Five weeks sick leave - time to return?

[spukalili]

I have been signed off work by my GP for the past five weeks and was hoping to return to work on Monday, but I am still not 100% and am wondering if I should be extending it further.

Around the middle of September, I came down with what I thought was a stomach bug. It was absolutely horrific - stomach cramps like I'd never experienced, fever, diarrhoea, vomiting (I have only ever been sick three times in my entire life, so I knew something was wrong) and I couldn't eat anything for 6 days. There were several points where I was close to going to A&E.

My GP gave me antibiotics prior to any results coming back as she was so concerned it was a bacterial infection. Later my white blood cells were shown to be high and I had inflammation markers. I took a FIT test to check for blood in my stool, as she was so concerned (which fortunately, was negative).

This is all to say...i was very unwell. Fortunately, 5/6 weeks later, I'm feeling much better but I am still experiencing mild nausea, fatigue, severe acid reflux and cramps after eating certain foods.

I had a meeting with my manager and suggested that I return to work but perhaps work solely from home for a few weeks until my symptoms are under control and I'm not so anxious about being in the office all day. They were adamant that I must be physically in the office two days a week as if I was healthy enough to be back at work, that should include office days (which makes sense). My job is desk based and I have clients who I see face to face.

I suppose I'm reluctant to return to work when I know I'm not 100%, as I know any further sickness due to this illness will be treated as a separate absence. My sickness record is impeccable, so I don't think it will cause any issues, but I appreciate any sickness impacts the service and I suppose I feel embarrassed about taking longer off? I'm much better than I was, managing day to day, but just not completely recovered. All my tests are back (barring a colonoscopy which there is a waiting list for) and it's now just a matter of recovering from what was probably my stomach lining being completely destroyed.

Do I request an extension to the fit note and take another week, seeing how I get on and hope to return to work the Monday after? Or do I just grit my teeth and go back ASAP, hoping that I just improve over the next week?

Sorry, massive wall of text, rambling rubbish, I know. I'm just really anxious about the whole thing. I hate the idea of letting people down or being seen as "taking the piss".

Oh no, if that had been the case then I absolutely wouldn't be returning to work any time soon! Apologies if I wasn't clear, those were my initial symptoms for the first 10 days or so? The vomiting and diarrhoea started to improve, but I struggled with cramps and nausea after that. Also fatigue and severe acid reflux.

It was initially presumed to be gastroenteritis, then a bacterial infection (later tests showed this wasn't the case), then my WBC came back high, then even higher when they did repeat bloods. Still no answers. The symptoms I'm getting now feel more like a sensitivity in my digestive system, as opposed to being anything like my original symptoms.

I'm sorry you're experiencing something similar, and hope you feel better soon.

My manager has been really supportive so naturally, I felt like I wanted to try and reciprocate by telling her I was hoping to be back on Monday. The last few days have made me realise that perhaps I'm not as well recovered as I thought, but now I'm anxious about appearing like I'm not reliable. It's silly really, I'm a grown woman and should be able to manage things like this, but I genuinely feel like I'm a kid back in high school, pulling a sicky! (not that I'm pulling a sicky, but you know what I mean!).