Thank you, work and holidays

[Teapot99]

Hello everybody,

I hope everybody is doing well and having a nice day with the nice weather 🙂 I only joined the forum a few days ago (I will attach my thread link for anybody that hasn't seen it: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-everybody.118264/) and I would really like to thank everybody that has reached out to me, it has helped with my anxiety a lot and I am still enjoying receiving messages from other everybody.

I have a few random questions, just to see how both work and holiday effects everybody:

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

They may be slightly random questions but I thought I would ask as everybody seems very supportive so thank you 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

I am retired but my activity levels can vary quite a lot from day to day so adjusting my insulin doses is very important to take into account that variation. My overnight levels are particularly susceptible to the exercise/physical activity I have done over the past day or two, so for me, adjusting my evening basal (long acting) insulin dose is very important and I have a shorter acting basal insulin (Levemir) which is taken twice a day and allows me to adjust my evening dose to account for more or less active days. My morning basal dose is more stable and I only need to adjust that if I am actively losing or gaining weight or I am doing a lot of physical activity for a week or more or between summer and winter.

As regards going on holiday abroad, I almost never go because I have animals to look after, so the idea of going is a bit of an ordeal from the whole planning aspect and leaving my animals in someone else's care but yes my diabetes adds an extra level to that anxiety although I am very confident of my diabetes management. Organisation is not my strong point so there is the fear of forgetting something or losing something whilst I am away. I take comfort from the fact that I have never needed an emergency hospital visit for my diabetes, so the chances of needing one abroad are hopefully also slim. To be honest, I have more faith in a foreign hospital coping better with my diabetes than NHS hospitals which seem to generally have little or no understanding of managing diabetes with insulin, unless they are a DSN so on general wards I would really worry if I needed them to take over my diabetes management because I was unable for whatever reason. Some of the "near miss" stories we have had from members of the forum who have been in for surgery and a member of ward staff has very nearly given them insulin when they were low instead of carbs is scary. Maybe that happens in hospitals abroad too but we all know the NHS is seriously overstretched and that is when accidents happen.

For me, carefully experimenting and learning from the good people here on the forum to becoming the expert in my own diabetes management has been key to gaining more confidence with my diabetes and maintaining my independence in whatever situation I find myself.

 

[mashedupmatt]

I am currently looking for work, having been made redundant at the end of last year and it's tough! When I was working it was also in an office and we all used to just eat at our desks, so no real adjustments needed - the only tricky part arose when I would pre-bolus insulin, only to find that when I needed to use the microwave for example, someone else had jumped in before I got a chance! My other "Job" as such is umpiring hockey at the weekends - this can prove tricky as I generally do two games with a gap in between (With food in the middle too!) - In those situations I generally take a bit less insulin for my food in between games so I don't go too low when back on the pitch - and then I always have a couple of beers afterwards, which throws in it's own complexities - but so far seem to have got it pretty much OK but with everything it is a bit of trial and error

I too haven't been abroad on holiday since diagnosis (3yrs ago next month) so can't really offer any advice with regards to that, but the Diabetes UK website has an informative section on it, which is worth a read 🙂

Travelling with diabetes

Travelling with diabetes means there are a few more things to think about before you set off. But living with diabetes shouldn't be a barrier to taking trips or holidays at home or abroad. Plan to take two to three times the amount of insulin or other diabetes medication and equipment you’d...

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Woodywoodpecker]

Hello everybody,

I hope everybody is doing well and having a nice day with the nice weather 🙂 I only joined the forum a few days ago (I will attach my thread link for anybody that hasn't seen it: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-everybody.118264/) and I would really like to thank everybody that has reached out to me, it has helped with my anxiety a lot and I am still enjoying receiving messages from other everybody.

I have a few random questions, just to see how both work and holiday effects everybody:

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

They may be slightly random questions but I thought I would ask as everybody seems very supportive so thank you 🙂

I still work making protective clothing, only 20 hours a week hopefully 15 next year. I need to take more insulin in morning to cover the spike, but as manual job need few snacks to keep me going. I suffer with anxiety as well so been very challenging for me, I was diagnosed last April and getting there slowly. Not done a holiday yet

 

[CliffH]

Hello everybody,

I hope everybody is doing well and having a nice day with the nice weather 🙂 I only joined the forum a few days ago (I will attach my thread link for anybody that hasn't seen it: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-everybody.118264/) and I would really like to thank everybody that has reached out to me, it has helped with my anxiety a lot and I am still enjoying receiving messages from other everybody.

I have a few random questions, just to see how both work and holiday effects everybody:

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

They may be slightly random questions but I thought I would ask as everybody seems very supportive so thank you 🙂

I'm still working: I find that it's the stuff around work (struggling to eat healthily and exercise when travelling) rather than work itself that's the challenge in terms of diabetes management.

 

[Teapot99]

I am retired but my activity levels can vary quite a lot from day to day so adjusting my insulin doses is very important to take into account that variation. My overnight levels are particularly susceptible to the exercise/physical activity I have done over the past day or two, so for me, adjusting my evening basal (long acting) insulin dose is very important and I have a shorter acting basal insulin (Levemir) which is taken twice a day and allows me to adjust my evening dose to account for more or less active days. My morning basal dose is more stable and I only need to adjust that if I am actively losing or gaining weight or I am doing a lot of physical activity for a week or more or between summer and winter.

As regards going on holiday abroad, I almost never go because I have animals to look after, so the idea of going is a bit of an ordeal from the whole planning aspect and leaving my animals in someone else's care but yes my diabetes adds an extra level to that anxiety although I am very confident of my diabetes management. Organisation is not my strong point so there is the fear of forgetting something or losing something whilst I am away. I take comfort from the fact that I have never needed an emergency hospital visit for my diabetes, so the chances of needing one abroad are hopefully also slim. To be honest, I have more faith in a foreign hospital coping better with my diabetes than NHS hospitals which seem to generally have little or no understanding of managing diabetes with insulin, unless they are a DSN so on general wards I would really worry if I needed them to take over my diabetes management because I was unable for whatever reason. Some of the "near miss" stories we have had from members of the forum who have been in for surgery and a member of ward staff has very nearly given them insulin when they were low instead of carbs is scary. Maybe that happens in hospitals abroad too but we all know the NHS is seriously overstretched and that is when accidents happen.

For me, carefully experimenting and learning from the good people here on the forum to becoming the expert in my own diabetes management has been key to gaining more confidence with my diabetes and maintaining my independence in whatever situation I find myself.

Hi @rebrascora thank you for your comment!

That's really interesting to hear as I assumed for somebody that is diabetic and retired, they would have a similar issue to myself in relation to changes in doses and I guess I was right! It's crazy to think that the seasons can also effect our insulin doses, I think I have naturally realised that over the past 21 years but not really thought about it.

Thank you for chatting about holidays, I completely understand in relation to animals as I now have two little kittens of my own and don't really like the idea of other people looking after them unless they really need to. I went abroad twice last year, once to Cyrpus, where I was very anxious on the way out there and then the airline lost my luggage so I didn't have clothes,etc for a few days. Luckily I had everything medical-wise in my hand luggage (as told by my DSN) and I managed to get everything back within a few days, having explained I am diabetic and need everything that is in there. I also went to Belgium for a long weekend before Christmas as I was okay whilst there but very anxious. Luckily the places I have been to do have people that understand English which makes me feel more comfortable but I am still always worrying and then not wanting to eat due to anxiety... Obviously not something that I want or need in that situation.

Yes I feel like everybody here have been really helpful and have given me some great adice, yourself included, so thank you. I know I will be a regular visitor here 🙂

 

[Teapot99]

I am currently looking for work, having been made redundant at the end of last year and it's tough! When I was working it was also in an office and we all used to just eat at our desks, so no real adjustments needed - the only tricky part arose when I would pre-bolus insulin, only to find that when I needed to use the microwave for example, someone else had jumped in before I got a chance! My other "Job" as such is umpiring hockey at the weekends - this can prove tricky as I generally do two games with a gap in between (With food in the middle too!) - In those situations I generally take a bit less insulin for my food in between games so I don't go too low when back on the pitch - and then I always have a couple of beers afterwards, which throws in it's own complexities - but so far seem to have got it pretty much OK but with everything it is a bit of trial and error

I too haven't been abroad on holiday since diagnosis (3yrs ago next month) so can't really offer any advice with regards to that, but the Diabetes UK website has an informative section on it, which is worth a read 🙂

Travelling with diabetes

Travelling with diabetes means there are a few more things to think about before you set off. But living with diabetes shouldn't be a barrier to taking trips or holidays at home or abroad. Plan to take two to three times the amount of insulin or other diabetes medication and equipment you’d...

www.diabetes.org.uk

Hi @mashedupmatt

I'm sorry to hear about your work situation, that must have been stressful for you at the time. Yes I can imagine that must have been difficult, in relation to heating up food, etc. I am still at the stage where I inject about 20 minutes or more after eating, as I like to see some sort of rise before I inject - another anxiety thing but I'm slowly lowering the time! In relation to alcohol, how do you find that is? Before I had my 'wobble' the other day I used to drink socially and now I'm worried to go back to it. I used to always drink (usually not very much anyway) and then eat some long/complex carbs before bed like some breakfast biscuits.

That's great, thank you. I remember some older rules that I was told by my DSN's since growing up but I will definitely have a look through and see if there's anything new! I am off on holiday with family to the Isle of White later in the year and I am a bit worried. I have been reassured that there is nothing to worry about as they have everything that I have here but even the thought of going away makes me anxious, as I said though, slowly getting there!

Thanks Matt 🙂

 

[Teapot99]

I still work making protective clothing, only 20 hours a week hopefully 15 next year. I need to take more insulin in morning to cover the spike, but as manual job need few snacks to keep me going. I suffer with anxiety as well so been very challenging for me, I was diagnosed last April and getting there slowly. Not done a holiday yet

Hi @Woodywoodpecker,

Thank you for your message. It does seem like everybody gets an insulin spike in the morning and not just me! I am working through getting more comfortable with lower levels though. If you need any advice that I can help with, I am more than happy to try and help - I've been T1D for 21 years now but only just properly carb counting!

 

[Teapot99]

I'm still working: I find that it's the stuff around work (struggling to eat healthily and exercise when travelling) rather than work itself that's the challenge in terms of diabetes management.

Hi @CliffH,

Thank you for your message. Yes I agree, I used to go to the gym quite regularly (2-4 times a week) before my recent wobble. I'm slowly trying to get the courage to go back but yes, work-wise I feel quite comfortable BG levels wise

 

[CliffH]

Hi @CliffH,

Thank you for your message. Yes I agree, I used to go to the gym quite regularly (2-4 times a week) before my recent wobble. I'm slowly trying to get the courage to go back but yes, work-wise I feel quite comfortable BG levels wise

I guess it's swings and roundabouts: when work's impacting on my diabetes management I think, "If I didn't work I'd be able to focus more on my diabetes" but then I remind myself that I don't want my 'identity' as a 'diabetes patient' to be more a part of my life than it has to be. When I'm working, I can "pretend to be normal".

 

[mashedupmatt]

I used to always drink (usually not very much anyway) and then eat some long/complex carbs before bed like some breakfast biscuits

That's exactly what I do @Teapot99 and it seems to work - after a couple of pints (lager usually) my BG Levels do go up quite sharply but then when I walk home (about a mile and a half) they have plummeted again, so I often have to have a couple of sweets to level it off again - and if I have another couple when I'm back home (not unheard of!!) will always have a small bag of crisps or a few biscuits before bed

Isle of Wight will be absolutely fine - they have their own NHS Trust so you are covered (can even get an emergency prescription at a pharmacy if you need one - you have to call NHS 111 first) 🙂

 

[Bruce Stephens]

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

I still work. I was diagnosed at 15, so I've had diabetes through some of school, university, and work. I've always worked (as a researcher and then software engineer) at very relaxed places so if I need to go to an appointment or just need to leave work early there's never been a problem with that.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

There's an element of anxiety, of course. In particular, have I remembered to bring everything I'll need. I use a list for that, which I check several times as I'm packing things (I use Google Keep so I use the same list each time, pretty much, which helps avoiding missing something). For the language issue I don't worry too much: English is a really common second language and it's reasonable to assume a pharmacist will speak decent English (as will anybody else I'm likely to need in some emergency).

 

[rebrascora]

Hopefully the forum will help you to achieve the level of confidence that it has given to me. The more you come and read of others' experiences, the more you slowly relate those experiences to the things that you notice about your diabetes and then you can start to try the tips and strategies that other here use to deal with those experiences until you find what works for you. It really is a very encouraging and supportive community with so much practical knowledge. To me that it is the practical experience which has made all the difference. Health Care Professionals (HCPS) can tell you what should work in theory but it doesn't always work for everyone in practice. This community gives you ideas of what to try if the theory doesn't work so well for you or how to carefully adjust the guidelines until they do fit with your body and your insulin and your lifestyle. It's always a work in progress for all of us but not being frightened to experiment has really helped me because much of the standard advice was not helpful to me, so pushing the boundaries a bit was important to me to improve my diabetes management.

 

[Teapot99]

I guess it's swings and roundabouts: when work's impacting on my diabetes management I think, "If I didn't work I'd be able to focus more on my diabetes" but then I remind myself that I don't want my 'identity' as a 'diabetes patient' to be more a part of my life than it has to be. When I'm working, I can "pretend to be normal".

View attachment 35867

You have taken the words out of my mouth, this is exactly how I am trying to look at my situation. Work is definitely a good distraction from me over testing and worrying and I think that has helped me to see past my bad day last week 🙂

 

[Teapot99]

That's exactly what I do @Teapot99 and it seems to work - after a couple of pints (lager usually) my BG Levels do go up quite sharply but then when I walk home (about a mile and a half) they have plummeted again, so I often have to have a couple of sweets to level it off again - and if I have another couple when I'm back home (not unheard of!!) will always have a small bag of crisps or a few biscuits before bed

Isle of Wight will be absolutely fine - they have their own NHS Trust so you are covered (can even get an emergency prescription at a pharmacy if you need one - you have to call NHS 111 first) 🙂

Wooo, it's nice to see that I'm doing something right! Breakfast biscuits never seems to fail me.

That's great news! Makes me feel a bit more relaxed about it. I did try and search the other day about a hospital there and didn't have much luck, but it was a quick look as I was at work. At least I know I am covered, thanks Matt! 🙂

 

[Teapot99]

I still work. I was diagnosed at 15, so I've had diabetes through some of school, university, and work. I've always worked (as a researcher and then software engineer) at very relaxed places so if I need to go to an appointment or just need to leave work early there's never been a problem with that.

There's an element of anxiety, of course. In particular, have I remembered to bring everything I'll need. I use a list for that, which I check several times as I'm packing things (I use Google Keep so I use the same list each time, pretty much, which helps avoiding missing something). For the language issue I don't worry too much: English is a really common second language and it's reasonable to assume a pharmacist will speak decent English (as will anybody else I'm likely to need in some emergency).

Hi @Bruce Stephens, thank you for your message. It seems you are just like me in relation to having diabetes through school, university and work. I feel like at school I didn't worry as much as I do now and it was a bit more relaxing and easy to just eat when my bloods were low (it seemed like a novelty back then). I too work in quite a relaxed place, work have said that if ever I need then I am more than welcome to go and work from home if needed and I have gone through with all of my close colleagues and first aiders about what to do if I need help with low/high blood sugar and they have all been more than happy to assist if needed.

Thank you for the advice in relation to travelling too. I may look into Google Keep and see if I can use that when I travel! Yes I agree I think there are more people that speak English than I realise and I over worry about this stuff too so I know I need to think more logically in these situations! I think one of my worries is also about being able to get fast acting/carbs whenever I need them. When I was away in Belgium there was a local Lidl nearby and corner shops for if I needed them so that helped me to feel a bit better. I always travel with a 250ml full fat coke, jelly babies and sometimes chocolate digestives with me at the moment, just incase - I feel like a bit of a corner shop but I also do the same when travelling too so I know I always have something with me.

 

[CliffH]

You have taken the words out of my mouth, this is exactly how I am trying to look at my situation. Work is definitely a good distraction from me over testing and worrying and I think that has helped me to see past my bad day last week 🙂

Yes, we know that 'unemployment' (whether that's through inability to find a job, illness, retirement or even a lottery win) is very bad for people's psychological (and therefore physical) health.

Women tend to cope better than men with retirement because women are more likely than men to substitute 'family' responsibilities for paid employment - although one could of course argue that that's the fault of the patriarchy, rather than a matter of choice, given that women in paid employment almost always carry the bulk of the burden of family care anyway, regardless of the employment status of any men in the family!

 

[eggyg]

I’m retired now but was diabetic when I worked. My job was sedentary but I walked to and from work. 5.5 miles in total. I would on occasion start to go low walking home so I started to have a snack about 3.30, nothing too filling, a plain digestive etc. Now I’m retired I do have a stricter regime with meal times and it helps. Spontaneity is a thing of the past I’m afraid. But the odd day going off piste won’t do any harm.
As for holidays abroad up until Covid we would go abroad 3 times a year. My only concern was knowing where the nearest hospital was for my husband, he has a complex heart condition. It’s all doable. We haven’t travelled abroad since 2022 but that’s because of my “gastric” issues not the diabetes!

I wrote this hours ago but forget to send it! I see you’ve had loads of advice!

 

[louisew]

Hello everybody,

I hope everybody is doing well and having a nice day with the nice weather 🙂 I only joined the forum a few days ago (I will attach my thread link for anybody that hasn't seen it: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/hello-everybody.118264/) and I would really like to thank everybody that has reached out to me, it has helped with my anxiety a lot and I am still enjoying receiving messages from other everybody.

I have a few random questions, just to see how both work and holiday effects everybody:

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

They may be slightly random questions but I thought I would ask as everybody seems very supportive so thank you 🙂

I used to get very anxious going on holiday. I’m on insulin, bolus and basal and eat a low carb diet. After nearly going hypo at the top of a volcano, I just had to relax about keeping tight control of my sugar. Safer to be a bit high, especially as I do super active holidays. Never worry about hospital locations, if you need one, just ask! Language, if I speak their language, fab, if not there’s always someone who speaks English. My dad had recently died when I went on holiday to Costa Rica, and I was suffering from bad anxiety and all over the place. I ended up leaving my glucose monitor at the 1st hotel we stayed at and it was too far to go back. I had a spare but took it on the boat when I went scuba diving (which I was super anxious about) and ended up dropping it and the strips into a big puddle of water and ruined them all, so had to find a pharmacy to buy a new tester, that was fun But I’ve calmed down now and my last holiday was super chill.

 

[helli]

1. Do many people still work on here/ are you retired? How does your work effect your insulin doses or, if you are retired, how does being retired differ in doses for you? - I work in an office environment so I usually don't have to adjust doses too much unless it is really hot as they don't have air-con currently.

I still work.
I work in my non-airconditioned home office so not much exercise even on the commute buy I try to make it to the gym or climbing wall 2 or 3 times a week.
Work only affects my diabetes if I have a stressful meeting or presentation.
The exercise has the bigger impact and I have to adjust my basal for that on the day and the next day.

2. Does everybody/anybody get anxiety when going abroad on holiday? It's something that I am working on in general. But does anybody else panic in relation to local hospital locations, native language and being away from home (in the UK)?

When I am not melting in my home office, I travel for work. I have had three overseas work trips this year and I will be in France then Germany next week. So travelling is not something I get particularly stressed about.
I have travel insurance which I would use if I needed medical attention but, even at home, I have never needed emergency attention with regards to my diabetes.

Last year, I broke my elbow while in Germany. I confess I avoided a German hospital. That was because I didn't know it was broken until I got home (4 days later!) and I didn't want it to impact my holiday.

The only time diabetes has been stressful when on holiday was actually in Wales. My finger prick meter got water logged and none of the towns nearby had a big enough pharmacy to sell a replacement. So I only had my CGM for the rest of the trip.