Travelling long haul flight with Crohns

[Amelia5245]

Hi All,

I'm new here and looking for some advice.

I'm travelling on my first international flight, from Melbourne Australia to New York with a 4 hour stopover in Hong Kong, next week.

I have Crohn's Disease and have a few concerns about travelling I hope you guys can help offer advice on:

Waiting in long lines at the airport for customs etc- I have to use the bathroom frequently and often can't wait. Anyone have any advice on if there is a way to bypass the line to the front or hold your position in the line while you go to the bathroom?

Needing to use the bathroom during take off or landing or whenever the seatbelt sign is on. What happens if i simply cannot wait until the seatbelt light is off?

In your opinion is it best to use the bathroom at the airport and be the last to board the plane or try to get on board first and use the bathroom onboard before take off?

I am flying with Cathay Pacific and when I called they couldn't really help me much, their advice was 'just try to hold it'- not really an option sometimes!

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

[Robrich]

Planes are bad enough but with active Crohns it sounds miserable. That is a very long flight. You can't use the WC when seat belt signs are on. Bring a change of clothes and wear adult diapers just in case
You can probably save your place in line at immigration, ask the person behind you and tell the officer minding the line.
I would use the bathroom before boarding and be last to board.
Most importantly bring lots of Imodium and pepto bismol or whatever you use to control the D.
Have a nice flight and a better stay n the big apple.

 

[Grumbletum]

Hi Amelia. I travel a fair bit long haul and I appreciate your concerns. First of all, do you have a 'Can't wait' card? It's not always recognised but can be useful.
At check in, explain your situation and request an aisle seat near the bathrooms. Most airports have lots of bathrooms en route to immigration etc and there is usually one near the departure gate so you can go before you board.
I usually eat as light as possible. And I know this is easier said than done, but try not to worry. I know anxiety always gets my stomach going.

 

[Layla]

I second the advice above. Try to eat lightly and take immodium or anything that works. You can book a seat online NOW, don't wait for check-in at the airport, and get an aisle seat near the toilets.

Also bring your own food, there are no restrictions bringing food into HK like there are in Aussie. You can also order a meal ahead of time, I usually order bland but that's often still wrong, so better to bring something from home.

You can't officially go to the toilet when the fasten seat belt sign is on but if the turbulence isn't that bad they often turn a blind eye if you go anyway, they don't like cleaning up anymore than you do and showing them the I can't wait card certainly will help.
This doesn't apply during take-off and landing, then you must remain seated.

Also take gastrosoothe (buscopan?) or similar because long haul flights make anyone gassy, more so for us. I take some well before I board and carry on taking it every so many hours as allowed, I wouldn't travel without it!

HK airport is excellent and has many clean toilets and since you'll be in transit you won't have to go through immigration so no long queues to worry about there.

Hope it will all work out and have a great time!

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

In addition to what everyone else has said, I'd like to add that you should make every effort keep hydrated. Planes are a very dry environment and it's easy to get dehydrated especially if you're using the bathroom a lot, so make sure to drink lots of water.

I'm flying to Japan in the spring myself - it's a 13 hour flight so I'll be interested to hear what other advice you get! Good luck and have a fun trip!

 

[Amelia5245]

Thanks to everyone who replied, lots of great advice!I'll take it all on board and let you know how I go!

 

[BlindLogic]

During my initial Crohns pancolitis flare I lost a lot of weight (165 to 105 pounds) due to lack of appetite, malabsorption, and chronic D (15/day). I worried that I was going to end up in the hospital on a glucose infusion, so I had the idea to try powdered glucose (which I dissolved in water) as an emergency supplemental source of easily digestible calories. By chance, I discovered that if I went an entire day on the glucose solution alone, that my D would temporarily stop until I resumed normal food. I found this "zero-residue diet" very useful for times when I needed to travel.

Glucose is known as dextrose in the food industry and the body-building supplement industry, and I ordered my supply from Amazon. You can also buy glucose/dextrose tablets at pharmacies (non-prescription) which diabetics use to quickly raise their blood-glucose level when it gets too low. But this source would be more expensive than buying in bulk, and the tablets are often flavored with citric acid and/or ascorbic acid which you would probably want to avoid.

I tried common sugar (sucrose) (glucose bonded to fructose), but I didn't have good results, probably due to what is known as "fructose malabsorption", which leads to gas and D. I didn't try glucose syrup which is a mixture of glucose and maltose (glucose bonded to glucose), but that might work also. (Glucose syrup is the main carbohydrate in Nestle's Modulen-IBD formula.)

If you try this temporary "travel diet", you will probably want to start it 24 to 48 hours before you leave and you will need to sip the glucose solution slowly throughout the day to avoid blood-glucose spikes. Also, to avoid overly high blood-glucose levels, you will probably want to aim for only around 50 to 75 % of your normal calorie intake.

Of course, this glucose-only diet is only sensible for a short duration of a couple days and it is not appropriate for diabetics and others with special medical conditions. If in doubt, check with your doctor before trying this diarrhea-resistant travel diet.

Bon Voyage

 

[Axelfl3333]

I would suggest speaking to your Dr and getting codeine phosphate tablets for the flight and don,t eat on the flight.

 

[Ian_H]

Hi All,

I'm new here and looking for some advice.

I'm travelling on my first international flight, from Melbourne Australia to New York with a 4 hour stopover in Hong Kong, next week.

I have Crohn's Disease and have a few concerns about travelling I hope you guys can help offer advice on:

Waiting in long lines at the airport for customs etc- I have to use the bathroom frequently and often can't wait. Anyone have any advice on if there is a way to bypass the line to the front or hold your position in the line while you go to the bathroom?

Needing to use the bathroom during take off or landing or whenever the seatbelt sign is on. What happens if i simply cannot wait until the seatbelt light is off?

In your opinion is it best to use the bathroom at the airport and be the last to board the plane or try to get on board first and use the bathroom onboard before take off?

I am flying with Cathay Pacific and when I called they couldn't really help me much, their advice was 'just try to hold it'- not really an option sometimes!

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

Hey there,

I dont have any advise on how to by pass lines, but know what you mean. I play gigs for a living and do a lot of weddings and festivals and when you have that Crohnie urge you can t just stop playing and go to the bathroom! I always just take deep breaths and focus on what I am doing until I can seize the toliet!

 

[nitty]

Hi!

My consultant told me about a website that you may find useful - it is www.ibdpassport.com.

It has information about travelling with IBD and other stuff such as names of specialists in various countries.

You do need to register in order to access certain info, but there is no charge for it.

 

[The Real MC]

I fly international and I pack my own non-perishable foods that are known to be crohns-safe. The food that is served on flights has gotten worse and I stopped eating them. I don't even chance the fast foods in the airports anymore.

Thanks for the tip on ibdpassport.com.