Not all happy travelling

[venusintransit]

I'm sorry to report I'm a bit under the weather today and indeed have been for the past few days. I'm not sure why but I'm hoping its just my body adjusting. The heat is feeling not too bad but I am sweating a lot and probably thus losing a lot of liquid and salt. Ive decided to stop drinking water to rehydrate in favour of other drinks with sugars

Comments

[julietk]

It usually takes (IME) about a week to start adjusting, & two weeks to get back to feeling fairly normal. FWIW, my usual approach is a) lots of fluids (and yes, at least some of them being a bit sugary/salty is a good idea, but keep up with the water as well!); b) take a rest whenever you need it (I spent a lot of time either back at my hotel or having a drink in a cafe when I first hit Vietnam!); c) pay attention to your body & let it have what it wants (so I find myself craving Coke in hot countries, see first point!).

Loperamide = Imodium? I've always been under the impression that it's not a good idea to take that sort of thing for longer than absolutely necessary, because it just [waves hands] clogs everything up a bit. (Also I'm kind of surprised to hear of it being used for heat adjustment as I only know it as useful for when one has the shits!) e.g. by & large, if you've got an upset stomach, unless you absolutely *have* to be moving around, it's better not to take the Imodium (because it delays the necessary flushing-through-of-whatever's-causing-the-problem), & instead to stay near a loo, drink plenty, & wait for it to go away.

So, yeah, you'll be fine in a bit :)

[ext_197898]

Seconded!

Jet lag is also an unsuspecting pita and it supposedly takes a day per hour of time difference to adjust. This doesn't just manifest itself as not being able to sleep at the right time (lie-ins on arrival in China are perfect example) but also random knackeredness! TRistam claims not to suffer much from jetlag now he is such a crazy traveller but I cite evidence of him getting up at 6.30am on Saturday!

I found adjusting to a hot and sticky place very difficult when we went to Japan (and were staying with a friend with no aircon so no respite either). Just getting used to feeling wet all day was weird but the biggest thing is the sheer volume of fluids that you need to drink. I tried the wonderfully titled 'pocari sweat' with an advert that showed sweating into a bottle and cartoon people drinking it but it did actually help and I found that and the coca-cola branded equivalent Aquarius to be both helpful and yummily addictive. Having gotten used to Japan I didn't find China so hard last year but I still had a couple of days of meh. I also sometimes find that going in and out of aircon too much can give me a headache.

Do not underestimate how much you need to drink and always have a drink with you but stop at cafes etc anyway. Also, sitting in the shade and watching the world go by with a drink in your hand is very civilised! I find a hat helpful too (now I sound like my Mum recommending you wear a hat...).

It sounds like you've been doing a lot each day, I can only take so many days of full-on 'sightseeing' before I want to sit in a beautiful park with a book! We now try to build in 'chill' days when planning big trips (and I'm also less worried about 'missing things') so take it easy for a bit until you adjust

As far as loperamide goes - if your tummy is dodgy enough to need it then you are definitely in need of rehydration, irrespective of the weather!

You'll soon acclimatise :-)

--
Angharadxxx

[venusintransit]

loperamide is imodium I think, yeah. And I do have a certain amount of the shits but was trying to avoid graphic detail. You've asked for it now though. :) It may well be that I shouldn't be taking it but i figured that I had what seemed to be diarhea (sp?) so I would play it safe. It wasn't relatively mild but I figured that if I took the drugs it would be better than it getting worse (which it did today in spite of drugs) and potentially getting caught short...

I'm going to take it a bit more easy now though I think...

[evath]

Without getting into details taking immodium when you have the shits will help stop water loss so isn't stupid in heat. Just try not to go to far the other way.