Hi. I was wondering if the air pressure and quality when flying can affect asthma in a bad way?
Also, do you need a letter from your GP to take inhalers in hand luggage?
I am new to this so not sure what to expect, but a bit worried about having an attack in the air, and what to do.
Thanks
Jill
don't need letter if its inhalers even in hand luggage as for pressure wise i find am fine until the descent than i have probs even with inhaler ++ tho some people are fine. just make sure you have your reliver to ahand and if you have any major probs air staff are normally brill just chill and have nice time away,
Hi we took a whole bag of meds as there are 3 of us with asthma and 1 of us with crohns. We did take the slips of paper that are attached to the scripts as this proved who the meds were for. My 2 boys were fine, maybe because my brittle asthmatic Son needed 10 puffs before we even got on the plane due to the excitement. I on the other hand had 2 attacks, 1 taking off and 1 landing. Had lots of blue and was o.k. We did have a portaneb in the hand luggage and oxygen overhead so I didn't panic too much, that helped. We took spares of all our meds in case any didn't work.Most of us kept well for most of the holiday but my Son collapsed and had about 4 severe asthma attacks until the winter sun kicked in. My youngest Son and I had just recovered from swine flu.
Just make sure you have your reliever with you and keep calm, I hate flying so that's why it really got me.
This was our first family holiday abroad because of health problems, I was worried about people smoking and nearly canceled the holiday, but it was fantastic. We booked a no smoking room and no-one smoked inside, people smoked outside but it was always breezy which helped.
Enjoy your holiday, we did and can't wait to do it again
Kate
Flying
Hi, I frequently fly between UK and Spain via most carriers. Security staff are used to seeing ""blue"" inhalers in one's pockets, and the x-ray staff are used to seeing the aerosols and foil backed tablets in the hand luggage. Script other half is a good reply for any inquisitive security staff, who I've found always to be be very polite and pleasant. I would though, put any watches money and inhalers in the hand luggage just prior to going through the x ray. Also, to anticipate any unforseen plane delays, try to take a few long term brochodilators etc with the hand luggage, rather than everything in the hold luggage. UK side are the most fussy I've found. I've even accidently left my inhaler at Gatwick security/ x ray and remembered some time later and returned, and they had looked after it safely.
Travelling, I have found that the aircraft's humidity does become very dry, that does cause some wheeziness. One should be careful at not blowing one's nose on a hanky too hard with the dryness. The shock to the chest on exiting from a warm aircraft onto a cold damp winter night in the UK, can be hard on the chest. Fortunately nowadays the luggage retrieval areas, that used to be areas where smokers could ""light up"", have mostly become non smoking areas. Enjoy the warm healthy sun !
NeilF.
P.S. Some Arabic air carriers do have their planes air conditioning set very low and this has caused me probs in the past with having to seek medical assistance at Paris (CDG) on route to Kuwait, Air crew said that they did not have oxygen on board (only the drop down depressurisation supply available). I caught a later and warmer flight with a different carrier.
Don't know I'd it's flying or changes in climate but I always take a bad chest infection. So cause of this only have my holidays in britain. Shame cause I used to enjoy the Ibiza club scene ha ha ha ha dry ice and neb how nice
Don't know I'd it's flying or changes in climate but I always take a bad chest infection. So cause of this only have my holidays in britain. Shame cause I used to enjoy the Ibiza club scene ha ha ha ha dry ice and neb how nice
I'd be interested if people have more trouble with plane air, as I'm pretty sure I do, but I am also aware that this might now be slightly psychological, although I try really hard not to think about it! I think it may be because allergens spread around in the recycled air, as well as the irritating dryness. I always carry a bottle of water - which means getting one after security. Has anyone got any tips?
Yep, what is with Arabic carriers and their lack of cool air conditioning! Their planes are boiling!
I often carry large quantities (months of supplies) of asthma meds through in hand luggage, including epi-pens. I've never been stopped. I carry prescription bits, and stick the pharmacy labels on the inhalers. When I'm carrying a lot of them, or going through politically unstable zones, I carry a doctors note, which has never been read, but I wouldn't bother doing this for small quantities, or flying within the EU, US or Australia. At the moment I carry one saying I've been vaccinated for the swine, as some countries are screening using thermal cameras at airports. Just to lessen the chances of ever being stopped I carry as little liquid as I can and always empty my pockets before the metal detectors. Having said that, I've accidently walked through with large bottles of sunscreen and even full water bottles before.
Anyone flying into politically unstable (i.e. war zone) areas should take as little as possible of anything in their handluggage as security checks are incredibly long and boring, and luggage can sometimes be denied altogether in the cabin. I had a moment years ago flying out of a very dangerous area, during a thorough pat down (more of a squeeze, actually), when I got scared they may think the shape of an inhaler in my pocket was a weapon. They didn't look twice at it when I pulled it out.
I cant imagine that anyone would be particularly interested in asthma meds at airports, if was stopped I'd find it easy to prove what they were for without the doctors note - insurance papers, medic alert etc.
I'm always surprised by the number of times nuts are handed out on planes, the packaging of which often doesn't mention nuts.
I have a few problems on smaller planes eg Boeing 737s as it is much smaller that a 747 and there seems to be more volume of people to air so the air feels claggy faster. Only do short hauls on the small ones eg Ryan air! Long haul on a 747 was OK once I escaped being packed in with a load of large RAF guys....
hi my other half has big probs flying so its got to the stage that i wont take her on a plane ,thats not realy helping holidays as she likes the sun,its ok when climbing cruising at35000 ft but probs start on descent ,im guessing that its related to the change in air pressure as the thing comes down wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this, belive me its no fun racking your brain what to do when your coming down to land in a foreign country and wondering what to do as she goes into an attack.
I've never thought about the size of the plane, but I think I've only ever felt ill on the bigger ones. I not totally convinced about the air pressure thing, as I dont think I have ever had problems directly related to being at various altitudes on land. Although, I guess at a lower pressure, you're likely to breathe faster, and get more evil dry air in to irritate you. The second most scariest attack of my life was flying from the US to UK and I went splat as we started going over the Atlantic, which isn't a great location, and I'm incredibly thankful for the brilliant friend who was with me. A few months ago I spent 6 hours sitting next to someone who had been drinking wine all day and continued to on the plane, which left me boringly ill for 3 weeks.
Since the US flight attack, I always carry a spacer now on flights.
Oxygen and flying
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