Holiday

Hi Beckie - if you're going somewhere really hot just reduce your background insulin slightly, the heat can affect your blood glucose levels, apart from that keep your insulin somewhere cool and if you can get hold of one use a Frio case as it will keep it cool, otherwise relax and enjoy !

Amazon is a good place to get them.

Yes Frio wallets are fab!

Enjoy your hols


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Hey Beckie,

Best single tip is to take LOTS more supplies than you think you will need. The advice I got from My DSN was to take double what you expect to use for the time you are away. I have had failures and damaged pens while away and it saves having to try and find a local Dr and get supplies locally.
There are plenty of good tips around from putting pens in thermos flasks to Frio wallets (I like these personally) though I have found that if you allow 24 hours or so for travel and then get your non-current supplies back in fridge it is no big issue.

My own experience is do not underestimate the test strips you will need. I really go to town of stocking them up since with long distance travel and time zone changes you will be testing more, if only for your own sanity.

If you are only going an hour or two east/west then it may be best to try and keep your background insulin time the same simply for continuity sake. Longer than that the advice I have had is take your BI at the current location, do the travel, correct with the meal at your destination and immediately switch to BI on the destination time zone but test plenty for a day or so and correct with QA or CP. In my experience that seems to get yo into the local timezone quickly and you can then just continue as you would normally at home.

One other thing... make sure you carry some hypo supplies with you from day one. I got caught out in New York a couple years ago and the wife had to run off to find something while I plopped myself down on the street on 5th Avenue a few yards up from a local tramp. That said I had a great conversation with him, though I don't remember much of it.

Most importantly though. Enjoy yourself. Correct the highs but don't beat yourself up about it. A couple weeks running a little high will not cause too much trouble down the line.

/A

Oh yes.. Double check you have ALL your supplies as you leave the house. Had many a panic attack in the car on the way to the airport

It might be basic but very important - Do not put your insulin in checked luggage. Make sure you keep it all ON YOU. Checked bags can break, and temps fluctuate and they are sometimes lost completely so do not put your supplies or insulin in your checked bags.

Also make sure you keep some in different places in case you loose a bag, or get robbed. If all your insulin is in your purse and that gets stolen your gonna have problems. So split it up into 2 bags, that will be with you the entire travel phase. So your purse and your carry on are good, or bring a backpack or something.

Just think about what you would do if you lost a bag, and try to solve that problem a head of time haha

Ah well the old vino is more or less free.. at the time of consumption (from the carb standpoint) unless you like your desert wines.
As always though where the old "alkehole" is concerned don't forget to think about the impaired liver function and therefore hypos about a few hours later. For me I tend to see the sugars drop off 8 to 12 hours after have the wee snifter (or many) of wine, whisky, vodka... err... digging myself a hole here aren't I?

Anyhow. This goes back to my comment about making sure you have a good hypo cure on you at all times. I go with Lucozade sweets since they are not liquid (no pesky clear bag at the airport) and they are east to stick in your pocket to carry around all day. Though if you are going some place nice and warm be sure to keep the water intake up. Those glucose sweets make you silly thirsty, and wine on top of them is not pleasant. So cleanse your palate with water first is my advice.

/A

Diamattic said:

It might be basic but very important - Do not put your insulin in checked luggage. Make sure you keep it all ON YOU. Checked bags can break, and temps fluctuate and they are sometimes lost completely so do not put your supplies or insulin in your checked bags.

Also make sure you keep some in different places in case you loose a bag, or get robbed. If all your insulin is in your purse and that gets stolen your gonna have problems. So split it up into 2 bags, that will be with you the entire travel phase. So your purse and your carry on are good, or bring a backpack or something.

Just think about what you would do if you lost a bag, and try to solve that problem a head of time haha

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Nuts. Forgot that one as I do it without thinking.

If you have 2 testers then take em both. If you don't then go tell them to give you a second. I have had one fail, though not while travelling luckily. It still makes you think though. While in a lot of countries you could go buy one in a pinch the units may not be what you are used to, they may do mg/dl instead of mmol/l so it could come as a shock when you feel fine but get a result of 100!

I tend to make sure that I set off with fresh pens which I carry on my person with testers and a hand full of needles. That way I know, even if I have to reuse needles, I am good for a week or so.

Beckie2014 said:

Gosh another good point that I hadn't thought of!! I will definitely split it between us all just in case anything happens.
Thanks so much

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Don't split it to much, because you have to keep your insulin cold, otherwise its garbage in 30 days even if you don't use it ! And remember that - if you take a bunch of pens and you forget and leave them out refrigerated the clock starts ticking and you have to use them up in about 30 days.

This all sounds really bad and scary doesn't it?

It isn't really. I have crossed I don't know how many time zones and gone to some completely off the grid places since diagnosis with no issues.

The key is to just take a few minutes and go over some "what if" scenarios. Unfortunately it is a requirement of the condition that we really do need to take just a little bit more time, care and consideration in almost everything we do and then plan accordingly. It will eventually become something that you just do almost second nature but it seems scary as hell at first.

this could be important too !!

get a letter from your doctor authorising you to carry sharps ( needles , lancets )
normally you do not get asked but i got stopped in venice airport and was not allowed to check in until the plane landed and the pilot "authorised" me to fly
needless to say i got one following this experience

better safe than grounded --LOL

In hot temperatures my insulin sensitivity increases loads. Also don't change your habits too much, I never put my insulin in the fridge, I did whilst on holiday tho summer, hence me leaving it there when I left the hotel.

Beckie2014 said:

Good call on the letter! Don't think the little one would be too happy being stuck at the airport haha!!

Thanks all for the advice, it does seem a little scary but I'm determined to not let it spoil my holiday

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Some gp surgery charges for the letter so ask your hospital diabetes clinic (if under their care) if your surgery does, the diabetes clinic will provide a letter free of charge.

As for tips, some great advice so far, try and split your diabetes supplies between yourself and a travelling partner, so if one bag goes missing you still have enough to see you through for a few days, also take a copy of your repeat prescription just in case you need anything whilst abroad, you can then present it to a local pharmacy or Dr.

Hope you have a great time