I am soon to be going to China for 16 days. I would like any advice on how to re-schedule my twice a day insulin with the 7 hour time difference and also what sort of foods should I be looking for/avoiding? I am 65 and new to being a type 1 diabetic (6 months). Any help is most welcome.
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Travel
- Thread starter John S
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Northerner
Admin (Retired)
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- Type 1
Hi John, I think the best thing would be to ask your DSN a she will be more familiar with your treatment. I'm jealous - would love to go to China! I'm afraid I have no idea about how authentic Chinese food differes from ours. I would imagine that stir fries are probably amongst the better options and I have heard people say that noodles don't have too big an effect. 🙂
You'll also need to make sure you have access to food at the appropriate times if you are on two injections and find a source of snack foods that are portable.
You'll also need to make sure you have access to food at the appropriate times if you are on two injections and find a source of snack foods that are portable.
NiVZ
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi John S,
It's a while since I've been on twice a day injections, but I did go to Atlanta (GMT -7/8 hours) and managed.
It would be useful if you could tell us what times you usually take your insulin here in UK and how much you take. It's also important to know what time you are leaving UK and how long the flight is.
The trick is to calculate a percentage of your usual insulin to take before you leave the UK so that you can take it morning and evening once you are adjusted to China time.
As Northerner has also suggested you could ask your DSN.
NiVZ
It's a while since I've been on twice a day injections, but I did go to Atlanta (GMT -7/8 hours) and managed.
It would be useful if you could tell us what times you usually take your insulin here in UK and how much you take. It's also important to know what time you are leaving UK and how long the flight is.
The trick is to calculate a percentage of your usual insulin to take before you leave the UK so that you can take it morning and evening once you are adjusted to China time.
As Northerner has also suggested you could ask your DSN.
NiVZ
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Thanks for the replies. I have an appointment lined up with my nurse before I go. but it's always nice to hear about real experiences rather than hypothetical ones. I normaly inject before breakfast and evening meal. Around 7am & 7pm and it's an over-night flight of 13 hours leaving here at 4pm arriving 8am Chinese time.
John,
It has been a while since I was on two injections but I did do several trips whilst on this regime, with mixed results. Probably the most comparable to your journey was a trip to I made to Japan quite few years ago. I did fly to Hong Kong a few years ago but I was on four injections at that time.
The main cities in China are seven hours ahead of British time. So essentially you will have a seven hour shorter day when you fly out and a seven hour longer day when you return. My approach for these circumstances for the outbound journey would be to have the same evening dose as usual and at roughly the same time. With you arriving in the morning then they are likely to serve you breakfast beforehand so have your normal morning dose then. It would be worthwhile checking on the airline's website to see if they outline roughly what they will be feeding you and when during the flight, you may want to have an extra dose of your morning insulin depending on the timing and what they feed you.
Coming back you may want to take an extra dose of both insulins to cover the extra seven hours for that day. As the others have said though, talk to your DSN as they can advise you on your specific regime.
The other advice for the flight would be to drink plenty of water but enjoy some of the alcohol on offer if you enjoy it! 😱
Whilst in China I would go with the flow, noodles and rice are good sources of carbs. You may get caught out with a few dishes being unexpectedly sweetened but a few highs can be tolerated whilst on holiday. If in doubt I would tend towards underestimating the carb content as being hyper is better than going hypo (hope you have good insurance by the way). Remember also that you will probably be walking more than usual whilst on the trip. Do not feel too guilty if you occasionally want to play it safe and just go for a western dish (which will be available) for which the carbs might be a little more predictable. Finally I hope you are good with chopsticks!! 😱
I hope you have a great trip, China is somewhere I would like to visit so I might be asking you for advice in the future. Certainly the people I know who have been have all enjoyed it. 😎
It has been a while since I was on two injections but I did do several trips whilst on this regime, with mixed results. Probably the most comparable to your journey was a trip to I made to Japan quite few years ago. I did fly to Hong Kong a few years ago but I was on four injections at that time.
The main cities in China are seven hours ahead of British time. So essentially you will have a seven hour shorter day when you fly out and a seven hour longer day when you return. My approach for these circumstances for the outbound journey would be to have the same evening dose as usual and at roughly the same time. With you arriving in the morning then they are likely to serve you breakfast beforehand so have your normal morning dose then. It would be worthwhile checking on the airline's website to see if they outline roughly what they will be feeding you and when during the flight, you may want to have an extra dose of your morning insulin depending on the timing and what they feed you.
Coming back you may want to take an extra dose of both insulins to cover the extra seven hours for that day. As the others have said though, talk to your DSN as they can advise you on your specific regime.
The other advice for the flight would be to drink plenty of water but enjoy some of the alcohol on offer if you enjoy it! 😱
Whilst in China I would go with the flow, noodles and rice are good sources of carbs. You may get caught out with a few dishes being unexpectedly sweetened but a few highs can be tolerated whilst on holiday. If in doubt I would tend towards underestimating the carb content as being hyper is better than going hypo (hope you have good insurance by the way). Remember also that you will probably be walking more than usual whilst on the trip. Do not feel too guilty if you occasionally want to play it safe and just go for a western dish (which will be available) for which the carbs might be a little more predictable. Finally I hope you are good with chopsticks!! 😱
I hope you have a great trip, China is somewhere I would like to visit so I might be asking you for advice in the future. Certainly the people I know who have been have all enjoyed it. 😎
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