Ambulance 912HAP 9252
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General health information

Jet lag

Jet lag occurs when your body clock runs behind or ahead of local time after rapid travel across several time zones. You may feel tired, sleepy, nauseous, irritable and less alert. Symptoms are usually temporary but can become risky if you need to drive or operate machinery, are pregnant, take medicines or are particularly sensitive to disrupted sleep.

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  • Jet lag temporarily disrupts your body clock after rapid travel across several time zones.
  • Unlike ordinary travel fatigue, it can make you sleepy, awake, hungry or nauseous at the wrong local time.
  • Eastward travel often causes more symptoms than westward travel because many people find sleeping earlier harder than staying up later.
  • Light, darkness, movement, sleep timing and meals are the main non-medicine tools.
  • Call your GP for persistent or unusual symptoms; outside office hours, call HAP 9252 for urgent GP care. Call Ambulance 912 only for a threat to life.

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