Travel Health

Ecclesfield Group Practice has taken the decision to no longer prescribe sedatives for fear of flying. This policy decision has been made by the GP partners and will be adhered to by all prescribers working in the practice. The reasons for this can be found below:

• Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy, more relaxed and can significantly delay your reaction times. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation.

• Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural (non-REM) sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. There is concern this can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung which can be dangerous. This risk is greater if your flight is greater than four hours.

• Whilst most people find sedative medications like diazepam have a relaxing effect, a small number of people can actually feel more agitated or even aggressive after taking it. Diazepam can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally.

• Prescribing guidelines doctors follow (known as the BNF), don’t recommend using benzodiazepines like diazepam in phobias. We would be acting against these guidelines if we prescribe.

• Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police if you are carrying any on arrival.

• Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A lower risk approach is to tackle this properly and hopefully permanently, with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines and we have listed a number of these below as well as some online information .

Easy Jet http://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com

British Airways http://www.flyingwithconfidence.com

Virgin Atlantic. https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/wellbeing-and-health/flying-without-fear.html

https://patient.info/news-and-features/how-to-manage-flight-anxiety

Our Nurses can provide some travel health advice and arrange immunisations for you (Please note however we only give Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tetanus for travel, all other travel vaccines will need to be accessed privately). If you require any of the above vaccinations then please contact the surgery and ask for travel vaccination request form. A travel consultation (if required) will need to be done at least 6-8 weeks before departure if possible. Vaccines will need time to take effect and some may require a course over several weeks.

AN IN-DEPTH TRAVEL HEALTH CONSULTATION AND ADDITIONAL VACCINES CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING VENUES:-

Sheffield Travel Health Clinic: https://www.sth.nhs.uk/travel-clinic

Sheffield Travel Clinic: https://www.travel-doc.com/sheffield-travel-vaccination-clinic/

Boots: https://www.boots.com/health-pharmacy-advice/vaccinations/travel-vaccination-health-advice-service?&cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc-_-travel_vaccs-_-Clinics-_-BG%7CTravel+Vaccinations%7CEx&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuJSNkdbx5gIVCbLtCh1Ligr9EAAYASAAEgI-l_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Superdrug:https://healthclinics.superdrug.com/?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~395295742681~kw~superdrug%20travel%20clinic~mt~e~cmp~Superdrug+Health+Clinics-UK-B-Exa-Eng-DT-SE-Travel+Clinic~ag~Superdrug+Travel+Clinic&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk82dodbx5gIVSbTtCh0J0wYEEAAYASAAEgKI8_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

City Doc: https://www.citydoc.org.uk/travel-clinic-sheffield/?infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~297585563483~kw~travel%20clinic%20sheffield~mt~e~cmp~Travel%20Sheffield%20%28s%20yorkshire%29~ag~Clinic%20sheffield&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5qSFrtbx5gIVGojVCh3SrAQWEAAYASAAEgJoM_D_BwE

For other information please select the region you are travelling to find out more.

Africa

Central Asia

East Asia

Australasia & Pacific

Caribbean