I am newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and working on a building site ( very dusty and dirty job ) doing very heavy manual handling. Does anyone else do this job or think I should be thinking about changing my job? Also had hypo at work Monday as it was a bit to much and sugars dropped drastically quick
Work
- Thread starter parkinsonryan
- Start Date
If you enjoy your work, diabetes is not a reason to change it.
You may need to make a few adjustments (which under the UK Disability Discrimination Act you are entitled to require) such as frequent monitoring of your BG and reducing your insulin to avoid hypos but diabetes should not be a reason to stop doing what you want.
Just look at sportsmen with diabetes you do very "manual work": I look at people like Henry Slade who plays Rugby for England as inspiration of what we can do.
As you say, you are newly diagnosed so it will take some time to work out what you need to do but I do not think you should change your job because you have diabetes.
You may need to make a few adjustments (which under the UK Disability Discrimination Act you are entitled to require) such as frequent monitoring of your BG and reducing your insulin to avoid hypos but diabetes should not be a reason to stop doing what you want.
Just look at sportsmen with diabetes you do very "manual work": I look at people like Henry Slade who plays Rugby for England as inspiration of what we can do.
As you say, you are newly diagnosed so it will take some time to work out what you need to do but I do not think you should change your job because you have diabetes.
PenguinMum
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@parkinsonryan - I'm sure there will be plenty folks drop in who di heavy manual work. I'm not T1, so have no personal wisdom to offer you, but all I'd say is take it steady and get to know your T1 and how you manage it for some time beforer making any big decisions about your life.
The early days will likely have a few bumps in the road, but hopefully your diabetes team will be helpful, and there a many, many years of experience here on the forum.
The early days will likely have a few bumps in the road, but hopefully your diabetes team will be helpful, and there a many, many years of experience here on the forum.
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We are fortunate these days as we can use tools like the libre which is a flash monitoring system for checking glucose, so those who work in jobs where testing is difficult like chefs, teachers, manual labourers etc, then it's easy to scan your sensor and see what's going on without the hassle of using test strips, speak to your DSN as it's available on prescription in some areas but would be very useful and help you avoid potential lows. Also just checking you have access to glucose at all times ? Do you have a buddy at work who knows what to do if you go hypo ? Keeping your bg levels at the top end of your target should be your focus to avoid the lows, speak to your DSN about what levels would be ideal for you based on the exercise you are doing each day.
Ultimately it's your call on whether you feel you can continue in your current role, however with the right support there is no reason why you can't continue doing what your doing.
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This is a very useful guide in regards to diabetes and the workplace, https://www.diabetes.org.uk/resourc...%20the%20workplace%20support%20Feb%202017.pdf
