Traveling with Asthma

By Christy Amos

1 min read

Are you about to head out on a vacation? Business trip? Other travel? Be sure to check out this video before you pack your bags so you can be prepared to handle all of your asthma symptoms while you are away!

I really hope you found this video helpful. What do you bring to help with your asthma symptoms when you travel? Let us know in the comments. As always, talk to your physician about what they recommend before you head out on your trip.

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runcyclexcski_ Member
Last week I had my first international trip following a long break after a bad asthma exacerbation. I know from experience that no matter how drugged up I am (maintenance steroids, rescue inhaler, Xolair) -- if the hotel mattress has dust mites, I won't be able to get any sleep (and, in the worst case scenario, will end up in an ER). Obviously, I picked a hotel with hardwood floors (quite common in some european countries -- I went to Germany this time). Still, I knew that hardwood floors is not everything (the hotel room may have had dogs before, etc etc). So I built a portable asthma tent which I coupled to a portable DIY HEPA filter (picture attached). The filter outputs clean air into a 6" hose which is then directed into my tent. Tested the setup extensively before the travel (particle counters, flow, pressure, etc). The current HEPA prototype is quite bulky, so I could not fly with it, and drove instead. The trip went well, got a great night sleep (as good as at home where I also have a HEPA setup for my bed). Hoping to built the next prototype in a more compact form, so that I can fly with it.<img src="/content/images/2022/06/15/44513b63d1c05c0bba1ccb4febe89b9f_medium.jpg" alt="Portable asthma tent for travel" class="uploaded-image"/>
1. runcyclexcski_ Member
 <inline-mention username="Rebecca C" user-id="3003427"/> -- I was checking out air scrubbers (many thanks for the tip again!) to see if I can reduce the size of my HEPA tent machine to (potentially) take on a plane. The selection of air s scrubbers is quite good, and most of them come with the carbon filter option. A potential issue I found is that they are all quite noisy -- 60-70dB. I think it's because they all use small centrifugal air blowers. This is acceptable in a workshop environment (machine noise, talking etc), but for sleeping and camping a 40 dB noise level (or lower) would be preferred. The blower in my giant DIY machine is rated at 40 dB, and I further wrapped it in sound-insulating foam, making the noise tolerable during sleep.
2. Rebecca C Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="runcyclexcski_" user-id="4513190"/> Thanks for updating us on what is working with your DIY HEPA travel tent machine. I didn't think of that issue either, but I should have. My husband is a snorer and boy it seems like he is sawing wood at 60 dB or higher, so I get it. I hope you find a smaller more portable option. Best of wellness. Rebecca
runcyclexcski_ Member
I tried commenting on this and uploaded an image, but the comment just got lost, probably because of the image. No error shown, the message just disappeared. This happenned before. So I am just re-posting with a shorter message, and without the image. I found that no matter how drugged up I am (oral and inhaled steroids, albuterol, Xolair), I will still have issues if the hotel room has dust mites and/or had pets before. There is little one can do about this, even if the hotel room has hardwood floors (hard to find in the US and UK, but German and Scandinavian hotels often have hardwood). So I built a portable "traveling" asthma tent and a DIY HEPA filter which I take with me when I travel. The filter is too bulky to fly with, so this set up so far works for driving. The tent is an off-the shelf Sea to Summit 2-person tent, and the HEPA filter blows into a 6'" hose and into the tent at about 150 m^3 per hr. I set up the tent on the hotel bed, and this way I have a well-controlled sleeping environment. The setup was tested with particle counters etc. Hotel rooms often have an odor (from the cleaning products etc), and my tent solves this as well (there is a charcoal filter in the HEPA filter).
1. Rebecca C Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="runcyclexcski_" user-id="4513190"/> - your post needed to be approved by admin/moderators due to you posting a photo. No worries - its above. Rebecca (comm advc)
runcyclexcski_ Member
Rebecca -- OK! Makes sense, won't double-post next time, sorry about this 😀