Catching colds while flying

The first thing I would say is talk to your doctor about these issues. Specificy exactly what symptoms you experience- do you develope sinus congestion or ear pain? Does your nose run, do you cough? Do you have a fever? My rough guess is that you're not actually experiencing a viral infection, but your sinuses or inner ear may not adapt properly to the pressure changes. I emphasize, however, that you discuss this with a doctor if it is really bothersome to you. Also, if you have trouble with anxiety on flights, your doctor can prescribe a short-acting medication, like Ativan, to help you cope. Most over-the-counter sleep aids contain diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in benadryl). Although this nicely sedates most people, if your problem is anxiety, it can make the symptoms worse. I emphasize again, talk to your doctor (and stress that although the people who post on this forum have a lot of valuable first-hand travel experience, this is NOT a good place for medical advice).

Tom (first reply) makes a good point which has not been said here before and, IMO, needed to be: "Although the people who post on this forum have a lot of valuable first-hand travel experience, this is NOT a good place to get medical advice."

1) Unless someone on the plane is contagious with a cold virus, you can't catch a cold. However, with the low humidity environment, recycled air, air pressure, and the like, you might experience cold like symptoms.
You might think about taking a saline nasal spray with you to moisturize your nasal passage. Also talking to the doctor is a good idea. (I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on television. Actually, I did play one on television once but that was a long time ago and my TV medical license has expired.)

2) You can talk your doctor about phobia cures or stress reduction techniques. Or, you can take daytime flights. There are early morning flights to LHR from Boston, JFK and IAD. They arrive in the early to mid-evening, and depending on time of year, there may be little darkness.

A few weeks ago, Rick Steves had a doctor as his guest on his weekly podcast. They specifically discussed "colds" that people contract on flights. The doctor stated that colds caused by a rhinovirus (the typical cold) take several days to incubate before you have symptoms. Symptoms that develop in flight or shortly thereafter are probably not colds, but reactions to dry air, etc., on the flight.

Nancy and Frank,

You both confirm what I have been able to find on the internet about the subject and that makes sense for my situation. I have terrible allergies and sinus problems. So the key is probably protecting my sinuses. So, it's probably not colds I'm catching. After a long flight I ended up in the hospital with a sinus infection.

This is a big help. I will make an appointment with my dr. before my next flight. Thanks, all.

Lisa,
I have claustrophobia as well. If you cannot arrange to have your flights to Europe during the day and would like to try some type of anti-anxiety meds, I would suggest seeing your doctor several weeks before your flight. This will give you time to try and see which med might work best for you. Friends I know recommend valium, xanax, klonopin, etc. for flying but I discovered that ativan was the best one for me. So give yourself some time. You may not even need to take the meds, but as Tom suggested, talk with your doctor so together you will find the most effective one for you, just in case. And the best of luck to you!

Please take this as possibly being helpful rather than trying to make you feel worse.

UCLA medical school did a study.

They focused on two groups of people. One group said, "If there is a bug to catch, I'll catch it." The other group said, "I'm too busy to get sick, I rarely catch anything."

They split the groups and put half of each in one of two rooms. They told both groups they were in a room full of cold bugs and they wanted to see what they would catch. One room had germs and the other was germ free.

After spending a day in the rooms. The group that said, "I always catch whatever is there to catch." showed cold symptoms regardless of which room they were in. The other group didn't come down with symptoms regardless of which room they were in.

The reason I point this out is that you have already said, "If I fly more than 3 hours, I catch a bad cold." I'm not sure any technique will work more for you than changing your attitude to, "I'm on vacation and I'm not getting sick, period."

There was a recent study that expensive placebos showed better results than inexpensive generic drugs. The point was that your expectations really can become reality, if you think the more expensive drug will work better, it will (even if it's a placebo).

I used to be claustrophobic. I can sympathize with how unnerving it is.

As a kid, I hated confined spaces. When I played football I would panic whenever I was at the bottom of a dogpile. I'd do the superhuman strength thing to escape then walk quietly back to the huddle. Other kids thought I was tough but I was really just panicked.

I joined the Air Force out of college (never telling them about my phobia) and knew they would put me in a box in survival school. Sure enough they crammed me in a box and locked it. I focused on breathing steadily and trying to count the time I was in the box. When we weren't in the small box, we were made to stand in a bigger mostly pitch black box. I was amazed at how well I survived the experience. Maintaining my composure through the enclosed times helped me have a great attitude going into the interrogations.

In addition to keeping your breathing steady and deep, limit caffeine so you can keep your heartrate low, wear comfortable, loose fitting clothing that keeps you from either being too warm, cold or restricted. In other words, get as comfortable as possible and concentrate on relaxing. These same techniques will probably help you rest on the plane.

Maybe it was a face your fears moment for me or maybe I just developed a good technique to fight it out of necessity. Since then I haven't experienced claustrophobia and haven't needed any technique, with few exceptions it doesn't bother me anymore.

Brad, you make a good point in your posts about attitude. I think concentrating on relaxing is why I didn't go insane on my last flight to europe. I think taking a daytime flight would help me a lot. I didn't know that I could do that.

And I also get what you say about psyching myself into sickness. I think there is some truth to that. That has to do with being relaxed also, I think. Because when I'm expecting to get sick, I stress about it. And the last thing I need on a flight is more stress.

Geez, I sound like a basket case. It's a wonder I fly at all.

Anyway, I know my mind can make my situation a little better or a little worse. So, I'll pack an attitude adjustment in my carry on.

Thanks, you guys are wonderful. I read the graffiti wall all the time, even when I don't comment. I wouldn't travel anywhere without you.

Hello Lisa. If you do not want to be in an airplane at night, there are day time flights. British Air has a flight from Dulles airport of Washington, D.C. (located in Virginia) to the London HeathRow airport. It is scheduled to depart at 8:15 A.M. There are hotels near that airport. The airplane arrives at LHR airport in the early evening. There is a hotel (moderately priced) near the LHR airport. I do not know what your destination is. I think at least one airport in eastern U.S.A. has a day time flight to Paris in France.

I have a friend who loves to travel, and does so all the time, and she suffers from the same problems you are describing.
I'll pass on her coping skills, a few like comfortable clothing, sinus spray, no alcohol or caffine already have been mentioned.
She invested in a set of really good headphones, the ones you get in travel stores/cataloges, and brings along music that soothes her. She has a massage the day before she flies and brings a ton of herbal tea (she swears by chamomille) in a thermos, and also a little bottle of lavender scented water to spritz herself with during the flight and an eye mask to be able to snooze when she can. She swears this gets her through the worst, claiming that by removing as many stressors as she has control over, she can cope with what is left.
She now prefers to fly at night, but this wasn't always so!!
Hope this advice helps a little!

I like to wipe-down the armrests and tray with cleansing wipes (baby-wipes or others). I keep my hands clean with hand sanitizer gel after bathroom use and before eating. I think "colds" may be associated with airborn germs, but some germs live for a while on surfaces. I sometimes get colds, but always at least a couple of weeks into a trip. They don't seem related to the flying experience. In Britain a product called Lemsip is popular for treating symptoms of colds. Boots has a house-brand version, same ingredients, that is half the cost. I used it at home recently and it did seem to help me feel better.

I have the same problem and not just in airplanes , all oevr the places where there is AC above my head. In the airplane I turn the AC thing off, the one above my seat,wear a hat and a jacket.
I don't know anything about clausterphobia.maybe it's a good idea to talk to a doc.

For years, I too would catch a cold or flu or whatever after a flight of almost any duration. And yes, I know what a cold is and what a flu is and how long it takes to show symptoms, etc. It never failed, after every flight, I came down with a cold/flu a few days later.

About five years ago, I started wearing those surgical masks during flights. I know I look silly, but no more flu/cold after flights.

Sure, I still get a cold/flu now then other times, just not after flights any more.

Maggie

What about getting the Flu shot before travelling? I'm thinking about that.

I get sick but it's days after flying, and always related to sinus problems. My daughter travelled in summer extremely sick, so I am sure she infected others.