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Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

KawasakiContributor19 Nov 2015, 8:56 am AEDT

Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone has tips on travelling overseas for 6 weeks with BPD husband.

He's changing jobs so we decided to take a well earned holiday. We'll be moving every few days through cities and countries. I'm excited but worried about the challenging high to low swings. He's pretty stable but the swings are always there, just smaller and more manageable. His triggers are food, exercise, sleep and routine. All the things that will be changing. I'm comfortable with his highs (we generally can cap them at the right time), the thought of lows whilst away scare me.

We need to change the time he takes his vitamin supplements, as they will react with vaccines we need to take whilst away, so I was thinking of starting this a few weeks before we leave.

So his triggers:

Food will be different but I think if I can keep him on good wholesome foods we should be ok.

Exercise will be different but we'll be out exploring so that should compensate for gym

Sleep will be erratic as we fly various times of day, fit in tours, etc. - any ideas??

Routine - ?????

Any words of wisdom will be greatly received.

7 replies

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In response to: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

ShimmerSenior Contributor19 Nov 2015, 12:55 pm AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Hi @Kawasaki,

Wow 6 weeks overseas does sound very exciting, but certainly could be challenging if your husband’s mood swings are exacerbated.

It sounds like you have a great awareness of your husband’s triggers, which should be really helpful in managing his mental health while you’re away. I like the sound of your plans on how to manage food and exercise.

I’m wondering whether it would be possible to incorporate some routine into your trip despite the regular changes in city/country? For example, having breakfast at the same time each morning and discussing your plans for the day? Do you think you and your partner could agree to do a couple of small things like that everyday, and that it might help? Or do you have any other ideas?

Perhaps some other Forum members have suggestions about how to manage triggers when travelling, or when routines are interrupted in general... I believe @Jane9, @Annie2, @Sukha14, @Paris and @Jacob101 are all supporting partners with Bipolar – do any of you have any ideas for @Kawasaki?

Great work thinking ahead about this @Kawasaki – you and your partner want to enjoy your well-earned holiday, and doing this planning in advance will give you the best possible opportunity to so!

All the best,

Shimmer 🙂

In response to: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

KawasakiContributor20 Nov 2015, 8:44 am AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Thanks Shimmer. I like the idea of breakfast I'll try that. I had another idea too. I'm thinking of having a big outing day followed by a sort of rest day, staying close to hotel and continue in that pattern. On rest days I could get him to eat, shop, have an afternoon nap, relax in the pool or have some solo time if he needs it.

In response to: Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

ShimmerSenior Contributor23 Nov 2015, 4:31 pm AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Hi @Kawasaki,

That's another great idea!! So you can develop a routine of alternating outing and rest days, which would also allow you to address his triggers such as sleep and eating well.

I'm curious, do you and your husband discuss managing his triggers together? Is that something you will talk about before heading off overseas?

Shimmer 🙂

In response to: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

KawasakiContributor24 Nov 2015, 8:56 am AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Hi,

We always talk about how to handle things and we have agreed guidelines for what is to happen if wheels fall off eg. Who I contact, what authority I have, etc. We're always looking for new and innovative ideas on dealing with BP. We're working hard together as it effects us both. Hence me asking a wider audience like this. Knowledge is everything.

Thanks @Shimmer

In response to: Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

mareecheCasual Contributor24 Nov 2015, 4:26 pm AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Hello, I have travelled overseas with my husband who has BPD. He found the airport security to be stressful environment. I tried to ensure he was rested and relaxed before we got to the airport. I think it is a good idea to have rest days. We were overseas for 4 weeks and found rest days to be helpful. Ensure medication is taken when it is supposed to be. It was difficult for my husband to remember medication when so many things are happening in one day.

In response to: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

KawasakiContributor25 Nov 2015, 7:11 am AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

Thanks @mareeche . Hadn't considered the airport, that could upset us both.

In response to: Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

ShimmerSenior Contributor25 Nov 2015, 9:38 am AEDT

Re: Travelling overseas with BPD Husband

@Kawasaki that's fantastic to hear how open and collaborative you and your husband are in managing his Bipolar, what a great way to tackle things! I imagine others might benefit from hearing how this has helped your relationship through some of the difficult times, if you feel like sharing more about this at some stage 🙂

Welcome to the Forums @mareeche!! Thank you for jumping straight in and sharing some of your thoughts around travelling with @Kawasaki 🙂 It sounds like you have a lot of insight and wisdom regarding supporting a partner with Bipolar.

The Forums community is full of wonderful supportive people. Please feel free to share more of your own experiences (either here or by starting your own thread) if you wish to, we would love to hear more from you!

Shimmer 🙂

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