Long story short - I have degenerative disc disease, had one lot of steroid injections into my spine which have now worn off, can have a maximum of 2 more then possibly looking at surgery. Also have long term issues caused by a brain injury almost 3 years ago, which led to a haemorrhage (headaches, extreme tiredness, memory issues etc). With my back, I can be fine for 2-3 months (well, not in agony but always low level pain), then be laid up for a few weeks followed by a month or two of functioning but in a lot of pain and in a lot of meds. My other issues are always present and just make me feel like shit all of the time. A locum gp last year said I'm displaying all the symptoms of fibromyalgia but my regular gp says it's all a side effect from the brain injury and I should be grateful that it wasn't worse. Which I am, but I can't function like this.
I lost a job last year due to having too much time off with my back and not being able to cope with being on my feet all day. I then took a working from home job, which I thought would be perfect but I hated it with a passion, plus sitting in an office chair at a computer for 10 hour shifts was killing my back and I was making mistakes due to being so god damned tired.
I'm now working 20 hours per week in an admin type job, but having to drive an hour each way in rush hour traffic, which hurts like you wouldn't believe. At the minute I'm in so much pain I don't know what to do with myself. Cold weather always seems to trigger my back off and where I'm working is very much a mix of being in a nice warm office and being outside on site in the cold.
I just want to cry. No, scratch that, I am doing. I'm a single parent and need to bring in an income, but I just can't cope with being in pain all the time. My gp has prescribed my antidepressants as he says my mood is low, and I felt like he was fobbing me off and thought a lot of it is in my head. I probably am depressed, but I wasn't before my health problems started. I just don't know what to do. I can't sit for too long, can't stand for too long, driving too much makes my left leg go numb and I can't get out the car then, yet sometimes I'm fine and can do my job ok. I'm not disabled enough to be disabled, if that makes sense, yet I'm struggling to cope with working. I need to find something that I can do that brings in a good enough wage but I haven't got a clue what.
Sorry for the long post, I'm just feeling utterly miserable right now.
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To not know what career path to try and follow because of my health?
21 replies
JustBeingJuliet · 27/10/2016 00:49
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