Help poor health and work

[Chanel32]

Hello all newbie here

sorry for the long post but I need help!

im asking for any advice if anyone has been through anything similar. So the past two and a half years I’ve suffered with severe nausea and vomiting and diarrhoea with urgency so not always able to reach the toilet also been recently diagnosed with anxiety and depression disorder and microscopic colitis. Also having issues with gallbladder.

my work have been good up until now which I get completely I’ve worked their 7 years and only had issues the past two years. my Bradford score is 3888 my manager said it is only that high because I had a 4 week spell last year in October where I was mentally unwell and had a breakdown so was off a month. Other then that it has litreally been the odd day here and their when my body is in a flare and I can’t cope with work as I’m stuck on a toilet and in pain.

due to my Bradford being so high HR have now took it to occupational health and my manager has basically warned me don’t have any more time off.

just to make it clear she is VERY aware of what I’ve been going through she has every hospital letter and a letter from my consultant and doctor stating I have health problems and the NHS is working through them to get me help I need. I was referred for stage 1 meeting in January and that’s when occupational health was suggested it has taken my work 6 months to actually make that referral.

im still under going tests with the nhs however it is taking time. My mother recently moved away to wales so I am litreally alone I don’t have any family or friends it’s just me. I go to work come home to an empty house then go back to work. On days off I sometimes don’t speak to anyone.

I have been struggling more and more with my mental health. But don’t feel I can take a step back from work or even do anything while I have this occupational health hanging over me.

my mother has suggested I come and live with her she said I wouldn’t have to work and she’d be happy to keep me. Which sounds Lovley but her husband who isn’t always their but most of the time is was very abusive to me when I was a child I haven’t been able to forget the things he’s done and I wouldn’t feel comfortable at all. He has also continued to make digs sometimes I’m 34 now and still scared of him.

Still my mother wants me to stay with her has found me a job which is the same hours as where I’m working now initially I agreed but after thinking about it I’m literally swapping one disaster for another I can’t cope now so why create another problem somewhere else. Also the house is in the middle of nowhere! So no transport links I’d have to walk down a mountain for an hour and catch two buses to get their.

my other idea is just reducing my hours at work from 44 to 33 however in the current climate it wouldn’t even cover my bills i financially would be ruined.

I’ve got a GP appointment Monday to discuss my mental health as my doctor has asked me to come in I know as soon as I tell her I’m struggling and that im having bad thoughts again she will tell me to go on sick leave from work. Which will likely get me the sack or at least put me in a capability meeting. The other alternative is reducing my hours for a month I don’t know if this gets added to your Bradford score? As technically I’d be putting a may be fit to work note in. I could do this and be okay with savings I have but even then I’m scared to.

what would you do? I genuinely feel extremely lost I get my mother wants to help I do but with her husband, being in the middle of nowhere and also I’m 35 in a few weeks I do want to settle down and start a family of my own but with me moving to the middle of nowhere but no way to even get down from a mountain and also no money due to working I haven’t got a chance in hell. I would be stuck and giving up quite a lot of independence for god knows how long as I wouldn’t even be able to save and move out.

any advice?

The individual days off will have completely screwed your Bradford score, it’s designed to address intermittent absence. So 1 absence of 10 days is a score of 10, while 10 absences of 1 day is a score of 100. In any event your score is very very high indeed, and while the reasons are understandable your workplace needs to address it.

Given your condition has gone on for over a year it may fall for consideration as a disability under the equalities act, the OH report should state whether they think that’s the case. Are there adjustments that could be made in your work to support your health and enable you to be there more reliably? For example is working from home an option, or using flexible working to work longer hours when you’re well and cut back a bit during a flare up? A formal reduction in hours wouldn’t count towards your Bradford score but as you know that has financial implications.

Your condition sounds really debilitating which can impact your mental health regardless of work pressure, which won’t help either. Talk to your GP about medication - it can help with just turning the dial down a bit while you wait for some resolution of your health issues.

Its a horrible situation, I’d be taking to my employer about the kinds of help they can give to support you in work.

Are you on any medication for the anxiety/depression? Just wondering if its exacerbating the vomiting/diarrhea? If not, could you maybe start a medication (one that’s friendly to your digestion) so you can function with fewer mh days? Having this absence issue hanging over your head will not help the anxiety. I wish they would ban the use of the Bradford score it really discriminates against those with chronic illnesses and parents of disabled kids. And while they should disregard it in the case of disability they so often choose not to. I don’t think moving home at 34 is a good option though, given what you described.

Hi I’m on mirtzapine which I was originally put on as my doctor believes it can cause constipation other then that I take 2 looerimide 4 x a day and anti sickness 3 times a day

It is a awful situation I think it’s hard to understand if you don’t have a chronic illness yourself you don’t really get it I explained to my boss it’s like having a sickness bug but every week that your still having to come into work with. Even if your in pain or don’t feel well it doesn’t matter you still need to be coming in.

Have they tested you for coeliac disease?