Daylight saving time got you feeling beat? You're not alone

Are you feeling extra exhausted after the weekend?

A likely explanation could be your body’s response to the daylight saving time switch, according to Dr. Brian Lamb, internal medicine physician at Allegheny Health Network.

From Saturday night into Sunday morning, an hour of sleep was lost — to offset the hour gained in November.

The switch is made to account for more daylight in the summer evenings in March and more daylight in the mornings in November.

Though it’s only an hour both ways, the change can have an effect on one’s health.

The most common consequence?

Increased fatigue, Lamb said.

“It’s almost kind of like jet lag in a way because you’re basically an hour out of your normal time zone — what you’re used to,” he said.

Similar to jet lag, daylight saving time sets off the body’s circadian rhythm, which is the body’s wake/sleep cycle that’s based on the sun, according to Lamb.

“The sun is made to wake us up in the morning, and we’re made to go to sleep when the sun goes down,” he said. “Your sleep pattern is going to naturally follow the pattern of the sun.”

For night owls, there can be an intentional change to one’s circadian rhythm, and for those working night shifts, circadian rhythms are flipped, Lamb said.

Animals, he said, are used to following a circadian rhythm and the sunlight’s patterns.

“Time is a human construct,” Lamb said.

In addition to fatigue, daylight saving time can also make it harder to fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning, he said. People will often be tired during the first few days after the time switch occurs.

The effects of daylight saving time typically wear off in about a week to 10 days, according to Lamb.

Since the end of December, he said the days have been gradually getting shorter, which each person’s body has been naturally adjusting to.

“So all of a sudden switching ahead, basically, our bodies aren’t used to it,” Lamb said.

Now, the days are back to being the same length because everything’s an hour later.

“Most people who work day shifts have been noticing it’s getting lighter earlier in the morning,” he said. “This morning, all of a sudden, it’s pitch black again.”

Not all countries — or even states — participate in daylight saving time, however.

According to USA Today, Hawaii and Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, do not participate.

The five other U.S. territories that also don’t participate include: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

And only about a third of the world’s countries practice daylight saving time — and the majority of them are in Europe, according to Pew Research Center.

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, a fibromyalgia and sleep specialist based in Hawaii, said he would advocate for eradicating daylight saving time altogether.

“You’re talking about putting the whole state of Pennsylvania in mild jet lag for really no good reason,” he said. “A lot of states are moving toward eliminating it.”

As of this month, nearly a dozen states have legislation in the works to switch to year-round standard time — including Pennsylvania, according to Forbes. The others are: Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Oregon, Forbes reported.

“We are a sleep-deprived society,” Teitelbaum said. “Americans wonder why they’re exhausted.”

Before lightbulbs were invented, he said the average amount of sleep Americans got per night was around 8 to 10 hours, with 9 hours as the average.

Now, the country is down to an average of 6.75 hours, which is due to a number of reasons, Teitelbaum said.

The ideal amount of sleep would be 7 to 8 hours, he said. The minimum would be 6 and the maximum would be around 9, he said.

Heart attacks, strokes, workplace accidents and car crashes have been documented to increase after daylight saving time switches, according to Teitelbaum.

To combat the switch, Lamb recommended keeping a normal schedule above all else.

“Wake up at the same time every day — even weekends or days you don’t have to wake up,” he said. “(Make) sure you’re still going to bed at the same time.”

Another remedy would be to try to get sunlight in the morning, according to Lamb, which has been found to help people adjust.

“If you’re not at work, try to get outside a little bit,” he said, like taking a coffee break, for example. “That early morning sunlight really helps people a lot.”

Though coffee can be a good incentive to wake up and get outside, Lamb advised limiting caffeine intake in the afternoon — even if you’re tired. Also, afternoon naps should be off-limits, he said.

“I love a good nap,” he said. “However, no afternoon naps.”

Instead, he said to try going to bed earlier in the evening, as naps tend to upset sleep schedules.

Teitelbaum advised using the daylight saving time switch as an opportunity to get more rest and cut things out of your day that aren’t enjoyable.

Melatonin about an hour and a half before sleep can help, as well as lavender oils or scents, he said.

“The antidote until politicians get in gear and simply eliminate this is: cut things out — go to bed earlier,” Teitelbaum said. “There’s a reason we have an inner clock that slowly changes with the seasons.”

People who are under more stress may take more time to adjust to daylight savings time, he said, and switching can take between three and seven days, depending on how sensitive people are.

To get used to daylight savings time, the biggest thing is not to stress, as soon, things will be back to normal, and everyone can enjoy the extra sunlight.

“You want to power through it,” Lamb said.