Jet lag

Our bodies have natural rhythms that coincide with the time periods of darkness and light outside. This pattern helps the body sleep, eat and regulate body temperature at the appropriate points throughout the day. Jet lag is what happens when a travel destination is outside the normal time zone, and therefore the natural rhythm, and the body struggles to adapt as it experiences darkness and light at contrary times.

The speed at which the body will adapt is entirely dependent on individual travellers, but generally it takes a few days when more than two time zones have been crossed.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that increases and decreases in a cycle throughout the day. The body uses this hormone in conjunction with exposure to night and day, to regulate sleep and wakefulness. Jet lag is caused when the body fails to respond quickly enough to the change in time zones during travel and the highs and lows of melatonin that would normally coincide with times of sleep. The result is that the natural balance that has been developed in conjunction with the body's surroundings, light and dark, is out of sync. This causes the body to feel tired during the day and upsets moods.

Symptoms will depend entirely on the individual traveller, the number of time zones travelled and the time of day. But commonly reported symptoms include fatigue or insomnia, disorientation or irritability, mild depression, constipation or diarrhoea, and headaches.

If other techniques and home remedies have not helped or you are planning on travelling soon, melatonin may help you to avoid jet lag. While not licensed as a prescription jet lag treatment, melatonin has been proven safe in clinical studies. Dosages available are 2mg prolonged-release tablets, and 3mg immediate-release tablets.

There are a number of techniques that people have used to help avoid jet lag. Before flying, individuals may adapt to the destination time zone in advance. This can be achieved by sleeping a little later or waking earlier than usual. During the flight itself, individuals can also try and sleep according to the night time to which they are travelling while keeping as calm and relaxed as possible.

Finally, upon arrival, spending time outside in natural light has also been shown to help avoid jet lag.

You can buy melatonin from OnlineClinic with free overnight delivery. Simply complete an online consultation during your order. This is used by our doctors to make sure that the treatment will be effective and is safe for you to use. Once approved, they will issue a prescription, which is passed to our pharmacy. Here your medication will be dispensed and then delivered directly to you.