I am Christel from Diabetes Strong
and in this video, we'll be talking about flying with diabetes
I know that flying with diabetes can cause a lot of anxiety,
when it comes to bringing along your supplies, bringing along your insulin,
and getting through TSA so let's talk through it
let's talk through how you do that without any issues
I’ve been living with type 1 diabetes since 1997 and I’ve traveled quite a bit
here in the U.S when I worked in corporate America
and I go back to Europe once in a while since I grew up there
and I still have family there and I’ve picked up quite a few tricks on how to
fly with diabetes a little more smoothly for my next trip I’ll be flying from
California where I live to Florida so I thought why not bring you guys with me
so I’ll be showing you what I bring along for a trip like that
how I ensure a smooth encounter with TSA
as well as how I manage my blood sugars while in the air
and I thought I’d also add a few tips and tricks
on how to make flying a little less stressful
I manage my diabetes using insulin pens and a CGM I use the Dexcom CGM
so I bring that along,
I bring supplies along for that as well as my meter
but let me just show you all the stuff that I’m packing for one week of travel
and this guys is what I bring with me for a week's travel
so this is extra insulin and it's my supplies so you'll see I bring an extra long-acting
and extra rapid-acting insulin so sometimes I’ll bring two of each but
it depends on how much is left in the pens that I’m already using
and I just started a new one so I only think I need an extra of each of them
then I have my needles I have a whole, a little baggie of those
I always bring quite a few I also bring syringes, the reason why
I do that is in case of a pen failure so I use a durable pen, so let's say that that
fails or that that one fails for that matter
I can pull out some insulin using the syringes
I also have my Dexcom G6 there you go it's an extra sensor
I have adhesive remover as well as alcohol swap so I use adhesive
remover to actually get the old sensor off
then we have my extra test strips I bring a whole 50 of those
I have my glucagon so this is Bysimi,
Paksini, Baqsimi glucagon I don't know why they choose such
hard names but this is a nasal glucagon
and my husband asked me to bring that one I also have a pre-mixed one
and a syringe, but since he'll be the one giving it to me if I
need it he asked me to bring that one okay then we have glucose tabs this is
important stuff I often hear about people you know being in a hotel without any
fast-acting glucose and having a low
that will not happen if you bring a whole glass so I do that
I also bring some fruit leathers that's just to have,
these I think they're 12 grams of carbs, let's look at them 12 grams of carbs, yes,
this is just to have some carbs with me just if needed
so that's all my supplies lastly I bring, this is important, this is a latter from my endo
so you can see it's been it's been with me for a few trips but this is a letter
from my endo saying hey Christel lives with diabetes, she needs all this stuff
I’ve never been asked to show it but I still bring it just in case and this again
all this stuff is a weeks supply
I transport my insulin in a Frio cooling case
and the cool thing about the Frio case is there's actually no ice packs involved so
I’ve never had an issue with TSA so Frio is it's just like these little
beads that gel and that then cools to make sure that your insulin doesn't get too hot
I actually did a whole video on that and how that works so if you're curious and
want to learn more I’ll leave a link to that up here so you can check that out
and when it comes to your insulin always pack it in your carry-on
never ever put it in your checked bag
the reason for that is if you put it in your checked bag it might be exposed to too
high or too low temperatures and if that happens your insulin can actually go bad
when it comes to your supplies a lot of them can actually go in your
checked luggage, however, you want to bring along enough
that you have a supply that lasts you for let's say up to a week
should the airline lose your luggage I usually try and just bring all of
it with me in my carry-on but if I’m going for a really long time I’ve limited space
I might put some of it in my checked luggage
I do pack my insulin and my supplies so that
I can easily get to them in my carry-on because I do take them out of the bag
and put them in the tray so they can go through the x-ray machine
once I get to the TSA
if you do bring a lot of supplies and insulin with you there's a trick to that
so you're allowed one medical bag, so that's an additional item at no extra
charge on most of the U.S carriers that means you can bring along your
regular carry-on items as well as the medical bag
I haven't felt like I needed the separate bag,
as you see I don't really bring a lot of stuff
but I know quite a few people who do and it's something to keep in mind
especially for the longer trips and I think it can be really beneficial
for a lot of people
now let's get through TSA and I know there's always a question
can you bring your insulin pump, can you bring a CGM,
through the metal detectors and the scanners, so let's talk about that
I wear a Dexcom CGM
and I usually just walk through the metal detector or the scanner whatever is open
and I’ve never had an issue
the TSA agents will usually ask me to touch the sensor
I often wear it on my arms I’ll touch the sensor then they'll swipe my hands
and they'll run a test I think they're testing for bomb residue or something like that
but that's it and then they always let me go I have now gone through security twice,
first time on the way out in Los Angeles airport and now in Miami airport on my
way back and there there were no issues as usual
so I am currently wearing my Dexcom on my leg and what I do
is when I get there to the checkpoint is I put all my diabetes supplies, my insulin,
in the little tray let that go through the x-ray
and then I go through the scanner and usually what
they'll ask me about, and they did this in Los Angeles airport, is to touch the sensor
given I’m wearing it on my leg I’m not gonna take off my pants,
so she just told me to touch it through my pants
and then they swiped my hands and here on the way back in Miami
again I went through the scanner I told her I’m wearing a medical device on my leg,
she's like okay fine and let me through so as usual not an issue
however, if you go to any of the CGM manufacturers websites
you'll see that they say yes you can take your CGM through the metal detector
but they do not recommend that you take it through the scanner
so they do not recommend that you do what I do
so if you go specifically to Dexcom's website you'll see
that what they're saying is that they do not recommend that you take it through
the scanner because it's never been tested
so it's not that they know that the scanner
will mess up a sensor they simply haven't done any tests
if you don't want to risk it don't sweat it you can always ask for full body pat down
that is your right if you ask for that
you don't have to go through the scanners I would say if you choose to go that route
just budget a little bit more time to get through security
I do not wear an insulin pump
so I don't really have to worry about that component of things but if you do
you have to decide whether or not you want to opt for a pat-down or not
I did look up the guidelines from the three major pump manufacturers in the U.S
and this is what I found Tandem and Medtronic had the
same guidelines they say that you can wear your insulin pump
through the metal detector but they do not recommend
that you wear it through the scanner or send it through the x-ray machine
if you wear the Omnipod system that's a little different
so both the pods as well as your PDM can go through the scanners
as well as through the x-rays so that's a little different from the other pumps
but regardless if you opt for a pat-down or not
you should still not send your pump
unless it's an Omnipod or your CGM through the x-ray machine
did you know that as a person living with diabetes
you're actually eligible for pre-boarding?
it's another of those tips that I never taken advantage of but it's just because
I never really felt like I needed it however if the boarding process makes
you really nervous if you tend to go low
during the boarding process
or you just want to make sure that you get all your supplies with you on the plane
and up in that overhead compartment you should definitely
go for pre-boarding it is your right
now that we're on the plane there are a few things to be aware of
first thing is when you're seated for a longer period of time
you most likely become more insulin resistant
so that means that you might see your blood
sugar start to creep upwards or you might need more insulin for meals and snacks
just be really careful with doing insulin corrections before you land
because once you get off that plane you have to walk through the airport
and that insulin might get hyper
charged which can lead to low blood sugar I, as a rule of thumb, generally don't do
a lot of large corrections up to an hour an hour and a half before I land
whenever flying I usually try to get up and walk around the cabin a little bit
if it's allowed of course I’ll usually book an aisle seat if I can
so I can easily come up move around another trick I have is to bring along a
resistance band, so like this one,
so the reason for that is if I’m seated for a long period of
time I can still do a little bit of exercises if you put your foot in this and like
move your foot forward, kick forward, without hitting the person in front of
you, you kind of get the blood pumping
and it can help with that insulin resistance
another big thing to be aware of
and it doesn't matter if you use an insulin pump or an insulin pen
is that when we fly there are changes in air pressure
and that does impact our devices
for example if you use an insulin pen like I do if you leave the needle on there
before takeoff or even if you just have to use the pen during your flight you will see
that the air pressure will impact the pen
so if you have the needle on there you might
see a little bit of insulin dripping out as the pressure changes in the pen
as well as more air bubbles forming in the pen
not to worry though you might miss out on a few drops of insulin
but the most important thing is to remember when you then use your pen
click it and do a few air shots you want to make sure that you're
actually injecting insulin and not just the extra air that has accumulated in the pen
insulin pumps is a slightly different deal since you're hooked up to the pump
according to Medtronic's website, the change in air pressure
can lead to air bubbles forming in
your tubing and in your in your pump and unfortunately that can lead
to unintentional insulin delivery to mitigate this some of the insulin
manufacturers do recommend that you disconnect before takeoff
as well as before landing
but you'll have to check that in with your insulin pump manufacturer
to hear their exact guidelines for the exact pump that you're wearing
and then there's Omnipod since Omnipod is a patch pump
you can't just disconnect before takeoff and before landing
so let me just read to you what they have on their website
and that is how I manage flying with diabetes as well as some tips and tricks
that hopefully can help make the whole experience a little less stressful
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