Here’s my current weapon to fight the jet lag : melatonin*. On a previous trip I tried 3 mg which seemed to help very little, but the 5mg capsule seems to help a lot. It’s a ‘natural’ drug – supposedly much the same as the hormone by the same name, secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, into the blood. Some of my colleagues at work say the prescription drug Ambien is their knock-out drug of choice; it belongs to a class of medications called sedative-hypnotics and works by slowing activity in the brain to allow sleep. Hmm. Think I’ll stick to my melatonin for two more days and then I’ll be good to go.
*also known as N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine. Got that? : )
