How long can extreme jet lag last?

Jet lag can last anywhere from four to five days. Some specialists say that traveling over just one or two time zones is minimally problematic. Individuals who encounter jet lag feel better a few days after arriving at their destination. But it can take up to one week for some people to feel back to themselves.



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Duration of Jet Lag: How Long It Lasts Researchers have found that, on average, it takes people about one day to adjust for each 1 to 1.5 hours of time change. So if you fly from the East Coast to the West Coast, which is a three-hour time difference, you should be over your jet lag in two to three days.

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Can jet lag last 3 weeks? Depending on things like how far you've flown, the direction of travel, your age, and your chronotype, jet lag can last from a few days to a few weeks. High sleep debt may be causing feelings of jet lag three weeks after your flight, though.

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The more time zones you cross, the more likely you are to be sleepy and sluggish -- and the longer and more intense the symptoms are likely to be. Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder, but not temporary enough for many travelers.

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“It's not like you can have chronic jet lag that lasts for months or years.” He says most people who experience jet lag, including those who meet all the criteria for a disorder, don't need treatment and will get better on their own after a few days or, at the very most, two weeks.

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Adjustment to a new time zone is harder when traveling east than traveling west. This is because you “lose” time and you end up trying to fall asleep when your body is actually waking up.

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Common ways pilots avoid jetlag is staying hydrated, good rest, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, exercising, or sleeping on the airplane. For long-haul flights airlines use multiple pilots for the flight to allow each pilot to get some rest. The more time zones that are crossed, the worse the jet lag.

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Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research (Cho, 2001) has reported temporal lobe atrophy and spatial cognitive deficits associated with chronic jet lag. Acute jet lag has been related to functional brain changes.

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Melatonin is remarkably effective in preventing or reducing jet lag, and occasional short-term use appears to be safe. It should be recommended to adult travellers flying across five or more time zones, particularly in an easterly direction, and especially if they have experienced jet lag on previous journeys.

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