Hi - I've posted this over on employment but it seems to be quiet over there. Advice needed - thanks in advance.
here before about my migraines but things have escalated since then.
I've had migraines for 15 years and for the past 3.5 years have had to take daily preventative meds due to the number of attacks I get. For most of the time since starting the medication I have had them reasonably well controlled (3-4 a year).
I started a job just over 12 months ago which I do find quite stressful. Since I started the job I have had 8 incidents of sickness, 7 which were for migraine. Additionally 4 of those were over the course of a week period where I had kept trying to return to work and having more attacks, until at the finish my GP wrote a sick note and insisted I stay off work. During this cluster I suffered 8 migraines within a fortnight. This was three months ago; at the time I was invited to a formal meeting and we discussed my absences and no formal action was taken against me.
A couple of weeks ago I had another migraine - again I returned to work and again I had another attack which again resulted in two separate instances of sickness of a day each. My GP advised me to stay off and wrote another sick note for 2 weeks. I showed this to work but returned with agreement from my manager I should return as I had leave this week so could use that to recuperate.
I had to have a formal meeting and was issued with a first written warning. I'm worried sick; I can't control my migraines, I return to work as soon as I can every time I've had an attack and have used annual leave more than once to recuperate. I don't know what to do - in this position two more migraines and I could be sacked. Even typing it out now I am getting distressed and am in tears. Can they do this? Migraines were something I declared when I started working there. I have been as committed to work as I can be, any other sickness I power through because I know I can't afford it in case I get a migraine.
I am thinking of appealing the warning but worry this will give me a reputation of a trouble maker. I appreciate it is a business and they can only do so much in terms of support. However at my last meeting I expressed concerns that these attacks are not something I can control and was reassured if they continued work could look at reasonable adjustments. This was not mentioned this time and I didn't even question it I was so upset and shocked.
I just don't know what to do sad please help.