Travelling
#293772 - 12/15/06 07:08 AM
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Ulrika
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 581
Loc: Uppsala, Sweden
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My fiancé loves to travel - and he's especially fond of the Asian countries, like China and Japan for example.
I have only been abroad 2 times (not counting trip to neighboring countries) - once to Italy and once to China (Beijing). I got sick both times with D and throwing up and this was before the IBS got bad. So I am scared silly of going again because I've read that stomach and bowel infections can make your IBS worse and possibly trigger a long bad IBS period. Then there's the fact that you don't know where you can find bath rooms typically, and in the Asian countries you're lucky if you find a toilet you can SIT on instead of the traditional hole in the ground type.
I'm also scared of going abroad since you can't bring the stuff you need. If you want to go to the US you can't bring anything but your medicine with you on the plane and I'd be scared they'd lose the other bags and I would be left without it. In the US you can probably fairly easily find similar products but still. It just feels safe to have your own stuff that you're familiar with. In the US it's probably easy enough to find food too at a local supermarket, but if you go to Asia this might not be so easy. And you're not allowed to take food with you to another country actually. If you're lucky they don't check, I was able to bring chocolate bars when we went to China but when we were going home the woman in the customs actually took the one I had left I think.  (And guess what - she even opened my unopened tampon packet. I was totally shocked. Yuuuuh!) Anyway, I'd like to be able to bring safe snacks et.c. I mean, you can be sure to find white rice in Asia, but you don't want to live on just rice for a week. 
Does anyone have any tips? I'd really like to go abroad with my fiancé again some time (we haven't planned anything but it would be nice to do it some time). At the moment though I'm proud of myself when managing to take the train to Stockholm, walk around there or visit friends and then go back home again. Baby steps, right? 
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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Re: Travelling
#294126 - 12/19/06 07:35 AM
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michele
Reged: 06/02/03
Posts: 6886
Loc: southeastern michigan
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Sorry, no help here, never been outside of the US before!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Hi, Ulrika--If you are going to travel abroad, then an Asian country would be your safest bet. My youngest daughter, who has IBS like me, lived in Japan for a year. She said that the typical Japanese meal contained lots of rice and fresh fish, and that they do not use much dairy. Vending machines typically sell flavored soy milk and fruit juice rather than soda. Her IBS symptoms were virtually gone after a couple of months.
As for the bathroom situation, if you stick to the larger cities, you should be ok. Just make note of where the European and U.S. chain hotels are located. They usually have decent bathrooms right off of the lobby.
Hope this helps!
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so true..
#294187 - 12/20/06 06:06 AM
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khyricat
Reged: 08/05/04
Posts: 3612
Loc: Michigan
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don't let IBS stop you from traveling but if you are in a third world country r other place where you don't trust things, limit yourself to bottled water.. thats the biggest cause of infection, though nowadays most places we go to don't have the issues... also- italy and france ad eurropean countries- tend to be saucier and more heavy on fats and dairy.. triggers for ibs.. so that may be part of the problem...
good luck!
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Dietetics Student (anticipating RD exam in Aug 2010)
IBS - A
Dairy Allergic
Fructose and MSG intollerant
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Re: so true..
#294191 - 12/20/06 06:47 AM
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Ulrika
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 581
Loc: Uppsala, Sweden
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I always drink only bottled water when I am abroad. I think my biggest fear is getting a bowel infection (since that has happened to me both times I have been abroad). Typically that has happened at mid-end of the vacation so it hasn't ruined the entire trip but still. Both those times were before my IBS got bad. And last time it happened I threw up the last time an hour before we went to the airport to go home. I was so scared of being sick at the airport or on the plane home...
The worst part is that traveler's D might cause a shorter or longer period of really bad IBS problems. So basically I am scared that I might go and have fun for a couple of days and then pay for months and months being really sick...
I find the not knowing is really annoying. If I knew that my IBS would never get worse than it is right now then I'd be fine. I could live with that easily. The problem is you don't know...
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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