Holiday Tips

When you have CF and you go on holiday, there is so much more to think about. I absolutely hate packing/planning for holidays because of this reason! Here are some hints and tips for holidays I have picked up over the years.....

Take all medication/physio stuff/nebs in your hand luggage, your suitcase might get lost! I have never been questioned about medication in my bag. They once looked at my I-neb as it looks abit like a bomb on the scanner and they once put my nebuliser stuff through a vapour machine as they are liquid, I was informed I should bring the pharmacy labels with me for the nebuliser stuff due to them being liquid but that was it.

I'm managing OK with my weight at the moment and I always eat loads on holiday anyway so I didn't bother taking any supplements with me. I think if I was on overnight feeds etc i'd probably just manage without them for week or take oral supplements instead, but even that would cause packing/weight problems

Remember to take a clear bag to put your liquids in for the airport checks

Make sure you get a letter from your CF team that says you are fit to fly with/without oxygen and a letter asking customs to let you through with your medication

I use a Frio bag to keep my tobi and pulmozyme nebs cool whilst travelling, I got mine off Amazon and I think its an extra large size. This won't be good enough for the whole holiday, you need to make sure your hotel room has a fridge! However it's OK for a 1-2 days travelling

If you need oxygen on your flight keep checking they know you need oxygen when you check in, when you get on the plane, because I'm telling you, these airlines seem to be useless!

Remember to take some washing up liquid to wash your nebs with after use! I have yet to write to Fairy and suggest they make a travel sized washing up liquid...! What I tend to do is try to not end up taking a full bottle of washing up liquid that will bump the weight of my suitcase up!

Unless your hotel room has a cooker or kettle I have yet to find a way to sterilise my nebs whilst on holiday. I don't really fancy taking a steriliser with me so I just make sure they have a good boil before we go away and as soon as we get back

Always take lots of your food enzymes, god forbid you should lose them or run out, talk about spoiling your holiday!

For travel insurance quotes call JD Travel  they have always managed to find me a reasonable-ish quote...!

I always try to remember to take a list of all the medication I am on, just in case I end up in hospital etc!

Unless you have a kettle to boil water and then let cool down, doing your nasal rinse can be a pain too. I used bottled water and just put up with cold water shooting up my sinuses! Not the best but when options are limited what can you do?!

To mix up my movicol I saved a water bottle and shock it up in the bottle, due to lack of spoons. 

Take spare movicols/sennas (or whatever you use for constipation), you don't want to get blocked up due to dehydration/travel. I had such bad problems with this on holiday and nearly ran out of supplies even with my spares!  Also, this goes without saying but drink lots of water, this will help with your chest and bowels

Remember to take salt tablets, you can get a prescription from your CF team. People with CF loose lots of salt when they sweat and it needs replacing, otherwise you can feel ill

Take an emergency supple of antibiotics/steroids in case your chest is naughty, I also like to take some spare ventolin and hypertonic saline nebs. 

Doing physio whilst travelling is a right pain in the arse. It's not exactly something you can do in public. On the way home I had to miss my evening physio session as we checked out of our room at 11am but didn't fly until 9pm, I did my tobi on the plane but not my hypertonic saline as I knew this would make me cough up sputum which I am not willing to do on a plane in front of strangers. I knew i'd have to miss my evening physio so did my pulmozyme in the morning an hour before my morning session (I usually do it in the evening), I don't like to do my pulmozyme without doing some physio afterwards as it loosens everything up but then you are not coughing it up!When we went to Thailand for out honeymoon I managed to do physio in a medical room at Dubai airport, that's the only way I can see getting around not missing it.

I don't go on two week holidays, not only is it too much to pack/plan medication wise, I don't like going away for that long! 10 days max for me! Last time we went for 2 weeks was our honeymoon and I didn't take enough disks for my I-neb!

Which leads to my last tip. if you have an I-neb, remember to take enough disks with you....!!!! And don't forget your I-neb charger!! Also make sure you will have enough disks when you get home, those disks can take forever to arrive in the post, trust me!

If anyone else has any more tips feel fee to leave them in the comments!