Health Problem, Sort Of

[Sableonblonde]

I'm having a problem at work...the thing is, we are extremely understaffed, I'm working open-til close every day, and I often go 5-7 hours without a break. The trouble is, I'm hypoglycemic. I need to eat small, balanced meals every three or four hours. And I don't have that opprotunity at work. I keep getting stupid and thinking "Oh, I'm okay, I feel fine, I can wait another couple of hours to eat" but then I eventually crash, and start to get pretty sick - lightheaded, heart racing, pounding headache etc. Two of my co-workers had already left early yesterday due to "not feeling good" so I knew I had to stay and push through. By the time I got my second break and was able to eat something small, it really didn't matter or help much.

What scares me is that there have been several times in the past when I have passed out due to my blood sugar being too low, and while it's never happened at work (knock on wood) I know I'm taking too much of a chance, especially since I'm running around and exhausting myself. I ended up calling off today because I needed to rest and reset myself as far as eating goes. I haven't told my manager or anything about it because I don't want to sound like I'm being whiny or complaining. I can't possibly ask to have a break every four hours or so because we are tremendously understaffed and the crowds are so heavy. I can't sneak in the back and try to eat something and just leave the line at my register. What do I do?

[Sableonblonde]

Thanks mae Actually that is the thing I am worried about the most in regards to passing out - hitting my head on something! The space I work in is very small. See, I just hate sounding like a complainer. At work, almost everyone has a complaint every single day - they don't feel good, their arm hurts, they have a headache, etc. I try to be a trooper. But I know I have to take more responsibility for myself and not put myself in danger.

[PaRaGaS]

Thanks mae Actually that is the thing I am worried about the most in regards to passing out - hitting my head on something! The space I work in is very small. See, I just hate sounding like a complainer. At work, almost everyone has a complaint every single day - they don't feel good, their arm hurts, they have a headache, etc. I try to be a trooper. But I know I have to take more responsibility for myself and not put myself in danger.

In case of emergency, my diabetic neighbour always has a bottle of Coke with her. Supposedly it has helped her many times.
Can you guys keep drinks at the registers?

I'm not diabetic or anything, but when I felt really tired or about to pass out working at McD's I'd grab one of them little packs of sugar that we served with coffee. Worked great.

[Der Cute]

Sable:
To get excused for pausing work to deal with the problem, you need to document the problem.

Verbally expressing needs to a manager doesn't get you far; in the world of Bizness, If it's not written, it doesn't exist.

So to fix this issue:
Get a doctor's written letter/ note stating you are hypoglycemic. Have letter contain HOW to deal with issue: Must Keep Blood Sugar above X, to do so, must eat foods every 2 -3 hours. Not doing so can cause...XYZ etc. Accomodations to offset this issue are such: having food on person at all times, 3 min breaks every 2 hours....things like that.

Then keep original for self, hand up a copy to shift lead and manager THEN send one to HR.

Sit down w/ the boss and say, Hey. I need help. I am trying to do my job here and be the best, but to do best and/ or better, I need some tweaks in the rules /schedule. Propose an idea, brainstorm on how to get around your Hypoglycemia....

And if co-irkers start kvetching about "oh sheees got a SODA at the REGISTER" just remind them: hey, it's to keep me alive. (managers cannot legally disclose med issues to other co irkers)

I personally have epilepsy, and I have some things I HAVE TO HAVE. A pretty set schedule. (sleep and med scheds are it) - If I feel auras or weirds - LET ME STOP!
Or hey..I've felt weird today, something's off...Can I NOT do ladders?

but I dont use the E as a way to Not Work. I don't think you will use HG either as an excuse.

You may also want to have the Dr note how severe your HG is. In some people, they're borderline HG and can cope better, longer etc. What is YOUR specific case...on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being just about sugar-injection level.....see?

Me and my E: it's about a 3. Because the Sz are controlled well, I have behavior and mental issues built in w/ the E. (people don't expect this). Plus, being a person who's technical, loves puters, loves books and is well articulated, it REALLY puts a cramp on me getting the point across to the others. So be prepared to push a car up hill with a rope .

I hope this helps.
And keep some choccy with you at all times. Or sugarcubes.

Cutenoob

[SubwayGirl]

Well, as a manager I would want to know. I have a couple of high school students that are diabetic. It really helps to know what their needs are. I don't mind at all that they need to eat on a regular basis. It also helps to know what the warning signs are in case they have any problems. When one of my employees started acting really weird after he had eaten I asked him what he had eaten on break. He had eaten a sweet onion chicken teriyaki sandwich. I asked him if he had used the sweet onion sauce on it. He had because he thought it was sugar-free. NO! It was fat-free so that meant it was pretty much pure sugar.

Also, I am hoping that your manager is also working open-close. I think that a manager should be the one being abused instead of the employees.

Good luck.

[Seshat]

I agree with everyone else, and second especially two points:
1. Get the doctor's note as Cutenoob suggested.
2. Any decent manager would want to know, as SubwayGirl said.
3. As Mae said, better to eat than to get woozy and unable to focus. If nothing else, when you're light-headed and not coping properly, you're vulnerable to quick-change artists and other scammers. You're handling money, you need to be focussed. (That might be a good line to take with your boss, too.)

What I want to add (other than 'they're right, do what they said') is: I'm in the spectrum of insulin problems, somewhere in the hypoglycaemic/pre-diabetic area. Nuts and nut bars seem to work best for me, as a between-meals keep-my-sugar-up.

I'd really recommend nuts rather than soda, so long as you eat the nuts as soon as you start feeling 'I need to eat'. An understanding manager might be comfortable with you keeping nuts at your register, and eating a few between customers when you know you need to.

You might need to either mention to the next customer 'Excuse me, I just need to eat these', and take the moment to put a couple of nuts in your mouth. Or have a small, discreet sign somewhere saying 'For medical reasons, we do allow our cashiers to occasionally eat at the register.'

(It's silly that it's seen as rude to keep your blood sugar up! Sheesh.)

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I'm a chronic hypoglycemic, too, so I feel your pain (in fact, my weekend has been nothing short of shitty, in part to my cavalierly eating a bunch of crap that triggered some really bad sugar spikes. Ah, yes, now I remember why I dont' do that anymore. )

I normally control it with a low carb lifestyle. As long as I keep my sugar/insulin levels on an even keel, I can go with a normal three meal a day schedule with no problem (plus, I don't get that annoying "oh, God, I have to have a nap" feeling anymore.)

I used to keep a roll of lifesavers on hand for emergencies, i.e. my sugar level would suddenly do a rapid drop (you know what that does to you), but since I started controlling my insulin response through diet, I haven't even needed to do that in years. And anyways, eating sugar when your sugar levels dip is a rather dangerous, temporary fix. The doctor that diagnosed me, yet another moron in the medical field, told me to eat more sugar. Yeah, you know what, dont' do that unless you like the idea of type 2 Diabeties later on down the road. Which you are at risk of right now. If it's down to eat a piece of candy or pass out, by all means eat the candy. But that is not the long term solution. A power bar or something is much better. One of my buddies at Kinko's is a type 1 diabetic, and once after an illness I let my sugar get too low. I was too garbled in the head to even tell anyone what I needed. He saw me sitting there pale, sweating, and stammering in a confused state,so he ran to the Pantry next door, and got me an Edge bar. I could have kissed him. It was just what I needed. So you should let your coworkers know what can happen, too. As you know, if your sugar drops too low too fast, you may not be able to realize what is happening to you, or even tell anyone you need help.


In the meantime, keep low carbohydrate snacks handy. Nuts are great, low sugar energy bars, peanut butter, berries or melon, stuff like that. Avoid sodas unless they are are sweetened with something other than sugar or aspartame (yes, aspartame will not only cause an insulin response, but will make your low sugar hit a dangerous level. It causes you to produce MORE insulin, but doesn't give you any sugar to burn. Dangerous for someone who is already having a problem.)

[BookstoreEscapee]

I just skimmed the rest of the responses, so if I repeat something someone else said, sorry...

Tell your manager. For one thing, they can't work with you if they don't know what you need. It's not worth risking the possible consequences (fainting and hitting your head, for one...). Second, if something does happen, it's better if they know what the probable cause is. If, god forbid, you were to faint and hit your head, and you were unconscious, they would be able to tell emergency personnel that you are hypoglycemic and that could make a difference in treatment. Just a hypothetical.

Ask the boss to set aside a few minutes to chat, tell him/her what the issue is, and bring a note from your doctor. Then tell the boss exactly what you need...regular breaks to eat, or if it's really that busy, that you be allowed to have a snack at the register. Just be matter-of-fact - this is the issue, this is what I need, how can we work this out? - and you won't sound whiny or complaining.

If you can't avoid long stints without a break, keep a snack with you. A roll of Life Savers in your pocket or a soda (orange juice might be even better) is better than nothing, but you could keep a more substantial, non-messy snack in a small cooler bag - crackers and peanut butter or cheese, a sandwich cut into small pieces, grapes or other small fruit, that you can eat a bite in between customers without being too obvious. Perhaps not the most professional thing in the world, but as long as you're not talking to your customers with your mouth full of food, most people probably aren't going to notice much. And if they do, "I have low blood sugar and I need to eat at regular intervals and it's too busy/understaffed for me to get away" should do the trick (for most people, anyway - you know there's always one, but who cares about them ).

[Seshat]

If you can't avoid long stints without a break, keep a snack with you. A roll of Life Savers in your pocket or a soda (orange juice might be even better) is better than nothing,

For the information of people who want to help anyone with an insulin problem: rapidly digested sugars are good for a temporary, brief high. Perfect to solve an immediate low-sugar crash. Fruit is a fast sugar - it's nutritious, lots of yummy essential vitamins and minerals, but it won't keep someone with insulin problems going for long. If they don't have something more lasting, they might have a more serious crash when they come down.

For keeping someone going all afternoon, you want slowly-digested energy, which comes in fats and proteins and in sugars which are tied up in grains. The most nutritious easy-snacks of this type are nuts, multigrain bread products (maybe make croutons), some of those Indian foods made of legumes, or any meat snacks you can find which aren't oversalted or overly fatty.

I find some people get upset when I get picky about what I have to handle a low-sugar problem. Most of the people on these boards are helpful types of people - hopefully this will help you understand when someone you're trying to help rejects your orange juice.

[wagegoth]

Years ago, my chiropractor recommended protein (including certain dairy products and nuts) at every meal for my hypoglycemia and chromium picolinate. Chromium picolinate can be helpful for a lot of sufferers, as it maintains blood sugar levels at a steady rate, which is why it's often recommended for people who are dieting to lose weight. Protein works much the same way. It will also help cut down on the number of meals you need to eat.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I always thought "that's what aprons and smocks are for," to keep a little bag of nuts or jerky on you. I've got severe anemia, and I don't like my co-workers to feel like they are getting a raw deal, so everything stays in the apron.