Type 1 Travelling accross time zones

[AgiAlbert]

Hi, I was searching for similar questions, but did not find actually exact answers, so apologies upfront if I have missed it.
I am travelling from the Netherlands to Canada this week. Departure is around 2pm and arrival local time is also 2pm. So I will gain 7 hours (the time differences between the 2 places actually). I am using Treciba the night before (10pm usually). I am wondering how to adopt? I will stay more than 2 weeks so I would like to change my routine from NL local times. My plan is to use Treciba as usual the night before the flight. Use Novorapid for the extra meal I will get onboard. After landing also the same local time 10pm to continue with the usual amount of Treciba. Actually the 7 hours of gap will be during my dinner time in Canada, where I hope that a little bit more than the usual Novorapid dose will give me sufficient coverage. Would you agree?
Backwards my flight is in the afternoon with 1 stop, but basically from 8pm local time I will fly and arrive roughly 10 am local time to NL. My plan is to use Treciba with Canada times the night before departure the same usual amount and do again next day after arrival in the evening, local time at 10pm again the usual amounts. However I am afraid that it will be parallel for 7 hours the Treciba in my body hence I would suspect that I should not use much Novorapid but lower dose for my dinner, right?

 

[lovinglife]

Hi @AgiAlbert & welcome to the forum

Sorry I can’t help you as I’m T2 diet only but I’ll tag a couple of our T1 members that I think travel regularly to see if they can help
@EllieM @In Response

 

[In Response]

Thanks for the tag @lovinglife
@AgiAlbert Tresiba is great because it lasts so long, it is more flexible to changes in dosage time than other (shorter acting) long acting insulins.
I now use a pump which adjusts itself according to time zones but when I used to travel with pens and used Lantus, I was nervous about taking less basal - it would not last a shorter time, it would just mean that I had less basal insulin for the whole 24 hours. Instead, I would adjust the time of day I took it by an hour or two each day.
Given the time of your travel and that Tresiba lasts so long, delaying it by 7 hours on your way to Canada seems like a good approach to me (but I am not a trained doctor).
If it was me, on the two days before returning, I would move the injection time by a couple of hours so the overlap is less than 7 hours when returning to Europe. So Departure minus 2 days, I would take it at around 8pm and departure minus 1 day, I would take it at around 6pm, I tend to use the alarm on my phone to remind me when to take it.

 

[AgiAlbert]

Thanks for the tag @lovinglife
@AgiAlbert Tresiba is great because it lasts so long, it is more flexible to changes in dosage time than other (shorter acting) long acting insulins.
I now use a pump which adjusts itself according to time zones but when I used to travel with pens and used Lantus, I was nervous about taking less basal - it would not last a shorter time, it would just mean that I had less basal insulin for the whole 24 hours. Instead, I would adjust the time of day I took it by an hour or two each day.
Given the time of your travel and that Tresiba lasts so long, delaying it by 7 hours on your way to Canada seems like a good approach to me (but I am not a trained doctor).
If it was me, on the two days before returning, I would move the injection time by a couple of hours so the overlap is less than 7 hours when returning to Europe. So Departure minus 2 days, I would take it at around 8pm and departure minus 1 day, I would take it at around 6pm, I tend to use the alarm on my phone to remind me when to take it.

Many thanks! That was my other idea indeed to decrease day-by-day the times of the daily shots and I am also a big fan of agendas and timers Many thanks again!

 

[MommaE]

Hi, I was searching for similar questions, but did not find actually exact answers, so apologies upfront if I have missed it.
I am travelling from the Netherlands to Canada this week. Departure is around 2pm and arrival local time is also 2pm. So I will gain 7 hours (the time differences between the 2 places actually). I am using Treciba the night before (10pm usually). I am wondering how to adopt? I will stay more than 2 weeks so I would like to change my routine from NL local times. My plan is to use Treciba as usual the night before the flight. Use Novorapid for the extra meal I will get onboard. After landing also the same local time 10pm to continue with the usual amount of Treciba. Actually the 7 hours of gap will be during my dinner time in Canada, where I hope that a little bit more than the usual Novorapid dose will give me sufficient coverage. Would you agree?
Backwards my flight is in the afternoon with 1 stop, but basically from 8pm local time I will fly and arrive roughly 10 am local time to NL. My plan is to use Treciba with Canada times the night before departure the same usual amount and do again next day after arrival in the evening, local time at 10pm again the usual amounts. However I am afraid that it will be parallel for 7 hours the Treciba in my body hence I would suspect that I should not use much Novorapid but lower dose for my dinner, right?

If you access You Tube the Diabetes Strong channel has a video on type 1 travel and time zones. I found it very useful.
I hope you enjoy Canada. We have quite a bit of smoke from forest fires here in some parts of BC, but hopefully you won’t be impacted by any of that.

 

[AgiAlbert]

If you access You Tube the Diabetes Strong channel has a video on type 1 travel and time zones. I found it very useful.
I hope you enjoy Canada. We have quite a bit of smoke from forest fires here in some parts of BC, but hopefully you won’t be impacted by any of that.

Thanks! I will check it! We go to the East coast and hope that it will not be an issue there and the flood recedes.

 

[Antje77]

Hello from a fellow Dutchie, @AgiAlbert .

I've been on Tresiba for years, and have a very irregular life. To make sure I don't forget to take my Tresiba, it works best for me to take it right before turning off the light before bed.
In my case, this means I can take it at 22:30 on one day and on 07:00 the next, or the other way around. (Usually it's between 23:30 and 02:30, but the more extreme times happen often enough to know the effect.)

Tresiba is the only basal insulin which lets you pull this trick because it's extremely long acting. For me, I've never noticed a difference, and my numbers are stable enough to have noticed an effect if there was one.
So if it were me, I would keep things simple and just keep my usual schedule, a bit late at the start of my trip, a bit early when returning.
Mind, I'd never do this with any of the other and shorter acting basals!

Goeie reis!

 

[AgiAlbert]

Hello from a fellow Dutchie, @AgiAlbert .

I've on Tresiba for years, and have a very irregular life. To make sure I don't forget to take my Tresiba, it works best for me to take it right before turning off the light before bed.
In my case, this means I can take it at 22:30 on one day and on 07:00 the next, or the other way around. (Usually it's between 23:30 and 02:30, but the more extreme times happen often enough to know the effect.)

Tresiba is the only basal insulin which lets you pull this trick because it's extremely long acting. For me, I've never noticed a difference, and my numbers are stable enough to have noticed an effect if there was one.
So if it were me, I would keep things simple and just keep my usual schedule, a bit late at the start of my trip, a bit early when returning.
Mind, I'd never do this with any of the other and shorter acting basals!

Goeie reis!

Thanks for the answer! En bedankt!