Hi everyone! Does anyone else feel like their employers just do not understand? I've been battling endo for years. I'm having a really bad flare up and have been up at 2am all week in tears. I have an 11 hour shift tomorrow so I've reached out to my manager to make them aware that I'm having a bad time and I'm exhausted from it. I work at the GP surgery I'm registered at and yesterday spoke to a clinician who's trialling me with some new pain relief .. the only response I got from my manager is 'is your new pain relief not working then'
Feeling very overwhelmed x
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I had lots of problems with my previous employers and ended up with written warnings for sick days.....when I tried explaining I was either looked at as if your making it all up or told every woman has periods!!!! Ended up leaving my job as couldn't work with my symptoms.
In the eyes of the manager it's another person off they've got to get cover for...but for us after days and nights of constant pain what we need is rest and understanding.
Also found female managers less sympathetic and if your working in a medical environment.
Try not to worry to much give yourself sometime for painkillers to work and get some rest.
Maybe think about talking to your manager when you get back to work and explain your condition and how it effects you.....you might be able to come up with some way of reducing hours when flare ups are extreme.
Hello yep I have had major problem with a certain employer in particular. Women again, not sympathetic, it’s like they think you are making it up. I was in and out of hospital & continue my journey of not being well. I was treated like dirt and they discriminated against me as they wouldn’t make any adjustments for me to be able to keep my job. I ended up suing them.
I think there needs to be more awareness and education about adenomyosis and endometriosis. Lots of women have these conditions and it is hard every day.
You would think your employer would have a better understanding since it’s a medical practice. Is your manager a GP?
Sorry to hear that you was treated badly! It's so unfair. I feel the women just see it as 'bad period pain' which is so frustrating because they have no idea how much we actually suffer. She's the manager of the GP surgery but not an actual GP, however, our salaried GP and advanced nurse practitioner know about it
My sister suffered with endometriosis too and was given a bad time by her boss .. she was also in an NHS setting as she worked at the hospital on a ward!
My anxiety goes through the roof with it, I get so worried if I have to message my manager
Yeah I totally get where you are coming from. It’s the way that people treat us that causes anxiety which then doesn’t help our condition. If you could get the support of your GP as this condition is so debilitating. They have to make adjustments for you if you are struggling xx
I ended up leaving my old job because it was so full on and demanding and my pain was crippling. I was a P. A to super wealthy families in large country estates....think Downton Abbey........and so was “on call” permanently. I remember being almost “high” on meds, trying to leave my house twice to go to a high level meeting and flooded all over my car seat, had to go home and change clothes and phone ahead to say I’d be late. Pain levels and stress levels through the roof. Couldn’t even focus on taking minutes and had to leave before I fainted on the boardroom floor. I could give you 1,000 other incidents like that. Though they tried to understand, I knew they didn’t, and in the end, their patience ran out and my pain got the better of me. I resigned after a decade. Current position means I’m in a better place in terms of managing my endo but I manoeuvred myself into it partly so I could be better able to deal with endo. It’s so crippling for us. Others just don’t understand. We can’t expect them to understand. But we can expect not to be discriminated against. We didn’t ask for endo after all. It’s bad enough dealing with the pain and bleeding, but even worse to be dealing with bully employers. I wonder if this condition will ever be seen as a disability in some shape or form and be taken seriously as a debilitating chronic lifelong disease so that you and I and a million others don’t have this added extra level of anxiety. Sending you my support.
Bless your heart! Thank you for sharing your story with me, I really appreciate it! You're exactly right, it's bad enough having to deal with the pain, then feeling pressure from employers to send your anxiety in a spin makes things so much worse! I'm glad you're in a better position with your work, sending you strength and support for the days you need it xx
You may wish to remind your employer that Endo is a long term illness that has significant impact on your life and is therefore covered under the disability act. They maybe a little more supportive.
I'm sorry to hear you are suffering so badly from this. I have only known one person who had it, and I didn't know her well, and it's not as if this is a condition you can really talk about, is it? I read the thread earlier this morning and it seems horrendous! I hope you get some good days in a month.
If there weren't so many people trying to pull the wool over their employers' eyes, you might actually get them to take you seriously. Period pain - you can take something to enable you to carry on, but this isn't period pain. I suppose all you can do is try not to hide your pain from your employers. It's incredible that the females are the least sympathetic, but at the end of the day, it's not sympathy you need - it's time to take care of yourself(ves). I hope science will come up with something soon to stop this horrible condition.
Oh I know! Like with my sister worked on a ward in the hospital and was also given a hard time by her employer for having endo! Yes, my poor mum, both daughters with it!
A nurse said you can't have endo cos you have periods 😳 I've heard it all now!xx
You can't have endo cos you have periods - WHAT? Giving away their ignorance and calling you a liar! And these are people who should have some knowledge!
I know she was awful !the worst thing is I could hear her slagging patients off before I walked in so I had no chance.i waisted my time even going in and waiting for hours
No I didn't it was when I first started investigating my endo I didn't know much about it then but I knew I had it so rang emergency a and e as I couldn't walk and had severe pelvic pain I didn't know what was wrong with me but I suspected endometriosis so I brought it up to her I didn't beat around the bush because I wanted to be healed and get well again I thought she could help me I was always feeling like I needed to go to a and e every month She didn't help me just said I don't have endometriosis and to go to another a and e department as I think the one I was referred to was an out of hours one so little old me just went home and dealt with it no pain killers or nothing she examined me but was examining something on my left side god knows what she was looking for but she had no clue I didn't want to go through any more of that for one day I later paid privately for my diagnosis it was spotted straight away without a laprascopy as I had endo nodules inside my vagina x
Dealing with this pain with no pain relief or support is torture! That must have been awful for you, they don't want to know our opinions do they
It took me years of telling the GP I think I have endometriosis because my sister had it too & I was exactly the same as her, in a & e on morphine, passing out from the pain. I was tried on all sorts of contraception and pain relief, eventually they did a laparoscopy and found the endo! They did burn it off..but it's grown back unfortunately
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