Jet Lag: How to Beat It and What Medications Can Help

When you cross time zones, your body gets stuck in the past. That’s jet lag, a temporary sleep disorder caused by rapid travel across multiple time zones that disrupts your internal body clock. Also known as time zone change syndrome, it’s not just tiredness—it’s your brain still thinking it’s 3 a.m. while you’re trying to eat breakfast in Tokyo. Your circadian rhythm, the 24-hour biological cycle that controls sleep, hormones, and body temperature doesn’t reset overnight. It takes days to catch up, and during that time, you feel foggy, irritable, and out of sync with the world around you.

What makes jet lag worse? Flying east. Losing hours hits harder than gaining them. Your body hates being forced awake before it’s ready. That’s why many travelers turn to melatonin, a natural hormone your brain produces at night to signal sleep as a shortcut. Studies show taking 0.5 to 5 mg of melatonin an hour before bedtime at your destination helps reset your rhythm faster. It’s not a sleeping pill—it’s a time cue. Light exposure matters just as much. Get sunlight in the morning if you flew east. Stay out of bright lights at night if you flew west. No magic pills, no overnight fixes—just smart timing.

Some people try prescription sleep aids like zolpidem or over-the-counter antihistamines, but these don’t fix your clock—they just mask the symptoms. You might sleep, but you’ll still feel off the next day. Caffeine helps you stay awake, but if you use it too late, it pushes your rhythm even further out of sync. The real fix? Align your light, meals, and sleep with your new time zone as soon as you land. Even small steps—like changing your watch the moment you board the plane—help your brain start adapting.

What you’ll find below are real, practical guides from people who’ve been there: how to use melatonin safely, what to do when you land at 2 a.m. with a 7 a.m. meeting, why some people never get jet lag at all, and which medications actually help versus which ones just make you groggy. No fluff. No myths. Just what works.