This past week, I returned home from a fabulous trip to Chicago. When I travel, one thing I am always reminded of is the long list people usually need to remember when packing and preparing for a trip. It’s no surprise that preparing for a trip when you have diabetes can require some extra thought.Â
On my plane ride back, I sat next to a lovely woman who was returning from what sounded like a very memorable trip to NYC. We chatted for a few minutes and then I began reading. Something I was reading had the words ‘Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics‘ and she began to ask about my career once she realized I wasn’t a student (oy vey, ha!) I explained to her that I’m a Registered Dietitian  (RD) and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). She went on to tell me she has diabetes, takes insulin, and shared with me her experience living with diabetes. About two hours into the flight she started telling me she felt nauseous and thought she would just go sleep. Okay, there’s no way I could let her do that. What are some of the signs of low blood sugar  (hypoglycemia)? Nausea. Sweating. Shaky. Irritable. Nervousness. Anxiety. Sleepiness. Fatigue.* She went on to tell me she had taken her insulin without eating anything that day. (Please don’t ever do that.) Her blood glucose meter was stored in the bin overhead and she wasn’t interested in trying to get it out. She just thought eating crackers would be the best bet. Somehow, I convinced her to take her blood sugar before she took a nap and ate her crackers…she did… it was normal. We both had a sigh of relief since blood sugar only needs to be treated if less than 70 mg/dL. (Her’s was 124 mg/dL)
Thankfully, this situation turned out with the best possible outcome. But it got me thinking…What if she didn’t have her blood glucose meter with her? What if she actually did have low blood sugar, and just tried to treat it with a few crackers? For these reasons, I wanted to share my top 9 travel tips with diabetes.
Top 9 Air Travel Tips With Diabetes
- Have your doctor write a prescription for all your medicine and carry this with you on the plane.
- Store you blood glucose monitor and medicine/insulin in your carry-on luggage and when on the plane store directly in front of you, rather than above you. If you are have a low blood sugar, it will be much more difficult to stand up and get your supplies out.
- Pack more testing strips/medicine/insulin than you anticipate needing. Better to have too much than not enough.
- Be sure the medicines or insulin bottles that you are carrying on board have the pharmacy prescription on them.
- Do not pre-fill your insulin syringes. You may carry an unlimited number of empty syringes as long as you have the insulin bottles.
- If you are changing time zones during your flight, plan how you will adjust your medications both while you are traveling and when you arrive.
- Carry identification on you at all times that identifies you as a person with diabetes.
- Bring an appropriate snack in case meals are delayed (ie Glucerna, dried fruit and nuts, whole wheat sandwich with natural peanut butter)
- Carry food that could treat a low blood sugar, if needed such as glucose tablets or hard candies
If you have more specific questions about traveling with your diabetes supplies, you may also contact the Transportation Security Administration. Be confident that with just a little planning ahead, there is no limit to where you can go and what you can do! Safe travels. 🙂
*For a complete list of hypoglycemia symptoms, click here
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