Thanks shattered sanity but I am not brave at all. I am too scared to even start planning the trip. It is something I really want to do though and I want to do it right..meaning I wouldn't want to buy the tickets and then end up being too afraid to board the plane. Your iPod idea is something I often use Although on some occasions the music too becomes too much to handle and the only thing that helps is to retreat somewhere quiet to catch my breath and get myself together. It really depends on the anxiety level. Lately Ive been listening to meditation/nature sounds/hypnosis on my iPod while I am outside and on a few occasions it was very helpful while on others it made me feel more disconnected from reality. Thank you also for your suggestion to go in there early. That is a good idea. I wished I could borrow a wheelchair bc I tend to faint when I have to stand in line too long. But that wouldn't be right..

Orange Moira, yes like you I get irritated by some people as well. And with airports there are delays and frustrated customers, stressed out crew etc. There is no escape : )) I never get angry at them but it does make the anxiety worse and in the end I get frustrated with myself. One of the things I am trying to work on is not letting myself dragged down by other peoples' emotions. If I could do that then I could manage my anxiety a lot better. But it is quite hard because I have always been sensitive to peoples feelings and I cant just switch it off. I like the bracelet idea. Thank you for that. I tried tapping once..Maybe its similar..you combine saying affirmations with something physical and in a way you are self soothing and trying to trick yourself into believing that everything is ok. As for desensitizing myself..Im still working on it..Busses are impossible at the moment Then again last time I flew I wasn't able to be on busses either but the plane was fine. It seems paradox I know.

Rose Panachée, I work myself up too. Even picking someone up from the airport is an ordeal on a lot of days. As you said, dressing comfy and being prepared is very important. I would never show up in high heels and tight clothes..Im not trying to impress anyone. Yelling kids are very hard to deal with bc I get noise sensitive when the anxiety is bad. I often wonder how the parents manage to successfully ignore their screaming kids :]] What is even worse for me is when someone near me gets sick..That happened a few years ago and I started to hold my breath and panicked. I would take a xanax with me but Im not sure if I would be able to sleep. I never sleep on planes. I need to lie down to be able to sleep. Once I traveled over 24h including a 13h flight and I didn't manage to sleep Alcohol puts me to sleep but I would rather not experiment mixing it with my meds. Thank you for your post..Its encouraging to hear that you have come a far way. Maybe I can too.