bad experience flying short haul.

[nici]

hi everyone,

i am new to this site,i am hoping someone can help,my dilemma is a flying(short haul)

question,this year i went to greece for my holiday,but on the plane i experience bad

breathing problems on moving about in the cabin(toilet needs) i have flown before

with empysemia but have never suffered difficulties like i did then,also the effects

lasted most of the holiday,and i ended staying in the apartment nearly all the time,

has anyone else experienced this? i was diagnosed with this condition 6 years ago,

i visited my doctor before my holiday for a prescription and told him about the holiday

but he just said enjoy yourself! there was no mention of anything like this might happen,

could this be a one off?, i am hoping somebody can help with any tips or advice,

its put me off ever going away again.

[Hidden]

Last time I did a short flight I had a terrible time also, yet my consultant said I don't need a fit to fly my lungs could easily tolerate it. the plane had no air circulation (the blowers were not working) the air became stagnant and temperature became hotter. Not a very nice experience for me and I've not been tempted since. Narrowed airways and shallow breathing for 1.30 hours only however I was fine once I got off the plane and got some real air to breathe. I think I could possible try again if the airlines could be relied upon to give quality inflight air and overhead blowers are working.

Sorry your experience spoiled your holiday. That is a real shame. Sorry I can't give you any tips or advice. Only that I know others fly successfully with and without oxygen, it may depend on the airline, it may be that you need to ask about fit to fly. Or you may have had a difficult flight as I did and your difficulty continued because of high temps and humidity.

[Hidden]

the thing is the air is thinner up there and the other problem is the air pumped into the cabin is circulated air ( that's the reason people with infectious diseases are not allowed to fly and things like colds and flu spread easily on flights.).

That may well be the reason.

Remember, although it is a short haul flight it is actually 3 1/2 - 4 hours in the air, that is quite a long time for someone with a lung problem. I used to do 2-3 flights a week all over the world and stopped because i noticed the effect it was having on me.

hope that helps.

k

[sassy59]

The last time we flew short haul was to Spain and we are never doing it again. Pete could hardly breathe on the flight home and felt terrible. The space provided was small so I think he did panic a bit and started choking which leads to breathlessness. We are happy to holiday in the UK now. Hope you can maybe chat to your GP again nici and explained what happened. Good luck to you and take care. xxxx

[Maximonkey]

Hi Nici, I fly frequently as I am lucky enough to have a husband who loves travelling. I always have wheelchair assistance to the aircraft and usually everything goes great. However, on a trip to Majorca with Ryanair (a surprise sprang on me by my husband to give me a lift and some sun on my back) he ticked the wrong box on the travel booking and only asked for assistance to the aircraft steps. Well we got to the aircraft steps and I was shocked as I am always taken the other side of the aircraft and then I go up in the lift. The young lady pushing me was quite abrupt and said I had not booked assistance into the aircraft and I would have to walk up the steps. I can do this I told myself, walking very slowly I managed it and made my way to my seat. I paid for my foolishness though as I was breathless all the way to Majorca - even though I had used my inhalers. The weekend was ruined as the stress and dragging myself up the aircraft steps brought on an asthma attack. My husband made sure it did not happen again. Hope this helps Nici, don't stop holidaying abroad but be sure to tick the correct boxes. Take care Maximonkey

[nici in reply to Maximonkey]

hi maximonkey,

thankyou for replying and sharing your experience on flying with me,

i thought i was on my own but now i know it has actually happend to other

people as well i dont feel as embarraced and afraid as i did on that day,

i am going to the docs now to get a review on my condition, then look and book for next year,and get all the assistance i can without feeling embarraced about it,

then hopefully it will be a more enjoyable holiday,also i would like to thank everbody

who has took their time to reply to my question on this page,i know it will be quite

long time till next holiday comes round 2013,but i will definately report back and let you know if it was ok orthe same thing happened again, once again thankyou all.

nici.

[Maximonkey in reply to nici]

Glad I could help Nici, book the hol and enjoy. take care Maximonkey

[lavender1]

Nici hi I was on a long haul last year and during the holiday in the Far East I couldn't manage to walk around the same as before and my son who thankfully was with me

hired a car so we could get to restaurants, beach etc. ( I, like yourself, am 6 years diagnosed-medium copd I think and early stage emphysema) I put it down to the climate change but became agitated at the thought of the homeward flight and asked for assistance on the way back as my son was there on a longer stay. Was shunted around in a wheelchair, glad to get home but came back to heavy snow and was quite ill for two weeks.

I put this down to climate change again and didn't get checked out, after reading blogs on here though I quite believe it could have been pneumonia.

Am going to chance it again this year on a shorter flight to Lanzarote, take my inhalers, slow down a bit and have the advantage this time of having stopped smoking. Will be devastated if there are no more overseas holidays. Not going until November and will post on return to report a good or bad experience x

[Perce]

The aircraft cabin is pressurised so that it is like you are 8000 foot up a mountain, I manage to. Fly to Spain fairly easily by controlling as much as I can, I always sit in the first few rows, use assistance to the aircraft door both ways, sit as still as possible and read my kindle. You can feel the pressure increasing after take off and they start lowering the pressure when they start the initial decent about 30 mins for landing, I get some puffs of ventolin in just before landing. There is only a few paces from wheel chair to my seat and I rarely go to the loo. Alicante from Gatwick is usually about 2 hours do it is not too bad and I find it worth it even for a long weekend. If you put the top on a 500ml water bottle when it is empty during the flight and have a look when you land it will be more or less flat when you land, that gives you an idea of the pressure up there.

[Maximonkey]

Hi Perce, thanks for sharing your ideas. Could I ask, have you ever been told to turn off your Kindle for landing? This happened to me on our return flight on 31/9/12. I was surprised as I have not had this experience before. The chap sitting next to me turned to me and said "they'll be asking us to take our hearing aids out next" I had to laugh. All the same, I was upset as I do not like the change in pressure on landing and takeoff and I always read my Kindle. Maximonkey

[Perce]

Yes it seems a standard thing to turn off the

Kindle when landing, I supose they have to turn everything off mobile wise

Just in case of interference

I save the in flight mag for that bit!