Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

[firecoral417]

This seems like a somewhat ridiculous action, but I sometimes wonder if moving to a different time zone has ever helped anyone? For instance, right now I go to sleep around 12-1am on the weekdays and around 3-4am on the weekends. I live in Florida, so if I were to move to, say, California would that turn into 8-9pm on the weekdays and 12-1am on the weekends? I can't really picture this being permanent since I'd probably adjust based on the sunrise/sunset schedule there. But I'm just curious if anyone was desperate enough to try something like this and if it worked for them or not?

[smak451]

You really are too funny! No it's not a ridiculous question -- I've asked myself the same thing. Since I trade the financial markets which are open in the US from 9:30 am to 4 pm. I was contemplating moving to Australia! I cannot answer your question, though I have has some relief while visiting South America (Brazil) for extended periods. I felt normal during the day and tired at night. I thought for the longest time my condition may be due to some weird gravitational pulls based on geography! I'm sorry but I don't have any answers here, I just don't know, other than it seems to be genetic.

[loranna21]

Hi,

I'm from England and last september i moved to Malaysia to study for 5 months. To start with it wasn't as bad, but then it hit back with a vengeance and i would frequently be awake til 6am and then wake up around 2pm meaning i'd miss lectures. The only benefit was that Malaysia is such a 24 hour country that there were always people around then and restaurants open 24/7 so i could eat.

I would be interested to see if going the opposite way e.g. America, would help me. But i assume that as soon as you have got used to the time zone of the new place and established a routine the DSPS will just come back.

[sleeplessinW]

I don't want to discourage anyone from trying, but I have had this disorder all my life (I'm 39 now). At age 17 I moved from WI to CA. While the difference wasn't great in hours, the change in sleep patterns/habits only lasted a couple of wks. Once my body adjusted to the day/night cycle in the new place I was right back where I started with being awake all night and asleep all morning and into the afternoon hours.

The shift, when it came, hit very hard. I spent a few 24 hr sleepless cycles during the first week of the shift back to my "normal" sleep patterns.

At age 19 I moved back to WI, pregnant with my 2nd child. Again the shift happened in reverse after only a couple of wks, and when it hit, again it hit hard with 24+ hrs at a time of no sleep at all. That is hard enough to survive when healthy and feeling normal, but try doing that one 6 months pregnant. I thought I was going to die for a while and it caused problems with my pregnancy. Dr's yelled at me to sleep normal hours and I laughed at them and said, "sure, ok, no problem..."

From my own experience, the body eventually adjusts to the new schedule and time zone, the adjustment period can last weeks and is very difficult, the end result is the same regardless of which direction you go.