Traveling Tips for Diabetic Patients by Dr. Oz

Holiday season is around the corner, and you might be planning to travel with your family or friends; either by road or air. Travel seems easy until you suffer from a health condition like diabetes. If a person with diabetes wants to travel, he/she really needs to prepare a lot before stepping out. Thanks to Dr. Oz and his amazing tips that are sure to transform irksome travel into a rewarding experience for people with diabetes.

• He suggests checking the blood sugar level before traveling, and make sure that they are above 100, and stays in level, i.e., above 100 during the complete travel duration. He also suggested packing appropriate food items, such as apple, cranberries, peanut butter, protein bars, etc. while traveling. One should always be concerned about the symptoms of low blood sugar levels like sweating, fatigue, confusion, or lightheadedness that you feel while driving. In case you feel any of this, just pull over and eat something you have packed to bring your blood sugar level back to the normal.
• He also offers some tips that can help people with diabetes in traveling longer distances without hassles. These are as follows:
• Check out whether your insurance company covers you when you are traveling. If not, modify your insurance plan and choose the one that covers your health while you travel.
• Create a list and mention all the essential items such as prescribed medicines, pen needles, syringes, etc. that you might need while you travel. Provide the same list to the people, who are traveling with you, so that they can also stock up the necessary stuff in case you miss something.
• Pack everything properly and put labels on them, so that it becomes easy to use them in case of an emergency.
• Carry two pieces of everything even the medicines as travel might damage stuff like glucometers and insulin. Having two pieces of everything ensures that you have a backup in case of an emergency.
• Keep a copy of your “prescription” with you. There are chances that you might lose your bag and in that case, you will lose your medicines too. In such a condition, buying medicines from a pharmacy certainly becomes difficult without prescriptions. Carrying a copy of prescription provides you a backup for medical emergencies.

In the end of his blog, Dr. Oz writes, “Once you’ve put in the effort to set up a travel plan, you’ll ensure a smoother trip without all the stress of being away from home. Whether you’re jet-setting off to a faraway adventure or simply returning home for the holidays, I wish you and yours a safe and healthy journey.”