Travelling with endometriosis, PCOS, adenomyosis or any other condition that messes with your periods requires us to pack carefully, keeping some essentials in mind and being a little extra organised. I’ve put a list together and my reasons for them…
Flying with Endometriosis
Although I am being specific to flying, these tips work for any form of travel – whether it’s a road trip or a train journey.
My body has a knack of troubling me with a period or bad endometriosis / adenomyosis flareup days whenever I need to travel and for the larger part of my period life, that slowly killed my confidence and made me dread the thought of travelling at all.
Even going to school on the bus felt like a road trip to me 🙁
Trust me, traveling with endometriosis isn’t easy – there are just too many things to think through.
After all the considerations, it wasn’t until I hadn’t put the following checklist together did I not gain the right head space to feel better about traveling with a chronic condition.
Relevant Read:
Days Leading up to Travel
1. Packing Early
First I list what I need to pack and then pack a day or so earlier than others usually would.
Pacing myself like this works well for me in two ways – 1. because of brain fog, if I’ve forgotten to pack something, I can do that and 2. most importantly, I get some time to rest before the actual travel.
Resting is often underrated but putting your feet up and giving yourself some time to unwind helps to calm the mind and body – especially if you’re dealing with a flareup.
So, pace yourself and pack early.
2. Dress Appropriately
Bloating is usually expected when you have endometriosis and so I prefer to pack clothes and wear something that gives my body bloating space especially on travel days.
If you have to sit for long periods of time, then something loose around the stomach is best, in fact a softer, looser bra is also an essential.
Anything restrictive adds to discomfort and can prove to be quite irritating during longer journeys.
My Endo-Travel Pouch Includes:
1. Sanitary Pads – Period Underwear
I definitely pack enough organic sanitary pads for my travels, but I don’t forget to keep extras for the actual journey.
It’s essential to maintain hygiene levels, so carrying additional pads help me do that.
Even if I’m not on my period, I still carry a few pads just in case (I usually find someone forgets to carry pads and this helps the other person out too!).
I’m not a tampon or a menstrual cup person – my reasons are, other than the fact that because of my adenomyosis, my doctor doesn’t allow it – but I also have very real concerns for…
1. various infections and toxic shock syndrome
2. when traveling, it can be tough to find clean places to wash menstrual cups and insert with clean hands and avoid touching parts of the cup that is going inside you.
And when you hear real life stories of women getting the horrendous pelvic inflammatory disease, and a shocking story of a woman whose feet had to be amputated due to toxic shock syndrome from using a menstrual cup – it adds to my belief of staying away from the cup.
“A study in 2018 showed that tampons and menstrual cups can cause toxic shock (TSS) no matter what material they are made from. They put women at risk because they provide a breeding ground for bacteria. Researchers at the University Claude Bernard in France investigated which products are safest against TSS. But they found that anything a woman inserts in her body for hours at a time can be risky.”
So my point here is, please be careful of your choices – it’s not worth losing your limbs or life over.
To know of all the eco-friendly options I can find or if you wish to know more about menstrual cups then check this out:
2. Toilet Paper
Again, from a hygiene perspective, keeping the vaginal area properly wiped and dry helps reduce the growth of bacteria and infections.
This is where carrying a smaller roll of toilet paper helps me – especially on a road trip where you may not always get toilet paper as you would on a flight.
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3. Intimate Wash Wipes
There maybe be restrictions on the size of an intimate hygiene wash liquid that you can take as hand-luggage (plus it feels clumsier too unless you’re using a shower on-board a flight!), but there are intimate wipes that could be more convenient, especially for long haul flights.
It just helps you feel fresh during sluggish health times.
4. Antispasmodic Medication
This is an absolute must for me.
Anti-spasmodic medication, as the name suggests reduces spasms, but they can make you very drowsy.
During travels, I would rather deal with the drowsiness than the spasms so I prefer to take a tablet a couple of hours before travel with a meal.
Please don’t self-prescribe this – always speak to your doctor before you choose this as an option for yourself. Mine has been prescribed.
5. Disposable Bag
Usually the organic sanitary pads I use come in their own paper bag which I use to dispose-off the used sanitary pad, but even then I still carry a few additional compostable or small paper bags as a backup.
6. Hand Sanitiser
Road travel can often mean that you’re dealing with bathroom taps that may not be so clean and this is where I prefer use a hand sanitiser to help reduce chances of infection when you’re most vulnerable during your periods or a flare up. Plus now, carrying a sanitiser is an essential no matter what gender you are!
7. Mint or Sour Sweets
I tend to get nauseated easily and this uncomfortable churning in the stomach gets worse during menstruation, so mint or sour sweets tend to be extremely helpful to reduce the nausea and the churning.
Therefore, carrying some mint or sour sweets works like magic (most times).
8. Hot Beverage
I carry organic ginger turmeric and organic mint tea bags because they have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties as well as helping digestion.
I get my tea from Bushwick Tea – their teas are organic and their tea bags are compostable too. If you wish to get teas from them, then you can use my 10% discount code on checkout: ATE10.
Also if you wish to know of the other teas that help me before and during my periods then I’ve shared more here:
9. Anti-Gas Medicine
Gassy foods in general can cause a lot of unnecessary pain and when you have endometriosis, PCOS, adenomyosis or actually any painful medical condition – having gas travelling around your body only leads to more pain.
If you’ve read my post on natural pain relief remedies, then in my list you’ll find that I take some ajwain and salt with warm water to help reduce the gassi-ness.
But when you’re travelling, it’s always more convenient to carry an anti-gas medicine, for example, something I picked up in the U.S. was Gas-X… it was recommended by my Dr following endometriosis excision surgery.
So if you do get gas easily then it might be worth carrying ajwain-salt or anti-gas medication.
Speaking of excision surgery – in case you want to know more – here’s more:
10. Extra Underwear
Sometimes, flights get delayed, or you could land in a different country due to weather issues… and then you may not have access to your checked-in luggage.
This is where having extra underwear is brilliant – in fact, even having an extra set of clothes is wise too, but underwear is essential – after all, we don’t want to give bacteria and infections an opportunity to bother us.
Read Here For:
- Tips: Dating Someone with a Chronic Illness (like Endometriosis)
- My Acne Skincare Remedies – Endometriosis & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
- Are Painful Periods Normal? Or is it Endometriosis, PCOS or Something Else?
11. Face Towel – Face Wash
My skin during periods gets oilier than usual, yet on flights the skin becomes weirdly blotchy.
Carrying a small face wash and face towel allows me to 1. Use products I don’t react to 2. Keeps me feeling somewhat fresh 🙂
I’ve shared all my skincare recipes here:
12. Heat Patches
Many swear by menstrual heat patches which are thin and discreet.
You can apply these on areas you hurt most – this could be your lower back or abdomen – they help when you can’t keep a hot water bottle on you plus you can move around quite freely in them too.
Before using these for the first time on a journey, I’d suggest that you try them at home to make sure you’re not sensitive to them – you don’t want to be reacting and falling unwell to something you’re trying for the first time which could have been avoided.
Also, don’t forget to consult with your doctor before you use them.
Other Things to be Mindful of:
1. Stretch – Walk Around
It’s very tempting to stay curled up in one position when in pain, but walking around and doing gentle stretches helps to reduce cramping and chances of deep vein thrombosis happening too.
Even on roads trips, use breaks wisely – stretch and walk around.
Exercise helps to release endorphins – the happy, health promoting hormone. So a bit of walking is always worth it.
2. Eating Right
Stick to foods you know work for your body.
An anti-inflammatory diet during travel time might seem tough but pre-book your flight meals so you’re not stuck eating a diet that hampers your condition.
Over the last few years I have made six changes to my diet which have helped me immensely.
You can read about my diet changes here: My Diet for Endometriosis & Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Please remember that my diet was modified after educating myself and then consulting a nutritionist and my endometriosis doctor.
Educating yourself is the most important thing – it allows you to make informed choices when your nutritionist and doctor isn’t at hand to guide you.
3. Sensible Footwear
It’s always nice to wear pretty looking footwear, but it’s not smart if it’s not comfortable for your travels.
I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which affect my legs so for me comfort over beauty in footwear is a non-negotiable.
But I have seen some who have health struggles but wish to add to their problems by not wearing practical footwear.
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My feet, like many swell up on flights so if I wear restrictive footwear or wear heels then I’m creating further issues – hence flat footwear = happy feet.
4. Get Help – Porter
Despite taking a flight from U.S. to Mumbai after resting for two months post excision surgery, I booked airport wheelchairs and took assistance for my luggage.
It was the best decision ever.
Yes you can say that I had surgery so it was wise but this one experience taught me that even after recovering, if I feel my legs won’t manage long airport walks then I’ll be happiest to get assistance.
I cannot cause myself more pain, then spend additional days recovering which will only end up eating into my holiday days when I can book such facilities for free.
And more logically, why do I want more pain?!
5. Packing a Hot Water Bottle
An essential I can’t live without – whether I am home or out, a hot water bottle does wonders for me.
It soothes, relaxes and reduces my cramping and also helps the EDS pain in my legs, arms, jaw and ribs.
If you wish to know how else I manage my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome symptoms, then you can here:
- My Experience: Treatments to Manage Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
- My Journey: Being Diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
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That’s it, another one of my lists comes to an end, but if you have something to add to this list then please comment below.
In the mean time, if you feel these tips will help someone then please share this.
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Thank you for reading and happy travels.
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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a patient and have created this platform to share my experiences. This is all purely informative and in no way am I providing medical advice. Please consult a medical professional.