Travel by bus or rail

The main problem with bus journeys is keeping comfortable. Otherwise, once you have got on to a bus all you have to do is sit down until you reach your destination. Not all buses have lavatories so it is a good idea to make sure your blood glucose is below your renal threshold during the journey. You will, of course need your diabetes travel pack.

Most trains in the developed countries have lavatories but there may be none in Third World countries. Again you will need to make sure your blood glucose is below your renal threshold. If you are travelling in an out of the way place, you will also need a far larger food and fluid reserve, and should plan your trip more as I described for mountain expeditions.

Travel by sea

If you know you are a bad sailor, take a motion sickness pill before you step on board ship and keep taking them at the interval stated on the package until you are safely on dry land again. These pills, of which a range is available from pharmacies, drugstores or doctors, will not upset your diabetes, but sea sickness might. The pills may make you drowsy, though, and so you should not take them if, for example, you are planning to drive your car off the ferry.

What should you do if sea sickness strikes? Try to find somewhere to he down with some fresh air. Ask a steward for a motion sickness pill if you do not have any. Check your blood glucose level every couple of hours and suck some glucose tablets or have a glucose drink such as Lucozade if it is low. Take a few units of rapid-acting insulin every four hours if your blood glucose level is high. This is unlikely because motion sickness is not usually related to a generalized infection, like gastroenteritis, and so there is no increase in insulin resistance. Your glucose level will tend to go down in most cases. You may feel as if you want to die while you are sea sick, but you will recover quickly when you are back on land.

Travel by air

Air travel has several special problems for the person with insulin-treated (and, to some extent, the non-insulin-treated) diabetes:

1.   You are at the mercy of the airline and their timetable

2.   Your luggage is restricted

3.   You are more likely to have trouble with customs checks

4.   You may travel rapidly through time zones.

Unpredictability

The first problem is simply that of the unpredictability of air travel. Your diabetes travel pack and extra food should see you through this, and besides you will usually be able to buy food and drink at the airport. Your main luggage will be taken from you and put in the hold, where it may be frozen in flight. You must, therefore, have all your insulin with you inside the passenger compartment as it is destroyed by freezing. You must keep your diabetes travel pack with you.

Customs

Customs officers and airline officials using x-ray scanners frequently stop people with diabetes because syringes and needles show up on their screens. This is why you need your diabetic card and an explanation of it in the language of the country you are visiting. There should be no problem, once you have explained the situation, so do not get angry or upset.

*110/102/5*

DIABETES