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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

wibu to call in sick tommorow

32 replies

temporaryname2015 · 25/03/2015 00:26

Have been ill the past two days a nasty cold am feeling much worse today and also have an upset stomach ( i have ibs) which has been triggerd by taking cold medicine. I usally try to stick to more natural rememdys . I took the medicine to try and feel better for my shift tommorow , which is my first shift this week the next is sat.

I feel embarressed calling in and saying i have a cold . On the one hand i think i should just go in and try to manage. The otherhand i do feel really crappy with dry throat congested have pressure in my head been going hot and cold feeling achy and the past little while feeling sligthly shaky/ shivery. All i want to do is sleep but unable to get comfortable due to being so congested kept myself and my oh awake last night sneezing and blowing my nose.

The levels of sickness absence are quite high at work so i dont want to pee them off .

I have had 2 periods of sickness since i started there last year august.

I was off two weeks ago for one day due to stomach pains and sickness( i dont think this was ibs related). I have been under stress latly so it was noted down as possibly stress related . my next shift was a few days after which by then it had passed and i was well enough for.

The last time i was ill before that was end of november due to a viral infection which i missed two days and was prescribed antibiotics by my doctor. This was following me having a cold ( which hapoend to be on my days off) and going into work for my next shift after i thought i was feeling better .

I generally go into work with a mild cold ( taking care to take hamd samitiser with me)) or a mild ibs flare.up or just feeling less than 100% . I have done so in the past month or so and on many occasions. I just feel on this occasions i could really do with the rest. I work in retail and be dealing with members of the public directly.

I just feel nervous calling in after being off so recently and with the high sickness level there. It goes without saying i dont want to leave my collgues in the lurch and feel guilty. I do enjoy my job and the people i work with

OP posts:
ilovesooty · 25/03/2015 00:36

If you're too ill to be at work you're too ill.
What will the repercussions be? For example in my job three absences of any duration (with the exception of pregnancy or disability related absence) in a rolling six month period would result in stage one absence procedure.

TillyGotTangled · 25/03/2015 00:38

Hmm, 3 periods of sickness in 7 months isn't great. But if you're sick you're sick I suppose.

I generally go into work with a mild cold ( taking care to take hamd samitiser with me)) or a mild ibs flare.up or just feeling less than 100% What I picked up from this was in general as in sometimes you don't which I think is unacceptable. With a mild cold or not feeling 100% as a grown adult you should really be able to get on with it.

PuntasticUsername · 25/03/2015 00:40

Why were you prescribed antibiotics for a viral infection? Antibiotics don't work on viruses, only on bacterial infections.

HermiaDream · 25/03/2015 00:49

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

tartyflette · 25/03/2015 00:52

Unless you are feeling truly awful I would try and go in to work, OP, at least it shows you're trying. And if you look like death perhaps they will tell you to go home anyway. But you might feel a little better once you get there or as the day progresses. Wish you well.

Original poster
temporaryname2015 · 25/03/2015 01:12

Thankyou for all the replys

I love sooty
Its 3 periods of sickness in a 3 month period . They said they wernt counting the first period of sickness as it wasnt at that point formally noted not sure what they mean o still count it

Tilly
I can see how that reads sorry i didnt really word that very clearly.
In regards to a cold i have not taken time off for that and am aware i have had many colds in my time there which i have gone in and gotten on with. I say mild to mean one that you feel crappy with but it dosnt affect your work performance.

With the ibs its the same i have not called in previously for that reason. The not feeling 100% was to cover other possible reason of absence thats sickness related to cover all bases .

I have only been off sick for the two occassions mentioned above..

OP posts:
Original poster
temporaryname2015 · 25/03/2015 01:23

Puntastic

It wasnt my usal doctor not being rude it was a locum who was unsure themselves what i had which was all the symptoms of a chest infection. The doctor prescribed antibiotics as a just in case which i felt was odd as if it was a viral infection as you said they wouldnt work. I had been having diffuculty breathing over night and pain in chest after i thouht my cold had cleared up ( now in hindesight think it was the startings of mild flu) coughing constantly and an extremly horse voice. I took the antibiotics and a few days later started to feel alot better.

OP posts:
Original poster
temporaryname2015 · 25/03/2015 01:29

Hermia dream and tartyflette thankyou i will take your advice
Going to try and rest now

OP posts:
googoodolly · 25/03/2015 06:32

How are you feeling today, OP?

bythewindsailors · 25/03/2015 07:13

I have just been off sick for 2 days with one and I always carry on as normal and go to work with a cold. Never taken a day off for a cold before but this one is vicious. Definitely is a cold and not flu (congestion, sneezing, sore throat etc). I imagine that you have something similar. I too felt pathetic calling in sick with a cold but there was no way that I could have worked.

bythewindsailors · 25/03/2015 07:14

Hope you feel better soon op.

LustyBusty · 25/03/2015 07:39

I'm currently debating taking day 2 off for a cold and I feel like a complete skiver. Even though my eye is infected and I can't see well out of it (the pus coming out of the eye blurs my vision) so I cant drive, I haven't slept and I've gone through an entire loo roll just blowing my nose in 24 hours. I know my boss is going to say "it's just a cold" and I've had loads of time off since start of December (2 x ear infection and flu) it's crappy. Sad

ThatIsNachoCheese · 25/03/2015 07:46

Colds are all different viruses so one will be more vicious than the last. I hate the culture of blame for being sick. It means sick people work and make more people sick, then their children get sick and they need time off for that too.
If we don't trust our staff what's the point.
op, stay home and get well

gamerchick · 25/03/2015 07:50

Doctors don't really give you antibiotics 'just in case' unless you're a pain. I don't understand why you even went to the doctor for a cold.

Ibs clashing with life.. take some loperamide if you can't get off the lav and deal with it later.

You don't get the starting of mild flu and then feel better after antibiotics and antibacterial gels do frig all to stop people getting colds.

It sounds as if you make a heavy meal out of not feeling 100%

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/03/2015 07:56

I hate this culture where people are frightened to give in and stay at home when they are properly ill. It's wrong. Work should not become a trial of survival by the fittest. Without adequate rest you become prone to picking more things up and it becomes a vicious cycle of exhaustedly trying to pull yourself through repeated illness, infecting others as you go along.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/03/2015 08:01

Gamerchick. You have no idea clearly of how debilitating ibs can be. Loperamide does not always work, even maximum doses of it. When it's at that stage you also become weak and tired.
She went with her cold because she found breathing difficult and painful. I agree, that does not sound like mild flu, it sounds like a chest infection for which the gp prescribed antibiotics. It may have been a viral infection, it may have been bacterial, but it's rare for gps to take cultures for these things, so no one will ever know.

The op is clearly feeling rubbish, so why also give her a verbal kicking?

gamerchick · 25/03/2015 08:07

I get ibs it's a pain in the arse.. It makes you feel like crap.

5 loperamide in one go usually stops the runs so I can go to work.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 25/03/2015 08:14

A bit harsh gamerchick. I've had colds before that have made me feel absolutely rotten and incapable of doing anything much. And that's not the biggest issue to me, as a PP pointed out, what is the point of going into work, being less than effective, infecting other people, who will potentially then infect their children and have to take time off for that... But then I worked for a reasonable employer who said they would rather people stayed at home than infect others.
There are varying degrees of IBS. I get it mildly, it doesn't affect me going about my day to day business. I know people who find to difficult to function with a flare up.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 25/03/2015 08:14

That's rubbish - I'm sorry I snapped at you.

snowglobemouse · 25/03/2015 08:17

'mild flu' is a huge oxymoron. if it's flu it's flu. this is not flu. not the point of the thread but...

twitches

tiggytape · 25/03/2015 08:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JemimaPuddlePop · 25/03/2015 08:35

If it's flu it's flu

Bollocks. There IS such a thing as'mild flu' because viruses affect everyone differently. Not everyone with flu ends up in bed for a week just like not everyone ends up in hospital.

Fluffyears · 25/03/2015 08:35

The gp told me friend that this awful virus going around is very 'flu-like' so I wouldn't blame you for feeling vile.

Original poster
temporaryname2015 · 25/03/2015 08:37

Thankyou for the kind posts and well wishes

Googoodolly i am Feeling exhausted and look like death although thats probably more down to lack of sleep than symptoms

OP posts:
Satsumafairy · 25/03/2015 08:47

Some snappy responses here. There are all kinds of horrible viruses about which might be described as a cold but which have varying symptoms and which feel different for each person. It depends on your body entirely. If you suffer from other health problems such as asthma a cold can cause all sorts of problems. Otoh you might just have a normal mild cold where you are sneezy etc but not particularly affected energywise. Hope you feel better soon op.