Inflammatoric bouwel disease (Crohns Disease & Colitis ulcerosa)

Don't avoid a dream vacation or business trip because you suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis

Before travelling

• Bring enough medication to cover your entire trip. To get a prescription abroad can be complicated.
• Always carry your medication in your hand luggage.
• Keep your medication in its original container. Use pillboxes to carry small amounts needed during the course of a day.
• A typed statement from your physician, describing your medical history and the drugs you are taking, will be helpful if customs officials question you or if an emergency arises.
• Get copies of all prescriptions, including foreign brand names or generic names.
• Check in advance whether buses and trains have toilets. When making airline reservations, request an aisle seat near a lavatory.
• Notice your airline so it can accommodate your diet needs, or bring a snack of your own.
• Ask your health insurance carrier whether your policy covers foreign travel, as well as previously diagnosed chronic conditions.

On the trip

• Prevent travellers diarrhoea
• Ask your doctor for a written plan of action in case your condition worsens while you're travelling
• Keep your doctor's phone number and your insurance card in your wallet.

Danger signals where you have to consult a physician immediately:

• High fever and shaking chills could represent a bacterial inflammation that requires intravenous antibiotics.
• Profuse bloody diarrhoea suggests marked ulceration of the intestines, caused by a bacterium, parasite, or a major flare-up of colitis.
• Severe abdominal pain and/or abdominal distension could indicate a complication of your disease, especially if accompanied by severe abdominal tenderness or nausea and vomiting.
• Dizziness on standing up or an episode of fainting may indicate lowered blood pressure. The cause could be with malfunction of the adrenal gland, an indication that your steroid dose may need to be adjusted.
• Scanty, concentrated urine could indicate dehydration.