Hi everyone. I am a newbie here. My husband and I are flying to Seattle in mid April (a 4 hour flight) and I was wondering how other TN patients have done while flying. Thanks in advance for your input.
From what I've observed on here in 2 years about 80-90% seem to do fine!!!!!
I did okay on a low dose med on the way to my MVD surgery in another state.
"Low dose med"....like Xanax? Thanks for the reply
Flying shouldn’t affect your TN, however we’re all different. I’ve flown many times with full on TN pain, and no adverse affects.
My concern is the altitude exacerbating the symptoms while flying.
Mimi said:
Flying shouldn't affect your TN, however we're all different. I've flown many times with full on TN pain, and no adverse affects.
Meabs, the altitude had no affect on me, nor did any turbulence. If you’re a little anxious, you can always ask your doc for an rx for Ativan. I work for an airline, ( right now on disability) but many people take a little Ativan to stay relaxed. The stress of worrying could cause you TN pain. I hope you have a great trip, is it a holiday?
Our 26 year old son just moved there this past fall after living in NYC for 3 years after college. He made a huge career change. We're staying for a week and will have 3 full days with him. What went from a short visit turned in a 'holiday' as you say. We got used to saying holiday instead of vacation after spending 3 weeks in Ireland in 2011.
Mimi said:
Meabs, the altitude had no affect on me, nor did any turbulence. If you're a little anxious, you can always ask your doc for an rx for Ativan. I work for an airline, ( right now on disability) but many people take a little Ativan to stay relaxed. The stress of worrying could cause you TN pain. I hope you have a great trip, is it a holiday?
Meabs, I’ve taken many complicated, several stop-over, long haul flights by myself in the last three plus years since ATN became a part of my daily experience. Even if I’m in a bad flare by the time I get to my destination, I take extra meds and sleep as long as possible that night and in the morning things have settled down and I re-set, so to say. It is not the altitude, in fact flying is more comfortable for me than driving down a bumpy road, it’s just all the other “input” from traveling - but always worth going! Enjoy your trip.
Thank you Bellalarke. We haven't seen our son since the fall, and we're looking forward to it. My husband has been a great support which I am very thankful.
Bellalarke said:
Meabs, I've taken many complicated, several stop-over, long haul flights by myself in the last three plus years since ATN became a part of my daily experience. Even if I'm in a bad flare by the time I get to my destination, I take extra meds and sleep as long as possible that night and in the morning things have settled down and I re-set, so to say. It is not the altitude, in fact flying is more comfortable for me than driving down a bumpy road, it's just all the other "input" from traveling - but always worth going! Enjoy your trip.
Aww, enjoy your visit!!
((Hugs)) Mimi
Our son is loving it. He became a mountain climber and a wilderness first responder while he lived and worked in NYC as a prof at a design school. Getting to a mountain took hours while in NYC, so he set aside money for his "East Meets West" trip. Once he made it to Seattle, he took a month long course at NOLS and with his credentials, he has been offered opportunities all of the time. He rides is bicycle everywhere, however, he has his truck to get him to those mountains quickly! We are looking forward to see a new part of America.
shindig said:
For me riding in the car makes it flare up and I can't figure out if it's the vibration, difference in warm/cool air, or moving air from the vents. I even blocked the vents and still had it so can't figure it out.
I did a life change at 22 moving to Seattle with only a duffel bag and will never move east of Montana again. How's your son like it?
We would have preferred to visit during the summer or fall, but that's when my son will be doing his climbing. He's a guide for a company during these months. We were in Ireland for 3 weeks and NEVER let rain or temps get in the way of our having fun and adventure, so I do believe we are prepared for whatever weather God gives us!
shindig said:
Awesome. It's so nice out here. Especially summer/fall, it's hit or miss during spring. You can go an hour east and you're in the cascades, you can go an hour west (30 min ferry) and get to the olympic mountains and it's like small town america. On the other side of the cascades it's desert so we have so much diversity. Mount Ranier isn't too far but I've never been there. We always go to the north cascades, olympic, or over the mountains to Cashmere/wenatchee where my gf's family lives.
Meabs, I also meant to add that I was always traveling to visit my daughter on those long flights. Just seeing her made any pain worth it. Take ear plugs.
Shindig, yes, driving in the car an instant trigger, buses, subways, all of it. As well as the vibration, I find the thermal changes sitting next to the windows are part of it too. I point the vents away too. I am trying to move off my isolated island up here in the Gulf Islands (north of San Juans) and move into Victoria where I can walk to what I need as much as possible.
That’s why I came, Shindig. But I live in a rickety old cottage on a cliff on the water and the damp has creeped right into my head. Fifteen years now, time for a change. The other side of paradise is a kind of purgatory 
Hi meabs,
I fly to Sweden once a month , it’s a 2 hr 20 min flight, I’ve only ever had a problem one time on the return and it was early December just before I had a diagnosis so I had only paracetamol, and the tooth I thought was the culprit extracted the day after.
Now I tend to find that even if I have pain as I board the flight, once we start take off, it seems to either ease it or most times , stop it, the only reason I can think is the compression that happens then, like how your ears pop from it too, I’ve yet to figure out why it doesn’t make it worse when we are descending though 
Even though the climate in Sweden is much colder than that in the UK I have only ever had 2 spasm/ attacks of tn type 1 , and the type 2 seems to behave itself better there too.
One point that may be relevant is liquids, I travel only with hand luggage and of course you can only take a bottle of up to 100ml capacity through security , with the only exception being if you need to take more than 100ml of medication during the flight and there is no smaller size available on prescription, my doctor gives me 300ml of oramorph as a breakthrough painkiller, so I have to ask him for one 100ml to travel with just incase I need it.
Apart from that, depending what medication you are taking, just make sure it’s in your system and working before you board the flight and it should be fine
I hope you all have a great time and a lovely trip, let us all know how you go on
I flew to India without problem except when it was cold. Turn your blower off right away, bring or ask for a light blanket you can hold up to your face. I even brought hand warmers just in case, and an eye mask, though I didn't wear it much.. Bring extra meds just in case. I could never sleep on a plane, even with this long of flight, but good idea, if you can.