What should you know about jet lag for a week?

Crossing time zones shifts the timing of your internal sleep signal, appetite, alertness, and digestion. You may feel sleepy in the daytime but awake at night, wake before dawn, or develop headache and reduced concentration. The disruption may feel stronger after eastward travel, several time zones, repeated flights, or poor sleep during the journey. A week is a useful point to check whether your routine is settling and whether something besides travel is interfering.

Use the destination schedule for meals, activity, and bedtime. Get natural light at a sensible local time, keep naps brief and early, and avoid caffeine late in the day. Drink fluids, eat lightly if your stomach feels unsettled, and leave enough time for sleep. Keep evening screens and bright indoor light low. If you work, plan demanding tasks for periods when you are most alert, and do not drive if drowsiness affects your reactions. A travel-health clinician can help with planning for future flights.

Contact a clinician if there is no gradual improvement, sleep loss is affecting work or caregiving, or you need to drive while very sleepy. Seek urgent help for sudden confusion, fainting, severe chest symptoms, major breathing trouble, or a sudden severe headache. Snoring with choking or gasping, or repeated nighttime awakenings unrelated to travel, also merits assessment.

Is my pattern consistent with jet lag? How should I time light, naps, caffeine, and meals? Do my symptoms suggest insomnia or another sleep disorder? What should I change before my next long flight?