A Dry Christmas
December 9, 2007 6:55 AM Subscribe
I live in a humid / semi-tropical area where it never gets cold / snows. I have been here for 7 years and am very climatized. Now, whenever I go home to Michigan for Christmas, I get extremely 'dried out'.....my head feels dehydrated. I also get extremely tired / lethargic, and my internal thermometer gets thrown out of wack. What is going on here, and what can I do to alleviate the symptoms so I can have an enjoyable Christmas?
Yeah, I moved from Georgia to the cold north and had quite a lot of trouble adjusting. What works for me is getting at least 30 mins of sunlight a day (despite the cold brrr....), having lots of lamps, sleeping with lots of clothes on under a down comforter, exerciser, and a humidifier. I'm also considering a HEPA filter to deal with the bad air from the heater and a light box so I can get sun even when it's dark and cold.
posted by melissam at 7:12 AM on December 9, 2007
posted by melissam at 7:12 AM on December 9, 2007
I'm pretty sure there's no other way around it, other than drinking lots of water. I used to go from Seattle to Iowa for christmas. It wasn't pleasant. Even if I was constantly drinking water, I was still dehydrated, because my body never had time to adjust.
Sometimes I thought it would have been easier to have an IV...
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:33 AM on December 9, 2007
Sometimes I thought it would have been easier to have an IV...
posted by ArgentCorvid at 8:33 AM on December 9, 2007
For that dry-head feeling, try breathing steam in the mornings--boil water, pour in bowl, put head over bowl with towel covering you, and breathe a good 5-10 times, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Throw some dried sage in, if you feel like you're getting a cold. I was horribly dry in the mornings last winter, after moving from TX to NC, and the sage-steam thing helped enormously. Also good for the skin.
posted by paleography at 8:49 AM on December 9, 2007
posted by paleography at 8:49 AM on December 9, 2007
Oh yeah, like others are saying, dehydration inside the body is a problem too. Tea does a double duty fixing that and providing some steam to breath in.
Sometimes I also like to visit the local greenhouses at the botanical garden too. The rainforest one is perfect for me.
posted by melissam at 8:54 AM on December 9, 2007
Sometimes I also like to visit the local greenhouses at the botanical garden too. The rainforest one is perfect for me.
posted by melissam at 8:54 AM on December 9, 2007
My husband and I would always get the same feeling when we drove from St. Louis to visit relatives in Nebraska.
You might want to have a humidifier going in your room while you sleep, or even just a pot of water simmering on the stove during the day. This should raise the humidity level in the house.
As others have said, it's important to drink a lot of water, too. That helped us.
posted by Ostara at 9:02 AM on December 9, 2007
You might want to have a humidifier going in your room while you sleep, or even just a pot of water simmering on the stove during the day. This should raise the humidity level in the house.
As others have said, it's important to drink a lot of water, too. That helped us.
posted by Ostara at 9:02 AM on December 9, 2007
When I was in school I'd go from (rainforest) Hawaii to freezing arctic in Alaska, oh the dryness! It was baaaad, so bad I'd just start breaking out the moment I stepped off the plane. Slather your face/arms/hands in lotion, it'll help a lot. Lots of water and try to eat a little better than you normally would, fruit helps a lot with energy levels.
posted by Craig at 9:53 AM on December 9, 2007
posted by Craig at 9:53 AM on December 9, 2007
Don't forget that the act of traveling will dehydrate you, too. So don't wait until you get there to start downing the water--on the plane or in the car, keep it coming! Yeah, you'll have to pee more but you'll have a good head start. Once you arrive, keep it up. I'm always ready with an arsenal of chapstick and lotion. The last time the hubby and I visited the fam, we had to keep going back to the store to get stronger and stronger chapstick--finally ended up with one made by Neosporin.
posted by wallaby at 1:46 PM on December 9, 2007
posted by wallaby at 1:46 PM on December 9, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd drink lots of water and take a few short walks outside each day to get some sun. You can re-acclimate. And wear a hat, even before you get cold.
There's not much to do about the lethargy. I think we all feel it to some extent.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 7:08 AM on December 9, 2007