Have you had to give up work fir health reasons?

[Greedybilly]

I'd be really grateful for people's experiences.
I've been in my current part time job for 4 months. It's not really the job I thought with lots of wfh - which has made it stressful to learn the job.
Mostly though due to Long Covid I am wrecked with exhaustion ever day. My joints hurt, breathing is weird and I have terrible brain fog.
My boss thinks im doing ok but she doesn't know the effort/resting up/medication going into this!
I don't want to be defeated by this illness but most days I end up in tears of exhaustion/frustration.

Shall I give in and quit. It's not helping my health.

I left about three years ago.

was in an accident ten years ago which meant O used a wheelchair and couldn’t walk far plus was in constant pain,

I did work part time after the accident but trying to work through the pandemic pretty much did me in and then I got Covid aswell.

I taught secondary maths.

i’m medically retired now so get my pension early, also get pip and contributory esa. I own my own home.

I had long covid and although I already worked part time had to cut that right down. I didn’t improve until I did.

You can’t go on as you are - you need to prioritise yourself. It’s awful and I get it but it won’t improve unless you can rest and pace yourself.

I quit for a year after a health crisis and went back staggered this year. Is this an option or do you think you need to retire medically?

I retired early last October due to ill health. I had a cancer diagnosis in June 2023. I had chemo toxicity which made me seriously ill and ended up being off sick for 6 months, after which I went back part time. I then started another medication which had dreadful side effects, which I struggled through, reducing my hours further, until I finally decided to retire. My husband is already retired, I don't get my state pension until next July, and my PIP application was turned down, so things are a struggle, but it has got to the stage where I couldn't do anything at all except work, and I wasn't doing that very well. My days off were spent recovering, and then it was back to work again.

I am older and was already planning for retirement, but it has (literally I think) been a life saver. I now have enough energy to do a little exercise and to enjoy time with my family. The more I do, the more I can do, and I am enjoying my hobbies again. I still have a nap in the afternoon on days when I have done more physically strenuous things, or if I'm planning on going out in the evening, and there are still a lot of things I can't do, but life is very much more normal now.

If I was you (which I'm not) I would take some time off sick and arrange to go back part time afterwards, if possible. If you're on PIP you will be entitled to extra consideration under the Disabilities Act, and your employers will be obliged to consider any application for reduced hours seriously.

if you carry on as you are you will not be able to work or to help with things at home, so to me it's a no-brainer.

@DilemmaDelilahim already part time! And in my probation period still. Nightmare
Glad things worked out for you. Wish I could just retire tbh

it had got to the stage where I couldn't do anything at all except work, and I wasn't doing that very well. My days off were spent recovering, and then it was back to work again.

This is me right now. I've gone part time but am seriously considering giving up as I feel I will really regret the things I am missing out on.

No option to get my pension early as it's defined contribution not defined benefit. But DH and I have done the maths and think we can make it work, especially now DS1 is working

@Pureclassthanks for uour post. I can tell you've been through it - honestly people have no idea how hard it is...

I had to give up work because I was too sick around 15 years ago now. I'm still only in my thirties so I hadn't had time to really get established, so adjusting my lifestyle to be affordable on benefits wasn't too difficult as I was already broke.

I tried a few work patterns before I gave up trying to find a way to keep going. The most successful one was 4 days a week with Wednesday and weekends off. I'd come home and go right to bed, getting up just in time to get ready to go back to work, spend all of Wednesday and Saturday asleep, have a few hours to see family on Sunday, and then repeat.

All my holidays went on extra recovery days and even with that, by the end of the first year I was close to burnout. My contract ended and I put in a claim for ESA instead of JSA and never looked back. I'd already had an active DLA claim running since I was a toddler so combined it was enough of an income to keep the rent paid.

I genuinely don't think I'd still be alive if I'd tried to keep working.

Too tired to read all your thread but wanted to say I'm ill health retired (was 35 at the time). 12 years later I've accepted it was the right thing (although never wanted it).
The things that have been difficult include loss of independence, financial insecurity, lack of respect from others, having to fight the system (nhs and dwp), routine, purpose. Its a lot and definitely some of these you'll already be experiencing but there becomes a point where you can't carry on.
The advice I was given by my union was dont resign go through the ill health dismissal process because it meant I had proof for claiming esa (and therefore got stamps toward pension) and it helped me get my retirement pension. Ill health dismissal is different to other forms of dismissal and shouldn't stop you getting another job if your health improves in the future.
My GP was also very helpful in the process so may be worth visiting them to say your struggling and need support as then its documented when you apply for benefits (even if you dont get the money because your partners income is too high you need to apply still and get a nil award or reduced award).

Are there reasonable adjustments you could ask for to help make the job work? I would definitely look into that carefully before quitting.

@Iseeyourattentionseekingwedontneedit- thanks that's all vvvv helpful.x

Unfortunately this only works if the employer is supportive.

I have a long term health condition/disability that I had declare to HR and manager in my last job.

I had some sick leave after becoming very unwell. I wanted to get back to work and my GP wrote a fit note saying that I was able to go back but only if reasonable adjustment were put in place.

My manager set up a meeting with me on my first day but had not even bothered to read my GP's note and when I pointed out the content to her she asked me to ignore the recommendations. She never offered a referral to occupational health or considered reasonable adjustments. In the end I had to raise a complaint for disability discrimination and left with a settlement.

Too many employers still will try to push you out rather than consider adjustments because unfortunately having a disability/healh issues makes you a liability in their eyes.

I'm at this stage and it's blowing my mind. 5yrs ago I was at the top of my game, earning loads, invincible. Then perimenopause (or something? Doctors dont agree, fibro has been badied around) hit and I don't recognise myself. I dontsleep well and have terrible brain fog, just forget what im saying halfway through a sentence so I look absolutely incompetent, my mind is not sharp or quick anymore, i've lost ambition. I struggle to recover from any kind of workload, i have to ration out my energy/activities. So, i've not had a 'proper' job for a year as my FTC ended and im not doing as well at interviewing.

Then on the physical side my hands shake so much i cant do waitressing, barista or bar work. My joints are killing me and a long standing back issue is now so bad i did a week in a warehouse and it took my back 2 weeks to recover.

So i feel like i have no options open to me anymore and life has ground to a complete halt :(

@Fightingmydoctor- I completely relate to everything you've said. Apart from shaky hands. Have you thought it might be long covid?
Whatever it is- it's awful and uou feel like you've had your life stolen. Seems very unfair when you just want to work and have a normal life.

I don't think it is because I had a few bouts of covid but they were all very very mild, i had 3 of the vaccines.

You can get long Covid after a mild or even asymptomatic case and I got it after three vaccines. Wasn’t a bad case of Covid - I didn’t even go to bed with it! But it caused endless problems.

Don’t underestimate the impact of perimenopause. I could barely function until I got HRT. I think the long Covid would have been worse without it. At least I sleep now.

Omg, i didnt know this.....maybe then? The fight for diagnosis goes on