Traveling to China

Hi sorry to be a pain, does any one have advice for,traveling to china, I will be going for work next month, for 10 days, will be staying in Hong Kong for some of this time .i have requested letter for the doctors, and planned to take a prescription , and bits, but just wanted to have a bit of advice on the time and reducing insulin. As the handbook says to reduce, as traveling west to east but not sure,on how much to,reduce the basal .i take lantus twice a day.8 units in the morning and 30 units in late even .thanks for your help

I went to China about 7 years ago - brilliant!!! With regards to your Lantus, it depends what time you are travelling. I would be inclined to just miss one basal dose as you will be going forward 8 hours (preferrably a morning dose) With regards to your bolus, I found that the meals were mostly made up of fresh vegetables and meat/fish and most of the carbs just come from rice so I just worked out my bolus dose based on how much rice I ate plus 1CP. Most of the meals we had didn't have a pudding, but fresh water melon was included at the end of the meal (0 carbs) Other than that, just check your BG regularly and make adjustments if you need to. In the 2 weeks I was over there I didn't have any high BGs and only 2 hypos - one on the first day when I had too much insulin because I was expecting Chinese food to be like the Chinese food we get over here, and one when I walked part of the Great Wall! On the return journey, take an extra dose of Lantus (again preferrably a morning dose) halfway between your last Lantus dose in China and your first dose in the UK. You are only going for 10 days, so a few highs or lows won't have much effect on your overall control, just keep your emergency hypo treatment handy at all times, and make sure people around you know what to do to help you.
Good luck, hope you have a great time!
Veronica.

Hi Veronica thanks so much for this, I will take your advice on the Lantus cheers :

Hello sarahg

The other thing you should also take into account is air conditioning,I live in the PRC part time,Heat and cold can take their toil as well towards hypos,Normally drop a couple of units of when here when it is hot,As to food i have found that more restaurants are using sauces that contain high fructose corn syrup and also a lot of bread has sugar added to it as well so be careful when eating out and tell hotel and they will accommodate your needs,Cant say i have never found chinese food same as the UK,As to getting insulin and meds through its very straight forward there but it is a good idea to get letter in the PRC they never bat a eye ball i have found,Sniffer Scanners in HK sometimes alert security that may have something in your bag,Enjoy the PRC and HK,

May be a help to have something cool to carry your insulin in. Others have in the past passed comment about commercially available insulating pouches. May be prudent to invest in.
Have had to change QA cartridges in my pen when on holiday as the Humalog has failed to work (over temperature?) but no really relevent experience I'm afraid.
Regards
Garry

Hi guys this is great thanks for this

Hi guys this is great thanks for this

I recommend the Frio wallets available here for keeping insulin cool while travelling:

http://www.friouk.com/1119

You soak the inner wallet in water for 2 minutes, then gently squeeze excess moisture from it, and it will keep your insulin cool for about a month. In summer, my insulin stays permanently in one of these. Once the month is up, re-soak and it's good for another month.

Hey Sarah,

When I went to China I took a couple of packs of "muesli bars" with known carbs and when meals were late or of uncertain sweetness I chewed on one of these. Basically if you stick to the steamed vegetables and fish, chicken you will not get into much trouble. I also ate the staple kongee (rice porridge) every morning as I found it filled me up and was delicious. As said previously they often finish a meal with fresh fruit. The food bought on the streets can be deceptively sweet. Have a great time.

Helen