Work and travel affects my control

[Adrian1981]

Hi everyone,

Just after some general advice if possible and to see if others have the same and how they deal with it?

I have been trying hard recently to improve my bm control and although I'm in the early days of finding out the results I have one issue that is ruining it for me.

When at home and weekends I am good at controlling my blood. My breakfast reading is with 1mmol of the bedtime reading, my carb counting works and my correction doses work.
I'm on novarapid and Lantus.

During the week I work strange hours , some days , some nights, sometimes spend days travelling. As a result I often have to eat away from home and this is where my levels go pear shaped. Although I have the carb for cals app and I try to eat/buy things that I can get the carb info off the back I still can't nail it when away from home..
There is an obvious trend appearing in my bm book showing this.

I know a different job would be the idea answer but how do others deal with this type of situation?

I have to confess my strictness fades a bit during these work periods with being busy, rushing around and eating snacks on the go without insulin , milky takeout coffee without insulin etc. I know this isn't going to help and it my aim to work on but what else can one do for such a lifestyle.

I have tried in the past to take food from home with me but things that last days in bags are not the freshest and healthiest items.

Thanks in advance.

Adrian

 

[noblehead]

Hi Adrian, it's more than likely when your travelling your stress levels are higher and this in turn can effect bg levels, plus irregular sleep patterns don't help matters much so you may need to have more insulin than you do at home.

As for food on the go, you could purchase some cool bags and take them with you if you travel by car or van, but snacking between meals without insulin will inevitably lead to higher bg levels and some of the coffee's you mention can be quite carby as you've already found out, vending machine whitening has glucose added so over the course of a day it all adds up.

Really the only answer is to stop snacking between meals and increase your insulin needs if your levels are running continually high, obviously if your driving you need to stay safe so more testing is needed and make sure you have plenty of glucose in your vehicle at all times.

 

[mo1905]

Hi Adrian, good advice from Noblehead, there's no easy answer, the solution requires some work. In addition to what's been said already, you may well find that your insulin to carb ratio may need adjusting for when you're at work to help deal with a more hectic lifestyle. For instance, if your normal levels are 1:10g, you may need to adjust this to 2:15g or similar ?

 

[Adrian1981]

Thank you both for the replies.

Yes I understand that the snacking with no insulin is probably my biggest contributing factor. I will try to deal with this bit first I think.
I try not to alter my ratio for work as with no pattern to my work with working hours, working days, travel times and driving quantities all changing I think I would be chasing my tail


Thanks again
Adrian


@adie.harper

 

[PaulinaB]

Have you spoken to your doc/nurse? Maybe a pump would be an option? I think frequent travel between timezones and hectic work is one of the criteria for a pump. It may make dosing for snacks etc easier.

 

[Adrian1981]

Hi,
Thanks for the comment. I have just moved home and just started seeing a new Diabeties team. They want see my again in 3 months to review my control, bloods before setting up a plan to see what they can do to help me.
Interesting to know that the pump maybe able to aid me with my work patterns.

Thanks again
Adrian


@adie.harper