Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want something to help me travel by plane

58 replies

TheLyingBitchintheWardrobe · 02/12/2024 23:22

I am travelling to the med for Christmas for a family wedding, but scared of flying as not flown for 5 years. GP won't give me diazepam which I thought I could get. What else can I do? My anxiety is awful already. Can someone help me?

OP posts:
itwilltakeaslongasittakes · 03/12/2024 00:06

I went to gp and was given propranolol. It helped calm me. But didn’t remove the thoughts. Only you can do that. Breathing and imagining you’re somewhere else. Imagine you’re flying the plane (im a control freak). Talk and watch the staff, they spend their lives in the air!

suki1964 · 02/12/2024 23:56

whattodofordistraction · 02/12/2024 23:36

If you can afford it you could try seeing a private GP.

Why? They still wont prescribe

OP, when are you flying? Do you have enough time between now and then to get booked onto one of the scared of flying sessions the airlines run?

I too was scared, so scared id be half dragged up the steps and would be sobbing , and I never even knew what I was scared off. For me what changed was moving and needing to fly a lot to see DH and family, so I now treat it as a commute. I get on, get into my seat, belt up, and close my eyes and just talk myself down, same as I do in the dentist - a foot wiggle really helps as well

Now I know what scares me are the noises , planes creak and rattle and the sound of the engines and the landing gears - scary cos you dont know. With time Ive learned and now I can settle pretty quickly. But definitely I dont want to sit next to nearest and dearest, we sit either side of an aisle or behind. Knowing Im next to a stranger helps with the stiff upper lip

whattodofordistraction · 02/12/2024 23:36

If you can afford it you could try seeing a private GP.

Squiillionaire · 02/12/2024 23:33

I'm not sure I can help much but DH is terrified of flying. He had to do it a lot for work.

I think what helped him. Don't sit with anyone you know. You'll think it will be comforting but it isn't. They try and reassure you but you just want to be left alone. Find something to focus on during the flight. A book, even the in flight magazine. It sounds a cliché but deep breaths in and out

I

Interl0per · 02/12/2024 23:27

Search for "Mentour Pilot" they have an app aimed at helping nervous fliers by e.g. explaining noises/vibrations etc. so that you don't have to worry something has gone wrong.

DaftyLass · 02/12/2024 23:25

Diazepam is no longer advised for flying, there are mindfulness apps that can help,

Ace56 · 02/12/2024 23:23

How long is the flight? Can you take sleeping tablets?

ZaraSkyTraveler · 02/12/2024 23:23

Bach rescue remedy? Alcohol?