Road trip tips for people with Crohn's Disease

[tonya_n_ky]

I was just wondering how ya'll handle Crohn's while traveling? I personally HATE using public restrooms, especially the ones with more than one stall. Always seems someone else is in there with ya. Shhhh (LOL) I know some of you are still in school and God Bless ya for dealing with it. I went on a road trip over the weekend and I try to stop at the places where it's clean and that only have one stall.

 

[DannyB]

Interesting question Tonya,

I saw this portable toilet thing that you put in the bag of an suv and plug into the cigarette lighter and it inflates like a bubble for you to go inside and do the business, pretty cool I thought but I dont own an suv so that screws that one right up.

I always carry my rucksack in case of emergency situations!!!

 

[kix66]

I hear ya, I try to stop at well know fast food places and if someone else is in there I don't care, I figure whats the likelihood I'll see them again if at all. Also a good place to stop are larger truck stops. They are nice, they are usually kept clean because of the constant activity.

 

[tonya_n_ky]

No suv here either...but would be funny if the police checked to see what u were up to, lol

 

[Nancy Lee]

I think I know every pit stop on our highways here.
I don't really care if someone is in the other stall or not...when ya gotta go...
Also, I have the same roll of toilet paper in my purse for the past 10 years! LOL

 

[mikeyarmo]

You can try not eating a few hours before a road trip, and only sticking with foods you feel are safer (do not cause you to go to the washroom as much). You can also try taking an anti-diarrhea medication.

If the trip is not too long though, the best bet is try to not eat for a few hours before hand drink water or fruit juices only. It may be hard, but it is up to you to decide if this is a step worth taking.

 

[katiesue1506]

Oh the worst thing for me... I would have to say, is that I'm still in college and I live in the dormitories. Not only are the bathrooms either always full, but they are either broken or dirty because the people on my floor don't know how to use an automatic toilet. Not to mention the bathroom is at the other end of my floor, so I will lay in bed or wake up in the middle of the night and have to go and I will have to get down out of my lofted bed, put shoes on, scamper down the hallway and then find out the the bathroom is broken and have to go to another floor. Its all quite exhausting especially at 2 in the morning. PLUS they have the really thin tissue papery toilet paper. Those Cottonelle wipes are my friend

 

[skeet]

I use Mike's plan for my daily travels: I don't eat before I go to work. Not so bad when I just have one or two inspections, but if I get three or more, I'm gonna be weak-kneed and dizzy before I get home.

I haven't left the island in about eight years & hope I never have to again. It's a minimum five-hour flight to get to the nearest out-of-state destination. Add two hours pre-flight nonsense and at least an hour to collect luggage & get somewhere comfortable & you're talking a long, long day at the mercy of unpleasant public facilites.

I know all the local places that have single-occupancy restrooms. WalMart & K-Mart are a real pain, because there's always scads of other people in the other booths. And, as I've mentioned before, in a dire emergency, there are almost always beach park restrooms nearby. I always have tissue, moist wipes and paper towel in my car ... and an entire clean outfit for those occasion when everything goes wrong. :ymad:

 

[GeoGiGi]

I ran a relay race this summer... and running definetly speeds things up for me. I'd run 6 miles and then REALLY have to go. And of course there are only porta-potties with about 40 people in line... I had no shame with running right to the front of the line and telling the person I have an IB disease and I REALLY need to go, could I cut in front? And of course, they let you in to the front of the line Gotta do whacha gotta do in an emergency. Of course, I've also had my fair share of accidents as well... yikes. When I take long car trips in areas where there aren't bathrooms (I travel internationally a lot) I use imodium... hate the stuff, makes me feel horrible in a completly different way, but sometimes it's a necessary evil...

 

[Cara Fusinato]

I have a road trip every place I go -- living 1 hour from a town -- I just don't eat. I used to eat lunch in town sometimes, but then I wouldn't be able to make it home and have run in the door urgently many times. After that, I gave up eating. I, too, know every great reststop heading South to LA, North to Northern CA, or East to Arizona.

 

[Nancy Lee]

Came back to add for Tonya and others...

My GI gives me Imodium by prescription....that helps a lot!
So, it could be worth asking your doc for a script.

Also, Glade has come out with a purse sized room freshener, no bigger than a tube of lipstick!

I just feel better using someone else's washroom when I have that on me.

 

[tonya_n_ky]

Unfortunately, my intestines laugh as imodium goes in my system and right back out, lol...I use to eat them like candy. I usually prepare by taking my cholestyramine...but sometimes still need to make a pit stop. When I take a trip, it's usually about a 500 miles round trip (we go there and come back the same day) so I kinda have to eat. I do LOVE the idea of the Glade air freshener..I went on my last road trip Sunday and was sitting in a stall wishing they'd come out with something like that so wooohooo. I love hearing the ideas so keep em comin'...

 

[Janet]

Oh the worst thing for me... I would have to say, is that I'm still in college and I live in the dormitories. Not only are the bathrooms either always full, but they are either broken or dirty because the people on my floor don't know how to use an automatic toilet. Not to mention the bathroom is at the other end of my floor, so I will lay in bed or wake up in the middle of the night and have to go and I will have to get down out of my lofted bed, put shoes on, scamper down the hallway and then find out the the bathroom is broken and have to go to another floor. Its all quite exhausting especially at 2 in the morning. PLUS they have the really thin tissue papery toilet paper. Those Cottonelle wipes are my friend

Oyy me too but luckily I'm right across from the bathroom. I always keep my door open so I see all the girls going in and out...kinda akward but I like being so close Oh and the TP is like sand paper!!! No good at all.

 

[Kev]

Road trips.. any trip, outside the house if you aren't really in controll of your body, can be life altering.. I was literally a prisoner here.. This past winter, before my last op, my mother was air-evacced to a nearby hospital for heart surgery (she normally lives about 500 mi away).. I desparately wanted to visit her, and it was less than 16 miles to the hospital.. I made 3 attempts in one day, and had to return home twice. (don't ask why, you don't want the details).. I've made signifcant progress since then
and can usually count on my body to behave for periods of 2 - 3 hours at a time.. If I do go on road trips, I prepare.. Toiletry materials, change of clothes, and wipes.. If forced to use a public toilet, I don't let any neighbours in other stalls stop me... I consider it a 'war zone'.. No, it's not the public toilets that hamper my travel plans these days... it's the lack of suitable food for long trips.. My diet is key to the progress I've made, and I won't chance/sacrifice my progress for anything.. (except a family emergency).. I would love to visit friends/family back home, but it is too risky for me to make the 5 - 6 hour trip, even for the christmas holidays...

 

[Nancy Lee]

I would love to be able to fly out west (a 6 hour flight and 2 hour stopover) to visit with my husbands family, but have been unable to as yet. I keep thinking about that little bathroom on the plane and all those people who may want to use it. So each year I see him off at the airport...with a smile on my face....and tears in my eyes.....wishing....wishing...

 

[tonya_n_ky]

Nancy and Kev- I hope both of you can soon feel well enough to travel to be with your families. Lots of hugs to both of you.

 

[Valentina]

Nancy and Kev- I hope both of you can soon feel well enough to travel to be with your families. Lots of hugs to both of you.

ditto, its sad that crohns takes away so much. Travel should be an exciting experience, not a nightmare. If I hadnt been in remission I prob never would have met Jonny
hope you all get to that point, and can travel