Jet lag usually only occurs if you travel across three or more time zones, otherwise, you should not need to take melatonin. Jet lag can be particularly bad when travelling east. Plan for melatonin treatment on your return home in addition to arrival at your destination. 3 nights’ treatment upon arrival and return home is should be enough to help you adjust to your new time zones.

Unlike some other ‘sleep’ medications, Circadin does not result in tiredness or grogginess in the morning. This is because it does not depress your central nervous system like other hypnotic drugs and sleeping tablets. For this reason, it is not advisable to use traditional sleeping medicines to treat jet lag.

Circadin 2mg tablets contain the active ingredient melatonin, a hormone that the body releases when it is dark, letting your body know it is time for sleep. Melatonin helps to regulate the body’s clock (circadian rhythm) and acts on chemical receptors in the brain to promote sleep. Melatonin in Circadin 2mg tablets will help alter your normal circadian rhythm, allowing you to sleep when it is dark in your new time zone and ease the symptoms of jet lag.

Circadin is used to treat Jet Lag as 'off label'. This means that the medicine is being used to treat a condition other than those that it was initially licensed to treat. For example, Circadin has been licensed to treat insomnia but can also be used 'off-label' to relieve jet lag.

This means that there is less established data regarding the effectiveness of this treatment for the condition for which it is prescribed and means that the instructions contained in the product information leaflet will not match the condition you are treating. You should always follow the instructions on the dispensing label on your medicine and contact us if you have any questions.

• Decreases the time to fall asleep
• Improves sleep quality
• Improves daytime functioning
• No evidence of rebound insomnia, dependence or withdrawal effects

Circadin is a natural choice to help improve symptoms of Jet Lag. Taking other forms of sleeping tablets at night may also improve how quickly and how soundly you sleep after flying, but they can also cause side effects and can be addictive.

• Avoid napping.
• Try to sleep at a normal hour in your new time zone
• Try to stay outdoors as much as possible, natural light will help speed up the process.
• Try to eat at normal hours for your new time zone and not the one you're used to at home.

Read the following warnings carefully to ensure you select an appropriate product.

Do not take Circadin

• If you have allergies to melatonin or any of the other ingredients.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking Circadin:

• If you suffer from liver or kidney problems. Studies on the use of Circadin in people with liver or kidney diseases have not been performed. Speak to your doctor before taking Circadin.
• If you have an intolerance to some sugars.
• If you suffer from an autoimmune disease. No studies on the use of Circadin in people with auto-immune diseases have been performed; therefore, you should speak to your doctor before taking Circadin.
• Circadin can cause drowsiness and it may impair your ability to drive.
• Smoking may decrease Circadin’s effectiveness because the components of tobacco smoke can increase the liver’s breakdown of melatonin.

Other medicines and Circadin

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medications.

These medicines include:

• Fluvoxamine (for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder)
• Psoralens (for skin disorders e.g. psoriasis)
• Cimetidine (for stomach problems such as ulcers)
• Quinolones and rifampicin (for bacterial infections)
• Oestrogens (used in contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy)
• Carbamazepine (for epilepsy)
• Adrenergic agonists/antagonists (to control blood pressure)
• Opiate agonists/antagonists (for the treatment of drug addiction)
• Prostaglandin inhibitors (such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines)
• Antidepressant medication, tryptophan and alcohol
• Benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics (for inducing sleep)
• Thioridazine (for schizophrenia)
• Imipramine (for depression)

Circadin and alcohol

Do not drink alcohol while taking Circadin, because it reduces the medication’s effectiveness.

Circadin, pregnancy and breast-feeding

Do not take Circadin if you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, trying to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking this medication.

Circadin, driving and using machines

Circadin may cause drowsiness. Do not drive or operate machinery if this affects you. If your drowsiness continues, consult your doctor.

Please read all packaging and the Patient Information Leaflet before taking any new medicine and inform your doctor of medicines you take or intend to take.

1. Take 1 Circadin tablet after food, 1-2 hours before bedtime for 2 to 4 nights on arrival in the new time zone for a maximum of 13 weeks.
2. Swallow the tablet whole – do not chew, crush or divide it as doing so will interfere with the prolonged-release properties.
3. Circadin should not make you suddenly drowsy – you should feel natural sleepiness between 1-2 hours after taking it.

The active ingredient in each Circadin Tablet: 2mg of Melatonin.

Inactive ingredients: ammonio methacrylate copolymer type B, calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate, silica (colloidal anhydrous), lactose monohydrate, talc and magnesium stearate.

Like other medications, taking Circadin may cause some people to develop side effects. If you experience an allergic reaction or any serious side effects you should seek immediate medical attention.

The following side effects are the most common when taking Circadin:

• Headaches
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Irritability
• Abdominal pain

Please read the Patient Information Leaflet for full details regarding side effects.