Backpacking for 2 months. Diabetic.

Alanstrainor

Hey guys, just thought I'd throw up a thread here to see if anyone has any advice for me.

Flying out to Rio on the 3rd of June for 2 months of travel around south america. Its going to be a backpacking trip, so space is tight in terms of what I can carry. Just wondering if anyone has done similar and had experience with keeping insulin for that long while in changeable climates?

I'm an insulin pump user, and have only just stacked my supplies on my kitchen table for 2 months and its quite ridiculous if i do say so myself! And the supplies were not including much of a fall back in terms of things not working etc. I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experience travelling for extended periods with all their supplies, and how they got on?

Cheers

tinkerbell20

Hi Alanstrainor,

I have a bit of experience with backpacking and diabetes, both as an MDI-er and more recently a pumper. Having experienced both it is sooo much easier as a pumper. While there are tons more supplies to be taken (which you mentioned) it is much easier in terms of adjusting insulin for food/exercise/heat etc. On the whole supplies thing, it does probably seem like there is tons to be taken, do remember that you will be using it day-to-day and a lot of it is packaging so it will be thrown out each day. So it is really only a nuisance for the first week or so.
Regarding the insulin in the heat etc., I'm sure the clinic have warned you about this but make sure you always carry your insulin onboard when flying. There are 2 good reasons for this;
1. The temperature in the part where they put the suitcases can fall below 0 degrees so insulin will freeze and it is spoiled when frozen.
2. In case your bag is sent to a different airport, country or even continent at least you will have your insulin with you.

The other issue is keeping the insulin cold as you travel around over there. What I did, and it seems to work well for me, I bought a baby's bottle warmer (something like this: http://tinytotscompany.com/fr/p/235/bottle-insulator-lovi) and got a small ice pack and kept all my insulin vials in that. I also managed to squeeze a couple of pens into it too and an emergency glucagon kit. When I was staying in a hostel/hotel I asked if they would mind putting the freezer pack in the freezer overnight and then it would keep me going for a day or two until I could freeze it again. Alternatively you could ask them to put your insulin in the fridge but I was always a bit wary of this in case it was taken or thrown out by accident.
I'm sure there are much better solutions but, like you, I was stuck for space so this worked out best for me. The diabetes federation sell something for this but they are a bit pricey. http://www.diabetes.ie/shop/travel-wallets/

Being the voice of concern now, do make sure you pack emergency/back up equipment. When I was away on holiday once I got a "Button Error" on my pump. I was never so glad to see syringes in my suitcase!

Above all, have a wonderful time! I'm very jealous!!

gctest50

http://www.flemingmedical.ie/epages/FlemingMedical.sf/en_IE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/FlemingMedical/Products/MC01

Alanstrainor

tinkerbell20 wrote: »

Hi Alanstrainor,

I have a bit of experience with backpacking and diabetes, both as an MDI-er and more recently a pumper. Having experienced both it is sooo much easier as a pumper. While there are tons more supplies to be taken (which you mentioned) it is much easier in terms of adjusting insulin for food/exercise/heat etc. On the whole supplies thing, it does probably seem like there is tons to be taken, do remember that you will be using it day-to-day and a lot of it is packaging so it will be thrown out each day. So it is really only a nuisance for the first week or so.
Regarding the insulin in the heat etc., I'm sure the clinic have warned you about this but make sure you always carry your insulin onboard when flying. There are 2 good reasons for this;
1. The temperature in the part where they put the suitcases can fall below 0 degrees so insulin will freeze and it is spoiled when frozen.
2. In case your bag is sent to a different airport, country or even continent at least you will have your insulin with you.

The other issue is keeping the insulin cold as you travel around over there. What I did, and it seems to work well for me, I bought a baby's bottle warmer (something like this: http://tinytotscompany.com/fr/p/235/bottle-insulator-lovi) and got a small ice pack and kept all my insulin vials in that. I also managed to squeeze a couple of pens into it too and an emergency glucagon kit. When I was staying in a hostel/hotel I asked if they would mind putting the freezer pack in the freezer overnight and then it would keep me going for a day or two until I could freeze it again. Alternatively you could ask them to put your insulin in the fridge but I was always a bit wary of this in case it was taken or thrown out by accident.
I'm sure there are much better solutions but, like you, I was stuck for space so this worked out best for me. The diabetes federation sell something for this but they are a bit pricey. http://www.diabetes.ie/shop/travel-wallets/

Being the voice of concern now, do make sure you pack emergency/back up equipment. When I was away on holiday once I got a "Button Error" on my pump. I was never so glad to see syringes in my suitcase!

Above all, have a wonderful time! I'm very jealous!!

Wow, thanks so much for the input. Never thought about my bag actually getting lighter as the trip went on!

Having just gone through a button error on my pump, and numerous pump failures I fear that happening to me while away:eek:. Trying to get a pump sent out, while im in the middle of Bolivia may not be the easiest thing in the world!

Thanks again!

Dr Silly Bollox MD

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056196895&page=31

you forget about diabetic thread.

Alanstrainor

Dr Silly Bollox MD wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056196895&page=31

you forget about diabetic thread.

I didn't forget

Dr Silly Bollox MD

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I didn't forget

Oh, it was talked about before in there so may be no harm to fire it in there aswell...or search it maybe.

robinph

I did four months away from home a few years ago, but I was based in the same hotel in New Zealand for that time and the room had a fridge to keep my supplies in. Was easy to take enough needles/ lancets and test strips once you had stocked up in advance. I though I had enough insulin but supplies were getting a bit low towards the end and I got some more with a local prescription, having already confirmed before leaving that the types and strengths of insulin were the same as back home.

I did get stung for the price of the insulin and I'm sure they should have offset the price a bit more than they did based on some agreement between NZ and Ireland for prescription pricing, but couldn't be bothered to argue at the time. Was seeing the doc about an issue with my eyes at the time anyway and was more concerned with that pain than worrying about prescription costs.

Taking pump supplies would use up a fair bit of space alright and I was only on MDI at the time, but as said it is mostly just packaging so can be dumped. I used to be able to get a spare pump from Animas before travelling around Europe, but they have now stopped doing that. Definitely get onto the pump manufacturer and try and talk them into giving you a spare unit to take if you are going to strange places, and if going through some more westernised places on the way get details of their local branches in those countries in case you need to get support.

gctest50

Alanstrainor wrote: »

...........................I'm an insulin pump user, and .....................
Cheers

Unless you already have one you might want to pick up a meter that can read ketones - it might be easy to mistake the onset of tropical diseases for a bit of dka - it'd double up as a spare for glucose anyway





http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VzVNcnOonvk#t=495s

Yakuza

We're just back from a week in Paris, 2-year-old has T1 (diagnosed in March), we bought a large pack and waterproof liner from these guys (http://www.friouk.com/) - with a UK address from ParcelMotel , it worked out at about €22 (including a liner). Basically you soak an inner gel pack in water for around 7/8 mins and it keeps your insulin cool for 45 hours (and just dunk it in water again to reactivate it).

Alanstrainor

Hello all!

Currently in Lima, Peru. Just at the end of this trip, 9 weeks travelling which took me through Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. In the end I had zero trouble with any supplies or equipment. Well asides from my blood tester giving odd readings at high altitude (5200M).

Other than that I had no issues. All insulin is working perfectly fine. And i have about 8 bottles of nova rapid left over!

Yakuza

Glad to hear it. Just curious - did you require more insulin in the hotter temperatures? My daughter's numbers were a bit all over the shop when she went to Spain in July. I think it was a double-whammy of the heat changing her metabolism (higher BG readings) and the insulin itself becoming less effective in temps > 30C (it's now kept in the fridge until 30 mins before its needed).

Alanstrainor

Before i even arrived i had reduced my dosage by 10%, but i found once i was there that i actually was better off with the same insulin levels i was on at home. The difference in my trip would be the irregular meals, the crazy hours on buses and the high altitude. I was over 3000M for 3 weeks or more, which definitely affected my metabolism and my insulin absorption, but i only ran into serious trouble at v high altitude of over 4500M, whereby bloods were i.possible to control and glucose tablets took far too long to take effect.

My insulin seemed to perform as it should for the whole trip, i didn't notice any drop in the effectiveness of my insulin from -15C to +30C. That being said, i was more trying to keep it between the ditches rather than aiming for perfection.

Although i brought a lot of supplies i wouldn't change anything about what i did. I the worst had happened having enough reserve supplies in hand liggage/other bags would have been a life saver. I just got reasonably lucky to not lose anything!

LegacyUser

Sounds like you had a fantastic time! Glad to hear diabetes didn't get in the way of that! I'm currently planning a trip to south america for next summer so I might be looking for some tips on where to go and what to see. :-)