Airplanes

[mxw08]

I've been on airplanes quite a few times, but two weeks ago I was going on a trip to San Diego with a very large group. I hadn't flown for three years, but I'd been totally fine every time, including on a 10 hour flight to London with turbulance etc., so I wasn't feeling nervous at all. Flying has never scared me, and I've always loved taking off. But from the minute we took off, throughout the whole climb, and then especially when the plane leveled from being slanted for the climb to being horizontal, I felt seriously nauseated and was extremely afraid I was going to be sick. I haven't thrown up in nine years, and have had only two close calls, but I've always been terrified of it so this freaked me out. I'm pretty sure the beginning was altitude sickness and then the rest of the flight I was just so anxious I was making myself sick. I felt totally fine again when we descended.

This episode made me really afraid for the flight home though. To my great dismay, the flight home was in a much smaller plane, which I'd heard were worse. The same nausea struck the minute we took off again. This time it lasted mostly the entire flight and the descent was much worse. I fought throwing up both times and managed not to, but it freaked me out. I'm pretty sure the first time was genuine altitude sickness, and the second I was just having an anxiety attack because I was so afraid of getting sick again. (I was definitely freaking out my friend sitting next to me with my antics.) But I don't want this to happen again and I love traveling. Has anything like this happened to anyone else? If so, how do I avoid it? I'm afraid of flying now and it has nothing to do with the plane crashing!

[andee]

Hello. I find that anxiety will do that to me every time. I get n* and scared,etc. The best thing for you is to try to relax as best you can before the flight. Can you take anything? Even dramamine will help. Sounds like once you get nervous, like me, it is hard to turn it around. Good luck and don't stop flying....

[wargerbil]

I'd pop a Dramamine next time just in case. If you don't like taking medicine, I STRONGLY recommend a reliefband! http://www.reliefband.com/ I have one that I frequently use when I'm feeling n* (and have used for motion sickness). It works AMAZING and one thing that I really like about it is you can turn it up higher if you need more relief, or turn it down if you're feeling more comfortable. One thing about n* that bugs me is the lack of control I feel, and it really helps to regain a sense of control. I bought one on the recommendation of a friend of mine who's husband (not an emet) gets seriously airsick when they travel, so she got him one and he thought it was crap and wouldn't do anything but tried it anyway and it worked great. Now he always uses it when they travel. I thought "Hey, if it works for him and he thought it was bunk, it must really work!" And it does!

[jezebel89]

I'd probably go with the dramamine or airsick band, but one thing I personally do on flights (because the anxiety sometimes makes me n* - not the motion/altitude) is READ. Seriously. Like, even if it's a newspaper, just anything that I can get really into reading just takes my mind right off everything.

[laylamommy]

^Actually, reading while moving (in car or plane) cause lots of people to have motion sickness.

I actually read somewhere that the motion sickness is your body's way of dealing with potential food poisoning because the body assumes that if there is a disagreement (lol) between the inner ear signals and the visual signals then you must have consumed some bad food and it deals by trying to get rid of it. I don't know how true that is.

These are a few tips I found online:

Avoid bulky, greasy meals and overindulgence in alcoholic beverages the night before air travel.

Eat light meals or snacks that are low in calories in the 24 hours before air travel.

Avoid salty foods and dairy products before air travel.

Sit toward the front of the aircraft or in a seat by the wing because the ride will feel smoother in these locations.

Eat foods high in carbohydrates before air travel.


Edited by: laylamommy