Air travel during Flare

Hello! I’m looking for any tips or advice you can share. I’m in a flare but have to fly to see family in a little over a week. I cannot postpone the trip. It’s a very ill loved one that I need to go see. My UC tends to be worse in the am, so my flight out is scheduled for early afternoon. But it’s a 3 hr flight! Typically if I have to leave the house during a flare and be gone for hours I will take some Imodium . That often helps, but it’s not totally effective.

I’m on canasa twice a day and been eating semi SCD diet. Maybe I will go full SCD diet! It’s not seeming to get much better. Been in a flare about a month. Would it be unreasonable to ask GI for prednisone supp? I have an appt with GI next week. I don’t take oral meds as they cause nausea and vomiting. Canasa often works within a few weeks. Looking for any tips or advice? I’m taking Florastor also. Thanks!

I have flown intercontinental (11 hours) while flaring mildly, it was not fun but i had more problems with the jetlag (i.e. disturbed body clock) than the flight itself. Personally I prefer to eat breakfast because that helps to empty the bowel out in the morning, plus it's important not to dehydrate. I would probably skip lunch though for an afternoon flight.
You can go to the toilet during the flight but obviously not during take off and landing and sometimes there is a queue.
I later found out that we are at an increased risk of DVT if we fly while flaring so do take the chance to walk around a bit (even if it's just to go to the toilet).

I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask your GI for the steroid supp if you think that would help. I hate flying as-is (severely claustrophobic), can't imagine doing it during a flare.

IMMODIUM.

Seriously. It's an excellent short-term soultion to prevent constant pooping on the plane. I flew from Peru to NYC whilst in a flare AND with a parasite I caught in Peru. I couldn't find Immodium anywhere (or maybe the pharmacist didn't understand my horrible Spanish...), so I had to make do with pepto bismol. I went darn near through the whole bottle (not safe or wise, but I was desperate).

I ended up using the bathroom every 30 minutes or so all throughout the red-eye flight. Thankfully it was once of those huge airbus-type planes, so there were a ton of bathrooms. And the fact that it was a red eye meant that most people were sleeping.

Now I ALWAYS have immodium in my travel bag for emergencies.

Another time, I moved cities while in a pretty severe flare, and took Immodium for the 5 hour drive. Worked like a charm.

Just take immodium (loperamide). GI doctors have scared us to death about taking it, like that it might cause megacolon, but it's not going to do that if you use it just one time.

After you void in the morning, take two pills. Then take two more about an hour before your flight.

When my flares are bad I don't travel anywhere without immodium.

Post Edited (VanJordan) : 4/24/2022 11:12:35 PM (GMT-6)