Tips And Tricks For Travelling With An Ostomy.

Hey, ostomates! I thought I would share some of my tips and tricks for travelling with an ostomy.

I know a lot of people are worried to fly and go on long distance trips because of their ostomy but there really is no reason to worry if you take the correct steps. By the end of this blog post, I hope you will be booking your next trip away!

First of all, preparing yourself the day before is a must. Be careful with what you eat and drink.

Don’t drink any fizzy drinks for at least 24 hours before you plan on going away. This will prevent you from having to empty your bag due to air. Especially if you are flying. I find that when you go on a plane, you tend to produce a little more gas. So, limit your fizzy drink and gassy food intake.

Next, something that I also do the day before, I tend to go for food ‘binding’ foods. I go for things that at high carbs, pasta, bread, banana etc. These slow down the output of your stoma. A food that I always keep with me when I travel - jelly babies! These are an absolute godsend for slowing down my output!

On the day of travel, a small breakfast works best for me such as bananas or another binding food.

This just helps to wake up the bowel. Maybe a half hour before a flight or a long trip I take a loperamide tablet, this again helps to slow down the output. The good thing about traveling by plane is that you’ll have a toilet nearby the entire time, although something I always worry about is smell. Especially in such a small space! Rather than using an odour eliminating spray, I buy myself some tic-tac mints and place a few inside my ileostomy bag every time I empty. This way, it masks the smell a little for when you have to empty it, and you don’t have worry about going through security with tic-tac’s as you would a spray!

Something I have worried about is whether I’ll have enough ostomy supplies for my trip.

What I tend to do is work out how much I need for the days I am away, and then double it. If I need one box of bags for while I am away, I take two boxes just in case. I do the same with wipes, sprays and the other stoma products I use. I keep the ‘extras’ in my hand luggage because you never know what could happen to your suitcase, so this is a must for me! Obviously, you can’t take scissors in your hand luggage, so if you cut your own base plates, makes sure this is done before hand.

A lot of ostomates feel anxious about travelling, I still do sometimes, but I know I can do it! Once you have done it once – all those fears disappear! Don’t let the good moments pass you by, take a holiday or a trip if you want to - the joy of having an ostomy is that you’re still alive!

I have a trip to Disney World in November… It will be the longest flight I’ve ever been on, and I am nervous, but I know I can do it and I know you all can too!

I hope my tips have helped with future travels and holidays, do you have any planned? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time!

Nathan.