Jet lag is a doozy. It does a number on everyone. Your body still thinks you are halfway around the world ready to go to bed when it’s 8am at your destination. You can power through these first few days by staying active when it’s light out. . .and not napping, but you can’t trick that internal clock!
Case in point: When we went to Italy with our (then 9-year-old) son, we thought we did everything right: we stayed awake until dinner time (except for a quick nap in the van) did what we thought was a great SWAG for his pizza, took a melatonin, and then crashed into bed. His normal basal rates kicked in and suddenly he was low after he fell asleep. This rarely happens because he normally has huge growth hormone spikes (and increased insulin need) as soon as his head hits the pillow. (Which makes for lots of sleepless nights for artificial pancreas #1 (Dad) and artificial pancreas #2 (Mom)).
It was puzzling. We thought, “Maybe his body digests the type of wheat used in Italy different than what we use at home.” Then, after a pretty simple breakfast of eggs, yogurt, and toast, his blood sugar spiked and kept on rising up, up, up. Insulin was like water and was not able to bring his numbers down until about 5 hours later. This same pattern happened the second and third days in Rome. Finally, on the 4th night, his blood sugar spiked at bedtime. . . and didn’t go crazy after breakfast the next morning. Aha! Ding, ding, ding! We realized that his body had thought it was still at home in Seattle so it sent his blood sugar skyrocketing when he would normally have been sleeping back at home.
What a learning experience! We definitely learned yet again to appreciate what our pancreas does without us even knowing it!
No wonder jet lag makes you feel so sleepy. You are literally sleep walking. Next time around, we will remember this and decrease his evening basal rates while increasing breakfast boluses. . at least for the first few days. We’ve got this, right?? (Well, at least until puberty hormones change everything in a year or two!)
Hop, Skip & Voyage Away 