What should you know about the effect of jet lag?

Your internal clock helps coordinate sleep, alertness, digestion, and hormone release. Crossing time zones quickly exposes you to light, meals, and activity at times your body still associates with another part of the day. This mismatch can lead to difficulty sleeping at night and sleepiness when you need to be awake.

Symptoms commonly settle as the body clock adjusts to the destination schedule. Travel direction, the number of time zones crossed, disrupted sleep before travel, and individual health can influence the experience. Jet lag is different from ongoing insomnia, although persistent sleep problems may need assessment.

Adopt the destination schedule for meals, activity, and bedtime when practical. Spend time in daylight during the local day, keep evening light subdued, drink water, and choose gentle activity if you feel able. A calm, dark, quiet bedroom can make the new sleep window easier to follow.

Avoid driving or safety-sensitive work when daytime sleepiness is strong. Be cautious with sleeping tablets, sedating medicines, and alcohol; a travel clinician or pharmacist can explain whether an option is suitable for you. Travel Health Consultation can help with planning when you have a medical condition or a demanding itinerary.

Arrange medical advice if sleep disruption or daytime sleepiness continues after you have had time to follow the local schedule, repeatedly affects work or driving, or occurs without recent travel. Seek urgent help for chest pain, severe breathlessness, fainting, sudden confusion, or a new neurological problem rather than assuming it is jet lag.

Ask how to shift your sleep schedule before travel, whether a medicine or supplement is safe with your health conditions, how to manage daytime sleepiness, and when persistent symptoms should be assessed as insomnia.