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← Return to Nocturnal Seizures
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Hi @robertm1215
Like your son, my seizures (my seizures are mostly complex partial ones) do not occur right after the flight, but 1 to 3 days after arriving at my destination. They all happened after night flights from São Paulo - Brazil to somewhere in Europe, arriving at the destination in the middle or late in the morning. I believe my seizures were a result not only of the poor sleep during the flight but also the jet lag, trying to adapt to the new time zone as soon as possible (the time difference can vary from 3 to 5 hours, according to the country and time of the year) and, not always being gentle to myself. The way back is always easier with day flights, arriving in São Paulo late in the afternoon (evening in Europe), getting home, having dinner, and going straight to bed. Both I and my husband prefer those day flights, when possible, as the adaptation is far easier with very little jet lag.
On my last trip to Portugal (night flight) in May this year (4 hours of time difference) I made some changes which seem to work well with no seizures after this long night flight. After arriving at the destination, I had lunch followed by a nice long nap. I also tried to take it easy on myself the first days of my stay with little activity, listening more to what my body wanted. I also paid special attention to my meals, avoiding meat and having light meals (just fish and vegetables). To compensate for the jet lag, I practiced yoga (especially yoga nidra - a practice of 30 minutes can correspond to up to 3 hours of deep sleep) which seems to have helped to prevent my seizures. I did not force my body to adapt to the new time zone as soon as possible as I did the other times.
I have not yet had the experience of longer flights that need some break-up. But I and my husband have plans to visit Japan one of those days (27-hour flight, with no direct flights and a 12-hour time difference). This one we will need to break in two, with a stay of some days in the middle point of the trip. We still need to study the best way to do it.
I believe the body of each person is unique. It was through trial and error that I have been learning what is best for my body after such long flights.
Have a nice day!
Chris (@santosha)
Replies to "Hi @robertm1215 Like your son, my seizures (my seizures are mostly complex partial ones) do not..."
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Hi Chris,
This is very helpful. I wasn't familiar with the term "complex partial" but my son suffers full blown grand mal seizures. I also believe that each individual is unique and no two cases are the same so an individual approach is needed.
How long have you been dealing with seizures? Had they only occurred after long travel or did something else trigger them? Do you take medication?
I like your approach and hope to incorporate it into future travels although it may be a bit more challenging with a stubborn 23 year old male who is not exactly open to new ideas (e.g., yoga). Our recent travels have thus far tried to force ourselves into the new time zone although this recent trip wasn't as big of a change which I think is what resulted in it taking longer for the seizure to occur - along with an early wake-up call on that day and jam-packed schedule preceding the seizure. I had already started wondering if a more relaxed schedule for future travels would be beneficial and your approach has convinced me that it would - although it may take some trial-and-error. We have been trying to convince him to download an app that provides a seizure alert to designated contacts but he has balked at that thus far (I think it's a combination of the cost and an invasion of privacy/infringement on his independence).
I'd be interested to hear from you after your trip to Japan or other similarly long adventures. Be well!