Had my occupation health

[Baskaar]

So where I work I do one day in the office and the rest I work from home, now I have triplet boys and a daughter and I was diabetic end of 2024 at the age of 35, now since I been going in the office beginning of 2025 with taking my medication etc I’ve been feeling very drowsy/tired/anxious/fidgety at work I go toilet to pee multiple times and get conscious that people around or managers sat near me watch me every time I get up as I’m required to drink water a lot due to my health etc
now my department and the team I work for are based in a different location so 99% of the time I’m alone with a few people near by so I don’t even interact with anyone let alone my own team yet I’m forced to come into the office which I know it’s only one day but the toll it takes on me being in that situation having to keep myself awake washed my face chew on gum going out for fresh air etc it’s just alot for me to handle and adjust and now we got told that my whole team from September 2026 will be working remotely for home due to the office being closed and the ones who go the office still will have to go in which is unfair and unreasonable

now I had my occupation health and they have suggested due to my health etc I work exclusively from home but my manager has constantly said that it OH is just advisory and the senior managers will try and do other things first before actually considering me to work from home and she has pointed that out numerous times throughout the process which I just know she is trying her best for me not to work from home and it’s affecting my mental state as well not only that I feel I work more proficiently at home then in the office

they have suggest I take regular breaks which I was doing anyway and now trying to book me my own room but still doesn’t help my situation and health

what else can be done? As I don’t feel they are taking my health into consideration

I was thinking to join the union and see what they say?

I assume they have a reason for wanting you to attend an office one day a week. It does seem a bit pointless if you are not client-facing and not meeting your team in person. What does your employer say is the reason? If this is a requirement of the job then I’m not sure there is anything you can do. If you are not well enough to go to the office then I guess it could be argued you cannot perform the job requirements.

So your whole team except you will be fully working from home? Why is your attendance requirement different?

This is exactly my point there is nothing that I can’t do at home that I do in the office, I do the same work at home but only own environment and with the bathroom close as well

I don’t even know what the requirement is for attending the office one day a week and I know other colleagues have argued the same thing

the issue seems like the very high boss just wants everyone to attend office once a week but they should give that option to those who willingly want to go into the office rather then impose it to everyone

my manager keeps saying its in my contract that I attend the office but I don’t recall it ever saying I have to attend but this was before covid when everyone was attending 5 days a week obviously since then times have changed

Are you properly medicated? Surely you shouldn't be feeling that way if your condition is being managed properly?

I realise that it's a side issue but presumably there's a reason for you to be in the workplace regularly - like mental health.

I’m assuming you’re T2 and not well managed but please correct me if I’m wrong…

Do you monitor your BG levels at all? Are you taking a ‘flozin’ It’s a T2 med that has a few different brand names but works by you peeing out the excess sugar so can result in a lot of toilet breaks if you’re always running high. There are other meds that don’t have this as a common side effect. In any case you really need to go back to your diabetic team as you shouldn’t be feeling wiped out by it.

FWIW I’m T1 and currently sat at my desk in the office with my insulin pen next to me. Unless you have serious diabetic complications it shouldn’t prevent you from working in an office one day a week!

rather than focus on the work thing (although I agree that they are not being very reasonable) I’d be worried about your symptoms as it sounds like your blood sugar is not well controlled. What is your HbA1C like?

I agree with others you're focusing on the wrong thing here. If the frequency of going to the toilet prevents you being the office it will also be stopping you doing lots of other things in life, like long walks, public transport, going to the park, cinema, concerts etc.
You need to tell your Dr or diabetic nurse how much this is restricting your life and see if you can get this improved medically.

Thank you for the replies so I am taking metformin 500g which I think it’s the standard for type 2
I was told I am diabetic my reading was 60 or 6.0 and also high cholesterol end of 2024 and started taking metformin beginning of this year actually I started taking it around 3 weeks before April 2025 as I remember I collapsed at work as I had taken the medication without breakfast which I was going to have at work in the office that day but I completely forgot to and work had to call an ambulance as I had collapsed and fell down some stairs and pukes up

I was told by my gp that every 3 months they will check my bloods to see if I can reverse the diabetes etc so around July they checked and my reading and it did go down from 60 to 43 but they wanted it around 30 or below which was a good thing so now im waiting again for the next appointment to check my reading now inbetween July to now I’ve had a family member who passed away and also a family wedding and I know I haven’t been cutting out as much as I should have but let’s what the go says

in terms of going to the toilet often I try and drink like 2 or 3 bottles of 500l water in a day on top of tea and zero sugar drinks which I was doing before taking metformin but I do like to keep hydrated anyways as I tend to get dry scalp dry skin, dry eyes etc I don’t really want to list all my medical illnesses

Honestly I don't think one day in the office is the problem here. It's sounds that you are generally unfit for work anyway?
would you doctor sign you off.? in general there is a push towards more time back in the office in many organisations. Don't mention your kids ( that shouldn't come into it and might make it look like that's the reason you don't want to come. In)

If your contract says 1 day in the office I’m not sure what your argument is here to be honest.

I notice you’ve said you find it hard to keep yourself awake in the office, surely this is also the case at home? Is it possible your manager suspects you’re slacking off when at home and so the office days are a point to that?

I appreciate that everyone is different when it comes to medication etc and there are different side affects to taking medication mine is it making me drowsy at work I take medication with breakfast so maybe it kicks in after a few hours but this isn’t the argument

i feel like everyone is focusing on the diabetes thing when i asked for advised on the occupational health

the occupational health have advised I work from home remotely I did the call interview they read the report and they said them selfs that to work from home exclusively

also diabetes falls under the equality act 2010

but my manager was insisting the higher ups would not let me work from home as advised by the high up management

so I wanted any kind of advice on what i can do to fight this as I feel they are not looking at my best interests

i have had no issues with my performance or attendance or get any feedback I have been working at my place of work for over 13 years and the fact my whole team is in a different location and I have to attend an office doing the same piece of work I do at home 4 days a week with no interaction from my team/department other team using teams call and no customer facing roles or telephone - and the fact that from September 2026 my team that are based in a different location will be working remotely from home 5 days a week due to the office closing and yet I still have to go into the office I currently go in is mind boggling and unfair