Night shift advice

[nclemale]

Hi all . I am about to undertake a 3 month stint on night shift . I have previously done a long term night shift many years ago and I didn't cope too well with it . I am much more in control these days But just wanted some advice on how best to switch from days to nights on days off etc . And maybe any tips on kinds of food to eat . last time I did it I just swapped my meals with the relevant time I would of ate it . so breakfast would become my meal at night time before I start work and vice versa for my meal when I get home after work and have my main meal in the morning . does this also help with sleep patterns ?? Thanks in advance

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[Spiker]

The only thing I would say is confirm your basal amount is correct before you start, if not you may get a lot of swings in blood sugar when your meal times change. And test frequently, particularly on the changes between night and day, that will be the trickiest part. I would also not aim for the tightest control, give yourself some slack, or you will have a risk of hypos.

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[Adrian1981]

Hi

I have recently performed a month or two of night shifts and kept my meal times the same as I normally would over the weekend.
I ate breakfast at 6am before going to bed, I ate lunch at 15:00 when I got up and I had dinner around 19:00.
My night shifts were quite short which allowed me to do this but depending on your shift would decide if this would suit you.

The affects I found from doing this were as follows.
I found that my blood was a lot lower at 15:00 testing. My reason for this was because the duration between breakfast and lunch on a night shift was nearly 9 hrs (6am-15:00) where on a weekend it would be 5hrs (7am-12).

The other affect I had was that it was a struggle not to snack during work as I was going from 19:00 until 06:00 without a meal.
I was working from home so snack availability and testing was not an issue if I did suddenly need something.

After writing this maybe I was wrong in my approach but I thought it would be easier not changing any meal and injection times.
Let us know how you get on and what works for you.

All the best.
Regards
Adrian

 

[nclemale]

Thanks guys but I certainly couldn't go a full nights work without a meal of some sort as I prob would be hypo by about midnight . I think swapping meal times from am to pm and vice versa .

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