If you're CEV are you going abroad or would you go abroad this year?

[Tufty383]

Just wondering if it's considered madness. We've got a holiday booked to Croatia in May. I wasn't CEV when we booked it but am now on immunotherapy for IBD. I dont know if we should push it back another year due to covid and my new treatment.

@Tufty383

8MinutesToSunrise I think if I'd already had covid and knew how poorly I'd be with it I'd probably feel a bit more confident about going which I know is a bit silly as you could be worse if you catch it again. Could really do with 2 weeks lying on the beach in the sun though!

DottyHarmer sorry to read that, you should be mindful of what you say though. I could have been newly diagnosed, if 16 year old me had read that I shouldn't be going anywhere with IBD i would have jumped off the nearest bridge and I dont say that flippantly! Wishing you health.

DH’s meds made him photosensitive. Not horrifically so but he had to be extra careful about applying sun cream.

@Tufty383

8MinutesToSunrise I think if I'd already had covid and knew how poorly I'd be with it I'd probably feel a bit more confident about going which I know is a bit silly as you could be worse if you catch it again. Could really do with 2 weeks lying on the beach in the sun though!

DottyHarmer sorry to read that, you should be mindful of what you say though. I could have been newly diagnosed, if 16 year old me had read that I shouldn't be going anywhere with IBD i would have jumped off the nearest bridge and I dont say that flippantly! Wishing you health.

I mean this kindly but maybe you should mind what you say. You called someone ignorant because you've misunderstood what they said.

Dottie did not tell YOU you can't or shouldn't go abroad, she said SHE would not, which is exactly what you asked in the title of your thread is it not?

Fallagain yes, good point, I meant lying in the sun under an umbrella, slathered in factor 50. Sounds so good though doesn't it after 2 uk winters!

ABCDEFyou no I'm asking in relation to being CEV not having IBD. I dont need advice on what I can and can't do with regards to my crohns disease and nor did I ask that. It was completely irrelevant to my post.

@Tufty383

Fallagain yes, good point, I meant lying in the sun under an umbrella, slathered in factor 50. Sounds so good though doesn't it after 2 uk winters!

Completely. ☀️

@Tufty383

ABCDEFyou no I'm asking in relation to being CEV not having IBD. I dont need advice on what I can and can't do with regards to my crohns disease and nor did I ask that. It was completely irrelevant to my post.

Don't worry *@Tufty383* this is my last reply to you on this thread unless you direct a post directly to me, then I might be polite enough to reply.

You also did not put on your OP that in no circumstances what-so-ever was anyone allowed to reply with anything other than a yes/no answer to your query about travelling abroad now you are CEV. @DottyHarmer presumably thought that as far as she (and I) knew, you were completely new to IBD, and therefore you might not have realised that sudden onset of (possibly bloody) diarrhoea, is a distinct possibilty, especially if the medics have decided that it is serious enough to need immunosuppressants to help your symptoms. As in IBS, IBD can have times of hardly any symptoms, and times when they are really bad, being put on immunosuppressants, suggested to me that at the moment they could be in the stage of 'I am in terrible pain, and I need the loo now! However, that was apparently not what you wanted to hear, and you are afraid that a 16 year old girl, newly diagnosed, would fall into a deep depression if she read on Mumsnet that going out and about with her symptoms might be more tricky - sorry if I haven't got all the details correct, but I think that was the gist? Would not a 16 year old girl - or boy for that matter - not read everything she could about her disease anyway, including all sorts of rubbish on the internet?

So anyway, next time you make an OP, please don't just put what you do want advice on, but also list every single thing that you don't want advice on. Thanks.

Fallagain if you don't mind me asking, how did your DHs photosensitivity effect him? Did he just catch the sun more easily?

I assume you'd be flying to Croatia? The travel seems like the biggest risk to me.

DP's grandmother is immunosuppressed (and in her 80s). She has been on at least 3 holidays during the pandemic. However, she lives in a country with several land borders, so she's travelled by car. She stays in self-catering places so she's not sitting in crowded hotel restaurants.

@Tufty383

ABCDEFyou no I'm asking in relation to being CEV not having IBD. I dont need advice on what I can and can't do with regards to my crohns disease and nor did I ask that. It was completely irrelevant to my post.

She did not give you advice or told you what you can or can't do though? Why do you keep saying she did?

She spoke about herself. And you called her ignorant and stupid for doing so. Told her to mind how she speaks too.

I genuinely do not see anywhere in these few lines where she is telling you (or anyone else with IBD) what you should or shouldn't do.

Never mind the cev, I wouldn’t go anywhere with ibd! The very thought brings me out in a cold sweat thinking of desperate loo hunting….

Anyway, enjoy your holiday if you book one. I genuinely mean that.

@DottyHarmer I'm sorry you've been called ignorant and stupid for having a different experience to someone else with the same condition and I hope it hasn't upset you or puts you off speaking about it in other threads.

[quote tiredofthisshit21]@CatAlice I'm not trying to downplay your concerns but said CEV husband has just recovered from Covid and it was nothing more than a bad cold for him. I realise he's just one person and not everyone will be as lucky, but....[/quote]
Glad he was okay. I had covid last summer and was in hospital over a week and unwell for three months. I kind of hope I will have gained some immunity from that if not from the vaccine, which I why I said in my earlier post that I was thinking of going abroad this year.

It depends on the reason for being CEV... Not everyone who's CEV is severely immune-compromised.
That's why I specifically said "for many"

I'm asking in relation to being CEV But that's what people have answered. CEV covers a lot of people. It's what makes you vulnerable to covid that affects your "risk".

I was told I was CEV at the start but I think if they knew what they know now about the disease and asthma I wouldn’t have been. I also paid for an antibody test to see if the vaccines worked to give myself peace of mind. Had covid after the booster and thankfully my lungs were fine. So I think it does depend on personal circumstances. We’ve booked for a spa holiday in Austria for this summer and I’m very excited.

@Tufty383

DottyHarmer how ridiculous, I've had IBD for 25 years, I've travelled the world. You're incredibly ignorant and have made yourself sound rather stupid.

Now, I haven't read the full thread, but, hmmm @Tufty383, I could ask "Did you mean to be so rude?" but that would be a wasted question as clearly you did intend to be rude.

I wonder Tufty, did you consider getting travel advice from actual medical professionals who are familiar with your medical history rather than some random, albeit well-meaning people on t'internet? That's what I do, even before Covid. Have you checked with your travel insurance provider? Apologies in advance if my questions are ignorant, ridiculous or stupid sounding. It's just that I don't understand how someone with newly diagnosed IBD would be on immunosuppressant therapy so soon. It must be very difficult to manage.

Hi Op. another with IBD.

What drug are you on? Some are better than others at protecting the immune system generally. Entyvio (vedolizamab) works on the intestines and less the rest of the body. I have been on it for 3 years and it works great.

It is not unusual for a newly diagnosed person to be on a biologic now. It is to prevent the need for too much prednisone and other more toxic drugs.

I too have traveled all over. I've had my moments and I wish I didn't have UC but I have still gone. Cruising has been an excellent way to travel for me despite what people say.

I come prepared and always bring prednisone with me in case things go completely south. Plus, I know where the toilets are in many exotic places! My worst encounter was at the Coliseum in Rome. A little feisty Italian women was guarding the door when I was desperate and DH was in the mens with our coins. She made a right fuss but I just kind of went past her! I did pay once DH came out.

Maybe ask your doctor but I would go. I am careful about food etc. to avoid infections.

@Tufty383

Fallagain if you don't mind me asking, how did your DHs photosensitivity effect him? Did he just catch the sun more easily?

Yes, he had to wear sun cream in the UK when he didn’t before, not all the time but when playing with the garden in with the kids in the summer. He had to wear a higher factor sun cream and apply more often, basically the same amount as our young kids. He forgot on far too many occasions and ended up with crispy ears!

Thank you for your defences, people! I didn’t mean to offend OP, but just saying that ibd can be, especially in my case, very travel limiting. A lot of countries, even and especially close neighbours in Europe, do not have many public toilets. And in the UK now they are few and far between. And with department t stores closing there are even fewer opportunities . See - my life is governed by toilet provision! As I have another condition too I am a walking wreck!

Anyway, I agree that OP should get advice from an authority on her condition like the charity concerned.