10 Things I Bring With Me While Traveling With Endometriosis

You’re off on holiday, not due for a flare-up, your body is in a pretty predictable rhythm and you’re really looking forward to enjoying your trip. But, because of Sod’s Law,you’ll get a flare up.

I always try to be as prepared as possible, so that if a flare up does happen, I can still enjoy my trip. As I’m writing this, I’m preparing for our weekend break, and I’ve got a flare up five days earlier than normal. This is one of those rare occasions where my bodies ability to keep me guessing and flare up when least expected is actually a gift, as my flare-up was due for the day we are flying!

These are 10 things that I bring with me on a trip to make sure that I cover every aspect of a potential flare up:

1. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine
2. Magnesium oil/bath salts
3. 
Heat patches
4. Tiger balm for neck and shoulder pain
5. Tiger balm for headaches
6.  4head
7. Migraine patches
8. Painkillers
9. Everyday medication
10. Heat packs

The best advice I can give is to bring a mini kit in your hand luggage with you, in case you have a flare-up during travel. Also, make sure that there is enough in your kit to be able to sustain you until you find a shop in case your luggage is lost.

Know your limits but never let endo rule your life or ruin your trip, but make sure that you rest if you need it and you don’t push yourself too much. It’s worse to wipe yourself out early on in the trip and not be able to join it than to take more breaks than usual or leave earlier than planned.

Everyone’s triggers are different. I find stress to be a big one of mine, and I find traveling really stressful. To combat this, I make sure that I plan to get to the airport or station with more than enough time so that delays on public transport don’t affect me too much. I will plan as much as I can to make sure that all factors I have control over run smoothly, and I use the app Calm to help me if I end up stressed or have a panic attack.

When traveling, I bring something to help me sleep. For long distance flights, I will take a sedative so that I can sleep through the flight, and for most places I visit I will take my This Works deep sleep pillow spray, and, yes, it really works! I find that I get tired quire quickly, especially with the stress of travel, and tiredness also triggers flares for me. By using some of these techniques, I can help myself to get a better nights sleep, and improve my condition and ability to enjoy the next day.

These are just some of the tips that I use when I travel, but everyone is different, so the things that work for me may not work for you.