Do You Feel Better or Worse on Airplanes?

[slayadragon]

For me, air travel is one of the most stressful things that I can do. I always get much sicker as a result.

However, today I heard from two people with CFS who said they felt better when on airplanes.

I'd like to hear from more people. Does it make you feel better or worse? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks, Lisa

 

[sianrecovery]

worse, I assume its the high concentration of VOCs, viruses, EMFs etc. I am, however, much better since I started grounding a la clint ober stuff the other side of the flight. I do transatlantic flights a couple of times a year, so I've had a chance to notice the difference. I also wore a carbon mask on the last flight, and funny looks aside, I think it helped.

 

[vli]

Worse definitely; I fly between Asia and Europe at least twice a year!!!

 

[hurtingallthetimet]

i hurt either way but its much harder to get comfortable on an airplane..such as adjust seat..heat..air...lay back to however you want etc...and stretch out..i use to love to travel so very much...now i dread it..
last family trip was very nice because we had wanted to do it for so long..it did wear me down..i crashed afterwards of cousre..but the memorys were worth it because i knew in my heart id never be able to go on a family vacation with my family like that again..i could take pain and anxiety medications because i wasnt driving so that helped alot also...

 

[silicon]

I tend to feel reasonably good on the airplane flight itself, which I always found strange, and never was able to explain.

 

[floydguy]

Flying doesn't bother me much any more. When I was at my worst it definitely bothered me. I used to travel a lot before I got sick and on at least one occasion experienced a "toxic incident" (one where toxic fumes enter the cabin). The flight did an emergency landing with the fire trucks and the whole shebang. Pilots and flight attendants can end up with a CFS/Gulf War type illness from this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotoxic_syndrome

 

[Insomniac]

Much Worse.
It's so bad that I never fly now...not that I'ed be well enough to get to the airport anyway.

Even before I got CFS/ME I'ed not feel good on flights.
Interestingly, when I was healthy, air flights were the only time when I felt remotely similar to the way I feel now after I got ill - just without the fibro muscle pains.

 

[Jenny]

Planes don't seem to affect me one way or the other.

Jenny

 

[Valentijn]

I don't think the plane or flying affect me, but having to sit upright with feet on the floor for 9 hours really really sucks. Especially after a lot of walking and standing in the airport.

 

[ukxmrv]

I find airplane seats very uncomforable and the air too hot dry and thin.

 

[PokerPlayer]

I am one who flying makes me get a boost. What do I do with this information? Does it implicate oxygen as a potential treatment? It just doesnt make any sense.

Edit - Oh, and I tried hbot a while ago, definitely made me feel worse. Don't know if that relates to normobaric oxygen making me better or worse though.

 

[Sushi]

I am one who flying makes me get a boost. What do I do with this information? Does it implicate oxygen as a potential treatment? It just doesnt make any sense.

Edit - Oh, and I tried hbot a while ago, definitely made me feel worse. Don't know if that relates to normobaric oxygen making me better or worse though.

It could be the higher air pressure in the airplane cabin. I always used to feel better on a plane, and decided it was low humidity and higher air pressure.

Now the whole tedious, energy-intense process of flying seems to negate the "feel-better" effects I used to get.

Sushi

 

[Patrick*]

My experience is limited to two flights, but I felt fine on the day of travel, but crashed hard the next day. Both times.

 

[Snow Leopard]

Worse. It's mostly the sitting around in one position for hours and hours, walking though airports etc.

 

[Dainty]

I haven't flown since my significant turn for the worse 6 years ago, but prior to that as a mild case it always caused me to crash inexplicably, or so it seemed.

It turns out another thing that can contribute to exhaustion resulting from flights is the noise - something I wouldn't have guessed on my own. According to this article, "...noise-canceling headphones do more than reduce noise. They also help alleviate fatigue when traveling, which can result from exposure to low-frequency noise for an extended period of time." And that's talkig about healthy people. I have yet to try muffs that electronically cancel noise but they look like something worth looking into if you are listening to a lot of low frequency sounds.

If I did attempt flying, currently in order to protect from chemicals I'd wear the same chemical cartridge respirator (more extensive and effective than a charcoal mask) that I have to use whenever I go out. It wins you even stranger looks than the mask, but unless you react to the respirator itself you'll basically have zero exposure, not including of course your eyes and skin. As a bonus it would give you fairly good protection against any bugs going around the cabin!

Edit: A quick note about pressure is that flying in an unpressurized plane is a traditional treatment for whooping cough. I've only looked into it enough to know there's some credence to it; those who find flying helpful might be interested in looking deeper into the theories on why this works.