Third degree phoning in sick

[Pinkpowerofthought]

I've been at my work for a year now. No sick days previously.
I phoned in this morning with flu and said I won't be in because I have flu.
My work is super busy this time of year so is a pita for them but I phoned at 6.30am.

They asked about my flu symptoms and said maybe it's just a head cold. Um no if it was a head cold I could just muddle on. I've got sore throat, headache, swollen eyes and achey muscles. I also feel really sick and have pains in my stomach.
They suggested I call them at lunch time to see if I can come in tomorrow and they can find something for me to do even if it means something lighter.
Aibu to think they were totally unsupportive, pressuring me to come in before I'm better and making me feel like I was exaggerating my symptoms?
They asked if I was going to see a doctor. I told them bed rest and fluids would be all he would tell me to do.
Aibu to think this was ridiculous?

No high temperature, shivering, swearing mentioned. Doesn't seem like flu. Employer is merely trying to establish staffing needs by asking questions and suggesting checking in. Last job had to check in everyday unless GP certificates sick which would give info on length of absence. Don't think it is unreasonable.

Also if you go in to work you generously pass your virus round to everyone else.
(Sorry if someone else has already pointed this out! I always seem to come late to the party.)

From the NHS website:

Is it flu or a cold?
It can sometimes be difficult to tell if you have flu or just a cold, as the symptoms can be quite similar. The main differences are:
Flu symptoms:
come on quickly
usually include fever and aching muscles
make you feel too unwell to continue your usual activities
Cold symptoms:
come on gradually
mainly affect your nose and throat
are fairly mild, so you can still get around and are usually well enough to go to work

Flu Nazis must stop. You are not doctors so shut up. You sound like children arguing over whose dad could beat up the Hulk.

A doctor friend of ours once described (with her tongue slightly in her cheek) a simple way of finding out if it is a cold or flu.

Imagine you are sitting in a comfortable chair in a warm cosy room with a big open fire. It is bitterly cold and snowing outside, but through the snowflakes you can just about see a £50 note at the bottom of the garden.

Would you go and get it?

Yes = You have a cold.

No = You have flu.

Unfortunately Dagenham, that argument is flawed. Colds and flu are most infectious in the incubation phase, before you have symptoms.

This means you will already have passed it on to colleagues who struggle in and have to cover your work as well as their own.

If you get paid sick leave, your employer is entitled to know why they are paying you for doing nothing and that your absence is justified. If it is you are vindicated and have no reason to feel bad about it.

It is totally unreasonable time be asking you to keep calling from your sickbed. Can't you say I'm sorry but I am going back to bed.
Adding to the flu debate - I would say it isn't either. Dh, who was fully fitted before is still not fully recovered from either flu or a very nasty virus 6 weeks later. He was completely bed ridden for almost a week ( and still very ill the second) and no way could he possibly have been calling work every day.

If your doctor friend described that to you before about 2014 then it was a commonly held belief. We know better now. The research suggests otherwise.

@HoneyBeeMum1

Your doctor friend was wrong.

I posted a link somewhere on the thread from the NHS - more than 75% of people who have had flu show no symptoms.

And for the rest, the symptoms range from mild to severe.

@manicmij

No high temperature, shivering, swearing mentioned.

They don't occur in every case of flu.

Sometimes a heavy cold can be worse than flu.

If you are not serial sickie puller then its too much! I would speak to HR about this and even record their nasty attitude. They should have plan B if people fall ill- its not nazi camp after all??

The OP said she has worked there a year, and never been sick before.

I don't think she has been back to say what happened today, has she?
Too exhausted probably, poor OP.

I had the flu about 10 years ago. I wrote my will. No way could I have written anything on netmums. I still reckon you feel unwell though but probably not the flu.

It's none of their business to try and bloody diagnose you. You've told them you're sick, they're out of order. Tell them you won't be in. Hope you feel better soon x

I’ve only had the flu once. I certainly could NOT have been on mumsnet when I had flu.

If you had flu you wouldn’t be typing messages here. I actually thought I would be found dead, even my bloody hair hurt.

Sorry, if you had flu you wouldn’t even be able to look at Mumsnet or write a post, believe me. So many people say they have flu when they really don’t. You can’t even get out of bed when you have flu, or even make a phone call. It sounds like you have just a cold.

What an original contribution, Tweez! That has been debunked over and over again. Try RTFT before honouring us with your opinions, eh?

you can have walking flu. I have had flu that has lain me prone for weeks and flu ( diagnosed medically)that made me feel absolutely shit but still just about able to function-i.e stand up and potter.

I had some sort of a dose of what I thought was a chest infection which rendered me unconscious for 2 weeks. It came on really fast. First day felt like a chest infection. Second day was d&v.

I phoned in sick (NHS) and told my manager I felt very fluey, but didnt think it was flu as I'd had my jab. Cue a mini lecture saying the jab only covered certain strains bla bla and she thought I did have it.
Next day my throat was really swollen and I was struggling to breathe.
Went to GP who diagnosed pharyngitis and signed me off.
Rang my manager (croakily...) who then accused me of lieing because I'd said I had flu.

I’d like to add I had flu four years ago and so did my husband. For two whole weeks we felt like death. I still suffer badly with coughs and now have a yearly jab. I feel bad for you op, as you’re clearly not well enough to work and your employers aren’t being fair, but it’s not flu.

Pemba I wasn’t asking for your opinion.

Ffs how many more times? I5 can be flu, I was taken to hospital by ambulance from the doctors, diagnosed with flu which became pneumonia and still made myself a drink, ordered an online shop etc. Every person is different. You can die from it at its worst and sometimes you can plough on.

Lark - Banknote in the garden?!?!?

My DH forced himself into work until he collapsed and was admitted to hospital where he was diagnosed with double pneumonia. I had previously taken DH to the GP who said he didn't have flu because he seemed to be coping. He didn't take any samples and simply told him to rest. He later apologised to me for getting it so wrong.
My DH can self hypnotize when he had a tooth extracted without anesthetic.
Some people have extraordinary inner strength to cope compared to others.
Just because Flu knocks you sideways, doesn't mean everyone is affected in the same way.

Pricilla (and everyone else who’s said this) unless you were swabbed after each and every “nasty flue-y cold” you’ve ever had then you cannot know for certain whether you’ve only had flu once.

Ignoring the large number of completely asymptotic people who are irrelevant to this debate then the rules are as follows:
If you have snot and sneezes but no symptoms below the neck then it is definitely a cold.
If you have a very high fever, terrible pain, are immobile for days, and exhausted for weeks then it’s definitely flu.

If it’s somewhere in between the two then it might be either - you can make an informed guess depending on precise symptoms and their severity but only a swab will let you know for certain. It doesn’t normally matter because you’d only be treating symptoms anyway.

Just because flu can sometimes be very serious indeed doesn’t mean that it’s not flu unless it’s very serious indeed, just as mild chickenpox is still chickenpox.

Normally this kind of misinformation doesn’t matter but in the event of a serious pandemic it could hamper quarantine provisions and kill people. Why do you think GPs bother putting up signs saying “please don’t come into the surgery if you’ve got swine flu” if nobody with flu could get out of bed anyway?

I think you should start looking for another job. Def phone your rep.