I am going on holiday in a few weeks, something I have been looking forward to for months except for one thing - the travel involved to get there. I have 2 flights (one about 5 hours, another about 1 hour) then a half hour boat trip. I am so worried that this (especially the flying) is going to trigger more dizzies. Does anyone have any hints or know of anything that may help either before, during or after flying, or being on a boat? As well as my constant feeling of movement/lightheadedness/never being stable, one of my major problems is my vision, my eyes seem to jump about and have problems with focus and perspective, and when one of these attacks occurs, it takes forever to settle down (not that my vision ever completely returns to normal!). I never read when I am travelling as I have always suffered from motion sickness.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Go here for:

..."Travel and avoiding Dizziness"......


http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/treatment/flying.html

And here for:

...."Fuzzy Vision"....


http://www.vestibular.org/fuzzy.html

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/grad.gif

Thank you so much, Subs. Both links have been a fantastic source of information http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Het spikey doc - I was advised basically not to travel also littleone1972 - u could read out chat on the subject on Quesion for IRobertson. But if you gotta do it then I would suggest taking the likes of Stugeron for a couple of days prior and for the duration to dampen the vestibular response.Good Luck let us know how you get on. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Hmm..I wont lie...after my flying experience lately, I wont be flying again for a long time. But every case is different. As Ilia suggests, take stugeron, I did on the flight home and it helped a tad. xxx

Thanks for the suggestions guys - unfortunately I can't avoid flying this time, so will just have to hope for the best. I have done a search on the web and found that Stugeron is not available in Australia, so I don't know if there's anything similar to it available here. I will have to do a bit more research!

Well, have done my research - and no luck. Cinnarizine (the active ingredient in Stugeron) is not available in Australia at all, except under what's called the Special Access Scheme. Your doctor has to get special permission from a government agency in Canberra and then obtain the medication from the one place in Sydney that imports it - in other words, it is almost impossible to get. It's very frustrating when this medication is freely available in many other countries and yet it is not approved for general use here. I wish a lot of these politicians could suffer what we're going through, then they might understand why access to these medications is so important.

Hi spikeydoc, on a positive note I have done four flights since this inner ear thing started, and other than the extra dizziness caused by the tiredness, new environment etc it did not really effect me. I also checked with my ENT and neuro-otologist before flying the first time and was assured that if my issues were purely inner ear related then they would not be affected by the pressure changes involved in flying.

Try doing a search for vestibular depressants or talk to your Dr about an alternative to cinnarizine- several antihistimines have similar effects. Might be useful to have something with you just as a back up for this period - even if it's just a psychological help to know it's there.

Good luck and have a great holiday, xx

Hmmm not sure about the inner ear problem not causing a flying prob if you know what I mean! Pressure changes can cause dizziness if you have inner ear damage plus as Ilia's VRT man recently said to her, if you have BPPV then flying is a no no.

Personally my awful dizziness after the flight I think came about because my balance is really disturbed so its not the pressure but the rocking sensation of the plane. xxx

Yes I would have to agree whole heartedly with what emsy said!! made my vertigoe ubearable - all the ent's seem to say its ok - but gee not for me. My vrt guy said NO NO NO also littleone1972 told the same thing.

Hi Spikeydoc

What about Stemetil? That would possibly help and it is available here in Australia.

Thought I'd let you know that I just got back from Kuala Lumpur (an 8 hour overnight flight) and my dizziness was no worse. I'm not sure that I'm your typical "inner ear" person though as I have a neck diagnosis. I felt worse because i was tired, but after one good night's sleep I was fine again. Hopefully you'll be the same.

Jen

Hi Jen

Yes, I have taken Stemetil for quite some time, due to my migraines, and I find it does help with the vertigo so I usually take it when I travel. I read an interesting article by a travel writer recently - she used to suffer from horrendous motion sickness until she tried an antihistamine called Phenergan, which apparently worked brilliantly. Phenergan is also the "drug of choice" on boats going to Antarctica and on navy ships, so maybe it might be worth a try.

Glad to hear your flight went OK - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that mine will be the same. I have been looking forward to this holiday for a LONG time!

Julie

Well, I'm now back from holidays and am happy to report that travelling by plane and boat did not cause any major problems with regards to dizziness (yay!). Those of you who have read any of my previous posts will know that I have had the dizzies (originally diagnosed as BPPV, then ongoing dizziness/vision problems 24/7 since that time) and I was very anxious about going on this trip.

For those who might be interested, my travel arrangements were a 5 hour flight followed by a 2 hour break, then another 90 minute flight followed by a 30 minute break, then a 30 minute boat trip. Two weeks later, I then had a 30 minute boat trip (then 45 minutes break), 2 hour plane trip closely followed within the hour by another 5 hour flight. Despite my fears, the travel did not seem to provoke the dizzies, so there's hope for us all yet! As far as medication goes, I took a Stemetil 4 hours before travel and a Phenergan tablet about 30 minutes before actually getting on the first plane (or boat on the reverse trip). The return boat trip was quite choppy, so my vision was playing up a bit and I felt a bit off balance once I got off the boat, but that quickly settled down while I was sitting waiting for the plane. I did have some dizziness after completing both lots of travel but I was extremely tired (especially after I arrived at my destination as I had travelled overnight and cannot sleep on planes), but once I'd had a good night's sleep, I felt quite good. I also picked up a virus while I was on holidays and ended up with a sore throat and head cold, so was worried that this would cause problems on the return trip, but it didn't, possibly because Phenergan is also an antihistamine and would have helped with the blocked nose etc. I also made sure I had plenty of mints etc to chew on when taking off and landing to keep my ears clear.

I am so happy, I had a great holiday and no major dizzy problems. I still have the ongoing symptoms from day to day, but these were not enough to ruin my holiday - in fact, I had such a good time and so many things to do, I think that distracted me and helped me to cope with my symptoms so much better.

So as I said, there is hope for us all - maybe I am finally starting to get better after all this time. Good luck to anyone else who is travelling now or in the future - I hope your trip goes as well as mine did.

Julie
:wave:

Am pleased your travelling went well Julie, really am. I think the reactions to travelling with dizziness is quite a key thign for a diagnosis. As you'll know, Ilia dn I had awful experiences after flying with this thing, I still have the boucing effects 3 mths later. The first flight which was an hour didnt cause any problems though. It was the 13r one which did which makes me think it was the longevity of it which was the problem. But any flight after that, as I took a couple of short ones, were not so great either. All v odd. The stemetil could have helped you which is good. Glad it all went well anyway. I think as far as plane/boat trips are concerned, its all very individual. I certainly wont travel on either for a long time or at least til I am fully well. xxx