stress leave from work

seifer.

Hello,

don't know how long this will take to write but i thank you for reading if you do so and I sincerely appreciate any advice that anyone can give me no matter how small.

basically i am looking for some advice on how to handle my situation, i am considering going to the Doctor and requesting to take sick leave from work due to stress, and i'm not sure how to handle this, without giving too much away i'm in my mid 30's, work in the private sector and i have never been out sick from work for more than 2 days in my life, i have never once claimed any kind of social welfare or any other kind of social aid.

my situation has not been good for the last 2-3years and to be honest i should have thought about this more than a year ago, i have an injury in my neck i got a number of years ago which has worsened over the past few years, i've had tests done etc. mri and all of that and was diagnosed with cervical spine degenerative disease which according to my doctor and physio therapist(have gone back and forth between physio treatments over the past 3 years...current physio seems to think this will take no more than a 2-3months to treat) my neck is not that bad which to me is so damned frustrating, i think they might right but i also think there's something very wrong with me and i just can't get the doctor to listen to any reasoning, so apparently i'm fine, he just puts all my symptoms down to my neck injury which as i said he thinks isn't that bad, but not that bad is not how i feel.

for the past 3 years i've had the following symptoms :

neck pain : this isn't the worst, i can deal with it fine and get on with things without the use of painkillers. what's actually worse than the pain is i can feel and hear a squishing and crunching sensation when i move(not every time i move but frequently) like my neck has many broken pieces in it, this is not the case obviously as the mri shows nothing like this but it's the best i can describe it.

headaches : almost constant, they're bad and make it very difficult to concentrate and to deal with stressful situations both in and outside of work, i get infrequent respite from these and the days i don't have a headache aren't too often, these can last 2-3 weeks without a single good day but every now and again i'll get a good couple of days where it's not too bad.

disturbance of my vision : for the past 3 years i have had swirling spots in my vision, best way i can describe this is like seeing stars when you were young, when you rub your eyes for a long time and see thousands of tiny white swirling spots in your vision, i have this 100% of the time, every minute of every day, it's only very apparent to me when i look at bright things i.e. the sky, a computer screen etc, a white wall in a well lit room. this is by far the worst of all my symptoms, it's very worrying to me and disturbing, i've also recently started to get frequent blurred vision and dizziness usually when i get dizzy i get cold sweats as well but not always.

tinnitus : i have constant tinnitus, this isn't too bad other than when trying to sleep and even then i can manage this, i find just playing low volume music in bed helps with this, of all my symptoms this is the easiest to deal with.

fatigue : for days and even weeks on end i have no energy, i have always put this down to having to deal with the headaches and still do, i think if i could go a few weeks without constant headache my energy levels will increase, but this in and of it's self is hard enough to deal with without all the other stuff.


all of this has just made life miserable for the last number of yrs, i'm definitely suffering quite badly from depression, i went to the doctor a few weeks ago and asked to see a mental health specialist(got an appointment for 4 months time which to be honest might as well be never) i got quite annoyed at him in this appointment as he straight away changed his mind about my symptoms being caused by neck injury to the symptoms are caused by mild depression....i tried making the point that i very much feel it is the other way around, i am not feeling this way because i am depressed i am depressed because i am felling this way if that makes sense.

i haven't missed any time in work due to any of this until a few weeks ago when i took 1 and a half days off because i just couldn't deal with it anymore(the appointment with the doc was just after this)

i'm at a total loss as to how to deal with this, i've been telling the people i work with(not management) that i am leaving for the last 3 months or so, i am only leaving because of all the above, i like my job and i feel i can do the job to a very good standard, my performance has never been an issue in over a decade even in the past few yrs dealing with all of this but i feel like i have to leave the only thing is there's no way i'll be able to deal with another job in the field i work in in the condition i am in either, i have a half decent amount of money put away but not anything crazy(it'd get me through 6-12 months)
all of this is a hugely stressful situation as i live on the other side of the country to all my family and i don't like the idea of moving back to the family home, i love my family to death don't get me wrong i have great relationships with everyone in my family and they'd love to have me home but i like where i live now and have built a life and friends and a home here.

anyone who has had to deal with something similar or knows anyone who did....i really would sincerely appreciate advice, i have no interest on going on long term sick from work i don't want the easy street some people would think i'm looking for going on stress leave, believe me i feel a great deal of shame even thinking about it and as i said before i have never once in my life claimed any kind of social aid nor do i have any desire to do so, none at all i just don't see any way out of this.

fits

It sounds like you really need a break. I wouldnt necessarily call it stress leave. Just to let things settle a bit. Do you think your working environment aggravates the injury?

Terrontress

People take sick leave all the time for all sorts of reasons.

Take some time off, concentrate on yourself for a while, decide what you want to do.

We should only work to live, not live to work.

catbear

At the least a career break. I've done it myself and sorry I hadn't done it sooner.

seifer.

fits wrote: »

It sounds like you really need a break. I wouldnt necessarily call it stress leave. Just to let things settle a bit. Do you think your working environment aggravates the injury?

i think i do and thank you for your reply, well most people have a stressful job so it doesn't help things and my job is a stressful one but i really don't feel i'd have any problem with work if i could reduce my physical symptoms by a half and i think my mood and ability to get things done would increase hugely, i've been getting through it same as everyone else but it's the grind of doing my best to cope with all of these things along with it has been hard on me. hence asking to see a mental health specialist.
i really have no major stresses in my life other than work and as i said nearly everyone else working has no different a situation, I can't logically see how this couldn't be physical, but that itself i suppose has been stressful too. thinking in the future and trying to look at it from the point of view of not being capable of having a career if this gets worse than it is now

seifer.

Terrontress wrote: »

People take sick leave all the time for all sorts of reasons.

Take some time off, concentrate on yourself for a while, decide what you want to do.

We should only work to live, not live to work.

thank you for the reply, i don't feel like i have a choice in the matter to be honest. i'm not going to fall apart or jump in a river or anything, i just can't enjoy my life in any way in this condition.

bee06

OP, I think you need to find a new GP as well. It sounds like your current doctor hasn't been very supportive of you.

seifer.

catbear wrote: »

At the least a career break. I've done it myself and sorry I hadn't done it sooner.

thanks for your reply, that's kinda been what i've been gearing up to with a bit of time off and maybe even working part time for a bit if i could get a part time job but it's not something i really want to do, i enjoy the job i have now, i'm good at it, i like the people i work with, the money is not too bad, the hours are ok for the most part but nobody has perfect working hours. i think i'm going to have to, but i know it'll be hard on me to do that as well

CarefulNow!

bee06 wrote: »

OP, I think you need to find a new GP as well. It sounds like your current doctor hasn't been very supportive of you.

+1. If my gp told me I was grand and I knew I wasn't I'd look for another.

OP, look after yourself, feck work. Work will be there when you are sorted, life is too short to spend it in pain and misery. I have been through the mill myself and took a break, it was badly needed and I am a different person now.

seifer.

bee06 wrote: »

OP, I think you need to find a new GP as well. It sounds like your current doctor hasn't been very supportive of you.

when i described my last GP visit it was actually with a stand in doctor for my GP so not their fault but i've been describing these symptoms during visits both for these things and others for 3 years so i'm not satisfied my doctor has done this due diligence either but i've zero interest in blaming a doctor, i just want to as quickly as possible identify what's causing all of this and get on with doing anything i can to make it better

catbear

seifer. wrote: »

thanks for your reply, that's kinda been what i've been gearing up to with a bit of time off and maybe even working part time for a bit if i could get a part time job but it's not something i really want to do, i enjoy the job i have now, i'm good at it, i like the people i work with, the money is not too bad, the hours are ok for the most part but nobody has perfect working hours. i think i'm going to have to, but i know it'll be hard on me to do that as well

Change your GP as well, it may be they're not picking up on the way you're feeling.

When i was really stressed I should have gotten a sick note and taken time off. I left it too long and when eventually I did get a break I actually spent months just sitting there just reading books and avoiding thinking of any kind. When I went back to work I was ready, refocused.

At least you like you work, I was in a dead end and hated the work environment and needed a change. You can at least take time out, let things rest for a while, sort out your thoughts and at least have a job you like to go back to.

seifer.

catbear wrote: »

Change your GP as well, it may be they're not picking up on the way you're feeling.

When i was really stressed I should have gotten a sick note and taken time off. I left it too long and when eventually I did get a break I actually spent months just sitting there just reading books and avoiding thinking of any kind. When I went back to work I was ready, refocused.

At least you like you work, I was in a dead end and hated the work environment and needed a change. You can at least take time out, let things rest for a while, sort out your thoughts and at least have a job you like to go back to.

When i was really stressed I should have gotten a sick note and taken time off. I left it too long and when eventually I did get a break I actually spent months just sitting there just reading books and avoiding thinking of any kind. When I went back to work I was ready, refocused.

At least you like you work, I was in a dead end and hated the work environment and needed a change. You can at least take time out, let things rest for a while, sort out your thoughts and at least have a job you like to go back to.[/QUOTE]

i think changing GP might be a good idea, if for no other reason than i'm just not getting anywhere with my current one.
it's good to hear you were able to get yourself back to good health, all of this stress i have is down to trying to cope with all of these symptoms and at this point it's literally impossible for me to accept that there's no physical element to this, as i said in my original post my gp thinks i am experiencing these things because i'm depressed and when i suggested that he was wrong and that me being depressed was due to experiencing all of these symptoms he didn't seem too interested in entertaining the idea which to me seems very much illogical. i wouldn't mind but every other visit to my GP for the past 2-3 years he says these symptoms have been caused by my neck injury.

puppieperson1

I went to my Gp last year and she signed me out for 12 weeks in total. I claimed 188 per week sick benefit and and returned to work after 3 month break last summer it did me the world of good . Watch a movie called About Schmitt starring jack nicholson. Its a film which shows you how devotion to work is worh nothing in the end and when you leave its as if you were never there.
Enjoy a bit of your precious life take a break tell your doctor you need it dont ask him. Watch the movie and "work to live not live to work" . My company was bought over by an american company and the live to work ethic is being drip fed to us....... load of bollox. Take the stress leave sounds like you could do with it . Good luck.

liquoriceall

Can I ask what sort if a doctor you"ve been seeing? Have you been to a specialist? Has your GP referred you on to anyone before the psychiatrist?