Stress / Anxiety /Depression and my UC
Wed, October 12, 2011 4:59 PM
Hi Everyone. My name is Michele and I just discovered this forum today. I was diagnosed with UC 15 years ago and in the past 4 years it has gotten worse. I finally decided to apply for disability and since then I've been stressed and depressed with anxiety. I had worked for a company almost 4 years and I hated it and on top of it, it was very stressful which was not helping me. It was the first company I'd worked for that I had problems with because of my disease. I've had 3 surgeries in those years for rectal abcesses that I'd never had before. I don't know what has changed with my body but I now have zero tolerance for pain. Well, I'm a single person living alone and so income is important to me so I always seemed to put my job before my health. Last year the company went through a meger and there were other things going on that just stressed me out and my it just played havok on my uc. I was in and out of the ER and I was on LOA's. It got to the point I had 1 FMLA day left and the company was just waiting because by then I'd become unreliable and not dependable to be there to get reports done etc. I can't tell you how bad this made me feel. I even had work taken away from me because they were worried I would not be there to get things done. The week before Thanksgiving last year another abcess came about and I was in the ER and the next day surgery was done again. Fistuals have always been involved as well. I have one now but the surgeon at the time said she wasn't worried about it. I had to be out 2 weeks and when I called with my doctor's release I was told my my boss on the phone they had replaced my job. So I've been on unemployment since December. The job market is horrible so that's depressing.
Joined Oct 12, 2011
Fri, October 14, 2011 1:27 PM
Reply posted for lgrabowski.
No, do not give up on disability. You will need to find a doctor. You will not necessarily need an attorney. Don't worry about the attorney until you have been denied. Have you thought about changing how you treat your UC? Have you tried taking starches out of your diet? Have you had your magnesium, potassium, and iron levels checked? These things helped my Crohn's. I am now working on my body's ph level with success.
Stress is not good. Try to find something each day that takes the stress away. A funny movie to make you laugh is a great stress reliever. A good book works. Meditation and Yoga will help you focus and de stress. Some natural stuff that helps my stress: Super B Complex, St John's Wort, Rhodolia (sp?), chamomile, and Stress Relief by NatraBio.
I wish you health and happiness.
Wendy
Joined Jan 5, 2009
Wed, October 12, 2011 5:00 PM
Reply posted for lgrabowski.
My GI doc has asked me twice why I'm not on disability and my reply was: they will just deny me. So the past couple of weeks I've been feeling really sick again so I applied for disability. I am still looking for a lawyer. This is stressing me out and depressing me. I feel so alone as no one understands what I really go through on a daily basis. I feel like Humpty Dumpty. I was in a relationship and was told no one wants to be with someone who is sick all the time. Needless to say we are no longer together. No I feel like it's just hopeless with the disability and I've got the unemployment as a problem. I have no health insurance and I'm told I need to be under a doctor's care for the disability. I'm barely making it each month. Today I feel like having a breakdown. I have a lot of stomach pain, rectal bleeding, rectal pain and at times I have no appetite and feel like I'm going to be sick. I have no idea what to do. I've got this disability thing going on. Believe me I spend more time in the bathroom than at a desk working and I will always be late to work and people want punctual people. Oh and for the women out there...I don't know about you but my monthly cycle makes me feel 100 times worse. It's like it bothers my disease and my disease makes the cycle worse so that week is a stay at home week and this all can start a week or two before my cycle. Do I give up on the disability?
Joined Oct 12, 2011
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