PCS and Flying
 

I have had PCS for four months. Symptoms include short-term memory loss, confusion when tired, irritability when tired, and fatigue. Am considering a trip by airplane this summer. Does this affect PCS? Does it affect the overall recovery process?

Thank you to anyone that has an opinion on this.

The lower air pressure, even in a pressurized cabin, will leave you a bit fatigued. Plan to spend some time resting at your destination. I plan on a full day's rest if the flight is cross country. If it is only an hour or a bit more, you will have much less fatigue.

I also struggle with the over-stimulation in an aircraft cabin. I try to get a seat at the front to avoid the sight of 200 heads sticking up. I take foam ear plugs and sometimes also use head phones to double the noise suppression.

I will be flying 6 hours in two legs next month. I have not flown in 3 years.
This will be my longest flight in almost 20 years.

Is there any preparation that can be taken before flying? I ask because at the beginning of next year, I will be flying out to Germany with a group of friends. I hope to be considerably better by then but if not..

There is not much you can do other than try to stay calm and, if it helps, take medication for your headaches. Mark is right about cabin pressure. It usually increases headache and fatigue. If you are flying to Germany from the US, expect to spend at least two days recovering from your fatigue. Even standard jet-lag causes problems. PCS will make them worse. It can take up to a week to feel totally back to where you were before the flight--which, with PCS, is not a great place!

Wishing you luck Mark! I hope all goes well for you in your trip next month. I will be thinking of you! :)

Don't you guys with experience traveling think that just the mere stimulation of the airport itself and the drive there is fatiguing? I would hate to be around all that noise and chaos at this point in my recovery... I think it would cause me a serious setback and not make any trip worth it at all.

I did consider it earlier actually... the glare of those lights, the constant noise, the sheer amount of people.. the plane could actually be a relief! There's no wait to be sedated for all of it is there?! :P

Actually, the airplane ride can be the worst part because you have less oxygen during the flight than when you're on the ground. This, accompanied by pressure changes, is what makes things bad. At least for me, those other stimuli were secondary factors.

Hello.

There have been multiple posts over the months I've been here about flying. Hopefully you can get some info here:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=bose

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...highlight=bose


Wakey, you are the only other person that had a hard time on the flight as me. When the plane ascended I had the most painful headache, during the flight and on descent. It went away about an hour after the flight. My neuro said that it was just stress, but I assure you it was not. I wanted to scream, I thought my head was exploding.

Will you please share your experience? I looked online and there is such a thing as an airplane headache, which seems to be either a sinus pressure issue, low oxygen, or altitude sickness. I was very nauseated as well and was on a smaller plane.

These comments on this site described similar pain, and one of them had a history of concussions. The article is so so but the comments are helpful.
http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/2010...-headache.html

I would like to go on a flight again, but I need to figure out if I need migrane meds, or if this is altitude sickness, do I need something else? I have never had any sinus issues before, so I'm thinking that that is not the case.

I would love to travel, It is something that I hope to do soon again. Anyone else have this headache?

After my concussion in october, I went to switzerland from toronto in march . It was about 8 hrs. If you've ever experienced jet lag, it's like that but a bit more so than other people get. Fatigue is a big factor. The year before I had a concussion in october and went to thailand in late december. Thought my symptoms were gone. I had really bad dizziness and nausea. That is however 24 hrs of flying plus losing 12 hrs! The most recent trip was three countries in 2 weeks, planes, buses and train. Really, try to get as much sleep at hotels, on planes etc. Makes the trip much better!:)

I'm pretty sure the headache on takeoff and landing has more to do with cabin pressure than oxygen--re: ears popping. But the fatigue and other sickness feelings that occur seem likely to be a result of the decreased amount of oxygen at high altitudes. I am not sure I can give much advice on this; the trials of flying will always be there. You need to try to manage them the best you can. Maybe try to take some headache medicine before you take off and before you land, depending on the length of the flight.