Jessie
New member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2021
- Messages
- 4
- Reason
- Undiagnosed
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
- State
- NE
Hi everyone. I'm undiagnosed, but pretty certain I have FM and/or CFS. I've struggled with transient pain and fatigue for a few years. A little more than six months ago, I had a huge spike in my stress levels when my mother suffered a critical illness. I took two months of unpaid leave from my job to act as her in-home caregiver. She is better now, though not completely recovered, and an organ transplant may be in our future. Over the past few months, my mild-ish symptoms became much worse, and I am now researching treatment options.
My hangup is whether to pursue a diagnosis at all. I don't have a PCP, and have no intention of undergoing medication therapy. Really the main benefit of a formal diagnosis (that I can think of) would be FMLA. So, a few questions:
1. Do any of you use intermittent FMLA?
2. Are there other "reasonable accommodations" besides missing work?
3. Are there other non-FMLA actions I might take to improve my situation at work?
4. Are there other benefits of having a diagnosis that I may not have considered?
I am having a very VERY hard time managing my stress levels, due primarily to a work environment that I feel is not quite toxic, but definitely dysfunctional. I'm building up to a career change, learning another field, so I don't want to use my limited energy resources to find another job in my current field. I try to have music playing while I'm working, and use stress management techniques like meditation and gratitude journaling.
I have read sunkacola's very helpful intro post, and will put some of those ideas into action. (Ugh, food. Why are you so hard on me...)
Mostly I'm just very grateful to have found this community. Thanks for being here to support me.
My hangup is whether to pursue a diagnosis at all. I don't have a PCP, and have no intention of undergoing medication therapy. Really the main benefit of a formal diagnosis (that I can think of) would be FMLA. So, a few questions:
1. Do any of you use intermittent FMLA?
2. Are there other "reasonable accommodations" besides missing work?
3. Are there other non-FMLA actions I might take to improve my situation at work?
4. Are there other benefits of having a diagnosis that I may not have considered?
I am having a very VERY hard time managing my stress levels, due primarily to a work environment that I feel is not quite toxic, but definitely dysfunctional. I'm building up to a career change, learning another field, so I don't want to use my limited energy resources to find another job in my current field. I try to have music playing while I'm working, and use stress management techniques like meditation and gratitude journaling.
I have read sunkacola's very helpful intro post, and will put some of those ideas into action. (Ugh, food. Why are you so hard on me...)
Mostly I'm just very grateful to have found this community. Thanks for being here to support me.