It looks like I've got a bit of a cold, because I know very little about air travel I wonder wether I should be doing anything to avoid immense discomfort while flying.

A quick google has thrown up nothing specific, other than I should not fly out of respect for others, but screw 'em I'm not missing Amersfoort.

Forget about it, I've travelled many an ocean with a streaming cold, jet lag and transatlantic travel seem to bring it out of me.
The Schipol hop is about long enough for a good sneeze, they don't even anaethatise pets......well I don't know about pets with colds, nothing more disgusting than a boxer with a cold!
Looking forward to seeing you.

Take a decongestant to clear your sinuses and avoid an ear-splitting headache at take-off and landing..

Cheers

Clearing your sinuses is probably the best thing to do. Here in the States, we have this awesome stuff called Mucinex DM which just clears my head up completely without any apparent side effects. I'd suggest that if you can get it there. The active ingredients are Guaifenesin (600mg) and Dextromethorphan HBr (30mg). It's probably the guaifenesin that's the expectorant/decongestant, so if you can find something with just that you should be good. (DXM is a cough suppressant.) Otherwise, I'd just stick with a good expectorant/decongestant that you like or just eat a really hot curry shortly before you get on the plane (though that may cause other problems for the passengers around you besides just the germs).

Many thanks guys, looks like a trip to Boots is on the cards before I set off tomorrow.

I second the Mucinex. Works great. Also look for this stuff called Airborne. Helps keep you from getting sick on airplanes, etc.

On the sinuses thing...When I flew to Brazil, I had a terrible head cold and severely clogged sinuses. After take off in Miami and take off and landing in Brasilia, I was about to behead myself I was so sick from the severe sinus pain. I figured that I could do one more landing in Cuiaba, but I wouldn't be so fortunate. Because of bad weather, we were diverted to the next stop. From there, we flew the plane's regular route making several take-off's and landings at airports several hundred miles apart before finally landing at Cuiaba. I think we did about 8 take-offs and landings. I don't remember much of the last few flights since I was in such severe pain. They had to help me off the last flight.

Looks like "Benylin Chesty Coughs (non-drowsy)" is just guaifenesin+menthol, and menthol can't hurt. I'd probably go with that. Too bad you don't have it in tablet form like our Mucinex.

I can sympathize considering that I've had bad sinus pain on the plane from a cold. I did find that I could relieve some of the pain through a series of rather deliberate valsalva maneuvers.

Guaifenesin is magical stuff, but it's not going to save you from an earache. The main effect of guaifenesin is to help you cough up junk that may be accumulating in your lungs. What will probably make the difference between a tollerable flight and a busted eardrum (at least, for me, and I've had plenty of problems in the past):

- a decongestant (e.g., sudafed)
- a nasal steroid (anti-inflamatory) spray (e.g., nasonex or flonase)
- saline spray (not actually a drug, just keeps things moist and happy)
- maybe, an antihistamine (if and only if you've got allergy issues)

In the U.S., at least, nasal steroids are prescription-only. They're positively fantastic and have no significant side-effects. You squirt in the morning, and it lasts all day, but you have to do it for several days running to have any meaningful effect. When you're sick, all the little passages in your head both fill with gunk and get inflamed and constrict themselves. Nasal steroids help undo the constriction and allows the gunk to exit by itself. These drugs have completely solved my previously severe allergy problems.

Decongestants, antihistamines, and expectorants (like guaifenesin) are often combined together with general pain meds like tylenol. If you look at the back of the box on all the usual "cold and flu" drugs, you'll usually see a combination of these drugs. In the U.S., they're all over the counter. In Europe, good luck. I tried to buy sudafed when I was stuck, sick, in Amsterdam many years ago and the pharmacist told me it was prescription-only. "So, I can buy all the pot I want, but not a decongestant?" Of course, for N different ingredients, that means there are 2^N different combinations, and you really can find all 2^N sitting on the shelves of most pharmacies.

Sudafed, regardless of how it's packaged, typically comes in three different doses. There's the two little pills that last you three hours, then there's the one big pill that lasts twelve, and then there's the huge pill that lasts a solid day. When flying, your best bet may be the three-hour variety because you can time the dosing more precisely. Assuming 10-15 minutes to reach full effect, you can take it right when you get on the plane and ~45 minutes prior to landing. Assuming that initial descent begins 30 minutes prior to landing, you want the drugs humming along nicely before descent (and cabin re-pressurization) begins.

The saline spray is a simple addition. It's not a drug. It's literally salt and water (and a preservative) in a squeeze bottle. Shake and snort as often as you like. Airplanes are incredibly dry, and by hydrating your head, you can both drain gunk and avoid irritation, all of which is strictly helpful to keeping your eardrums from going boom.

Never mind the drugs- take along a pack of tissues! Ferheavenssake!

One time, the guy next to me needed them more than I did- it was worth giving them all over (he used every last one) rather than listening to him snerk and snort the whole flight.

The point is that if your sinuses are clogged then the abrupt changes in air pressure that occur in airplanes can be very painful.

The point is well taken- but Andy didn't expressly say he'd be stopped up.
Cold symptoms include nasal passages that are full (your imagination is helpful at this point) and I only wished that he be prepared for all possibilities.
Start your vitamin C regime today, Andy!

I don't know what's in it, but I use Dayquil tabs when diving to make _sure_ my ears stay open. Nothing like dropping $75 for a dive and having to come back up after 25 feet's descent. Of course it gives you that lovely spacey feeling which amplifies nitrogen narcosis, but that's just a bonus!

-Zeke

Heh, last time I went skydiving I had a head cold. In the unpressurized cabin I could literally feel my sinuses expanding and pushing the, uhh, gunk out. Very minor irritation, and when I landed, I was completely cleared out. Felt great.

That doesn't always work... I remember one time in late 93/early 94, we were flying in to Sarajevo and we didn't pressurize the cabin. I suddenly found out that I had some blocked earpassages... THAT was painful. The fact that we were descending into and ascending up from Sarajevo about 3 times as fast as normal didn't help matters either... Ended up with pressure-induced damages on the eardrums...

Stig

What did you mention colds for? Now I'm starting with one.

Yeowch.... Guess I was lucky.