Signed off work for a week

Posted , 3 users are following.

Hi all,

I am suffering from anxiety at work. I have been signed off a couple of times in the last 7 months and now this is the third. I just can't seem to get my balance back since my first episode of stress at work. I am afraid of work now, i loath going in each day and i feel physical sick when i walk through the door. I start the day so depressed and talk to no-one. I go into my own little world. I constantly focus on how i can't handle the job anymore and i feel as though i am not good enough anymore. It has put me completely off my job, i am constantly looking for away out. I just want to run away. After being at work for 2-3 hours i am deeply depressed and have managed to work myself up into an extremely anxitious state. This is what happened again today, i could not calm down. I called my doc and he has signed me off for 1 week with 'agitation' and given me 2 weeks of Flupentixol. I am already on Mirtazapine which he increased from 30mg to 45 mg last Thursday. I think the Flupentixol is to help my immediate nerves, and give the increased dose of Mirtazapine time to cut in.

I am so worried, i don't see how things will change. The lower dose of Mirt has not helped me, so i can't see how increasing it will be some miracle cure. I realise a weeks sick will help my immediate stress by taking me away from what is causing it. But it is not as if i can avoid work for ever, i am the bread winner a must earn a living. So i am scared that next Monday will be no different to today.

Anyway advice would be appreciate

Paul

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Posted

    Hello Paul,

    Sounds pretty rotten for you at the moment. Anxiety is an awful feeling isn't it? A nasty little sleight of the automatic nervous system - useful to escape from a lion, absolutely rubbish in an office. (I like to keep my sense of humour, I find it helps). Seriously, though to get to the bottom of it, I'm wondering if you are being bullied at work? Do you have these feelings of panic in other social situations too (like a social phobia)? Are you worried about embarrassing yourself at work during a panic attack? Do you have specific anxiety provoking concerns or is it a more generalized anxiety that pervades your everyday life even at weekends? Only you know the answers to those thinks. Keep in touch with your GP, take your medicines and live in the present moment while off work. Stop worrying about 'next Monday' - if you need another week off, then so be it. It may be worth getting a book about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and having a read. I find that reading and obsessing/worring seem to be incompatible, I can only do one at a time - and a good read always wins. Anyway, ask your GP about a referral to a psychologist too, though this can take a while sometimes. A tragic thing about anxiety is that it is often made worse by thinking about the 'what if'...what if I can't go to work on Monday, what if I cry at work, what if, what if,what if. It's not easy, but when these obsessive thoughts occur try to say stop out loud, count to ten slowly, breathe deeply and tell yourself that you are taking small but positive steps towards beating this. This is the basis of CBT and a good Cog Behaviour Therapist (to find a chartered psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society in your area look on their website through Google) will help you wiith your experiences with around 70% success rate.

    Best of luck,

    x

  • Posted

    all the feelings your having at work sound like what i was going through before i went off sick. Wont your doctor sign you off for longer? everything you have said sounds like classic signs of depression. I have been off work for nearly a year, and going back in a couple of weeks. I have been on citalopram for 8 months, and fluoxetine for six weeks. have you looked into reactive hypoglycemia? its a nutritional disorder which causes anxiety and depression. since i changed my diet i have felt better than any effects the tablets were having on me. have a look here;

    hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/what_is_hypo.html

  • Posted

    Hi to you both,

    I am off work now for another 3 weeks with anxiety. My doctor has given Lorazepam to settle my nerves and i am finally being sent to see a mental health specialist. Here's hoping something positive will come from this.

    Thanks for the link, i will check it out.

    Regards

    Paul

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