Travelling to India with work - tips?

KarenG said:

Hi all

T1 for 40 years, MDI (Insulard X 2 daily basal, Novorapid bolus using Libre to monitor.) I eat about 150g carbs / day which I know sounds a lot, but I'm pretty active and tend to run / exercise 500-600 kcals most days - without that my carb intake would be less @ about 100g.

I have to go to India for a one week work trip. Days will be very full on, going straight from a 10-12 hour non stop office day into going for dinner with colleagues / hosts.

I suspect I'm going to have issues due to the crammed nature of the itinerary and limited autonomy over meal timing / choices. I understand it's advisable to avoid meat.

Any general advice for me please? My main concern is being safe from overnight hypos. I haven't had one for 18 months (thankfully) but I'm very conscious my routine will be completely shot. I suspect I will aim to run a little higher than usual to mitigate this but would greatly appreciate any thoughts or experiences you have to share?

Click to expand...

Hi Karen, having spent plenty of time in India on work trips, with similar circumstances to the above, I'd have to say it's not too hard to do. My experience is that avoiding meat is wholly unnecessary.

150g carbs a day isn't a lot by any stretch of the imagination, and given the diet in India, you're likely to still see that. My experiences have been that it's very easy to get omelettes for breakfast in hotels, or you can sample the standard breakfast fayre,including Sambal. If you are doing work breakfasts, then you'll have to estimate the carb content of what you're eating, and go from there.

Most meals come with rice or breads, and you don't have to eat them all. In my experience it's not too dissimilar to eating Indian food in the UK, in that you'll get a range of different responses.

Just make sure you take plenty of glucose tablets and it's worth investing in half a dozen gluco-juices as well, as they're great for quick hypo resolution. Coke is also easily available as an alternative.

This is the type of occasion that the Libre will be very helpful for, just so you can keep an eye on what's going on and adjust as necessary. Having the trend information is helpful in avoiding overnight hypos. You may even be able to expense it to the company as a requirement for this type of travel.

For the most part though, just try and enjoy it.

I get this all the time. I'm in Istanbul at the moment, was in South Korea two weeks ago and will be back in South Korea in two weeks time. Unless there's a war!

Anyway, test a lot and be prepared to run a bit high. Take glucose tablets (or Topic bars if you're me) with you. Basal is tricky. Some recommend keeping to UK timing, but I don't do this if it involves getting up in the middle of the night. For Korea I just extend the day and take basal before bed as usual. Leaves a small "gap" but hasn't been a problem.

Despite all this, recent HbA1c was 42.

I "move" my basal gradually before I travel somewhere with a different time zone.
I do this by moving it by an hour or so each day until I am at the time I want at my destination.
I find if I try to keep it at my usual uk time, it is either in the middle of the night or at a time when I am distracted (e.g. In the middle of a meeting).

My trips to India have always been trouble free. Diabetes is well known over there (mostly type 2) so not something to hide any more than you do at home.

Have a bag of jelly babies with you at all times and take at least two frio - and spares of everything. Carbs and Cals app is great, and don't be shy asking what the meals are made from so you can calculate. Hope you get some time to see what's beyond the hotel and the meetings rooms!