Traveling with IC

Incredibly it is that time of year again when we look to the summer weather to enjoy time with family and friends and to contemplate a journey away from the comforts of home.  For an IC patient that thought of traveling away from both the comfort and safety of home can create a feeling of panic and dismay which greatly outweigh the desire to travel. When the knowledge of a refrigerator stocked with IC friendly foods, a restroom and toilet cleaned and arranged for a multitude of use, and a medicine chest filled with IC medicine and products which help in flares (ice pack, heating pad, epsom salts, douches), all  hold you to your home as an IC patient afraid to travel and venture outside your home. 

Once again I humbly offer some suggestions for traveling with IC-from the perspective of a road trip as in previous posts I have discussed some simple steps I took to ease my fear of flying.  So with that in mind I offer you some suggestions to help ease the panic of a car trip as an IC patient:

• Pack a cooler of IC friendly foods, especially snacks that are IC friendly for you so that you aren't tempted to eat foods that might cause a flare up or you stuck in a gas station filled with, well, bad gas station food. 
• Pack your own bottled water that is IC friendly for you.  I have personally had IC flares from drinking tap or bottled water that was outside the norm of what I had tested to be safe for my IC symptoms.
  
• Plan to take extra stops along the way to use the restroom.  Remember that a trip is about the journey AND the destination. 
  
• Some women are comfortable using either a female urinal or Depends while car traveling. 
  
• Pack good toilet paper and moistened wipes. 
  
• I find that sitting on pillows can greatly reduce the vaginal/back pain associated with IC while on long car rides. 
  
• Bring along your iPod filled with soothing and relaxing music to listen to in the car (preferably not music with the ocean waves mixed into the background)
• Plan ahead for your trip and be sure that wherever you are staying whether hotel or with friends or family that a refrigerator and stove await you so that you can easily make your own IC friendly meals without fear of contamination of someone else's cooking.
  
• Pack your ICA 'I have IC card' which include information about IC to present at a gas station or store in which  you might have to make an emergency trip to use the restroom.  It is Federal law in the U.S. that people with a medical condition be allowed access to any public restroom.

I hope that some of these suggestions will be helpful for you as you venture out into the world this summer.  Be encouraged by what you are able to do with IC and you will amaze yourself with the knowledge that you can, in fact, travel while having IC.  Happy and safe travels to each of you!