So this is my first post on here, I'm 25 years of age and I'm in full time work. I have fibromyalgia, hypermobility, depression, anxiety and asthma. I am struggling day to day with fibromyalgia I am have more and more time off of work which my employer isn't happy about.
What do I do how can I be signed off and still have an income to pay my bills?
I dont think I can take much more of this its gotten to the point I don't really leave me house unless I go to work, I have no social life anymore. I am on 900mg of gabapentin and they don't touch the pain. Being in this amount of pain is making me want to just end it to be honest.
Please someone anyone help me I'm begging you I'm desperate 😔😭
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Deajmk11
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My heart sank when I read your post, I know what it is like each day to try and function like many many others on here.
Ok so firstly, how is your relationship with your GP, you really need to speak with them and is Gabapentin the only drug that you are on?
Secondly, have you been diagnosed by a GP or by the hospital? Do you have access to a pain management clinic? I know its a lot of questions but its just to get the general idea of background.
With regard to work, does your employer know you have Fibromyalgia, you could ask your GP to be signed off work and then obviously if you have paid in enough NI you would be paid SSP this can be paid for 28 weeks unless you employer decides to try and dismiss you.
There are various benefits out there Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment etc.
But most of all honey please do not feel that you need to end it, there is help out there and people who can help, you do not need to do all this alone.
Hi DeajGirl I know where your coming from many of us have walked in your shoes! Each one of us find a way to make it through 1 day at a time! I used to work 1 full time and a of job!then I was struck down with fibro! I felt like my life had ended! First thing I had to do was talk to my boss and explain what's happening and why I have to take so much time off! Many bosses are Fairly good about it once they know! Depending on where you live your dr could help with getting 1 some sort of disability aid! This is what I did! My dr helped me do alot of thing regarding getting help and giving me the right meds! I need to go see him as my body has built up against the meds I. On now. But he will help me out with that! Some places CBD oil is now legal , it is where I live and I must admit it does help with most of my pain. My dr recommended it to me!
Don't feel alone in this sweetheart as all of us are going through it! Yes there will be good days and bad days! But there's usually. A way through it! Joining this site was one of the best things I did as it helps so much to talk things out! As we know bottling things up makes us feel worse! I hope you find some sort of help with all of what you're going through!
Morning lovely, reading this broke my heart. When I was first diagnosed I felt how you are feeling. Each morning I asked the same question- do I have to fight again today?
And the answer is yes.... you can do this. Us people with fibromyalgia are dealt a card in life, although that card seems unfair we have this because we have the fight in us.
I think a call today to your gp is a must. If that gp doesn’t help or give you some answers then you call back and ask to speak to another doctor. Some doctors are fantastic, I’m afraid some are not so again be strong and keep on until your get signed off and a course of pain meds.
Make a claim online today for universal credit. You’ve got this sweet. Take a deep breath and keep telling yourself you got this.
I think lots of us could hold our hands up and say we have been were you are. It’s not a great place, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I can’t bear the hurt and pain this brings on people and feeling alone from the rest of the world. No one apart from us truely understand. Please please, take today as a positive to start a new chapter. Don’t battle on to please your boss.
Hi Deajm11, please tell your doctor what you have told us. Ask to be referred to a rheumatologist. Not feeling good myself today so sorry for short reply but don’t give up 🤗🤗
You can do a few things and I do empathise with you as I went through something similar and just going through it again now. In short at the age 19 I went to do my nurse training which was full time and the studying as well. No one thought I would get into nursing after having a rare muscle waisting disease and being in a wheelchair and missing a hell of a lot of school. I started to have problems again from age 21 lots of time off work etc, I did qualify as a nurse and at the of 22 I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I ended up being medically retired at the age of 25 after going through the sickness process and policy with work and meetings. I was medically retired for 7 years and built myself back up and did a return to nursing course and I have just been back in nursing for 20 years with reasonable adjustments of shift pattern, less daily hours than my colleagues and supported etc. Anyway cut a long story short even though I have managed my flares over the years I was no longer able to do this and got sent home from work 3rd January last year as I was in so much pain and wanted to chop my legs off and my walking deteriorated. I have a very supportive gp. I was referred to occupational health. I did thing I maybe able to return back to work by the end of my half pay running out but not so as I had been housebound and needed a lot of help from people. This time round I have had lots of support and I was referred to a chronic fatigue clinic virtually, physio, rheumatology consultant where I worked, occupational health and ot. I will be 52 in March and I have just had my final meeting with work and my union rep has supported me through this and it has been stressful. I was diagnosed in September with fybromyalgia as well. I am not able to return to or any type of work. My contract is being terminated and I will officially on 1st April, April fools day. This time I will not return to my nursing career. My union rep will help me to apply for ill health retirement again as its all changed since the last time I got it and its tougher now to get it and its not guaranteed. I get ESA and I have been put into the support group. I missed out on pip by 2 points.
Things you can do.
Contact the welfare rights team for advice and the fybromyalgia group they have a support service I believe.
See your gp and explain everything to them and your concerns with work.
Have your medication reviewed
Refer to occupational health so they could look at reasonable adjustments after they have assessed you and they will probably carry out a functional assessment.
Have a look and your work should follow their sickness policy.
I know this is a long post but I hope you find it helpful?
I hope you get sorted but it is a very long process. I have been off over a year so my half pay has run out. Because I have been there over 20 years I am entitled to 3 months notice at half pay. Regards applying for ill health retirement pension this can only be done (my NHS work) once my contract has been terminated. My occupational health Dr needed a letter and evidence from the chronic fatigue clinic, physio and consultant to help support ill health retirement pension so that will take a few months to complete the process as well and I cross my fingers that I get it.
Gentle hugs and I wish you all the best. As another person has said this is not the end as my story proves this, however every persons story is individual but advice can help you on the road to be on for the time being.
Thank you so much for your help I will have a look at all the points you've said.Its just getting to much I'm now off sick because of my depression and anxiety.
This pain is so overwhelming its hard to deal day to day
Hi Beajmk11 ware to start i suffered for over 20 years with pain not too bad at first but working in property maintenance i kept going to pay the bills then it started to affect me and slow me down at work. so all the doctors said back then take paracetamol for your pain no test .so for 10 years that.s all i done but it did not help so i struggled to carry on i saw another doc he said its, all in your mind. by now i was getting pains all over.and in between diagnosed with cancer.but the pain was the worse problem i am asthmatic diabetic.anyway i can see you have the exactly the same.the third doc i saw sent me to see a physio i got help but still no good.i am on gabapentin it just makes me tired and does not stop the pain.so i worked for myself and had to stop sell my van and get help i was on ESA but not a lot of money .i was getting universal credit. and my fibromyalgia was getting worse.everything stops i did not want to go out depression and anxiety wanted to end it all.i tried to get pip 3 times i got turned down which made my depression worse. but you have to keep going don,t give up.your pain wont stop no matter what you do.stay strong.i got help in the end my local employment office put me in touch with the council who help people with disabilities they had support workers .who helped me through my depression they gave me a gob with them and they know your illness and help you get a gob with an employer that understands i only work 16 hours a week.because the pain is too much like all of us with fibro. i have only just got my pip .after many years i took it to tribunal and won.so don,t give up you need to speak to a doc if they don,t help you see some one else . you are still young i was in my early 30 s now mid 50 s we are all here to help you. you can ask us anything .but promise me don,t think you need to end it. i did not have internet all them years ago i had no one to talk to i hid my depression from my family because that,s what you do. so speak to someone at your health centre. you will get there in the end .stay safe. Antbeech x
You are not alone. It's really easy to get overwhelmed because the pain can make it hard to think. Call your citizens advice bureau, they will help you with all the benefits you can get even if you work part time - the walls close in fast - or want to leave work permanently. As Panda pointed out sick leave is an option as is cutting down on hours temporarily. I find with the gabapentin I am unaware of it helping until I have a pain that should be much worse than it is. It doesn't kill my pain but it does tone it way down. Talk to your GP, you can recommend yourself for someone to talk to about the overwhelming hugeness of it all - which it very much sounds like you need to - your mental health gets as big a beating as your physical and it needs as much. It could be gabapentin isn't working for you or like me you need on the spot pain relief as well, or you need something to help you have restful sleep - the best treatment you can have and if you need sleep aids you need them.
but its so important to remember you're not alone, it will pass, it just seems overwhelming in the minute. I'm not going to say you're going to look back and laugh but you will look back and be stronger. I would highly recommend getting your GP or recommending yourself for some kind of help with your mental health - because its just as important and it does sound like you need someone to talk to.
If the Gabapentin isn’t helping your pain,you need to contact your GP and ask for help- possibly change of meds rheumatologist vreferral?I was on Gabapentin for pain, it didn’t touch the pain,just made me feel strange.
Like Oshgosh, Gabapentin did nothing for me and I was doped up on strong co-codamols, every day and couldn't function well at work. I'd also tried Amitriptyline which is an Anti-D often used for Fibro - again didn't help me and made me even more of a zombie. At end of 2st lockdown I got GP consultation who said I was depressed but because of this site I heard of an anti-D called Duloxetine I asked if I could try that - the GP agreed, and I pushed through the 1st month of the side effects. I can honestly say that after 3 months I am feeling so much better - I take less of the other pain killers and I feel that there IS a light at the end of the Fibro tunnel and that I might just be able to cope. "Luckily" for me I've been furloughed from my work so this has also given me time to regroup - and I got matched up with a great counsellor for weekly Zoom meetings which has also helped.
Keep reading on here - it's a great group - and if you just need to come on and shout scream or cry there is someone here that knows what you are going through - that in it'self makes things a little brighter
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My diagnosis fibromyalgia
Newly diagnosed 😳
Letter to a Normal
Sometime I can not walk
Does anyone else feel lost when it comes to speaking to doctors regarding Fibromyalgia?
