Posted by mike on 3/3/2009, 11:17 am

haven't been here in a while since I went to Thailand last year with very good success.. Well I just got back from the philippines and felt I needed to report my regression and what I did to get through it.. I thought since I did the thailand trip without much problem last year I would be good, well maybe because this time I went with a friend it interfered, not sure.. Anyway, after about 4-5 hrs into the 12 hr flight I attempted and couldn't go... well at this point i had a minor panic.. so i went into the tool box: 10mg valium and a walk to the galley where the stewardists gladly gave me half a cup of straight vodka (philippine air has free alcohol!)... NOW, I know there are mixed reviews about using alcohol, it's a diretic or something and makes it worse, etc... Well after about 30 minutes, I don't remember the latter half of the plane ride ! I know I must of went because I was fine when I got to Manila... Well the friend I was with was a doctor and he told me I over-did it, I was in outer-space for the entire ride to Angeles city (3hrs from manila).. Anyway, that was trip 1, trip 2 on the way back I had a similar problem so this time I throttled the use of the valium and alcohol - 6MG Valium and just 1 shot of vodka... PERFECT... just enough to get me to go and no major hangover (i'm 180, 5'6")... NOW the interesting part is on my connecting flight from LAX back to NY - I felt so comfortable that I had success without the use of anything... very weird.. I was trying to remember everything about my state of mind at the time and what was going on... Well a big part is that nobody was waiting to use the bathrooms, the air was very smooth, and my stream started as I pulled down that big folding shelf in front of me (i guess thinking about the mechanism or something).... Well, what I learned is that your state of mind has alot to do with being able to go, for me Alcohol and Valium does the trick every time.. I'm not a severe case, but I truly believe the alcohol alters your shyness greatly.. also, it is easier on the bigger planes.. Good luck to all Best, Mike

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