so, i decided to join this forum to better educate myself on my disease, and to get some insight. my question is this; i'm from up north. my girlfriend moved to arizona, and wants me to visit this summer. is the dry heat going to affect my breathing badly? can i take my vest, breathing machine, and medicines on a plane? any insight appreciated!
questions on travelling
- Thread starter alex101
- Start date
I'm from Ohio. For me the dry heat actually made it easier for me to breathe. I actually have more issues adjusting to coming home and getting back into the humidity. You can take your vest and other things on the plane. If you can get a doctors note to verify what everything is that might help in case of any questions that might arise during security checks. If you get there ahead of time you can tell the airline people at the gate that you have medical equipment with you and they should let you board first with it to ensure it's with you. Be prepared and allow extra time to have TSA pull you aside during security screening because they will want to check your equipment. I have always made sure to carry all my medicine on me to ensure it's with me and doesn't get lost.
Medical equipment doesn't count toward your carry on allotment. I've rarely had issues with the vest fitting in the overhead compartment. I once took a smaller plane and was able to place it under the seat in front of me with no issues. We always take the vest bag and a backpack containing nebulizer, neb cups, medications, small lunchbag cooler w/icepack for tobi & pulmozyme. I open up the vest bag at security so they can see it, do an extra check. A lot of times they like to exam the nebulizer too. I keep meds in plastic baggy, so they can see it, but aren't getting their germy gloves all over it. 
MissAlexsBP
Member
Hi @Alex101!
Welcome to the forums! Where up north are you from? I am originally from NH, but have lived in AZ for 4 years now. I have found AZ easier for my breathing; the lack of humidity is greatly appreciated! On an AZ note, be sure to drink more water than you think you have to and I used to take a salt tabs & drink Gatorade during the summers! As far as traveling with equipment, I ALWAYS keep all medication equipment on my person when flying/traveling. I use a PARI Trek S nebulizer (it has a battery pack and can run off a car if you're not somewhere with a wall unit). I keep a note from my doctor stating I travel with several medications (including pills, nebulizer, and liquid nebulizer vials). I do not bring my Vest (I travel with Aerobika), but it should not be counted against you as it is medical equipment. You can always call TSA at your airport as well to see if they have suggestions.
Welcome to the forums! Where up north are you from? I am originally from NH, but have lived in AZ for 4 years now. I have found AZ easier for my breathing; the lack of humidity is greatly appreciated! On an AZ note, be sure to drink more water than you think you have to and I used to take a salt tabs & drink Gatorade during the summers! As far as traveling with equipment, I ALWAYS keep all medication equipment on my person when flying/traveling. I use a PARI Trek S nebulizer (it has a battery pack and can run off a car if you're not somewhere with a wall unit). I keep a note from my doctor stating I travel with several medications (including pills, nebulizer, and liquid nebulizer vials). I do not bring my Vest (I travel with Aerobika), but it should not be counted against you as it is medical equipment. You can always call TSA at your airport as well to see if they have suggestions.
You can take any equipment you need on a plane. We usually pack all the meds and the machines - Nebulizers compressor and vest - in bags separate from the rest of our luggage. When you check in, inform them that those bags are medical equipment and there will be no charge for those bags if you're on one of those airlines that charge per piece of luggage. We actually carry on the bag with the actual meds so we know they won't be lost. And we check the best and any bags with machinery although a lot of CFers will carry on their equipment to be safe. But I've never had a problem. I remember one occasion they asked what the vest was and although I gave them the technical name they didn't know how to classify it. I printed out a reference for it from the manufacturer site but she was still confused. Fortunately one of the airline ticket people was a CFer and came over and explained it to her and showed her how to enter it. That was delightful. But that is the only time there was even a small glitch. Happy travels!
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