like handed it back. She did.
SPEAKER_00:It reminded me of like a dog or a cat, like when there's a T-word, because our intern is here and he'll go into his psychotic bench if I say the word. When they like dive into a couch cushion to go after something, and they like they get they pray up and then they dive down into it. That's like what happened here. And that was just an electric thing. I don't think she got up to use the bathroom. No, she didn't. Kudos to her. She has willpower and concentration and discipline. I mean, like, that woman, she was so cool.
SPEAKER_01:I wonder what she's doing.
SPEAKER_00:I do. I find myself wondering. And then to, I know most of this episode is gonna be banter, I guess, but we so there's gonna be more about the flights, but it seems like we're doing a lot of flight talk today. So you set us up with these like noise canceling headphones, and we got set up with these like eye masks.
SPEAKER_01:And yeah, our goal was to do put ourselves into a sensory deprivation tank on the plane.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:So we were like, we're gonna take special sleeping vitamins, we have the uh what are they called? The noise-canceling headphones, the blackout eye mask thing, the neck pillow, like we are gonna be blacked out, silence, yep, and we are sleeping on this long haul flight, which we did. Apparently, we started sleeping too soon though.
SPEAKER_00:Right, because we didn't realize that the um the flight attendants come around for the meals, maybe like an hour, hour and a half in.
SPEAKER_01:And we didn't, so we left Seattle. It was like 1 a.m. when we left Seattle.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So I like didn't expect to be fed an hour later. No, I don't know, because then like we took off, they turned all the lights off. I'm like, all right, cozy up. I'm gonna sleep for 12 hours.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But then what happened?
SPEAKER_00:So we are um, so we're both out, and for some reason I stir, and there's no reason for me to have known anything was happening, but I stir, and then all I see when I lift up my eye mask is a flight attendant who's also wearing a mask, so I can't see here, which I can't read her lips, but I see her head jutting forward towards me and Nicole. And then I realize that I can't hear anything because I'm disoriented at this point from the sleeping vitamins, and I take off one headphone, and as I move it gently to the side, all I hear is beef or shrimp, beef or shrimp, beef or shrimp. So I'm wondering how long has this been going on for? And she looks at me and she's a beefer shrimp, and I say beef, and then she turns to Nicole and she starts saying, beef or shrimp, beef or shrimp. And my girl is still in her deprivation chamber. So she can't hear her, she can't see her, so I start nudging her, and then the eye mask comes off. The beef or shrimp, beef or shrimp, and it's I don't know how long they were there. I don't know how long things have been held up because we were there. That was jarring.
SPEAKER_01:That was crazy. That they were like determined to get food on everyone's plate. Maybe they had their like crew rest or whatever they call it coming up. Cause I feel like every other flight, they like come back or they put like a sticker on your thing to like come check on you later if you're like asleep and then come around with the food. No, they were determined. And it was I like I, because we were when we like we're putting ourselves to sleep. The plane was it was dark outside, the pl all the lights were off in the plane, and then we took the eye mask off. All the lights are on. I'm like, oh my god, the plane's crashing.
SPEAKER_00:What is happening? It was it was so disorienting, and then I'm sitting there groggy, like shoveling this food. Excellent airline food, by the way. It was so good. It was so good. Shoveling it into my mouth, and I'm like, I'm so nauseous right now for some reason. This is awful. Mind you, like, we had a great time at the wedding, and that just happened the night before. So I'm like, oh my god, this feels this is a lot right now. And then they came by, thankfully, in like 20 minutes after that and took the food away. And we can go back to sleep, and we went back to sleep. Oh my god, beaver shrimp, beaver shrimp. So then every time, like, I couldn't wear the headphones after that because I was just like, I need to be able to know what's going on. And then every night since then, like we're sleeping in the hotel, and I'm like, is there someone else in the room here with us? Thinking it's a flight attendant, or even we're back now. Oh, yeah, and I'm on the couch, like halfway upside down, unintendedly falling asleep for a nap. And I'm like, Nikki, is there someone else in here with us?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, he woke up and he's like, Was there someone just in here with us? Like, uh, no.
SPEAKER_00:No, it was the beef or shrimp flight attendant. Oh my god. Yeah, I just can't, because I'm just so used to now being like jostled and like woken up by anything, sitting upright with my head locked. That's oh man, great time. Yeah, I think those were that was a good place to get started. Um, that was just a fraction. We haven't even gotten to Bali yet, and we're talking about all these fun things. So buckle in for however we might choose to share this stuff with you. Um and yeah, I don't know. Do you feel good about getting started on the the actual chit chat now?
SPEAKER_01:I think so.
SPEAKER_00:All right. And then obviously we'll in the first half of all of our episodes, or maybe bonus episodes, if we feel inspired to share some of our stories.
SPEAKER_01:If anyone cares.
SPEAKER_00:If anyone cares.
SPEAKER_01:Doesn't matter because we can do whatever we want. It's our podcast.
SPEAKER_00:It's so true. Um, but so what are we gonna talk about today, Nick?
SPEAKER_01:Today we're talking about jet lag, which we are currently suffering from.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's so topical.
SPEAKER_01:We should have done this episode before we left, so we could have taken our own advice.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I had this like queued up for months, but here we go. So jet lag occurs when air travel disrupts the body's internal clock, otherwise called the circadian rhythm. So the circadian rhythm is the body's 24-hour cycle that regulates sleep-wake patterns. The body's internal clock becomes desynchronized with external light and dark cycles that happen during travel. Like maybe think of a beef or shrimp situation. Um, the internal clock cycles every 24.2 hours and is modified by things called Zeitgeybers, or that's another word for time giver. These things are like light, exercise, meals, social contact, beef or shrimp. So there are many physiological processes that take place because of the circadian rhythm and the timing as it opposed um the timing of all of these processes, which isn't so important as understanding like the symptoms of jet lag and what we can do about it. So we're gonna spend more time talking about that here. So since you're experiencing it way more than I am, can you tell us a little bit more about common symptoms of jet lag?
SPEAKER_01:I sure can. So, first we have disturbed sleep or some insomnia, um, excessive daytime sleepiness, generalized fatigue.
SPEAKER_00:Does this feel familiar?
SPEAKER_01:It does. Um somatic symptoms like some GI issues or upset stomach, impaired cognitive and physical performance, um, and then sometimes mood changes, or if there are any underlying psychiatric conditions, they may be exacerbated by all of this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and the severity of the jet lag is affected by the direction of travel. So later in the episode, we're going to be talking about westward and eastward travel and things you can do to prepare for each of those. The ability to sleep during the travel, like if you are suddenly woken up out of a sleep, out of a sensory deprivation chamber, and access to these zeitgeibers like light or exercise or a meal. When it comes to diagnosing jet lag, it is not rocket science. Um, if you're traveling, you may experience jet lag. It's really I don't think many like physicians are going to be diagnosing this formally. Um I think it's more so gonna be a diagnosis code for jet lag. Right. Like it's gonna be something that you pick up on when you're traveling and you notice these symptoms that Nicole just mentioned. Um Nicole. Nikki, sorry. So these are some recommendations for minimizing jet lag and travel fatigue from one of the resources that we reviewed for you here today. We're gonna break this up by discussing first westward travel and then eastward travel. We're gonna go back and forth with a couple of these things and we'll get started now. So before westward travel, you can try to begin to reset your body clock. If possible, you can shift the timing of sleep one to two hours later for a few days before the trip and seek exposure to bright light in the evening. You can also try to get an adequate amount of sleep. This works for both. Um tips could include not to leave packing until the last day. Oops. Um, don't make other travel preparations last minute. And if possible, scheduling a flight at a time that will not cut short the sleep time before travel. Um we talked a lot about our in-flight adventures. Um are there any tips that we can identify for westward travel that are helpful?
SPEAKER_01:There are. Well, the first thing that they recommend is traveling in business class or first class. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks. Paper.
SPEAKER_01:Um second is drinking judiciously, so drinking a lot of water, which isn't really judiciously, but drinking more water so that you're hydrated.
SPEAKER_00:Are there is there water on planes?
SPEAKER_01:There is not enough water on planes as an avid water drinking girly. It's funny, Eddie didn't realize how much water I drank until this trip. Oh my god. I was like, actually, the guy was like in the desert for 40 days looking for water on a 12-hour flight.
SPEAKER_00:Honestly.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so drinking a lot of water and then minimizing your consumption of caffeine and alcohol if you plan to sleep on the plane or if you're taking any sort of performance-enhancing drugs to help you sleep.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:You want to limit coffee and alcohol. So then speaking of, you can try to use a sleeping medication if it's necessary, which you can talk with your doctor about, if that's something that you can get. Um, and then taking measures to avoid a deep vein thrombosis or a DBT, that would be a bummer if you landed in your destination and had a DBT. That would definitely ruin your vacation because sitting and being immobile for a long time can increase your risk of a blood clot. So changing your positions frequently, getting up, even if you don't like have to go to the bathroom, get up and like walk up and down the aisle, do some uh what are they called? Leg pumps, leg pumps and calf pumps, and wearing compression socks.
SPEAKER_00:Which we did.
SPEAKER_01:Which we did. We did do all those things. Yeah, look at us.
SPEAKER_00:No DVT yet. So on arrival, there's a couple things to do for westward travel. Some of these are ubiquitous between the ones we heard earlier from eastward and westward, but to avoid jet lag on westward travel, um, it's best to prepare for changes in sleep pattern. So you can expect to have trouble staying asleep until you become adopted to the local time. Take appropriate naps. We're talking naps like 20 to 30 minutes to keep them as short as possible because if they are much longer than that, they can disrupt nighttime sleep. Um once again, if you and your doctor figure out that a sleeping medicine or a sleep aid is reasonable, you can try that. Or a really easy one is melatonin, which is just like a normal hormone found in the body, but usually available in many stores and something that is reasonably tried.
SPEAKER_01:We may need to get some of that later.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, maybe we need to try some of that for ourselves. Um, and then uh seeking appropriate time exposure to light. So for westward travel, what you'll like to do is seek exposure to bright light in the evening. That's related to the just the time change. So you can just sort of think about that that like you're heading west, seek light exposure in the evening. And so those are the general tips to avoid jet lag and travel fatigue when traveling westward. Why don't we bring it back to the top? Nikki, can you take us through when we travel eastward? What things can we do before travel?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So before traveling eastward, if it's possible, which it might not be, um, try to shift the timing of your sleep one to two hours earlier for a few days before your travel day and seeking exposure to bright light in the morning. And then again, you know, don't leave packing and other travel preparation things until last minute. But like literally, what other way a way is there to do it? Right.
SPEAKER_00:You need to thrive under pressure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:In flight, many of the principles that we talked about for Westward are the same, um, including trying to be as comfortable as you can on the flight. Um, if reasonably you can't fly business or first class like so many people, you can get things like a comfortable travel pillow that can help you sleep, or you can get an eye mask, or you can get headphones. Um, sometimes the airline provides them as well. Um, to your credit, that like they'll give you whatever drink you request on the flight, but of course you can't bring a closed bottle through security, but you can bring an empty water bottle and you can fill that up in the airport terminal, which is like what we did, and that way you can have more water than is available on the flight with you so that you can do that. So, like bringing an empty, reusable water bottle is something that's totally reasonable to do. Um sleeping medicines, I you know, we're talking about them here again. I I think they could really result in some grogginess, and like there was that lady who was sitting in front of me from was it Taiwan to Seattle, and she like so obviously took something. Like, we had like one of the rockiest landings. We're like landing in Taiwan in a monsoon to Taiwan. Bali to Taiwan.
SPEAKER_01:That was scary.
SPEAKER_00:It was scary. We were landing in a monsoon, the entire cabin is phones going off with the like weather alert that you get that gets like jammed through your phone, even if like everything's on silent. And this woman's out the whole time, nothing. And her sister was like, Oh, you can wake her up, she can sleep through anything. And I'm like, ma'am, that's not natural. That is unnatural sleep. That something she took something to do that, so you know when we're thinking about medicines, like you will be less around if you like need to be ready for anything at any given moment. And just to reiterate about the DVT, like if you have a personal history or a family history, that's something you can talk to your doctor about before traveling like this, because there may be medicines or extra strategies to use with them if you bring it up beforehand, especially if you already have had a DVT in your life or a pulmonary embolism. Um, I'll take the rest of them. So on arrival for eastward travel, what you can expect is that you will have trouble falling asleep until you have adapted to the local time. That's in contrast to westward travel when you will have difficult staying asleep. Um taking appropriate naps still remains reasonable, 20 to 30 minutes, but not like us, two to three hours before we try to go to bed. And um, seeking light exposure to bright light in the morning is something that will be helpful when you get there. So, with all of that being said, um, we had a blast, and we hope that this episode gives you a couple tips and tricks to think about as you get ready to maybe get on a flight for your next trip or trying to avoid jet lag because as we've discovered, it can take a little bit longer than ideal to get over it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So at least I didn't have to go to work. She didn't have to go to work. So thank you for coming back to another episode of your checkup. Hopefully, you learned something for yourself, a loved one, or a jet lagged neighbor. You can reach out to us by sending us an email, yourcheckuppod at gmail.com, find us on Instagram, but most importantly, stay healthy, my friends. Until next time, I'm Ed Deleski.
SPEAKER_01:I'm Nicole Rufo.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you and goodbye.
SPEAKER_01:Bye.
SPEAKER_00:This information may provide a brief overview of diagnosis, treatment, and medications. It's not exhaustive and is a tool to help you understand potential options about your health. It doesn't cover all details about conditions, treatments, or medications for a specific person. This is not medical advice or an attempt to substitute medical advice. You should contact a healthcare provider for personalized guidance based on your unique circumstances. We explicitly disclaim any liability relating to the information given or its use. This content doesn't endorse any treatments or medications for a specific patient. Always talk to your healthcare provider for a complete information tailored to you. In short, I'm not your doctor. I am not your nurse. And make sure you go get your own checkup with your own personal doctor.
