Managing your blood sugar levels can be a full-time job when you are first diagnosed with diabetes. Thankfully with a regular daily schedule of monitoring at home and during your working hours, it can become second nature to make sure those levels are where they need to be throughout the day. Traveling, on the other hand, presents some unique challenges to keeping those levels steady between high and low. Diabetes may change your lifestyle but it doesn’t have to change your life. If you have a good handle on managing your glucose levels close to home, you can travel without hesitation with a few tips.
On the Road
Your best bet to eating sensibly and keeping your glucose levels where they need to be is to plan ahead for every meal you will eat from the time you leave your home until the time you return. Even fast-food restaurants have offerings that you can eat while on the road. Before you leave visit the website of several of your favorite restaurants and print off their nutritional fact sheets. Know your choices ahead of time so that you aren’t going too far from your normal range while traveling. Keeping your levels normal is possible even when the choices are limited. If you are unsure about what restaurants will be available during travel, pack some tried and true snacks to keep you from going too long between meals.
In the Air
Most major airlines that serve meals in-flight do allow customers to choose a diabetic meal before their trip. That being said, not all requests make it through the system unscathed. Oftentimes, these special meal requests are found to be lacking or even missing once you are already in the air. Again, it’s important to keep safe foods with you so your blood sugar doesn’t dip too low from not eating or rise too high from eating only what’s available on the flight.
Take Your Tools
When you aren’t in total control of what foods are available to you while traveling, it’s important to have your glucose monitoring tools at your disposal. Knowing the signs of when your sugar is too low or too high by how you feel is essential in keeping you well and enjoying your trip. Be sure to pack double your expected use of glucose strips, glucose tablets, and extra batteries for your monitoring equipment. If you are insulin-dependent, knowing where to get extra insulin upon your arrival is essential.
Keep Moving
During travel, it’s easy to find yourself sedentary for long periods. If traveling by car, make stops at least once per hour to get out and walk around. For long flights, take laps around the aircraft. If you will be on a long-haul flight, it’s important to talk to your doctor before your departure to get recommendations about precautions to take. Compression stockings may be recommended to avoid deep vein thrombosis.
Get Adequate Rest
Even though most travel has us sitting for long periods of time, our bodies are still taxed by the change in routine and break in our normal eating, sleeping, and working hours. Keep your bedtime as close to normal as possible and if traveling from one time zone to another, adjust your schedule slowly to acclimate to the new waking and resting times. Listen to your body and if it’s asking for rest, do it.
Enjoy
By taking a few steps before your trip, travel with diabetes can be just as enjoyable as it was before your diagnosis. By listening to your body and working with it, rather than against it, you can enjoy both short and long trips with relative ease.
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