Type 1 coping with night shifts at work

[vix107]

hi i've recently started a new job which means working 3 or 4 12 hour night shifts a week, however ive been finding my sugars difficult to control does anyone have any advice on a trick or two?! x

 

[Shar67]

Don't eat during the night. Try to keep to meals during day, maybe having one early on into shift.
Getting sleep is vital, invest in complete blackout curtains, get earplugs and a sleep mask, turn off phones, unplug landlines and make sure you tell people not to disturb you.
On your days off get out in the fresh air, try to get a day shift job as soon as you can, night shift is not good for anybody.

 

[azure]

I've worked at night on odd occasions and I found it put my blood sugar up, so I had to increase my basal. If you're doing a few shifts a week, it may be that you need different insulin schedules/dosages for night shifts and not night shifts.

Have you tried your DSN for specific advice?

 

[Specsquee]

Iv been on graves since being diagnosed. Whats worked for me is just being consistent with what i eatand when i eat it.

 

[vix107]

its a toughie, with life circumstances I haven't any choice but to work nights and the only sleep time I have is while the kids are at school!!! I physically find it impossible to eat before going in and the shifts are 12 hours long so there is a need to eat especially with it being quite a physical job. I have been to a specialist for advice but got told to reduce my insulin by 25% which hasn't done me any favours at all so ive put it back to normal!!! just wondered what actual things others do since this is new!! to be honest I cant wait for my pump, will be much easier than faffing with long and short acting for things like this!! thanks for the comments so far guys x

 

[azure]

@vix107 Sorry - forget to say that I have a pump. When I did my first night shift, I was scared I'd go hypo as I was more active, but actually the opposite was true. I assume this was because my body put out stress hormones at being awake at the 'wrong time'. I ate once during my shift, but my shift was shorter than yours.

I think the only way you're going to know what suits you is to see. Test often (I tried to test every hour or two, depending on my blood sugar) and be prepared for both highs and lows.

If you keep good records of your results - BS and food - then maybe you'll get an idea of what needs changing. With my pump, I just put on temporary basal rates and did corrections as necessary.

 

[himtoo]

many years ago I did night shifts and did not do well on them --
the best advice i have seen so far is to try and establish a routine if you are stuck on nights
( it is boring doing the same things day after day ) but it can help to keep BG's the best you can.

it also helps in looking at patterns and how / when to alter doses etc

 

[Gary61]

I work 12hr nightshifts on a regular basis and find what suits me is to keep injecting my basal insulin at the same time and with the same dosage, which is around 22:30 and to eat sensibly at break times injecting my Humalog to match my carbs. I do however have a blowout on a Saturday night by having a curry which requires a much larger dosage lol. Checking your blood sugars regularly if possible throughout the night helps enormously.