The Manflu

[NE21 worrier]

Hello folks,

As once again I've not posted in a while, I wish I could tell you I'm doing fine - but I feel absolutely rotten.

Thankfully, this is NOT down to anxiety but instead a rather nasty bout of the manflu. Somehow got through to Tuesday by doing half shifts at work (taking lieu time as I don't want more sick on my record :sad:) but I probably should be in quarantine and I will have to assess my condition again in the morning.

I'm getting dizzy and nauseous spells, without having been sick yet thankfully, and also have what Claire Weekes would describe as "strange tricks of vision", generally tunnel vision. There's loads of build-up in my sinuses and my nostrils are red raw.

I'm doing well not to get too anxious about my condition. Obviously, I've had bad colds before and this is just a case of riding the storm out. I've got Sudafed and Strepsils - honestly, my bedside table is like a medicine cabinet.

Thanks for reading,
Peter:)

[Andria24]

Peter it sounds like you've managed your anxiety quite well to be honest. Perhaps you feel a but more anxious than you've come across?

You sound horribly stuffed up and the fact is you're resting, taking meds and letting your body do it's job. I think you've got all bases covered and all being well a couple of days rest and you'll be back on your feet.

Well done for coping so well :yesyes:

[NE21 worrier]

Thanks Andria,

I've done a lot of work on solving my issues with anxiety so I'm glad it comes across well in what I have written. Since July, I've had 12 sessions of CBT and come through it really well, so much so that I've just got one session left which is to work on relapsing. I'm OK with the end of the sessions, though, as I feel I can manage well enough on my own at this stage with the help of some techniques and NMP etc.

Today, on waking, my manflu has not shifted - I've not got out of bed yet, but I already feel nauseous and dizzy in the head. My nose is dripping and it's feels as if I can sense every vessel within it.

I really don't think I should be going to work for my 9-5 but I don't want to put more sickness on my 12-month rolling record as I was off for exactly two months with generalised anxiety from April to June.

My options are, as follows:
1) I could request a full day's leave but I am running out of holiday/lieu time and it leaves me no further forward if I still feel rubbish tomorrow.
2) I could take the morning off (3 hours) and perhaps manage a 1-5 as, oddly enough for a Contact Centre job, there is not a lot of telephone work which I need to do in that time. I have time allocated to me to catch up on guidance.
3) I could just bite the bullet and phone in sick as there is a possibility I will need to do this tomorrow anyway when there is no in-day leave available.

Any advice on the above appreciated.
Thanks, Peter

[Andria24]

Peter - here's my advice: I'd take today off. I would also bin the cold remedy stuff and use the good old fashioned method offered by doctors and nurses for colds and upper respiratory bugs and viruses - use a combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen.

You can safely mix the two as neither are from the same drug family. This is assuming you're ok to take either. The trick is to create a blanket effect that alleviates the symptoms. Basically 2 paracetamol then wait a couple of hours and take two ibuprofen. Repeat the process every four to six hours.

You must drink plenty and rest. Don't over eat and allow your body to fight the infection. A day or two of this should see off the worst. And you can call 111 to check that it's a safe cold/flu remedy if necessary. You'll still have a runny nose though :)

[NE21 worrier]

Oh well, I've taken the day off - but it's gone down as Annual Leave at the moment following a conversation with my manager.

Possibly a mistake on my part as I would much rather spend my holiday time doing something else but I still have enough hours for a couple of days at Christmas and at a friend's event in February if this doesn't go on for much longer...

If it does go on for much longer (i.e. still as bad tomorrow), I guess it will have to be officially assigned as sick leave. Here's to the paracetamol/ibuprofen cycle!

[Annie0904]

I hope you feel better soon Peter :hugs:

[NE21 worrier]

Hello folks,

An update: just woken up coated from head to toe in my own sweat. Lovely. Still a bit stuffed up with pressure all around my eyes and a mildly sore throat. Feeling absolutely exhausted.

I've also got a little bit of pressure at the bottom of the ribs just above the stomach but I suspect this is anxiety as manflu/cold would not usually result in this symptom and my stomach is the first thing to go.

I guess I'm anxious because I've got a similar decision about work as I had yesterday, except this time my shift runs 11.30-8. Before that, I've got a (last?) meeting with my therapist at 10. Genuinely I just want to do nothing, whether that's through laziness or exhaustion, but then I suppose that does not solve anything :sad:

[Daisy Sue]

Wishing you better soon, Peter.

If it is flu, and I were you, I'd not make any plans to go anywhere for at least a couple more days. Flu really knocks the stuffing out of you, and makes you weak, so staying home, keeping warm, & taking all the meds/fluids you should, is probably the best plan.

[Andria24]

You sound as though it's more than a head cold NE. I'm with Daisy. Rest, fluids and meds. Oh and so as you're not thinking "what does she mean by 'more than a head cold'?" I just think you've got either a flu type bug or a bit of a chest infection. I had tonsillitis earlier in the year and was fine however it did leave me exhausted so do be kind to your body :)

[Annie0904]

I agree...plenty of rest and plenty of fluids (of the non alcoholic kind :) ).

[cpe1978]

I agree with everyone here. Anyone will tell you that man flu sits just above child birth in the pain stakes. It is amazing how the strain of the same virus can become so much more virilant when it enters the male body.

*ducks and runs for cover

[NE21 worrier]

Heh heh!

In the end, I've actually done alright with my week. The day of complete and utter relaxation on Wednesday - backed up by plenty of fluids and drugs - seemed to turn me around a little, and so I attended the meeting with my therapist as planned before doing full shifts at work on Thursday and Friday.

I was absolutely exhausted on Friday night but made the most of my day yesterday by going to the Gateshead FC game and then seeing the Stereophonics at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. Brilliant day which is a sure sign of my good progress continuing.

Now I'm only left with a few sniffles and it will take a lot more than that to drag me back down :D

Peter x

[Andria24]

Peter thanks for coming back and telling us how you are. Glad that you're almost back to rights and, well ... now you know how to handle cold/flu/winter bugs :)

[NE21 worrier]

Oh dear... this is back. Very much back :sad:

I don't know if it's the same strain as last month which I never quite got rid of - or if it has just come back round to me anyway.

The last two nights, I've slept four hours each. My nose is soaking wet like a dog's, and my nostrils and throat feel as if they are red raw.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I had two months off earlier in the year with anxiety issues (April-June), so I don't really want to put another sickness absence on record.

I have 47 hours of annual leave to get to March - Christmas is outside of this so does not need to be factored in - do I call in for in-day leave (7 hours) and put myself back on an intensive paracetamol/Ibuprofen cycle again?

---------- Post added at 08:26 ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 ----------

Bit the bullet and took the day off as I'm feeling really nasty and think I've struggled on enough. Time for some R&R...

[Annie0904]

I guess the only way you are going to get rid of it is to rest, plenty of fluids and paracetamol. Get well soon Peter :) Oh by the way I was delighted that Newcastle won Man U :D

[NE21 worrier]

Thanks Annie for your reply. I think I might be getting somewhere. But today has been another tough day at the office, or not as it turns out - though, instead of frittering away the rest of my Annual Leave, today has actually gone down officially as sickness absence.

Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in a certain level of guilt on my part. Perhaps guilt is not quite the right word as I am genuinely not well - all my sinuses are blocked making concentration difficult and I've got a lot of post-nasal drip in my throat, making it sore at times. I also have an overwhelming taste of mucus in the back my throat and on the roof of my mouth... sorry folks for the graphic description...

Anyway, my guilt arises from the fact that a two-month anxiety-related illness beginning in April this year meant that I automatically triggered cause for concern over attendance. As I understand, my previous Stage One formal action ended in October following a three-month period. But, here I am, less than two months down the line and taking sick days again.

In my defence, this is only my third period of absence since I rejoined the department 20 months ago, and the first period of absence which does not relate to my issues with anxiety, the others being May 2012 (two days) and April 2013 (the aforementioned two-month period), something which I have worked very hard on overcoming.

Indeed, it is a credit to my progress that I am not getting super anxious about this. I do worry generally, though, if I am likely to find myself back on a perceived naughty list for the grave sin of actually being ill.

[Annie0904]

I was always the same about feeling guilty for being sick but I am sure there would be some complaints if you went into work coughing and sneezing on everyone :) Do what you have to do to get well and rest :)

[NE21 worrier]

Hmm... well, I did still go into work earlier this week with this second stinking cold of the winter, and coughed and spluttered over folk so I may have upset a few people anyway :D

As I say, I'm more concerned with how this is perceived at a more senior level than at the level of my colleagues who tend to be a canny lot for the most part. In particular, from next week, we are moving back to the line of business which contributed heavily to my two-month absence and it is possible that management are associating this absence again with my apprehension over the change.

I have admitted I am apprehensive about the move but I am aware that there are no alternatives. Also, I consider that my recent work on my anxiety issues (I have recently been discharged by the Mental Health team (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=145134)) and more training should stand me in good stead. Indeed, I am generally optimistic about things as I am hopeful that this further opportunity on this line of business offers a massive chance of redemption... which I would just love to take.

It does seem a little odd being off with a cold at times in that the very nature of the beast means there are short periods of perhaps one or two hours where I seem to pick up. Generally, though, I feel absolutely rotten, and I've gone through a whole box of tissues in just a couple of days(!)

Peter x

[NE21 worrier]

Hello folks,

A bit of an update as I have been a grade A idiot and my anxiety levels are higher than they have been since I was discharged a few weeks ago. I rang the absence line again today to confirm that I needed another day off and the HR person put me through to the Ops manager (my manager's manager).

My manager yesterday suggested that I go to a walk-in centre to see if there was anything that could be done about my head pressure and I said I would but I was so exhausted that I slept through most of yesterday afternoon instead and did not go.

That did not stop me from saying to the Ops this morning that I had gone and had been prescribed Amoxycilin as my mum got this from her GP when she was suffering with similar issues recently. In other words, in a complete panic by feeling guilty about not getting my sinuses checked out when I said I would, I lied.

Subsequently, I have been to the walk-in centre today and they have not prescribed me anything, saying that my Ibuprofen/paracetamol cycle would work given time. I guess my question: can employers check your medication/prescription if you have claimed to have one?

Thanks,
Peter

PS. This is genuinely not something I would normally do - but I felt I was being pressured into coming in (even being offered 'offline' work) so I felt obliged to say I was taking something other than paracetamol/Ibuprofen for my poor head :sad:

[jimbobrooney]

sounds like depression to me

amoxycillin wont due anything for cold or flu as its a virus

[NE21 worrier]

Nope, it's not depression, and no I'm not in denial. I've been in that dark hopeless place before and this week's ordeal has been much more an irritation than anything else.

Also, you're right that amoxycillin might not do anything for a cold but it does help sinus infections which was much more my complaint.

Anyway, the real relevance of the post is that I do not have the amoxycillin which I thought I would get having told my employer in a stupid panic that I already had it.

Regardless, today would suggest that I am on the mend and I shall be back on Monday whatever is the case.

[Annie0904]

Employers have no way of accessing medical records and the doctors can not give them any information without your approval so you have no worries there.

[NE21 worrier]

Thanks again for your reply, Annie. I thought that must be the case, doctor-patient confidentiality etc.

I was also just wondering if they would have a reasonable expectation that I would actually have the tablets physically with me on Monday at a back to work meeting. Anyway, I've given up worrying about this so much. What has been said, has been said, what is done, is done etc.

The biggest most important thing is that I will be back at the coalface on Monday, I expect, as I am currently feeling better now than I have all week.

Thanks,
Peter

[Annie0904]

No you would not be expected to take medication with you, They actually have no right to ask you anything about medical appointments/medication.