Work sickness

[Missmbx]

Hi there :)

I’ve debated whether to post about this because I’m just not sure if I’m being over dramatic or not.

I’ve been in my job now for nearly 4 years. I love the job and I’m really good at it(it I do say so myself) I love the people too. However there is one issue there a girl I work with that’s constantly sick. Colds, bugs , infections everything going she picks it up. She does take sick days but majority of the time she is in work. This normally doesn’t bother me much but 2017 she literally was ill from September -December and then late December I got sick. I ended up really ill the doctors said i was unlucky and was a bad viral infection. Or many things at the same time. Last April the doctor thought it was M.E which terrifies me. I’m quite young single and have a mortgage to pay etc. Anyway long story short I ended up off work for four months.
It took me until December to feel 100 percent again.
The girl in Question shares office with me it’s small and has no windows for fresh air etc. Again she’s been ill constantly again by keeps coming back I’ll. like being sick all night then coming in to work.

This is making me want to quit my job. It terrifies me. I just can’t risk it happening again. I can’t afford it too .. am I being unreasonable saying I can’t work in an office anymore with someone that gets sick so much? I feel like being stuck in an office like that increases my risk of picking stuff up... like I know I can’t prevent it or prevent getting sick but working so close to someone whose always sick surely increases my chances of getting so ill again. I don’t even know anymore if I am being a drama queen or not :(

Have you had a chat with your manager about this?

I would speak to the manager, have you got health anxiety at all? I used to and I know I used to over think these things a bit.
She shouldn't be in for 48 hours after vomiting.

I would advise you to have a chat with your line manager.

A bit concerning for your colleague too if she is ill so much. If I was her I would be questioning and finding out why I was being so frequently ill.

Hello thanks for your reply. I do have anxiety. I was a lot worse last year and have it under control 99% that’s how I can’t really tell for sure if I am being over dramatic because I’m over thinking it.

Yes she finds it funny more than anything she’s thinks I’m just a germaphobe but I am genuinely concerned about it.

She’s always at the doctors about things so I don’t really know but I would be concerned about it too x

Was it just a really bad viral infection (I don't mean 'just' in a snidey way) or is it something more serious and ongoing? I'm thinking you are being a bit anxious but not totally unjustified, 4 months is a very long time to have to be off work with a virus if that's what it was. Feel sorry for her, I went through a period of being really run down and ill but not ill enough to mss

Miss work that should say!

That’s what they put it down too. Like I don’t think they genuinely knew. I got tested for everything. I think by the second month anxiety stress etc all kicked in and made me so much worse. I think this is what scares me the most no one can tell me what it was or whether it will come back or not. I went down to 7 stone etc because I was so ill. X

I do have some ongoing problems with my stomach. So it’s sickness and diarrhoea that scares me the most.