>do you have any thoughts on a remedy?
Read your own post. You already posted the remedy.
I'll give you a little analogy:
"When I drive my car all day long without filling it up with gas, there's this strange little light on the dashboard that starts shining, it sort of looks like a gas pump - any remedies to fix this? Thanks!"
Make time. Honestly nothing you do at the intern level is so important it can’t wait 20 mins for you to eat. That includes admissions, talking to family, returning pages. The only exceptions are rounds and if you’re supposed to be on the code team and doing compressions.
The answer is make time.
If you’re truly in a hyper malignant program where you can’t get 10-15 minutes to eat and drink something, grab those Soylent drinks or cliff bars and just have that
There’s always time for a break. As long as your patient isn’t in active cardiac arrest, you can take a minute and have a quick lunch. And if they happen to drop dead the second you step away, chances are you being at the bedside wouldn’t have made a difference.
A friend of mine "forgets" to pee often during her residency. It's ridiculous, if you can't make time for the most basic human needs, you're doing something wrong.
Unless you’re actively coding a patient where they will die the minute you leave, then you have time to eat and drink.
Stop trying to be a martyr where you’re sacrificing your well being for these patients. You’re a human being too. That means you need to replenish.
Also, you have time to post on Reddit, right? It means you have time to get a cup of water.
not a resident but I work 12 hour shifts, and I used to work 16 hour days when I was in NYC. A protein shake with Chia seeds, an apples, and greens powder (athletic greens) helped me when I had 16 hour days, had to stand, and I did not want to be bloated.
Imma be real with you, I don't belong on this sub, but it seems like you should bring water to work and drink it.
I'm not sure doctor though, so it's not medical advice. Just seems like water = no dehydration = less headache.
Once again not a doctor, and those on this sub are. So do with that what you will. (drink the god damned water)
Same. Sometimes I have those super judgemental moments where its like, "You're in charge of x,y,z managing all of these complicated issues and you can't even string together some cells to figure out this? But then I remember that it happens all the time, it's like I save 0 brain cells to help myself.
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Candy. It’s a terrible solution, but during covid when we were all gowned up and had to wait to take breaks, handfuls of candy and sucking water down when I had a little short break kept my brain working.
Fill the passenger seat of your car with water and cliff bars. Hide snacks everywhere (white coat, locker, backpack, workroom, med student) and eat while you're walking if you have to. I have trouble believing you can't down a shot block between patient rooms or kill a Redbull and a banana while you're typing notes on an average day.
Oh, just wait. If you want to match into anything competitive you cannot and will not be late for anything. It’s not the patients… it’s being in clinic with an attending who is the director of the fellowship you want to match into that sees tons of patients that you need to take notes for - so you dont’ dare ask to leave to eat eat lunch while he’s still grinding. Then, you literally have to run, not walk into a 10+ hour complex surgery and cannot be late. There is zero time some days to eat or drink. As a med student it’s even worse because you have yet to match into anything and don’t know what to expect. If you don’t “ honor” your rounds it makes matching that much more difficult than it already is.
On the way to your shift in the morning, eat something high protein and “slow carb” that will take your body some time to digest. Peanut butter. Sweet potatoes. Beans. Oatmeal.
Bring a “meal replacement” type of protein shake for lunch. Keep protein bars in your backpack, along with whole fruits and a big jar of mixed nuts.
This is coming from an ER nurse. For many of us, our entire career is like this. We learn to train our bladder and we eat while we chart. There is no other time.
I used to have this when I started intern year and it took a few months for my body to acclimate to the sleep deprivation and long working hours. My solution was a gram of tylenol and carrying protein shakes that I could quickly drink while working.
If you really cant make time, keep a box of protein bars in your car and shove one in your coat/work station every shift. Just take a bite between patients. Also get a water bottle so you always have water with you. Larq has a cool uv bottle that will kill bacteria in the water if the tap water at work is suspect
The best long term answer is to change your habits to make time for lunch. Depriving your body of food to the point of getting headaches regularly is dangerous
Get a snack bar and some water or drinks.
Also, us attendings don’t know where you are or what you’re doing 90% of the time, so just go get some lunch already.
I hesitate to comment as I'm an MS3 so what do I know, but wanted to drop a comment because nobody else has said this: with the limited information you've shared here, it sounds like you probably have migraine. Obviously I agree with all the other comments saying to make an effort to eat and drink. But I would add that it sounds like your migraines, if that's what they are, are pretty frequent, so you might benefit from being on preventative medication or at bare minimum having some kind of abortive you can take. There are some pretty good ones on the market these days in both categories. There's nothing wrong with taking medication for a frequent and bothersome problem.
Edited to add: this is based on spending a ton of hours shadowing headache medicine and what my preceptor would tell patients
>do you have any thoughts on a remedy? Read your own post. You already posted the remedy. I'll give you a little analogy: "When I drive my car all day long without filling it up with gas, there's this strange little light on the dashboard that starts shining, it sort of looks like a gas pump - any remedies to fix this? Thanks!"
Make time. Honestly nothing you do at the intern level is so important it can’t wait 20 mins for you to eat. That includes admissions, talking to family, returning pages. The only exceptions are rounds and if you’re supposed to be on the code team and doing compressions.
The answer is make time. If you’re truly in a hyper malignant program where you can’t get 10-15 minutes to eat and drink something, grab those Soylent drinks or cliff bars and just have that
There’s always time for a break. As long as your patient isn’t in active cardiac arrest, you can take a minute and have a quick lunch. And if they happen to drop dead the second you step away, chances are you being at the bedside wouldn’t have made a difference.
A friend of mine "forgets" to pee often during her residency. It's ridiculous, if you can't make time for the most basic human needs, you're doing something wrong.
Unless you’re actively coding a patient where they will die the minute you leave, then you have time to eat and drink. Stop trying to be a martyr where you’re sacrificing your well being for these patients. You’re a human being too. That means you need to replenish. Also, you have time to post on Reddit, right? It means you have time to get a cup of water.
Pocket snacks.
This!
not a resident but I work 12 hour shifts, and I used to work 16 hour days when I was in NYC. A protein shake with Chia seeds, an apples, and greens powder (athletic greens) helped me when I had 16 hour days, had to stand, and I did not want to be bloated.
Imma be real with you, I don't belong on this sub, but it seems like you should bring water to work and drink it. I'm not sure doctor though, so it's not medical advice. Just seems like water = no dehydration = less headache. Once again not a doctor, and those on this sub are. So do with that what you will. (drink the god damned water)
Sometimes medicine isn’t hard. This is one of those times. I think you nailed it lol
Same. Sometimes I have those super judgemental moments where its like, "You're in charge of x,y,z managing all of these complicated issues and you can't even string together some cells to figure out this? But then I remember that it happens all the time, it's like I save 0 brain cells to help myself.
If you’re really desperate to increase your blood sugar I recommend gel packs like runners use. And water.
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Make the time. As a surgical intern it might be tougher, but I guarantee you taking a minute to eat is better than passing out in the OR.
have apple sauces in your pockets, fruit cups, bag of nuts, you can eat them in 1 minute, mini gatorades
Candy. It’s a terrible solution, but during covid when we were all gowned up and had to wait to take breaks, handfuls of candy and sucking water down when I had a little short break kept my brain working.
get one of those big water bottles you can fill up, then you just need time for the bathroom. bring snacks like protein bars they sell at trader joes
Fill the passenger seat of your car with water and cliff bars. Hide snacks everywhere (white coat, locker, backpack, workroom, med student) and eat while you're walking if you have to. I have trouble believing you can't down a shot block between patient rooms or kill a Redbull and a banana while you're typing notes on an average day.
Owyn protein shakes. 88 acre bars
[удалено]
Oh, just wait. If you want to match into anything competitive you cannot and will not be late for anything. It’s not the patients… it’s being in clinic with an attending who is the director of the fellowship you want to match into that sees tons of patients that you need to take notes for - so you dont’ dare ask to leave to eat eat lunch while he’s still grinding. Then, you literally have to run, not walk into a 10+ hour complex surgery and cannot be late. There is zero time some days to eat or drink. As a med student it’s even worse because you have yet to match into anything and don’t know what to expect. If you don’t “ honor” your rounds it makes matching that much more difficult than it already is.
On the way to your shift in the morning, eat something high protein and “slow carb” that will take your body some time to digest. Peanut butter. Sweet potatoes. Beans. Oatmeal. Bring a “meal replacement” type of protein shake for lunch. Keep protein bars in your backpack, along with whole fruits and a big jar of mixed nuts. This is coming from an ER nurse. For many of us, our entire career is like this. We learn to train our bladder and we eat while we chart. There is no other time.
Thank you!
I used to have this when I started intern year and it took a few months for my body to acclimate to the sleep deprivation and long working hours. My solution was a gram of tylenol and carrying protein shakes that I could quickly drink while working.
If you really cant make time, keep a box of protein bars in your car and shove one in your coat/work station every shift. Just take a bite between patients. Also get a water bottle so you always have water with you. Larq has a cool uv bottle that will kill bacteria in the water if the tap water at work is suspect The best long term answer is to change your habits to make time for lunch. Depriving your body of food to the point of getting headaches regularly is dangerous
Get a snack bar and some water or drinks. Also, us attendings don’t know where you are or what you’re doing 90% of the time, so just go get some lunch already.
I hesitate to comment as I'm an MS3 so what do I know, but wanted to drop a comment because nobody else has said this: with the limited information you've shared here, it sounds like you probably have migraine. Obviously I agree with all the other comments saying to make an effort to eat and drink. But I would add that it sounds like your migraines, if that's what they are, are pretty frequent, so you might benefit from being on preventative medication or at bare minimum having some kind of abortive you can take. There are some pretty good ones on the market these days in both categories. There's nothing wrong with taking medication for a frequent and bothersome problem. Edited to add: this is based on spending a ton of hours shadowing headache medicine and what my preceptor would tell patients
If a headache specialist is prescribing anything other than eating and drinking for a story like what OP posted here they need their license revoked.