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First long haul flight with Type 1 Diabetes - questions

R

Rachel sowden

Member
Hi all, I'm from the UK and soon to be travelling to New Zealand for a 2.5 week holiday. Although incredibly excited, this will be my first flight since being diagnosed, let along the longest flight I've experienced and wondered if anyone had any tips or knowledge of what to expect with blood sugars during high altitude, jet lag etc?

I'm also not sure of what to do with my Basal insulin which I take every evening at 10:30pm UK time.. I can't get my head around the time difference (around 12hrs) and whether to keep it UK time (administer in the morning NZ time) or if I can split my dose to eventually do at night time etc.

I've got my GP letter in progress, I'll remember to bring my prescription and know to bring my insulin etc on board with me in my hand luggage. I also haven't been able to get hold of the airline to check I can have an extra hand luggage for medical supplies.. is this something I need to inform before?

Any help / your own experience will be gratefully received.
 
Thanks for the tag @KennyA and welcome to the forums @Rachel sowden . I expect you'll get some more answers as there are plenty of experienced T1 fliers about.

I split my basal now so that's easy, but in the past I've delayed the dose and just supplemented with bolus during the 12 hours where it's run out. Other options are swapping from night to day basal or experimenting with half doses, it depends on what you like.

I usually try to keep on my "home" time until I've got to my destination , because then I know where I am in terms of how much basal I've got in my system.

Hypos, I find all the running around at airports make it easy to go hypo, and it's no fun trying to navigate airport security when low and on a time crunch.

I've never bothered with an "extra bag", I think you'll need to get through to the airline if you want one. Be aware that if you're carrying spare sensors and don't want them to go through the xray machine (dexcom recommend not but don't know about libre) then some sort of letter is useful for that. I used a print out from dexcom which everyone was fine with except qatar airlines at Doha, who insisted my hand luggage had to be xrayed unless I'd contacted the airline beforehand). However I suspect this may not be an issue with libre.


Note that if you run out of glucometer strips in NZ you'll probably only be able to buy caresens ones in NZ, as everyone here uses that system.

Take extra supplies of everything and make sure some glucose is in your pocket or seat rather than the overhead locker where you can't reach it if the seat belt signs are on...

Enjoy your trip!
 
All good advice above.

Regarding treatment for hypos - an unexpected difficulty that caught me out once was relying on snacks including peanuts. I had a box of cereal bars in my carry-on that would have been plenty to stave off any lows for the duration of the flight. However at the start of the flight they announced there was a passenger with severe peanut allergy on board and asked us all not to eat anything with peanuts in!

(I almost made it through the whole flight, but did go low when there were delays taxiing to the gate after landing(I had a tub of glucose tabs, but in the overhead). Thankfully a kind flight attendant understood immediately when I explained and gave me a can of coke and a kit kat)
 
Hi Rachel
I've done more than a few long haul flights and found that if you don't do your long lasting insulin on the flight it won't do you too much harm so whatever time you arrive in NZ just do your long acting in NZ time zone, if your BG goes a bit high in the plane use your short acting to counter it I'm also not a fan of getting letters from Drs as you've got a right to travel without there permission they've got type one's everywhere now and just keep your insulin and other technology on you and snacks for precaution.
Enjoy yourself in the land of the Long White Cloud
 
Last edited:
What to do with your basal depends on what long acting insulin you use.
For example, ultra long acting insulin such as Tresiba is very forgiving to being taken later.
Before swapping to a pump, I used Lantus. I found I could easily change the dosing time by a couple of hours. When travelling, I would adjust my basal time by a couple of hours a day so it was the "right time" in the destination ... and don't forget to change it back when you return home.

One tip when flying which I learnt from experience is to make sure your hypo treatment is not just in the cabin with you but make sure your hypo treatment is with you in your seat. Once I had a hypo whilst the seatbelt was on because we were taking off and my treatment was in the overhead locker. Do not be the annoying passenger that the air crew tell to sit down like I was!

You mention taking your insulin in hand luggage. I recommend taking ALL diabetes supplies (at least twice as much of everything than you think you will need) in hand luggage.
I cannot answer your question regarding taking an extra bag as I try to travel light and only carry one bag onto the flight - it’s easier to carry than trying to lug two bags around.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
EllieM said:
Thanks for the tag @KennyA and welcome to the forums @Rachel sowden . I expect you'll get some more answers as there are plenty of experienced T1 fliers about.

I split my basal now so that's easy, but in the past I've delayed the dose and just supplemented with bolus during the 12 hours where it's run out. Other options are swapping from night to day basal or experimenting with half doses, it depends on what you like.

I usually try to keep on my "home" time until I've got to my destination , because then I know where I am in terms of how much basal I've got in my system.

Hypos, I find all the running around at airports make it easy to go hypo, and it's no fun trying to navigate airport security when low and on a time crunch.

I've never bothered with an "extra bag", I think you'll need to get through to the airline if you want one. Be aware that if you're carrying spare sensors and don't want them to go through the xray machine (dexcom recommend not but don't know about libre) then some sort of letter is useful for that. I used a print out from dexcom which everyone was fine with except qatar airlines at Doha, who insisted my hand luggage had to be xrayed unless I'd contacted the airline beforehand). However I suspect this may not be an issue with libre.


Note that if you run out of glucometer strips in NZ you'll probably only be able to buy caresens ones in NZ, as everyone here uses that system.

Take extra supplies of everything and make sure some glucose is in your pocket or seat rather than the overhead locker where you can't reach it if the seat belt signs are on...

Enjoy your trip!
Click to expand...
Hi EllieM,

Thank you so much for your reply and advice! Especially the hypos in the airport I hadn't thought of that! I've made an appointment with my local diabetes team in soton so will defo ask about the libres through the scanner!

Thank you again Rachel
 
Westley said:
All good advice above.

Regarding treatment for hypos - an unexpected difficulty that caught me out once was relying on snacks including peanuts. I had a box of cereal bars in my carry-on that would have been plenty to stave off any lows for the duration of the flight. However at the start of the flight they announced there was a passenger with severe peanut allergy on board and asked us all not to eat anything with peanuts in!

(I almost made it through the whole flight, but did go low when there were delays taxiing to the gate after landing(I had a tub of glucose tabs, but in the overhead). Thankfully a kind flight attendant understood immediately when I explained and gave me a can of coke and a kit kat)
Click to expand...
Hi Westley,

Ah Cereal bars are a great shout and noted! I'm actually flying with someone with a Peanut allergy so I'll make sure there aren't any in there!

Rachel x
 
PaulAshby said:
Hi Rachel
I've done more than a few long haul flights and found that if you don't do your long lasting insulin on the flight it won't do you too much harm so whatever time you arrive in NZ just do your long acting in NZ time zone, if your BG goes a bit high in the plane use your short acting to counter it I'm also not a fan of getting letters from Drs as you've got a right to travel without there permission they've got type one's everywhere now and just keep your insulin and other technology on you and snacks for precaution.
Enjoy yourself in the land of the Long White Cloud
Click to expand...
Hi Paul,

That's really reassuring about keeping long insulin until NZ time zone, I'm only a year and half into diagnosis so I still have it drummed into me that under no circumstances am I to not do my long!

So that's really helpful to think I can counteract highs with my short until I get there!

Thank you for your reply,

Rachel x
 
In Response said:
What to do with your basal depends on what long acting insulin you use.
For example, ultra long acting insulin such as Tresiba is very forgiving to being taken later.
Before swapping to a pump, I used Lantus. I found I could easily change the dosing time by a couple of hours. When travelling, I would adjust my basal time by a couple of hours a day so it was the "right time" in the destination ... and don't forget to change it back when you return home.

One tip when flying which I learnt from experience is to make sure your hypo treatment is not just in the cabin with you but make sure your hypo treatment is with you in your seat. Once I had a hypo whilst the seatbelt was on because we were taking off and my treatment was in the overhead locker. Do not be the annoying passenger that the air crew tell to sit down like I was!

You mention taking your insulin in hand luggage. I recommend taking ALL diabetes supplies (at least twice as much of everything than you think you will need) in hand luggage.
I cannot answer your question regarding taking an extra bag as I try to travel light and only carry one bag onto the flight - it’s easier to carry than trying to lug two bags around.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply, very much appreciated!

I'm on Lantus for my long insulin so I could try and not use it while on the flight until the next evening in NZ for example.. (I'm flying from UK at 8pm and normally do long insulin at 10:30pm, arriving at NZ in the morning..

I suppose my worry is accidently taking too much insulin or overlapping as apart from the first day in NZ we're straight into driving / extreme sports etc!

And really good advice for travelling with all supplies on board and hypo treatments with me by my seat!

Thank you again Rachel x
 
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