Fear of flying...

[sallyseachange]

Does anyone else suffer from this?

Am taking my 88 yr old MIL to Germany this weekend to have her knees sorted out. The only option is to fly. I'm quaking already!

Used to fly masses and masses with no problem at all, so I feel really silly now. Sure... I did have a bad experience once, but it wasn't that bad. But after that I grew gradually more and more uneasy with flying, then downright fearful; now it's a full blown phobia.

I know I'll be alright on this flight... uncomfortable but alright... and have taken steps to help (online FoF course, valium - which never works until the wheels touch the ground on arrival (!!) - and a few good 'philosophies'). Still I feel this is soooo ridiculous!

Anyone got any tips?
Thanks pals!
Sal

[divaindubai]

Re: Fear of flying...

Oh Sally! You are reading my mind!!!

I'm gonig to be on a plane, actually two of them , in about 2 weeks time with both of my kids all the way from here to Canada (through London Heathrow).
(It's at least 7 - 8 hours from here to London and then a long layover in Heathrow airport, and then another 8 - 9 hours from London to Vancouver)

Hey at least your flight will be short from Italy to Germany and you aren't flying over any water!

Actually I keep telling myself, not to worry, because how often do you hear of airplane accidents compared to the thousands and thousands of flights daily around the world. And also think about the airplane staff themselves, like the airhosts and hostesses, I mean they wouldnt' be flying if it were unsafe....that's what I have been telling myself lately and it is helping me!

Let's keep this thread going so hopefuly we can support each other through our fears!!

[stephbob]

Re: Fear of flying...

I have no fear of flying, I'm working towards getting my pilots licence right now!! haha I've always loved flying.

But one thing I've learned from my course so far is that the odds against something happening are tiny - statistically, if a person was born on a plane, and flown continuously, they'd be well over 100 years old before something would happen.

If you drink, sometimes a small brandy and orange juice will help calm you down. And although you've probably already booked your flight, bigger planes (747 and 757's) are much better for nervous flyers than smaller planes. Request an aisle seat away from the window and take lots of things with you to occupy your mind, such as books, magazines, quiz books.

[Miss Phode]

Re: Fear of flying...

Ask your doctor for valium.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Fear of flying...

simce your med never kicks in ubtiil you land just skip it if you can't take it sooner. since you got lots of time and space think up some cool exercises you can do checkout the deskersize stuff in theat topic, pack your Atkins friendly foods and think of this a s a time of forced exerces.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Fear of flying...

Thanks so much everyone for the encouragement, reassuring statistics and cool suggestions. I'm working on everything!

Diva... I'm leaving Sat, flying Sun...back probably in about a week. Will let you know then, how I got on and what helped most!

[jcapulet]

Re: Fear of flying...

I don't have a phobia, but I do get uneasy when it comes to flights. I remind myself that the pilots and crew do this everyday, some a few times a day. Not only that, but there are thousands and thousands of pilots worldwide. That helps me realize that chances of accidents are actually quite low.

However, with a phobia, the fear is not exactly something you can just calm yourself with a way of thinking-at least not right away. Maybe you can talk to your doc and ask her (him?) what she recommends regarding the flights.

Best wishes!

[Rubysugar]

Re: Fear of flying...

I hope your first flight went well! I know you are still there but just found the thread. I get nervous about flying. I find a bar first. A couple of double shots of Grand Mariner and I am usually braver. Hope all is well!

[Lady_Hawke]

Re: Fear of flying...

I do what everyone else here seems to do - think about the crew and how often they fly. I try not to think about the ocean underneath me - the first time I flew from phoenix to norway I wanted to take a inflatetable raft with me but DH wouldn't let me

How did the flight go? Were you ok? How is your MIL's knee's?

[Condor]

Re: Fear of flying...

I really understand your worries. However I totally agree with the statistics, it is so, so small a factor that it shouldn't ever stop you doing the things you want and need to do. Having sailed over 30,000 miles around the world I realised that even that does not present real dangers. I used to live in an apartment in London that was underneath the regular heathrow landing schedule. I timed the lights of the planes coming in and they made only 20 seconds between eachother, 24/7. Extrapolate that to all the airports in the world and quite frankly this is one of the safest, (not nec. efficient -green or economical) ways to get around a truly amazing and interesting world.

[divaindubai]

Re: Fear of flying...

Thanks Condor!


Wowwwww 20 seconds only between each one. Amazing. I know Heathrow is such a busy one! I remember last time we landed there, took us about 40 minutes to actually find a place to dock!

I'm just panicking now a bit about the time of travelling, will be 28 hours of travelling with 2 kids!! ack.

What do you recommend for sleeping, or to help one sleep? Thinking of buying some Gravol to dose us out a bit, take the edge off.

Any recommendations?

[Condor]

Re: Fear of flying...

I'm not sure what to recommend for you for sleeping other than try to keep hydrated and go with your normal flow. Obviously with two kiddies this is difficult. If you are talking about motion sickness then Gravol is great but I couldn't use it as I needed to keep watch for three hours on six hours off (which might be similar with looking after kids) - it made me so very very sleepy. However if its just the 24 hours I would go with trying to stay up until your normal sleeping time (time difference included) until you get there (kids will prob. do the same) and then just give yourself a big day off when you get there. Make sense? If not I can give more tips.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Fear of flying...

Back! Survived the flights! Thanks so much everyone for all your advice and support!

Actually, the flights were really quite ok! I was amazed, after 24 years of fear! Seems the 'attack on all fronts' worked. Not saying I'll hop on a plane at the drop of a hat now, but I do feel I've gotten over a big hurdle!

Took valium in drops, which seemed to work better than tabs; did lots of breathing/relaxing exercises; did an online FoF course a few days before and tried hard to release that mental 'control' urge... over something one has no control over at all, so as to stop worrying about something that's out of one's hands.

Trip went well for MIL too, who now has her bionic knees!!

Diva...when do you travel? Really hope you have a nice surprise, as I did. Believe me...preparation works!

[divaindubai]

Re: Fear of flying...

Sally!


I'll be leaving in a few hours time with my two children allllll the way to Canada!
I'm not really nervous at all, just excited though. I've got the Nintendo Gameboy being charged up as we speak, and also got my MP3 player all fully charged with all different songs and also batteries too .

My youngest has had a bit of diarhea about two days ago and yesterday, but I've managed to clear it up, and he was vomitting as well, so I've been giving him a diet of basically applesauce and pasta noodles since then, so just going to get him on the plane and get to Canada and hope he will be okay. There was never any fever so I'm sure it was fine. I think the problem was we have an Indian housemaid (male one) and we asked him do to the cooking for the past month for dinner and he's been cooking and using waaaaay too much oil! (YUCK) and spices too! OUCh, so I think this has been bothering my younger ones stomach. That's the only thing I can think of that it might be.

I haven't been eating much myself, but I think its got to do with being excited about the trip.

So it will take us 25 hours or so to arrive to Vancouver!

See you "on the other side"!!

[sallyseachange]

Re: Fear of flying...

Wow Diva! Hope you have a wonderful trip. Do tell how you got on when you get there, or when you have a moment!

Keeping my fingers crossed for your youngest's tummy upset. You're probably right about the different type of cooking being to blame. Spices can be dire if you aren't used to them. But sounds like you've managed to quash it fine.

Bon voyage!!