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Discussion

Any night shift nurses experiencing low blood sugars?

Hey y'all! I'm a new nurse (graduated last May) working night shifts at my hospital's ICU. I'm a little perplexed because keeping up with the stress of a usual night (crashing patients, code team, confused combative crazies..) is usually enough to leave me worn out by 7am. However, lately I've been finding myself getting lightheaded and dizzy at work, at times even sweaty/shaky when I get home. It seems more and more like I'm having to take breaks to eat something or put my feet up. I pack and eat a normal lunch every night, but have already had to go see my primary for passing out twice in one morning!

Have any of you had similar issues when switching to night shift? I know it can be hard on your body but my MD was pretty perplexed.

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    Have you actually checked your blood sugar when feeling this way? You're going against your body's circadian rhythm which itself can be much of your problem.

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    Yes! I had ridiculous blood sugar problems on night shift. I would eat every few hours (don't forget protein!) and try to limit caffeine and sweets since that can make matters worse. Taking melatonin before bed and keeping a consistent sleep schedule helped quite a bit, too. Heck, I have had issues on day shift, too. Oh by the way, diet soda was often the culprit for me, the artificial sweetener just had me all out of whack. Switching to coffee with just milk, no sugar has actually helped me as well. Just my personal experience, take from it what you will!

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    I've drastically cut my caff intake--no more coffee for me. For nights when I don't have time to eat, I drink a lot of watered apple juice. Probably not the best solution, but it usually prevents the shakes

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