A question about timing of meds while traveling.
I'm hoping the PD community can answer a question that has me in a conundrum.
I live on the US West coast and am thus in the Pacific Standard time zone. I plan on visiting family who live on the US East coast and are on Eastern Standard time; which is three hours "ahead".
As it stands now (Pacific Time), I take my Sinemet at 8AM, 2PM and 8PM.
When I'm on the East coast, if I stick to the same schedule, this will end up being: 11AM, 5PM and 11PM.
Honestly, it's going to be a rough start to each day if I'm waiting until 11AM to get my first dose. And I've never attempted taking Sinemet as late as 11PM, so I have no idea how that would affect my sleep.
Conversely, if I start shifting my scheduled dose around to adapt to the three hour difference, I'll end up dealing with similar issues when I return to my normal Pacific time.
Sheesh....who would have guessed traveling with PD could be so complicated?
Thus, I'm looking for input from folks who've come up against this dilemma and how they addressed it.
Thank you in advance for your views.
Hi
- this is a tricky one! Traveling with PD certainly has its challenges, especially when dealing with time changes. I hope others will chime in and share what has worked for them. Whatever you end up deciding, others in this community have shared some tips for traveling in these articles. Many recommend building in some extra down time, especially if you are adjusting your medication schedule. https://parkinsonsdisease.net/living/travel-tips-with-pd
https://parkinsonsdisease.net/living/travel-to-do-list
https://parkinsonsdisease.net/caregiver/benefits-of-travel-pre-planningHope you have a nice trip! -Lauren (ParkinsonsDisease.net Team)
Hello and thank you for the great tips and advice, much appreciated! I'm still doing research on this issue and plan to query my Neurologist on it when I see him in August. I'll relay what I learn to the PD community. Best regards.
