Flying

Hi all,

Iā€™m not a regular poster, but just wanted to get some advise. Iā€™m a fellow MAV suffer since March 2012. Currently in the wonderful hands of Dr S and on 60mg of Nort.

I recently met a girl in London where I live and have fallen head over heels. The problem is she lives in Dubai and only comes to London for lecturing seminars a couple of times a month. It has now got to the stage where she wants me to meet her parents/family in Dubai. The problem is I am sh*t scared of flying as the MAV, I believe, came about because of a London-Thailand-London 10 day short trip back in March. Dr S believes the MAV start up was due to high MSG, caffeine and alcohol consumption along with sleep deprivation/time changes and lots of boat/flying trips in a short space of time.

So you see my dilemma, do I fly and then have another MAV blow up or do I stay safe and keep my feet on the ground and perhaps risk offending this girl who I see me having a decent future with?!

Suggestions are most most welcome!

Khal

How well are your symptoms controlled now? If they are well-controlled, how long have they been for? I wish I could give you a good answer but I havenā€™t flown since my mav started.

Hi Khal,

2 weeks after this episode started I flew from Zurich to Bali which was around 16 hours of travel. During the flight itself I felt the best As it seems that motion cancels out my feelings of disequilibrium. I didnā€™t notice any increase in symptoms after the flights.

However , I am not sure that we suffer the same symptoms so canā€™t really advise how it will make you feel. Is it worth asking Dr S?

Hi all,

I too am a patient of Dr S and I asked him about flying because like Richy I was fine on flights. He said to me flying is a different motion to trains & boats so you will be fine whilst onboard BUT he did warn me of jetlag. We are just back from a family holiday in Dubai - I was fine on the way out but on the way back I slipped back for a good couple of weeks - my symptoms increased and I felt pretty rubbish. I must add that contributed to this 1- I didnā€™t stick to the diet properly whilst on vacation, 2- we had a family bereavement , 3- I was under the weather anyway, 4- my stress levels were quite high generally. So I think if all these things hadnā€™t of happened I would have been ok actually. My guess is if you do stick to the diet & choose sensible flying times & keep stress to a minimum there is no reason why you canā€™t go and see your lady!!
Anna x

Blimey thatā€™s real love i wouldnā€™t travel 5 minutes by car to see my missus!! :lol:

you will be fine flying. Seeing your missus will probably cheer you up and make you feel better

ā€” Begin quote from ā€œrobertgreen99ā€

Blimey thatā€™s real love i wouldnā€™t travel 5 minutes by car to see my missus!! :lol:

you will be fine flying. Seeing your missus will probably cheer you up and make you feel better

ā€” End quote

:lol:

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses. Much appreciated.

Three things I think I will be trying to follow:

  1. Take valium on the plane trip. Seems to help people on this board.
  2. Try book decent flight times.
  3. Donā€™t eat outside the scope of the 6 Cā€™s whilst abroad.

I am seeing Dr S on 13th Dec so will be asking him then. I wonā€™t be able to get out there until late Feb anyway, so that gives me 3 more months to continue recovering.

Khal

Hello,

I have had MAV, mostly controlled with drugs, for years. Flying can be one of my biggest problems. However I have realised now that one thing is utterly critical if I am to stand a chance of the flight not bringing on a relapse and thatā€™s timing. I would strongly advise you donā€™t do a night flight, and try to time it so you donā€™t disrupt your sleep pattern - so no crazily early flights that mean getting up at 4 am to get to the airport etcā€¦ Itā€™s a pain as it often means you have to look harder and longer to get flights there and back that fulfill this criterion, but so worth it. I did a 13 hr day flight to Thailand and was fine, I did a night flight back and lost loads of sleep and was ill for weeks after.

Wear ear planes, the special ear plugs that regulate air pressure changes in your ears - these really help me too. Make sure you have them in for take off and landing. I wear mine all the way through the flight on a why not it canā€™t hurt basis.

Also try to give yourself plenty of time to pack, get to the airport etc, so thereā€™s no stress on the way there. And make sure you are really well hydrated. Drink a lot of water before you board and during the flight. Avoid anything salty - donā€™t down a bag of crisps or succumb to the peanuts.

I used to take valium but it made absolutely no difference to me, but then again, valium has never helped my symptoms.

I say follow the above precautions and go for it.

H

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Flight Kit!

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Hi
I will fly this friday 12-21-12 for the first time with this condition. And as it gets close i feel like canceling my flight. Iā€™ve read that some mavers get worse or some are not affected. Plase help with ur comments and experiences. Can it get worse with air travel? I am close to remission but donā€™t want to screw up my long recovery progress with this flight. I really want to see my family after 2 and 1/2 years of not seeing them and if I dnt fly I will be alone for xmas 2012.

Go for the girl man! Donā€™t miss this opportunity. U may never get it again. The 3 points u mentioned will b enough to get u there safe n sound