Flying & IBS

With everything that has happened the past few days, flying looks like it's completely out of the question for me (and many other people) now.

I've had a really hard time flying in the past because of simple math. There are about 100 people to every bathroom.

When I've flown in the past, I make sure to not eat anything before I get on the flight. If it's an early morning flight, I don't eat anything (except maybe cereal) the night before. I basically want to have the smallest chance of having an upset stomach during the flight. Luckily, the flights I take are two and a half hours max. That's as long as I can last before my nerves get the best of me and start causing me problems.

I get anxious flying in planes for a few reasons. In the years following 9/11, I became more & more afraid of flying. I've been told that it is more dangerous to drive than it is to fly, statistically, but statistics mean nothing when you're part of that small percentage on the flight where something happens. For whatever reason, my mind chooses to focus on that when I'm flying. Obviously, the anxiety causes tons of stress and the stress makes my insides go nuts. Especially when I'm on a plane with two bathrooms.

The only thing that allows me to get on the plane in the first place and what keeps me sane once I'm on it is knowing that I CAN use the bathroom if I really need to. With the apparent new restrictions for air travel, that would not be possible. I've been reading that people are required to stay in their seats an hour before the plane lands. AN HOUR?!? A full hour? Do they have any idea how long that can be for someone with diarrhea? That would be an eternity! What happens if they have an accident in their seat? Would they be required to stay there until the plane lands?

If I were flying, already anxious, and then stranded in my seat for a whole hour at the end of the flight, there's no way I'd last.

I also read somewhere that you're no longer allowed to have electronics or anything on your lap for the last hour (or maybe even the whole flight? I read different stories). My iPod is the only thing that keeps my mind focused while I'm in the air. If I don't have my tunes or a book to keep my mind off everything happening around/below me, I would be a wreck.

With all of that said, there is absolutely no way I'll ever be able to fly in the future. If the regulations are changed back to being more relaxed, there is a better chance I will go up in the air again. The people making these rules up really need to understand that restricting people to their seats for the last hour won't do anything to stop everything that has happened. It will only hurt the law abiding passengers. As I've read, the passengers have been the ones who got out of their seats to try to stop the terrorists from harming them. This regulation would keep them from doing that! They also need to think about people with bowel/urinary issues. So many people will either have to avoid air travel or...I dunno...wear diapers?