The effects of long haul flying on UC

Hi,   I'd be really interested to get some feedback from other people with UC who have had experience with long haul flights, and any problems this type of flying brings on.   Personally I take several 11-13 hour flights a year and always experience a mild aggravation of symptoms the day after I land, as long as I'm careful then it doesn't normally last for more than a few days but in the case of my current flare up I think it may have played a slightly greater role than usual (13 hours Bangkok - London).   So, I guess I’m wondering some of the following:-   - Does anybody else suffer with this problem? - Have you found anything that helps with reducing the effects on your UC i.e taking extra meds before flying, exercising just before getting on the flight, drinking gallons of water etc? - If you are affected, what's your definition of long haul i.e. a 4 hour flight is OK, but at 8 hours plus I get symptoms? - Does flying through the night and sleeping make any difference compared with staying awake on long haul day flights?   Plus any other points you can think of that I’ve missed - I’d be especially interested to know what people do to lessen the problem...   Cheers,   Tom.

Tomster - I have Crohns not UC but same family. I just returned from a 20 hour flight from the US to Singapore and then did it again coming home. I even flew between Singapore and Phuket, Thailand round trip while there. I flew domestically for awhile, never over 4 hours at a time and always flared. But then I realized that I am really afraid of flying and even more afraid of having to use the bathroom when you aren't allowed to, especially take off and landing. I since got a Xanax prescription I use when flying. My bowels were great the whole time I was on my marathon flight and vacation. I did poop a bit more than usual before the flight so I took 1 immodium to be safe and did the same on the flight home. Mid flight I had one normal BM. That is a big change from my usual D on my trips. I bring all my meds on board as well as baby wipes to keep me as comfortable as possible.

One big thing that helped me is having my own water and snacks on board. I only eat when I want to instead of everytime they bring the food cart by. On my last trip I think I ate 1 meal and 1 snack of the 3 meals and 3 snacks that came by. I was a few pounds lighter after the trip but heck anyone who has had a colonoscopy has fasted for longer. I eat when my body tells me to eat and if I am tired, jet legged, or nervous it might not be that often. When I do eat I only eat what I know I can eat like the rice or whatever.

I also get up a lot, drink a lot of water, and pee a lot.

I think the stress of flying and traveling really makes it worse and a simple small dose of an anti-anxiety med can make a HUGE difference. Hopefully it will help you sleep some too.

Also forget to add - I take snacks onboard - but Fitzy mentioned that (thanks Fitzy) I only eat when the body tells me it needs something.
Fitzy - so would you agree - since you are a traveller - that stress (anxiety) whatever everyone feels happy callin it - IS a factor.???
My personal belief - it is.....When I was diagnosed and I knew what was happening - the stress levels kicked in - with travel by plane or car - but in the end when I realized there is no point in stressing and I had the UC under control then things settled.
For me - it was the embarrasement of having to use the toilet and be in there for so long etc and so often - that you would start to get tense due to what "may" happen and in the process - caused it to happen because we stressed....Does that make sense????
When I had UC under control - I just thought - Oh well, if I am in the toilet for awhile - no drama, I can stretch my legs out here (lol) I saw it as no drama - and it became no drama.....
Probably sounds all confusing and weird - but please remember this is solely my experience ( so no one hammers me)...the mind can create alot of things - the main nerve for your nervous system runs through the bowel - so u tense - the nerves react - and that nerve is sitting right in the place we have the problem with.

LOL... fitzy - I am soooo understanding you here...even when I was driving somewhere - I had all the toilets mapped out in my head - even if it meant taking the LONG way - I knew where those toilets were lol.
When I boarded a commercial flight - I was the one looking for the toilets and not listening to the "incase of emergency" thing lol......the one looking stressed and eyes wide open....lol.....until I realized "whatever" sh#t happens literally......once I got my head around that - and didn't care what other people thought it settled - now I fly no problem - drive anywhere i like - and do whatever I want.....since I have it under control....
ONE OTHER QUESTION: do u guys suffer or suffered from "heat moments" (as I call them) you could be sitting down - walking around and suddenly your body temp skyrockets and you get really hot even to the point of sweating - then it passes 5 mins later (no not menopause) lol.....

Good on you Fitz for getting to "that place" ... as hard as it is - it's a place that all people with any bowel issues have to get to - but once your there - you get your life back.. Massive steps, but steps worth taking.
HECK a juvie corrections officer, man your stress levels must of been through the roof. I take my hat off to you there. I just have to make sure my 747's don't fall out of the sky LOL (kinda stressful) but have learn't to manage it well (stress that is)
GOOD ON YOU for going to law school - think that is brilliant.

The thing is - ( well I believe it is) when anyone is diagnosed with UC or anything - it's the fear that cripples us, yes the pain is extreme - we all know that - but the fear is the disease. Suddenly people allow themselves to be controlled by it and quality of life just slips through our fingers. When we realize that we can have full control (maintain) and have a full life back with just giving up a few little things - the power and strength that comes out of us is unreal. And we thrive in health etc......

So you get the heat/cold thing too - wonder what does that......weird.

I have flown transpacific a few times and the atlantic many times. I specify a low gluten meal because its usually a bit more benign than the standard stuff, and because special meals always get served first. I usually get an aisle seat and With the special meal, I am done with my meal long before the rest of the passengers, so If I need to use the rest room for a no.2 after dinner, I can be sure there wont be lines. I usually create a small 4 oz bottle of pepto as the one legal liquid I take through security, and I eat a big SCD-paleo (my diet) meal about three hours before departure on the assumption that most of the airline meal I will have to pass on.

If possible, I will buy a salad inside security, if jt has dressing kn the side, to supplement whatever meagre portion of a meal that ai can eat- to buffer the protein with some vegetable fiber. I bring a nice beanie bag neck pillow and a Bose headset for my iphone or the movies. If there is one good thing about being vertically challenged, its that leg room is never an issue for me, lol, indeed I reposition my carry on bag as a legrest, but my back gets stiff so I buy a few bottled waters inside security to have handy and by drinking
frequently, it keeps me hydrated and forces me to go pee and and walk around and stretch and hang out by the galley for 10 minutes at a time. The walking around the aisle and hanging out in the galley seems to keep the blood flowing and helps prevent my gut from getting paralysed and sore. Last but not least,
I do always carry immodiums though, just in case. But I find that if anything the thing to combat is dehydration induced constipation, which invariably leads to D when you get to the destination once you rehydrate.. So stay hydrated.

I had free flying passes on United growing up because despite glasses my dead left the Air Force and flew the line at UAL. Chicago to Honolulu was my number flight, theirs too as it was flight #1. With a headwind it would be 9 hours. I think the only thing that comes to mind would be how hard it is to stay hydrated since you have less than full control over access to water and going to the bathroom frequently irritates other passengers. I used to try and drink beer but you winded up being a pain in everyones arse.

For me as soon as I get a bit dehydrated ( Colorado is DRY ) then I get gassy and it goes downhill from there so I drink a lot of water.

When I flew to Russia from the US, the only thing that helped me was Activated charcoal and I was in a bad flare-up of my UC. Without Activated charcoal I would spend majority of my very long flight in the bathroom, even if I did not eat anything. I highly recommend it.

Hey all,

I posted a little something about a journey I was due to take from Indonesia to the UK. 2 flights of roughly 8 hours each followed by a 5 hour train ride. Reading it back now I can see I was feeling quite anxious about the trip. The first flight was fairly comfortable. In the morning before the flight, I ate very little. Just a banana and a few saltines washed down with some water. I was very aware of staying hydrated during the flight as somebody mentioned in an earlier post.

Basically, with the aid of paracetamol spaced out evenly and a lack of bloating I was able to watch a couple of films and have a kind of half sleep which passed the time nicely. I ate only what was plain, which turned out to be noodles with veg (I suspected preservatives and god knows what though) but it seemed to settle and a few hours later it was still fine. I asked the airline to try and give me a seat that had leg room and sure enough I was next to an emergency door with all the leg space I needed, this meant I could also stand and do little stretches when I needed to aswell (and ofcourse leg it to the loo) So in my experience its always worth asking to see what the airline can do for you.

The second flight after a stop over was 7.5 hours long, this is where it got tricky. I recklessly ate a piece of mushroom pizza in Abu Dhabi thinking I was a king for clearing the first flight fairly easily. 3ish hours into flight 2 and I was inflating and not feeling too good. I had taken Tramadol earlier to ease some discomfort I was experiencing that I thought might develope. It takes usually longer than an hour to begin working for me, but when it does my ability to fart/move my bowels is really diminished. So I was blocked and bloated, trying to stay as relaxed as possible and praying I didn't start cramping. The errors were mine, this flight was a lot harder. I had a normal seat behind someone and it wasnt an isle seat either which made movement very limiting. This did make me feel a little anxious. Making the descent seemed to irritate everything too, as did the landing. By the time I got off the plane I was largely distended but I couldn't feel it because of the Tramadol. (I had another 50mg after the first 4 hours of the flight.)

I took a train from Manchester to Portsmouth (about 5 hours) when I arrived in the UK. I used trolleys wherever possible for luggage, the immigration person even asked me if I had any other ID as I looked so unlike the healthily weighted bearded smiling person in my picture. I produced some medical documents to prove my illness and all was fine.

The Tramadol pretty much saved me on my journey, the pain relief was enough that I could operate and focus with a little energy on tasks like walking from arrivals to the right gate etc. Once back home, I was cramping a fair bit and a few days later I'm still cramping and trying not to grind my teeth. I have some inflamation too, the hot water bottle is seeing a lot of duty.

In all it took a lot more out of me than I thought I had to give. But if someone as weak and fragile as me right now can manage it just about I'm sure anyone else in a reasonable condition can. If your in decent health and not flaring, I think you should be fine if you stay switched on and don't do stupid things like eat pizza mid journey. What I would have given though for some Gas-x or Rennie Deflatine on that trip!! Thats another thing, cover any eventualities! I was convinced that by the end of the flight I would need to use my spare underwear, managed to serve that this time though!

Good luck all your flyers out there, I'm not doing that again for a good while hehe..

Dudley

P.s. Sorry for the ultra long post, it sort of helps me to get it out and you never know, it may even help you! I hope so.. Anyway, happy flying everyone!