The Whole Time Difference Business

I recently traveled to Las Vegas for my best friend’s bachelor party. In the weeks leading up to the big bash, I had a lot going through my mind. I was thinking about how the time difference would affect my stomach. Everybody has a biological clock; a routine that it goes through every day. I wake up roughly the same time; use the bathroom during the same times during the day. When I would land in Las Vegas I would be working with the Pacific Time Zone. That is three hours behind the Eastern Time Zone. What would that do to my stomach?

Our flight was an eight o’clock in the morning out of Philadelphia. Eight of us would land in Las Vegas around 10:00 AM. PST. My body on the other hand thinks that it is 1:00 P.M. So when it was dinner time with the group, my body was ready for bed. The first night my stomach cooperated very well. It seemed to have no effect on my stomach. I was really feeling good and upset at the same time. I felt good that I felt good, but I was upset with how much I worked myself up in the weeks leading up to our trip.

On the second night, the jet lag really started to catch up to me. I was hungry when I shouldn’t have been, so of course I ate a heavy meal. Well that sent my body into a mode that wasn't pleasant. I just had to use the bathroom repeatedly. The problem was that I had already taken my evening medicine even though it was early in the morning. So the bottom line was that my body was expecting my medicine when it wasn’t time to take it. In result, I had to pay the consequences.

Do I think jet lag induced stomach issue is all mind related? Could be. Like I talk about in my other articles, a lot of issues with my Crohn’s has to deal with my nerves. Now I am going to share with you things I will do next time I travel to a destination that has a time difference.

• I am going to prepare my body by first setting my clock to the time it would be in my destination.
• I will live as if I am already in that time zone. My body will already be used to the difference in time, hence my body will be already adjusted. The con about that: I would have to take off of work a few days earlier.

That might sound extreme, but I really suffered with the time difference. I didn’t change my diet much, yet my stomach really got the best of me.

I would love some responses on this article, only to hear your advice. Is there anything we can do to help keep our Crohn’s disease at bay while vacationing? Has anybody experienced difficulty while traveling?   Or is it just me.

I hope somebody can help, because I am traveling to Oklahoma City for Rosh Hashanah. Even though it is only an one hour time difference, I don’t want to experience what I did on this trip. Thank you!