Stomach and other

[archiepilot]

Hi all,

I am currently a PPL pilot with 125hrs. Whenever I go flying I tend to get a bit tense perhaps and worked up, especially when I am solo or flying friends around, all part of the fun I guess!!

However maybe an hour or less after flying my stomach always feels perhaps a little unsettled and bubbly, I would say it is never uncomfortable, I just always notice it and wonder if it has become a mind set that "oh there it is again", I just wondered if anyone had any views, I have always had it through training the works. I did start taking some anti acid tablets but still I get it.

I never lose my appetite when I get in etc usually starving, so its not down to a kind of stomach sickness, but I always seem to get a bit of a weird feeling.... If I come straight in and eat that perhaps puts it off until later on in the evening, it tends to stay with me for a while, again not uncomfortable at all really, just annoying!

The other separate issue is with one of my ears. I have never had ear trouble really, maybe a little on descents in large airliners when I was a kid but not recently.
I have got into doing some paradropping the last couple of months, all has been fine up until 2 weeks ago (as you know we descend rapidly 3000fpm 175kts) my right ear blocked on the last lift of the day, it did unblock 20mins later (very squelchy) but since it has tingled here and there.
I did have a sore throat that day which was maybe a bad idea to go in the end! However I went to see a mate of mine who is a hearing specialist who said I had stretched the ear drum but should be ok to fly in a week or so. That was about 10 days ago, I flew in a PA28 today and when we landed and I took my headset off, it was a little bit dodgy, its fine again now though, I just wonder if it needs more time to mend? Will my ears get used to rapid descents in general?

Thanks very much all

[gingernut]

It doesn't sound like there's anything too worrying going on here. The "red flags" that alert us clinicians when it comes to tummy troubles are:

loss of appetite
food "sticking" in the gullet
loss of weight
anaemia (found through a blood test)
black poo
vomiting (over a period of time)

It's worth seeking some quick professional advice should these occur.

I'm wondering if your tummy trouble could be a little bit of nerves and Boyles Law (ie gasses in your GI tract expanding with altitude), combining to give you the symptoms you describe.

I'm sure more experienced pilots than myself will offer up there nuggets of wisdom, (I'm told ginger works well), if you feel like trapped gas is the problem, then peppermint (or talk to your AME about mebeverine or something similar), may help.

I was interested in this comment:

I never lose my appetite when I get in etc usually starving, so its not down to a kind of stomach sickness, but I always seem to get a bit of a weird feeling....

My FI always reminded me that "If you were in the RAF you'd be on a charge if you skipped breakfast."

[cavortingcheetah]

As I remember, which is getting harder to do with each swiftly passing decade, what you describe seems quite familiar. A nervous work up to a flight followed by a small period of having to come down from the tree afterwards. Perhaps it's all something to do with adrenal glands, which sit nicely on top of the kidneys, so maybe that's why we pee more when we're nervous.
I notice that these days everyone seems to be having endoscopies and colonoscopies. In both South Africa and the USA such procedures are virtually obligatory for anyone over the age of 55 or 60. My gastro girl relies on the flag method before going hunting in such dark and deep tunnels of the tumescence.
Perhaps a brandy and splash would help, before not after or should that be the other way around?

[gingernut]

Our aim is to avoid performing endoscopies unless the balance is "tipped"

[archiepilot]

Thanks very much all.

This makes me feel better, I am 99% sure it is a mindset and me getting worked up and you describe the come down quite accurately in my experience.

Anyone else like to add??

[DX Wombat]

Try ginger - the plant not the poster! Ginger has been used for morning sickness with some good effect. It can come in various forms but small chunks of crystallised ginger are easy to carry with you.

[Pontius Navigator]

archie, if you don't get tensed up that is the time to worry.

When you are flying intensively, a bit like driving a car, you can get into a lackadaisical mindset and that is when you start making mistakes.

As gingernut says it may be gases. As for self-medication, the best aircrew advice is DON'T.

And as for your ear problem, your audiologist is right and so are you. Only when you are fully fit and can clear your ears easily will you be OK.

In short, you are perfectly normal.

One last thing, do you get tensed before jumping?

[markpodbery]

Hi Pointius,

Thanks to all for the posts, it makes me feel better.

I think it could be gases, does this come with altitude?

I do get nervous and worked up its got better now, but before hand all I wanted to do was sit on the loo before flying sessions, I still do at times!? Is that normal!?

As for the bubbly tummy and stuff, it tends to hit me later on usually maybe an hour or so after flying, as I said it is never a sickness feeling as I am always hungry after even eating earlier in the day!?

Your advice is always welcome.

[Emoclew]

Archiepilot,
When I started longhaul a few years ago I got stomach pains from gas in my gut. I switched to eating rice crispies and almonds on the morning before my flight (yes very boring food) but as these do not cause gas in the intestine, the problem is solved.

[aviate1138]

Avoiding coffee or strong tea or 'energy' drinks prior to flying helped me. I found my natural production of adrenaline was enough!

[etrang]

Perhaps a brandy and splash would help, before not after or should that be the other way around?

Before? Absolutely not. It has to be brandy first, then soda.

[archiepilot]

What about this part?!

I do get nervous and worked up its got a bit better now, but before and still sometimes all I wanted to do was sit on the loo before flying sessions, I still do at times!? Is that normal!?

It is all about getting worked up, as I said I am always starving after flight.

Interesting comments about gases etc with altitude, I get that kind of bubbly tummy feeling when I get home and then notice it??

Thanks as always

[Cusco]

Archiepilot : You don't say how old you are (unless I missed it) and age can be highly relevant when discussing gastro-intestinal symptoms.

[archiepilot]

Hi all,

Things have moved on a bit now!

I am currently now studying for my IMC, which has brought on the bubbly acid stomach feeling when I land.

As I said the feelings are never uncomfortable, I am always starving when I land, but my stomach is just really bubbly I can feel it working. Could it be stomach acid produced by being under pressure?

I do tend to hold myself rather tight in the abs area when I am flying.

This feeling always comes on when I land, never before, it is like a release!

The rest of the evening, even once I have eaten I can hear my stomach gurgling away. I feel it at the front, middle just at the bottom of the ribs, where the food pipe leads into stomach I guess!

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

[cavortingcheetah]

I would suggest that you toddle off to your GP and get him to refer you to a Gastroenterologist for a Colonoscopy and a Gastroscopy. They are both walk in and out procedures usually done with a light anaesthetic. That way you will resolve all ambiguity.
The worst part is the afternoon and evening before the procedure when you have to take glug down two or three sachets of stuff at two hour intervals. Once you start you will not want to be far from a loo but the process is painless and you can amuse yourself by guessing how much weight you will lose or is that loose, given the condition? The object is not to starve you but to ensure that your colon is squeaky clean all the way up. A base line colonoscopy is no bad thing. It's not just a cancer check, it can point to all sorts of future trouble such as diverticulosis, the development of which can then easily be prevented by diet.
The above is a non medical opinion based solely on experience and observation and I have never worked as an embalmer.

[archiepilot]

Hi

Seems maybe extreme?! I just guessed other pilots might have been through it!

M

[gingernut]

I would suggest that you toddle off to your GP and get him to refer you to a Gastroenterologist for a Colonoscopy and a Gastroscopy. They are both walk in and out procedures usually done with a light anaesthetic. That way you will resolve all ambiguity.

Hmm.

Talk to your GP.

[archiepilot]

Hmm again I am in no pain at all after flying just put it down to being tense and holding myself a bit stiff!?

I don't need to see a gp that is for sure just wanted some other pilots to comment, it's not restricting me at all!!

M