Meniere's Disease Support Group
Meniere's disease is a balance disorder of the inner ear. The symptoms of Meniere's are variable; not all sufferers experience the same symptoms. However, "classic Meniere's" is considered to comprise the following four symptoms: Periodic episodes of rotary vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, and a sensation of fullness or pressure in one or both ears.
I'm just curious how many people are working while dealing with their Meniere's.
I'm only recently diagnosed but have had symptoms disrupting my work life since January 2013. My work had been supportive however at this time I've missed so much work that I'm a huge pain in the butt to them now. Last year I was on short-term disability most of January, June-July, September-December (kept trying to go back, but kept having recurring episodes and ending up too sick again). My job used to require me to travel a lot, however somebody else is currently covering the large trips for me and I'm only working in my city and within a 3 hour radius. At first my doctor advised no highway driving since I've had sudden attacks twice and my husband had to come get me (once at work in the city, and once on the side of the highway about an hour from my city). But I've since convinced my doctor I can handle it and will just not drive when I feel dizzy and will pull over and call somebody if needed. I'm lucky that in my position I work from a home office and travel to complete audits of clients and since I make my own schedule nobody at work really knows how ill I've been. They're in another city 1500 kms away and we only have contact my phone so I've been hiding my illness as best I can but lately I've been calling in sick so much, they keep asking me how I can keep this up and I know they are getting frustrated with me.
I've been wondering if I should just bite the bullet and go on disability leave. I do get sick at work a lot but since I work independantly I am able to hide it quite well and sneak away to the washroom if I'm vomiting. I've been getting a lot of flak from my family whenever I mention the idea of disability leave, they basically tell me to "suck it up" and that they go to work when they don't feel well. I know my doctor would support it, he was fine with keeping me off work when I had recurring episodes for 3 months last fall, it was me to kept wanting to go back. My husband also thinks I should consider going on disability if my doctor is in agreement, since my husband has had to come get me a few times now when I've had attacks while out alone. I do like my job and I'm worried I would become quite depressed just sitting at home on disability leave, as I was feeling pretty depressed last fall when I was home for 3 months. I'm running out of ideas though, because any other job would be even harder to do since my current job offers huge flexibility which allows me to work around my symptoms as much as I can.
At this point I am fighting to keep my job, I asked if they could keep my on part time but they would not. I haven't told them I have Meniere's yet, but they obviously know I have a long-term issue as it's been a year and half now and I have provided them with doctors notes of my limitations. Any advice or any similar experiences for people either having issues with work or not being able to work? Sorry, this has been a bit of rant, I'm feeling worked up and frustrated!
I'm only recently diagnosed but have had symptoms disrupting my work life since January 2013. My work had been supportive however at this time I've missed so much work that I'm a huge pain in the butt to them now. Last year I was on short-term disability most of January, June-July, September-December (kept trying to go back, but kept having recurring episodes and ending up too sick again). My job used to require me to travel a lot, however somebody else is currently covering the large trips for me and I'm only working in my city and within a 3 hour radius. At first my doctor advised no highway driving since I've had sudden attacks twice and my husband had to come get me (once at work in the city, and once on the side of the highway about an hour from my city). But I've since convinced my doctor I can handle it and will just not drive when I feel dizzy and will pull over and call somebody if needed. I'm lucky that in my position I work from a home office and travel to complete audits of clients and since I make my own schedule nobody at work really knows how ill I've been. They're in another city 1500 kms away and we only have contact my phone so I've been hiding my illness as best I can but lately I've been calling in sick so much, they keep asking me how I can keep this up and I know they are getting frustrated with me.
I've been wondering if I should just bite the bullet and go on disability leave. I do get sick at work a lot but since I work independantly I am able to hide it quite well and sneak away to the washroom if I'm vomiting. I've been getting a lot of flak from my family whenever I mention the idea of disability leave, they basically tell me to "suck it up" and that they go to work when they don't feel well. I know my doctor would support it, he was fine with keeping me off work when I had recurring episodes for 3 months last fall, it was me to kept wanting to go back. My husband also thinks I should consider going on disability if my doctor is in agreement, since my husband has had to come get me a few times now when I've had attacks while out alone. I do like my job and I'm worried I would become quite depressed just sitting at home on disability leave, as I was feeling pretty depressed last fall when I was home for 3 months. I'm running out of ideas though, because any other job would be even harder to do since my current job offers huge flexibility which allows me to work around my symptoms as much as I can.
At this point I am fighting to keep my job, I asked if they could keep my on part time but they would not. I haven't told them I have Meniere's yet, but they obviously know I have a long-term issue as it's been a year and half now and I have provided them with doctors notes of my limitations. Any advice or any similar experiences for people either having issues with work or not being able to work? Sorry, this has been a bit of rant, I'm feeling worked up and frustrated!
SleepyJean -
I am trying to work through this as well and I have to support myself. However, I don't have the frequent vertigo episodes like some of you and I know that I am very, very fortunate! I have spent time in the bathroom waiting for a dizzy spell to pass because I felt like I was going to vomit or because I could no longer read the computer screen. I have come into work late because I was too dizzy to finish getting ready for work and had to wait. I am also fortunate in that I don't have to travel for work and I haven't even tried to fly since I started having symptoms in March 2013.
I can imagine it's a hard decision to know when to go on disability, but my guess is that you'll know when it's time.
Best of luck to you. Hang in there!
Kerry