Migraine: BTW – Air Travel
June is Migraine Awareness Month. Throughout the month, I’m sharing parts of my journey and some things I’ve learned along the way.
There is something about the altitude and/or the cabin pressure on airplanes that seems to trigger migraines. It is sheer misery to go on a four-day trip and walk off the plane with a migraine that you know will last three days.
I bless the friend who gave me the tip that has worked beautifully for me – about 30 minutes before take-off I take an Actifed. (As I never take medications, this is very radical for me but, thank G-d, effective.) It makes me drowsy so I can no longer work in-flight as I used to, bit it’s well-worth the trade-off.
If the flight is longer than six hours, I take another pill in the fifth hour. Once on a cross-country flight, I took the pill at boarding time as usual, but then we sat on the tarmac for almost two hours. About four hours into the flight, sure enough, I felt that horrible roiling, sick feeling that signals the start of a migraine attack for me. In a panic I fumbled for water and my humble Actifed and, thank goodness, saved myself.
There is something about the altitude and/or the cabin pressure on airplanes that seems to trigger migraines. It is sheer misery to go on a four-day trip and walk off the plane with a migraine that you know will last three days.
I bless the friend who gave me the tip that has worked beautifully for me – about 30 minutes before take-off I take an Actifed. (As I never take medications, this is very radical for me but, thank G-d, effective.) It makes me drowsy so I can no longer work in-flight as I used to, bit it’s well-worth the trade-off.
If the flight is longer than six hours, I take another pill in the fifth hour. Once on a cross-country flight, I took the pill at boarding time as usual, but then we sat on the tarmac for almost two hours. About four hours into the flight, sure enough, I felt that horrible roiling, sick feeling that signals the start of a migraine attack for me. In a panic I fumbled for water and my humble Actifed and, thank goodness, saved myself.
© 2018 Xianna Michaels. All rights reserved. Xianna@XiannaMichaels.com