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Employees and colleagues not understanding

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Foxley 83

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I was diagnosed with type 1 last November at the age of 38, when suffering a dka sugar levels 39 and ketones 6.9. I was a deupty manager of a private childcare nursery working 40 hours. Now with my diabetes I physically can't work those hours anymore. Now only work part time. However suffer a lot of hypos at work. I try my best to explain to them my condition, but they don't really understand. Wondering if they is any reading material or training I could suggest for them to understand my condition. Fed up with being thought I am using this as an excuse.
 
Hi and welcome. I’d suggest material for yourself to begin with, so that you can learn to reduce the hypos. There’s no reason you can’t work full time with diabetes. There will of course be times you need 10 minutes out to sort a hypo, or a minute to test your blood sugar, and you should be accommodated for those within your normal working hours.

Have you had any carb counting training or read any books on carb counting? There’s a couple of good books and websites you can work through to learn how to balance things better. You don’t need to let diabetes affect your work / life like this at all.
 
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Hi. Sorry to hear you are struggling with your diabetes management and your colleagues are not being as supportive as you would like.
I would first ask, how frequently you are hypoing and what steps you have taken to address that issue. I wonder if an intensive education course like DAFNE or BERT1E has been offered to you and if not ask about it. Do you adjust your own basal and bolus doses or are you reliant on a DSN to change your doses? If so, have you been in touch with them regarding these hypos and how it is affecting your work?
Do you have Freestyle Libre to monitor your levels so that you can set an alarm to warn you when your levels are dropping? The important thing is to educate yourself and manage your diabetes as well as possible rather than expecting other people to learn about your condition. Yes, I would hope that they would know to give you some glucose or suggest you might need some glucose if you start behaving oddly and will maybe need 15 -20 mins to recover (most times I can work through a hypo but I appreciate not everyone can) but otherwise I don't think it is down to them to understand anything more.
 
We are all different. Some of us find our diabetes easier to manage than others. Unfortunately, not everyone understands that but I am sure @Lucyr did not mean to be hurtful with her comments.

I am sure you are not using diabetes as an excuse but agree you need some help with managing your diabetes. Hypos should not be happening so often that they impact your ability to live a full life including work. Many of us work full time in stressful and active roles.
Hypos can be debilitating and can take longer than 10 minutes to recover plus frequent bad hypos can have longer term effects.
Can you discuss this with your diabetes team?
They may also be able to provide some assistance with material for your employer and colleagues.

If you do not have help from your team, you can use the Diabetes UK helpline. The number is at the top of the page.
 
rebrascora said:
Yes, I would hope that they would know to give you some glucose or suggest you might need some glucose if you start behaving oddly and will maybe need 15 -20 mins to recover
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Depends a lot on how bad the hypo is, I find. I'm sure people vary a lot, too. I find 15-20 minutes is overly optimistic for significant hypos. (Fortunately with Libre I rarely get significant hypos.)
 
I think it depends on the individual. Not everyone can merrily cope with a full-time job and Type 1. Some people’s diabetes is more brittle than others. I know one lady who can’t work at all because of her Type 1. Also, people have different additional commitments outside work eg children, caring for elderly relatives, etc etc, and, of course, some jobs fit better with Type 1 than others. Moreover, some jobs are very unpredictable and so it’s harder to avoid hypos.

I sympathise @Foxley 83 What in particular don’t your colleagues understand? Type 1 in general, or hypos and how they affect you? I’d look at the leaflets @Bruce Stephens suggested, and also consider maybe typing up a very brief sheet of information with a short explanation of Type 1, then information about hypos, including how they might affect you.
 
I do have libre sensor but always accurate. My colleagues just don't understand the seriousness of low sugar levels as today 2.2. I am told by diabetes team at the hospital I am controlling it well, for someone new diabetes. However I am constantly tired and my job is very mentally and physically demanding, working with children.
 
I think making your own sheet is probably best. If you have a line-manager, I’d ask for an appointment and explain hypos to them simply, including why your blood sugar drops and that that’s potentially dangerous if not treated promptly. Say what you need when you’re having a hypo - eg 10 or 15 mins to treat it and ensure your blood sugar is back in range.

I have a Libre too and I find it can be a bit behind for fast hypos. Could you set your Low alarm higher to help you catch them? How often do you scan? And do you carry top-up carbs so that you can eat if you’re more active than usual? Also, I usually have a similar lunch each day as that makes my blood sugars more predictable and saves me having to think.
 
Foxley 83 said:
I do have libre sensor but always accurate. My colleagues just don't understand the seriousness of low sugar levels as today 2.2. I am told by diabetes team at the hospital I am controlling it well, for someone new diabetes. However I am constantly tired and my job is very mentally and physically demanding, working with children.
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Well, it has only been about 6 months, so there's something to be said for their view. I'd encourage trying to talk over the relatively frequent hypos (and the problems they're causing you) with your team. I'd expect them to be concerned and to want to suggest things you might try to reduce them. (Perhaps simple strategies like running a bit higher during the day and/or eating low-carb breakfast and lunch so you need less bolus, which tend (in my experience) to reduce hypos caused by exercise a bit.)
 
Foxley 83 said:
I do have libre sensor but always accurate. My colleagues just don't understand the seriousness of low sugar levels as today 2.2. I am told by diabetes team at the hospital I am controlling it well, for someone new diabetes. However I am constantly tired and my job is very mentally and physically demanding, working with children.
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Sorry to hear how difficult you are finding things @Foxley 83

I wonder if you might find it helpful to chat things through with the Diabetes UK Helpline advisors when the helpline reopens next week. It is open Mon-Fri 9-6 on 0345 123 2399
 
Foxley 83 said:
I do have libre sensor but always accurate. My colleagues just don't understand the seriousness of low sugar levels as today 2.2. I am told by diabetes team at the hospital I am controlling it well, for someone new diabetes. However I am constantly tired and my job is very mentally and physically demanding, working with children.
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Inka mentions it above have your low alarm set higher to avoid getting that low, mine is set at 4.8 but always check which way arrow is pointing before deciding what to do.

As your likely still producing own insulin you will be more prone to hypos, should all settle down once your honeymoon period ends.
 
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