posted
I have an appoitnment with my LLMD this Saturday. Angel Flight will be taking me.
I successfully made the 3 hour flight a couple of months ago when I had to see a doctor from work. With the exception I threw up the last hour of the flight home...that was due to turbulence.
I had to land 45 minutes into the flight last month and did not successfully make it to my lyme doc.
My brain is still very low functioning so I am not sure exactly what the obstacles were.
The pilots said it was turbulence. But, I feel it was overload.
I was throwing up, the heart was really having to work overtime. I was not doing well as soon as I got on the plane..even before we took off, the sound of the engine was too much even with earplugs and a headset, and I was too hot.
Today, I am just lying here and can't do much. The head has that high altitude thing going on or brain swelling or pressure....not sure what to call it.
I also have the high pitch sound in my ears.
I know I can make it if I have a good health day.
But, I am wondering if there is something I can do to help facilitate a good health day.
I wish there was something I can do about this high pitch sound and pressure in my head. It comes and goes and I can't seem to control it.
I am wondering if others have found a way to overcome some of the obstacles.
I will stay down and rest the rest of this week. I know that helps.
I also have noticed that with treatment the pressure in the head is not as bad as it was. I use to not be able to move, talk, or even keep water or food down for several days.
It has not been that bad for a long time now, but it is still feels as if I am either in deep water or in high altitude.
Posts: 89 | From AZ | Registered: Mar 2006
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Flying is very problematic for many Lyme patients. I recommend other forms of transportation if at all possible. If you must fly, some ENT docs and airline personnel suggest usig styrofoam cups with a very slight amount (not enough to drip and burn you) of hot water used to moisten a piece brown paper towel (the kind you find in public bathrooms.) The resulting steam inside makes the process work better. Hold these cups over your ears the entire ascent and descent. (yes your arms will get tired so prop them up on something.) Also a product called EarPlanes helps.
I know personally of a case where a Lyme patient was on a flight where the pressurization was faulty. Other passengers noticed it too. For months, she had ear pain and the sensation you describe as being under water. It was too painful to listen to music. I would strongly recommend seeing an ENT.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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for nausea, ginger tea in a flask, shortly before, during, and after flight?
some scuba divers put one tablet of papain between the upper cheek and and upper gum, held in the area corresponding to the eustachian tube(?) and other drainage channels, if any,of the ear. to verify the use of papain,and for that matter, multi-enzyme, or other singular enzyme formulations,in aviation,and scuba diving. check scuba diving, and aviation discussion boards, dealing with the effect of air pressure, and teh body's adjustment to changes in air pressure(barometric pressure).
the reason for enzymes, generally speaking, seems to be to cleave and clear blockages of various kinds in the tissular "highways and bi-ways," promoting micro and macro circulation thereby.
first check for contraindications of enzyme use with medications, high dose blood thinners of any kind with your doc, and other sources, esp. if you intend on taking a high total daily dose. enzymes are contraindicated days, and may be a week, or more, before surgery, inclu. dental surgery; e.g. tooth extraction. prolonged bleeding.
Posts: 2708 | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Thanks. I forwarded this to my email address so I can return to it later.
I have rescheduled my appointment and will be traveling next month as a passenger in a car.
I feel that my odds of making it are much better this way.
I will most likely need to fly in the future, but at least I will be able to discuss this problem with my lyme doc.
Posts: 89 | From AZ | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
The last time I flew, after arriving home and several hours later, I had such terrible head pressure I could barely move my head for the pain.
I called my LLMD and described my pain and pressure, and he immediately said to take Sudafed or Benedryl because he felt sure it was sinus pressure from flying.
I had never had sinus problems, so I was reluctant to think it was that, but the pressure felt as though my head would explode, so my husband made a fast trip to Wal-Mart for Sudafed. After taking two of them and staying in bed, and about 3-4 hours later, the pain and pressure was gone.
Maybe it was just time...maybe it was Sudafed, but something worked.
For the ringing in ears, my otolaryngologist(sp??) suggested "Earplanes" which is used for protection of ear pressure while flying. I haven't used those yet, because I haven't flown since that time, but he says it does help.
This is just what I would do, and I know everyone is different and this may not work for you or anyone else, but you could ask your doctor what he thinks would work best for you.
lifeline
Posts: 983 | From FL | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I have been using the earplanes for years with excellent results. I have not had a migraine from flying since then. I also take Sudaphed an hour before takeoff and some Phenergan for nausea.I am getting less anxious about flying since it doesnt make me more ill! Cindy
-------------------- Cindy Posts: 227 | From VA | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I've also noticed that flying makes me very very tired for at least a week after the initial flight. I also have to take a long nap once i arrive at my destination. No major headaches however. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried one of those airbars that I've seen in the airports. I had been wondering for awhile now if it was the decreased amount of air on the plane that made my spirochettes so happy and myself so very tired after flying.
Posts: 547 | From Maryland | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I am just wondering if you guys get that head pressure only when flying.
What makes Lyme patients susceptible to getting head pressure from flying?
I have been having really bad headaches for over a week now.
I thought they were tension or TMJ type headaches, but Fioricet, Baclofen or night guard seems to relieve them.
Then, I realized this morning that I had probably been feeling some pressure inside my head, which might not be tension/TMJ headaches.
I will be on an airplane for 15 hours or so when I go to Japan next month, and I am very scared now!
I guess I have to buy Sudafed and Earplane, but I still wonder why we could have this kind of problem.
Anyone?
shizuko
Posts: 110 | From Northern Virginia | Registered: Nov 2005
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Years before I was diagnosed, but I was infected, I had a very bad sinus infection that caused severe pain in my head and ears. So bad I would wake up crying an hour after the codeine wore off.
For many years, I got that same pain when flying. Now I fly so much for work that I'm fine.
What I did for the pain was to always take a decongestent an hour or more before flying. For a while I would also take dromamine just so I would be asleep and not feel the pain.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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Andie333
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7370
posted
I've flown twice since my dx, and I haven't experienced any problems at all. After reading others' experiences on this board, I expected the worst and was surprised when I had no ill effects.
What I did do (and what I would recommend) was drink a LOT of water before, during and after the flight.
I've also had a lot of auditory problems with Lyme.
Andie
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
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