How to tell my manager this?

[Pikabee]

For the record my sickness record is very good and I'm good at my job. However the end of last week I phoned in sick. I told my manager the amount of work I had that day was unachievable and I felt unable to come in.
I'm a lone parent and my ex refuses to have our child most of the time so I have him alot which is fine but I need time to recharge sometimes. We have alot of sickness /shielding staff in work so that's taking its toll. I've had a virus for 2 weeks so feel rough. I've upped my anti depressants aswell. How do I explain that's why I was off? I'll go back next week.

Tell her your still not right post viral due to exhaustion and that you’re finding all the tasks overwhelming as a result. Only tell her about the antidepressants if she’s a good boss and a good support

I would have given an excuse for my sickness to be honest and made an appointment to see my gp. Have you been going to work with a virus?
Taking time off because you are unwell, however the cause, is correct.
Time off to recharge is something different.

I wont tell her about antidepressants although we are a close team. I think I've had a virus from my child but I didnt see it as any reason not to work it was shivers now and then and headaches it was manageable.

It's a mixture of feeling rough and exhaustion due to never ending covering other people

@Pikabee it may be that not taking sick leave due to the virus has made you feel like this?

I think you need to be clear when you see your manager that you mis-spoke on the phone. You were feeling ill, with a viral infection - give the symptoms and that it left you feeling exhausted and unable to think clearly or work. I thought you meant that you had so much work on your desk waiting for you that you rang in sick to get out of it because of laziness at first!

No growinggreyer it was an element of stress but mainly because I'm worn down because I was unwell and then started a huge nasty period on Thursday which didnt help as I have pcos so periods make me very tired and I kept sleeping on Wednesday.