Air Travel to the USA

[sugar2]

I am flying to the USA soon, and wondered if anyone had any tips on how to travel with a pump. I have been told to move the time back a few hours...and then change it again aftera day or 2, once my body adjusts to teh time difference....does this work?

Also, airports. I have a letter from the DR, explaining about me beinga pump user, and I know not to put it through xrays and body scanners, but I wondered, do they examine teh pump, or do they just nod, and ignore it? The reason for my question is becasue it usually resides " stuffed down my bra, but if they want to examine the pump, should I put it somewhere more obvious. I am not bothered about the pump being seen, but wondered whether it was a good idea to make sure that it wasn't concealed?

Any tips?

Thanks,

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi sugar2,
I don't have any suggestions but have bumped your post up and hope someone will answer.

Catherine.

 

[Debloubed]

Hi Sugar2, I may be being really thick here but surely, with a pump, as it's continuous, you don't really have to do anything? apart from regular BG tests of course, does the pump mind what time of day it is?! isn't that the beauty of it? if you eat, you bolus, if you don't, you have your basal all the time? I go to the US most years so would be interested to hear if any experienced pumpers do anything special when travelling to a different time zone - hadn't even thought about it until now, thanks Sugar2! My little brain is whizzing round now......does it make a difference if you travel??

 

[barkbark]

I travel a lot to the USA and other countries with my pump. Regarding going through the airport, I wear my pump however it takes my fancy at the time - be it under clothing or carry it in my pocket however I always if it looks like I am going to be patted down by a security person say I am wearing it prior to the same happening. In most cases they simply ask to see it and in a few cases run a swab across it which is then placed in a machine to test for explosives. On only one occasion have I been asked to show where it plugs into me and in turn had to show the cannula etc. In all honesty I have found going through airports in countries like the USA to be very easy – the USA security staff really go out of their way to help you if you mention you are Diabetic.

As for time zones changes, must admit every trip for me is different. I always change my pump time to the time zone I am going to as soon as I get on the plane. I then manage myself very tightly for the 3 to 7 days it takes my body clock to adjust itself. May not be perfect but works for me.

 

[Debloubed]

of course, if you have your settings set up to deliver different basal at different times, of course it makes a difference....you can tell I'm new, I've got the same basal rate all day at the moment! :lol: and that may not change I suppose, depends really.....would be easier if it didn't by all accounts! :lol:

 

[barkbark]

The problem with the basal rates when you have different amounts delivered each hour is your body takes a few days to change time zone although your mind and physical location changes immediately. That is where it gets fun - say the dawn phenomena happening at 11am instead of 6am for a few days. Also watch when you come back from abroad as it takes time for your body to switch back to the UK time zone!

 

[daisynova]

I travel a lot through many different time zones and what I usually do is change the pump on the plane every two hours. I make sure that I test regularly and eat regularly otherwise I risk going hypo. I also tend to allow my blood sugars run slightly higher than normal as hypo-ing on a plane is not pleasant.

As for security, as long as you tell them that you are wearing a pump and you cannot take it off, they don't tend to mind. Most times they will run a swab over it to check for explosives or drugs and then let you go. Some countries don't understand (I travel to Asia a lot and they don't get it!) but I am sure the USA will be fine.

One thing to remember though if you use a BG meter that sends info to the pump via bluetooth like I do, you will need to turn off the bluetooth on the pump as this can affect the plane's instruments.

 

[sugar2]

Hi All, Thanks for teh info..it has helped a great deal! I am now in teh USA, and so far so good. Deb, I have gota varying basal...dawn phenonomen and all that, and it isn't quite right, but nothing disasterous! I did geta few comments from a lady on security at Heathrow, as I didn't let my BG monitor or pump through the xray, and she informed me that "her dAD HAD HIS XRAYED ALL TEH TIME". i EXPLAINED (whoops caps lock sorry!_ )that I had been told that it couldn't be xrayed. She called her supervisor over, and he was absolutely charming, and everything went OK.

Thanks again,
Jill