How do I deal with my insulin shots if I am traveling across different time zones?
admin | May 31, 2011 | Comments 0
It is difficult to give you specific advice about this, because it depends on what types of insulin you are taking, how big the doses are, how many time zones you are traveling through, and whether you are flying east to west, or west to east. The key thing to do is to check your blood glucose frequently and make adjustments that make sense. You will not get much exercise on the plane, so your blood glucose might be higher than usual. If you are stressed about the journey, this will also push your blood glucose up. Because you will keep your insulin supplies with you, it should be fairly easy to take extra shots of insulin to cover all your extra airplane meals and to bring down your glucose if it gets too high. Remember that airplane flights are air-conditioned, and so you can get very dry. Make sure you drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
Let me give you an example that I talk to my patients about a lot. If you live on the West Coast of the United States and are traveling to the United Kingdom, you “lose” eight hours on the flight to the UK and “gain” eight hours on the way back. Let’s say you take Regular insulin (which lasts up to six or eight hours) and NPH insulin (which lasts about twelve hours or more) twice a day (at about 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.). It usually works to take your usual doses of Regular and NPH on the morning of your flight to the UK. However, it will only be sixteen hours later until it will be 8:00 a.m. in the UK again! It usually works best to take only Regular insulin (every four to six hours) until you get to the UK. You can then take your next dose of the longer-acting NPH insulin when it is 8:00 a.m. in the UK.
On the way back, it will seem like a really long day. When you take your morning dose of Regular and NPH insulin on the day you leave the UK, it will be thirty-two hours until it will be 8:00 a.m. the next day back on the West Coast of the United States. It usually works well to take your second dose of NPH insulin twelve hours after your first dose of NPH and then take an extra dose of Regular insulin about twelve hours after that. That should tide you over until you get back to the United States and take your next dose of NPH at 8:00 a.m. Pacific standard time. I hope that makes sense. If you are confused about what to do, please talk to your diabetes doctor or nurse about it so that you can work out a plan that makes sense.
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