Sparkle1984
04-05-13, 17:12
From August last year up until the end of January, I was on 10mg citalopram. With my doctor's support, I weaned off them over a 5 week period as I felt that my anxiety was no longer affecting my day to day life and I had learnt lots of coping techniques.
As some of the regular members on here may be aware, in the last few weeks (well, since Easter pretty much) I've had a relapse. This is in spite of me continuing with my coping techniques. I've got an appointment with my doctor on Thursday and I'm thinking I may go back on the meds again, as they helped me a lot last time.
Last August, when I was first diagnosed and first started meds, I was signed off for work for a week, which gave me time to get over the worst of the side effects. I haven't had any more time off work since then, so my manager probably thinks I've recovered. Well so did I, up until a few weeks ago!
I haven't yet told my manager about the doctor's appointment on Thursday afternoon. Obviously I'll have to tell him at some point in the next few days, as the appointment is during working hours. When I tell him about the appointment, should I tell him what it's for? Or should I only mention that the anxiety has returned if I actually get signed off? (If I did get signed off, I wouldn't have any choice but to say it's an anxiety relapse as it would be written on the doctor's certificate).
I guess I'm nervous about getting signed off as I worry a lot about what others may think of me, and also I worry about letting my work team down. When it first happened last year, my manager asked me if it could've been triggered by anything work-related. I didn't think it was, although there had been lots of changes at work back then, including me being promoted to a higher technical role. So the work changes may have contributed to it, but I have no way of knowing whether that was the actual trigger. At the time, my manager also asked if he could do anything to help me, so we agreed on a training course to help me settle into my new role. I completed the course several months ago and I feel a lot more confident in my job now.
This time round, there is nothing obvious that could've triggered the relapse, apart from me coming off my meds 9 weeks ago. I'm now thinking maybe I came off them too soon. So I suppose I'm worried that my manager might question why I came off them, but it was on the doctor's advice as I'd been feeling well for several months. (The doctor asked me if I felt ready to come off them, I said yes and she agreed I could).
Has anyone else here had to explain to their employer that they're suffering a relapse? How did you approach the issue?
As some of the regular members on here may be aware, in the last few weeks (well, since Easter pretty much) I've had a relapse. This is in spite of me continuing with my coping techniques. I've got an appointment with my doctor on Thursday and I'm thinking I may go back on the meds again, as they helped me a lot last time.
Last August, when I was first diagnosed and first started meds, I was signed off for work for a week, which gave me time to get over the worst of the side effects. I haven't had any more time off work since then, so my manager probably thinks I've recovered. Well so did I, up until a few weeks ago!
I haven't yet told my manager about the doctor's appointment on Thursday afternoon. Obviously I'll have to tell him at some point in the next few days, as the appointment is during working hours. When I tell him about the appointment, should I tell him what it's for? Or should I only mention that the anxiety has returned if I actually get signed off? (If I did get signed off, I wouldn't have any choice but to say it's an anxiety relapse as it would be written on the doctor's certificate).
I guess I'm nervous about getting signed off as I worry a lot about what others may think of me, and also I worry about letting my work team down. When it first happened last year, my manager asked me if it could've been triggered by anything work-related. I didn't think it was, although there had been lots of changes at work back then, including me being promoted to a higher technical role. So the work changes may have contributed to it, but I have no way of knowing whether that was the actual trigger. At the time, my manager also asked if he could do anything to help me, so we agreed on a training course to help me settle into my new role. I completed the course several months ago and I feel a lot more confident in my job now.
This time round, there is nothing obvious that could've triggered the relapse, apart from me coming off my meds 9 weeks ago. I'm now thinking maybe I came off them too soon. So I suppose I'm worried that my manager might question why I came off them, but it was on the doctor's advice as I'd been feeling well for several months. (The doctor asked me if I felt ready to come off them, I said yes and she agreed I could).
Has anyone else here had to explain to their employer that they're suffering a relapse? How did you approach the issue?