Summer on a job site means early starts, heavy physical work, direct sun or hot interiors, and lunch from a cooler or the back of a truck. Roofers, framers, concrete crews, landscapers, electricians, and anyone else working outdoors through the summer lose a great deal of fluid in a day.<\/p>\n
On a GLP-1, that heat meets a few side effects that push in the same direction. The result can be dizziness on a ladder or a roof, which is a different problem from dizziness at a desk.<\/p>\n
These medications can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, especially after starting and after dose increases. They also reduce how much you eat, and with smaller meals comes less of the fluid you used to take in with food.<\/p>\n
Prescribing information for these medications notes that the majority of reported acute kidney injury events occurred in people who experienced gastrointestinal reactions leading to dehydration such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. It advises monitoring kidney function in people with reactions that could lead to volume depletion, especially when starting and increasing the dose.<\/p>\n
A long day of hard work in the heat on top of that is the combination to take seriously.<\/p>\n
Start the day hydrated.<\/strong> Drink before you start, not just once you are thirsty.<\/p>\n Drink on a schedule<\/strong> through the day. Thirst lags behind need in heat, and appetite suppression can blunt the cues further.<\/p>\n Replace electrolytes<\/strong> after heavy sweating, not just water.<\/p>\n Take shade and water breaks seriously,<\/strong> and use whatever heat-safety program your employer runs.<\/p>\n Know the warning signs:<\/strong> headache, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, heavy sweating that stops, confusion, or dark urine. Stop working, get into shade, drink, and tell someone.<\/p>\n Do not work at height if you feel lightheaded.<\/strong> Get down and sit until it passes.<\/p>\n Heavy physical work needs fuel, and these medications make it easy to skip meals without noticing.<\/p>\n Eat breakfast before the early start,<\/strong> with protein, even if you are not hungry.<\/p>\n Pack simple food you tolerate<\/strong> in a cooler, and eat something at each break.<\/p>\n Eat small amounts often<\/strong> rather than one big lunch, which on a slow stomach in the heat can mean nausea all afternoon.<\/p>\n Go easy on greasy food truck or gas station food<\/strong> at lunch.<\/p>\n Our guide on what to eat to minimize nausea<\/a> covers foods that tend to sit well.<\/p>\n Side effects are usually worst in the day or two after an injection and after a dose increase.<\/p>\n Put those days on your weekend<\/strong> or your lightest days.<\/p>\n Never step up your dose in a heat wave<\/strong> or before a run of heavy days. Ask your provider to time increases for cooler or quieter weeks. Our guide on the tirzepatide starting dose<\/a> covers what the early weeks involve, when side effects are often strongest.<\/p>\n Consider this scenario: a roofer steps up his dose on a Sunday ahead of a week of ninety-five degree days. On Tuesday he skips breakfast, drinks one bottle of water by noon, and has diarrhea after his injection. Mid-afternoon on the roof he feels dizzy and has to climb down and sit in the truck. Holding the dose increase until a cooler week, eating before work, and drinking on a schedule would have made the difference, and on a roof that difference matters.<\/p>\nEating when your appetite is gone<\/h2>\n
Time your injection around your work week<\/h2>\n
Storage<\/h2>\n