Travelling and endometriosis flares

[Ecclesiastical]

hello,

I just wanted to see what the overall consensus was when it came to travel and managing endometriosis.

I’ve just spent 5 nights in Portugal (first trip since finding out I had endo) and not to sound ungrateful but the pain was the worst it’s probably been. Back pain, swollen stomach waking me in the night. Pain down my legs, fatigue, nausea. The trip was post period and pre ovulation. I just feel really low and upset because I thought sunshine and relaxation would actually help.

[Username12345678]

Hi, Sorry that you're feeling upset. I used to travel a lot in my previous job and always suffered after flights. The bloating was extreme and very uncomfortable and my symptoms overall seemed to increase when flying. I always though that it was down to the pressure in the aircraft pushing onto scar tissue. I dont know if that's true, just a guess! I'd usually just drink lots of water, mint tea and wear really loose clothing to try and combat it.

[KlP28]

hi! Sorry to hear this horrendous disease spoilt your time away.

I have suffered with endo since my late teens, finally having a laparoscopy at age 32.

I didn’t let my endo stop me though, I have travelled a lot of the years. Unfortunately, as we all know the pain/ flare ups can just come on.

In my opinion & experience, travelling doesn’t make it worse. Unfortunately, I think you have just had a flare up whilst going away.

Do hope you have a much better experience next time you do go away we can’t put our lives on hold because of this bloody disease!

Take care xx

[watercolourist]

I noticed that being active for longer (like I normally would be before endo messed up things) makes my pain worst. Before I could go on plane, than transfer from airport to hotel or any location I needed and stay active for the rest of the day/ do sightseeing ect. Now I travel with some breaks in between. Flight with overnight stay at the airport or close to it. Next day transfer to final destination with some rest time after that. It helped me although adds to overall cost and lenght of the travel time. For me it is the only option to enjoy trip without horrendous pain.

Hope you will figure out what works for you.