What Is Jet Lag? Plus How to Beat It

Maintaining a consistent sleep routine is essential to your overall health and wellbeing, but traveling long distances can wreak havoc on your sleep schedule. Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when you cross time zones too rapidly for your internal body clock to keep up. When this happens, you can experience a variety of symptoms including sleepiness, insomnia, irritability, inability to concentrate, GI upset, and more. Sleep medicine specialists consider jet lag a circadian rhythm disorder.

If you are a frequent traveler, being well-informed about jet lag—including the symptoms, possible treatments, and tips for prevention—can make your long-distance travel less disruptive and demanding on your body.

Here is what you need to know about jet lag so that you can protect your sleep and your health—even when you travel.

Why Jet Lag Happens

When you arrive in a new time zone, your circadian rhythms are still acclimated to the time of day from where you departed. When this happens, you can experience symptoms of jet lag as your body adjusts.

Health experts consider jet lag a temporary sleep problem that primarily occurs when you travel across more than three time zones. But it can impact anyone who travels across more than one time zone.

Additionally, some conditions of travel make jet lag more prone to happen, such as: being sleep deprived, sitting for long periods in an uncomfortable position, drinking excessive amounts of caffeine or alcohol, fluctuating cabin air pressure, and inhaling poor air quality.

Is Jet Lag Worse Going East or West?

The speed at which your circadian rhythms adapt to the new time zone depends on the number of time zones you crossed and the direction of your travel. Typically, traveling east makes jet lag worse. Some experts speculate that this is because eastward travel is in direct opposition to your internal clock, while flying west exposes you to longer periods of daylight. This daylight is what could make westward travel easier to adjust to—especially because your internal body clock is so closely tied to your exposure to light (and darkness).

Researchers in a University of Maryland study used a mathematical model to show how long it would take you to recover from jet lag based on the direction you were flying. What they found is that if you travelled across nine time zones, it would take you eight days to recover if you fly west. But, if you fly east, it may take as many as 13 days to recover.

Symptoms of Jet Lag

Symptoms of jet lag not only vary from person to person, but the same person can experience different symptoms after each flight. This makes it difficult for healthcare providers to determine what is related to jet lag and what could be caused by something else.

That said, most people with jet lag typically experience more than one of the following symptoms when they fly across three or more time zones:

• Gastrointestinal issues
• Decreased appetite
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Inability to concentrate
• Irritability
• Poor performance on physical or mental tasks
• Difficulty going to sleep (after eastward flights)
• Early awakening (after westward flights)
• Fractionated sleep

It is also important to note that crossing multiple time zones can affect the timing of your regular medication. If you are taking a medication that requires you to take multiple doses a day, you may want to talk to a healthcare provider for strategies to keep you on your dosing schedule.

How to Treat and Cope With Jet Lag

Because jet lag is a temporary condition, there are no long-term treatments for it. That said, here are some ways you can cope with jet lag.

Consider Supplements and Medications

If you experience jet lag on a consistent basis due to extensive travel, talk to a healthcare provider about what types of medications and supplements could be helpful for you.

For instance, both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health indicate that melatonin can be used to reduce symptoms of jet lag. But experts caution that melatonin might not be safe when combined with some other medications, so it is important to talk to your healthcare provider first.

Another option is Rozerem (ramelteon), an FDA-approved treatment for insomnia. Ramelteon is in a class of medications called melatonin receptor agonists. It works similarly to melatonin, a natural substance in the brain that is needed for sleep.

Research shows taking 1 milligrams (mg) of ramelteon just before bed can help you fall asleep, particularly after traveling east. Sometimes hypontics like Restoril (temazepam), Zolpimist (zolpidem), and Imovane (zopiclone) are prescribed, but they do not help you reset circadian rhythms nor will the improve your symptoms.

Use Light to Adjust

One of the reasons jet lag may happen is because your exposure to light changes when you travel through different time zones. Depending on the direction of your travel, you are either exposed to more light or less light, and this can interrupt your internal clock.

Some scientists have proposed using light exposure either from the sun or a light box to motivate your body to adjust to the local time zone. However, the evidence on using light exposure to treat jet lag is mixed.

Some research shows that morning light exposure moves your internal clock to an earlier time while evening light exposure moves it to a later time.

Therefore, it is recommended to seek bright light exposure in the evening after traveling west and in the morning after traveling east, specially when you've crossed eight or more time zones. Avoiding exposure to bright light may be helpful when crossing more than eight or more time zones so that light which was previously experienced as “morning” is now experienced as “evening."

Consider Exercising

Exercise may be the last thing on your mind after a long flight, but researchers believe that exercising at certain times of the day can alter your circadian rhythms for the better. Physical activity can help you shake off some travel fatigue, and alleviate daytime sleepiness once you have arrived at your destination.

Try going for a walk or plan an activity. Unless it is bedtime at your new location, try not to collapse into bed right away. Instead, try to stay awake until bedtime.

How to Prevent Jet Lag

One way to prevent jet lag is to target things that contribute or make it worse. For instance, the timing of your meals, exercise, and sleep prior to your trip can all impact the severity of your jet lag once you arrive at your destination.

Here are some science-backed ways to prevent jet lag:

• Change your sleep schedule before you leave: A few days before you leave on your trip, you may want to move your bedtime little by little closer to the schedule of your destination. Even if you are only able to make a partial switch, it can help. For example, before traveling east, go to bed a half-hour earlier than usual for several nights. If you are traveling west, stay up a half-hour later on several consecutive nights.
• Adopt the new bedtime immediately: Once you arrive, switch your bedtime to the new time zone as soon as you arrive. And, though you may be tempted to take a nap, do not go to bed until it's bedtime in your new time zone.
• Stay hydrated while traveling: While dehydration is common when traveling, allowing yourself to get dehydrated could worsen your symptoms of jet lag. Drink plenty of liquids before, during, and after your flight. But, try to avoid caffeine and alcohol. Both of these selections can disturb your sleep.
• Consider the size and the timing of your meals: When people get jet lagged, they can sometimes experience gastrointestinal issues. For this reason, it might be helpful to eat smaller meals before and during the flight to minimize GI symptoms. It also may be helpful to delay your meals. In fact, researchers found that delaying a meal by five hours changes the phase relationship of your circadian rhythms, which could help prevent or minimize symptoms of jet lag.
• Utilize a mobile application: There are a number of apps that are designed to provide tailored advice on how to manage your jet lag symptoms. For instance, Timeshifter provides advice on when to use caffeine, light, melatonin, and sleep to help you adjust.
  

A Quick Review

Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when you travel across multiple time zones, causing your circadian rhythms to lose sync with your local time. When this happens, you can experience a variety of symptoms including sleepiness, insomnia, irritability, inability to concentrate, GI upset, and more.

While there is not a lot you can do to prevent jet lag from happening, you can take steps like adjusting your sleep schedule and staying hydrated to minimize or even prevent severe symptoms. If you do have jet lag, you may want to adapt to the local time zone as quickly as you can and adopt their bedtime as soon as you arrive.

In most cases, jet lag will go away on its own, but if your symptoms persist or are troublesome, you should see a healthcare provider.