Fear of Long Haul Flight

niceday999

Can anyone help me out here. I am flying out to USA in a few weeks and I am dreading the flight. I fly to spain etc - No problems at all, but Long Haul just terrifies me. Have flown to Florida a few years ago and it was awful. I never slept the whole time although i tried.I am claustrophobic and if there is any turbulance at all, I panic.
I was thinking of going to the doctors but was wondering is there anything i could take to help me sleep on the flight. There is a 7 hr flight and then a changeover for another 6 hrs
I have read all the posts about changing your clock time and sleep pattern before you go but i mean the actual flight itself.

The things that have been mentioned so far are Benadryl and Diazepam. can anyone recommend anything to knock me out on the flight.

dmg24

Hi niceday99,

Firstly, if anyone recommends any medication it is likely to get the post deleted, as only a doctor can do that.

Have you considered getting hypnosis? I know a few people that it has helped.

Who are you flying with? Virgin have a relaxation channel on their in flight entertainment, which is quite nice? x

berzolla

When I first went to USA I was also nervous about how long the flight is. So I divided the flight time into doing other things.

I make sure I have a list of things that I can do on the flight that should last a long time and keep me occupied. For example I had a magazine do that for a while, then had a snack that I took with me, then took a note pad and wrote down about what the wait was like in the airport, how I felt, wrote down about I want to do when I arrive, then toilet time, then they should bring around food and drinks, then make had a nap or watch the film, then take pictures out of the window, then maybe back to the magazine etc etc. Also people watching is good, anything to keep your mind from thinking about where you are. Also the last time I went the toilet was down stairs which was brilliant because I sat there in the clockroom part for about 20 mins imagining I was in a shop and chatting to other passengers who were also a bit nervous.

Hope this helps, my daughter also does this as she can't stand the long haul flights.

Good lick and have a brilliant time.

:T

tracy1_2

niceday999 wrote: »

Can anyone help me out here. I am flying out to USA in a few weeks and I am dreading the flight. I fly to spain etc - No problems at all, but Long Haul just terrifies me. Have flown to Florida a few years ago and it was awful. I never slept the whole time although i tried.I am claustrophobic and if there is any turbulance at all, I panic.
I was thinking of going to the doctors but was wondering is there anything i could take to help me sleep on the flight. There is a 7 hr flight and then a changeover for another 6 hrs
I have read all the posts about changing your clock time and sleep pattern before you go but i mean the actual flight itself.

The things that have been mentioned so far are Benadryl and Diazepam. can anyone recommend anything to knock me out on the flight.

go see your dr - he/she won't bite! mine gave me a relaxant BUT i didn't need to take it.
i hadn't flown for 6 years since having a panic attack (had been short trips and long haul before then) - i would break out in a sweat and have palpitations just thinking about it. well no more! had hypnosis (3 x £50) and was absolutely fine!!! took my kids to disney last november. can't wait to fly again!
good luck!

brightonman123

check the airline- some do 'fear of flying' day courses, to help overcome any fears.. or just take things to occupy your time (apart from booze- for one you may not be allowed to take it on board anyway, and it wont help any- makes you even more dehydrated.. water / soft drinks will be fine).

make sure you take regular walk around the aisles, if only to stop getting cramp / dvt, etc (a great help, aren't I!), and if really feeling uptight, maybe worth seeing your GP or local chemist, for some sleeping tablets?

beathe in, breathe out. you're stil alive- everythingelse is a bonus.. now geton that plane, and do some serious shopping!!

iltisman

I would not recomend taking any non prescribed drugs or alcohol before a flight.If you have no problems flying to Spain you should adopt the approach that a 7 hour flight is only just over twice the flying time as say tenerife.
Once you have passed the halfway point just tell yourself its only a trip to Spain now.
If you are concerned about your safety remember the most dangerous part of your trip is the drive to and from the airport.

froggy_girl128

I hate flying even though i know I have a greater chance of dieing on the way there. As soon as the engines start and the doors shut I panic, get headaches, cant relax and feel stressed all the way there. Just want to wish you good luck its obviously better not to take anything incase something does happen especially if you have children, I found getting drunk just made me think more like having 2 people in my head going "what was that" " the engines stopped" "we are dieing" :rotfl:

redwoodysoup

I would strongly recommend just trying to occupy your mind with other things whilst on the flight eg the various movies they show, Virgin have arcade games and quiz games etc these help me to take my mind of the flight. Also I find reading the rubbish in flight magazines helps me. The flight will soon pass by. I'm a nervous flyer who flys long haul every year and often say to my partner that I'm going to quit flying because of all the things that cross my mind during a flight but I return every year to the big bird in the sky.

I honestly find that the shorter flights within Europe cause me more anxiety than the long haul as I eventully relax on the long haul flights.

I ceratinly wouldn't recommend taking lots of medicaton to help you sleep as the last thing you want is to appear drugged up when you have to queue up at the immigration post and be questioned, fingerprints, photos by US border control, as they don't tend to have much of a sense of humour normally!

katiekittykat

I'd go and see your dr and see what he/she suggests as everyone is different.

Or like someone else suggested try hypnosis, good luck

xxxx

niceday999

awh...Thanks for your replies ( no thanks button at the minute )
Mr Niceday wants to know is there a complimentary bar on board ?
we are flying Continental Airlines .
I dont drink only maybe a west coast Cooler....

redwoodysoup

I think I'm right in saying that you probably won't have a free bar on the plane for alcoholic drinks , but will probably get soft drinks free, this is my experience with American based airlines and I've flown with AA and United. I don't think they are allowed to give you free alcoholic drinks like Virgin and BA do. However you might strike it lucky and be on a codeshare flight with Virgin, all depends on where you are flying to.