Fear of flying... recommended medication?
 

I have an odd fear of flying. It comes and goes, but I've been flying my whole life. Not until recently have I ever had a single fear of flying.

It actually has NOTHING to do with terrorists.. and I know it's a totally irrational fear, but hey, it's there.

Honestly, I don't wanna worry about it. I'd like to get over it, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. However, I do know that certain medications would be of use to me.. anti-anxiety kind.

I'm gonna schedule an appointment with my doc this week, so is there a certain kind I should ask for? This is only a 90 minute flight, so I don't need any heavy duty junk that'll keep me comatose for 5 hours.. just something mild that'll relax me so I just don't give a damn!

Well, you could shell out $5 in you're not in first class and let a little alcohol loosen you up. Might be a bit cheaper than a prescription, especially for a one time. This is actually right up my alley in my field of research, PM me if you want some medically related info on dealing with this without meds. :)

Drinking on a flight is not a great idea, for a short flight you don't notice it I guess, but it can leave you quite dehydrated.

Have you considered Hypnosis?

For such a short flight, an hour and 1/2 flight will have you on a plane for 2 1/2 hours at most, even with delays.

Most of people's fear of flying, from people I've talked to, has a lot to do with the claustrophobic aspect of the plane. They're small, cramped quarters.

Try to get yourself booked into an aisle seat in an exit row.

Bring stuff to keep you occupied.

and if all else fails, look about youand consider how you can join the mile high club

There's a reason why airports always have bars, y'know.. ;)

My grandma had a lifelong fear of flying and had never done it, until she was forced to when her father died and she had no other way of making it to his funeral on time. The only reason she got on the plane was whiskey. She then realized flying wasn't that bad, and hasn't had a problem with it since.

Xanax.
Period.

Easy, proven, reliable, but addictive so be careful.

Either Xanax or Valium. Both will calm your nerves and help you relax.

But.... If you appear drunk before you get on the plane, the airlines have the right to refuse you admittance, and if you get drunk while in flight (and act like it) it's a pretty safe bet that the police will be waiting to escort you off the plane (Saw this on more than one flight recently)

I'll probably ask for a very small prescription of Xanax.

In the meantime, I have been reading different sites that explain every aspect of the flight and why someone might get anxious. I actually already know most of what it explains (the detailed Aerodynamics of flight, to turbulence, to FAA protocol in handling flights), but for some odd reason, a part of the fear remains.

Thanks for the input!

I've taken diazepam for just that purpose. It was worth it, hooboy.

I take a train and a few extra days. This doesn't require a prescription.

He wrote me a script for .25 mg of Xanax. 5 pills.

He said take one 30-60 mins before the flight, but... I'm thinkin I should take 2.

.25 mg doesn't seem like it'd cut it.

When did you get your MD, Stompy? Do you want to end up looking like your avatar?

You think .25 mg is enough? Seems like an awfully low dosage.

If your doc said 0.25, I'd do 0.25. If you are really concerned about it, take one at home ahead of time, and watch a really stressful movie or something to see if it works.

I've never taken any of that type of med.. however, I'd imagine you'd just want something to take the "edge" off - and not throw you into an altered state... .25 would probably do just that.

Ask your doctor -

Key point, right there. If you've got questions about something your doctor said or did, ASK! Speak up! If you want an explaination, they should be prepared to expound on what they recommended right down into the chemistry of the thing.

The numbers of the dosage are a really bogus way to quantify an effect. You don't know how potent the stuff is unless you've studied pharmacology. A whole mg of that stuff might knock you right off your feet for all we know. 5mg might kill you, for all we know. We don't know, that's why we hire doctors. Other meds don't even START working until you get up past 500mg. You can't compare them.

I'll stick w/ the recommended dose ;)

Thanks for all your help!

Why don't you take a flying lesson. Maybe knowing how airplanes truly operate would alleviate your anxiety.

This is a very interesting thread. I too have flown many thousands of miles in the air. However, since my wife and I took a flight to Tampa last fall, my nerves are failing.
My wife HATES flying and my job while we were in the air was to keep her calm. But ever since then, It is almost like she has passed her fear over to me. Is this possible? Well I guess I will find out in a couple of days. I have a flight to LA.

why does she hate flying? Like is it a rational thought or clautrophobia or crashing?

I don't personally know how much this would help but some herbal relaxants could offer a mild measure of assistance. Of course do not take them with any other medication or alcohol because herbs can interact with other drugs just as easily as other medications.

A "stress relief" blend that you can find on many vitamin/herbal suppliment shelves (even in Walmart) includes the following:

Hops, valarian root, and chamomile.

You can sometimes find herbal teas with these in them or you can find them separately or in combinations. Do NOT take them with St John's Wort, Guarana, or Coffee. The effects of those are opposite to what these herbs are trying to achieve and you can get the shakes and other wierd sensations. I've taken a combination pill with these herbs in it as well as a tea with them when I've had tension headaches. They are soothing but don't give you a drugged feeling like you'd get with some relaxants.

I'm not afraid, but have only flown a couple of times. My brother-in-law is afraid, mainly since he isn't in control, and every time he needs to fly, he gets a script of Xanax, he's fine. Just my $.02.

Not sure why. Flew before and never bothered me. A. I don't like the 'feeling' of turbulence. I don't like fair rides anymore either. I think it may be an age thing. B. Don't like the fact that if I start to freak out there is nothing I can do.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. I am considering medication, but it bugs me to think it has come to that.

Blonddie: Avoid caffeine and maybe take some over-the-counter medication that makes you a bit drowsy? For some bizarre reason Sudafed Cold & Flu will put me into one of those apathetic "I just don't care" states of mind. As long as you aren't a frequent flyer, I don't see how this would cause any problems.

I have a natural interest in flight, though I'll never do anything career-wise with it, or spend any sort of major money learning to fly or anything.

I'm actually flying out to Colorado here in a few weeks and am looking forward to it. I know the area around the airport real well and live relatively close to it, so immediately after take-off, I like to try to identify roads and buildings since they look completely different from the air. Likewise, during landings, I like to watch the ground as it gets closer, look at the roads, buildings, etc. Nighttime is especially interesting in bigger cities, looking at the lights and what-not. Even when 30,000 feet above.

By the time the novelty of take-off and things becoming too small to really care about it's just about time for airline peanuts and beverages. A lot of the airlines even have in-flight music that you can listen to on a headset to get your mind off of things.

The other thing you could do is if you enjoy reading, get to the airport a bit early with a book you can really get into and start getting into it before boarding so you're anxious to continue reading once you're situated in your seat.

Well, I made my flight to LA as scheduled. No problems here. The flight to LA was good and you couldn't ask for a better flight....smooth. The flight from Ohare to Central Wisconsin on the retrun trip, was a bit "rough". I didn't seem to care much, since I knew the flight was only 30 minutes. I guess my fear of flying has been capped for now. I don't think it ever really exsited, but I know anxiety can be passed from one person to another. As a Mechanical Engineer, I "know" what "could" go wrong with an airplane, but my mind knows that is a small chance of ever happening. I learned that over 97% of all air crashes happen between 0 and 10,000 feet. That is only about a 60 second window after take off and before landing. At 30,000 ft, even if the engines fell off, the pilot would have a LONG glide to any airport. In fact, there has only been one air craft break up above 25,000ft in the history of commercial flight (that wasn't shot down by a missle, in which I find more humours than likley).
The only problem I had, was the connection in Chicago on the way back. I had only ten minutes to reach my next gate, which was 10 minutes away. I did make it, but my luggage did not. However, they (United Airlines) dropped my suitecase off the next day at my house. Not a big deal. Oh, ya......TSA went through my suitecase on both trips, not a biggy either, but they took out my pack of cigs???? weird...... :crazy:

May I recomend a big fuckin' joint.

Go for logic -- Research the odds of dying in a plane crash... Of having something happen...

I've been flying way too long to even think about it anymore...

In the 15 + years I've been flying (well over a million miles), I've had exactly one emergency landing, and we walked away from it... (10 years ago, in Phoenix)

A person will more than likely get killed in a car accident, or in a household accident than they will in a plane.

The claustrophicness can do strange things to people, just get an aisle seat... you end up with more room.

Word. Both help, both work. Both will not knock you out too much that you won't be able to wake up. I do not recommend heavy drinking.

Listen to your doctor. Don't try to second guess or self medicate. They know what they're talking about, it's their job. ;)

Neither do the airlines... I've been on more than one flight in recent years, when someone who got drunk in flight was escorted off the plane by the local police when we arrived at our destination. (Ok, in all instances they were acting like idiots, but drunks usually do) :D