[Jazzi7]

Hi all,

I suppose I've been on this IBS journey for quite a while. At least 11 years. I have IBS C generally tho I still have bouts where it swings to D. I had a particularly long bout of IBS D when I was working in an office for months & that continued for a while. So it's been known to go from one to the other. Both & the gas side of things make working particularly challenging.

I've gone through different career choices incl. retail, call centre & office work. All of which haven't really worked for me & my IBS in different ways. Lately I've been looking to sign up and do a little temping work short term to boost up the finances & pay some bills but I could never do that long term. When you sign up I find these days they always want you to sign an agreement to say you've told them your full medical history! Do you have X - yes or no etc. When you have IBS, back pain & mental health issues (all related in some way I'm sure) & they even want to know what your taking it can make you feel very insecure about your prospects & rightly so. Yet you sign something to say that if you don't provide all those details then they have the right to give you the flick on the grounds you haven't told them everything. Ridiculous! Not to mention the stress & mistreatment of staff in most of the jobs I've had just add to my stress which increases my symptoms. Or the way in which they manage staff or the kind of jobs have caused me stress which has increased my symptoms. Or the game playing or bullying... etc. etc. etc. Anyways that's my little bit of complaining...

My real question is I've pondered different career moves but IBS is so debilitating I often get stuck in my pondering. I have been considering after many years trying for going on Disability at least for the short term. But I am just curious if there are any people out there who live with the condition & have found a particular career works for them? Or they have found a particular company or work place supportive? I suppose I'm just wondering if there is something I could do that I am missing? Or looking for some fresh ideas. Even if I went on Disability for the long term (I don't get the sense my body can cope with working full time tho I'm still looking for ways in which to look at it all holistically & come up with strategies) I wouldn't mind working a day or two a week later on maybe, doing something that was low in stress. Just wondering if there are any positive stories out there?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

[maitland]

Jazzi7, on 30 January 2012 - 09:53 AM, said:

Hi all,

I suppose I've been on this IBS journey for quite a while. At least 11 years. I have IBS C generally tho I still have bouts where it swings to D. I had a particularly long bout of IBS D when I was working in an office for months & that continued for a while. So it's been known to go from one to the other. Both & the gas side of things make working particularly challenging.

I've gone through different career choices incl. retail, call centre & office work. All of which haven't really worked for me & my IBS in different ways. Lately I've been looking to sign up and do a little temping work short term to boost up the finances & pay some bills but I could never do that long term. When you sign up I find these days they always want you to sign an agreement to say you've told them your full medical history! Do you have X - yes or no etc. When you have IBS, back pain & mental health issues (all related in some way I'm sure) & they even want to know what your taking it can make you feel pretty insecure about your prospects & rightly so. Yet you sign something to say that if you don't provide all those details then they have the right to give you the flick on the grounds you haven't told them everything. Ridiculous! Not to mention the stress & mistreatment of staff in most of the jobs I've had just add to my stress which increases my symptoms. Or the way in which they manage staff or the kind of jobs have caused me stress which has increased my symptoms. Or the game playing or bullying... etc. etc. etc. Anyways that's my little bit of complaining...

My real question is I've pondered different career moves but IBS is so debilitating I often get stuck in my pondering. I have been considering after many years trying for going on Disability at least for the short term. But I am just curious if there are any people out there who live with the condition & have found a particular career works for them? Or they have found a particular company or work place supportive? I suppose I'm just wondering if there is something I could do that I am missing? Or looking for some fresh ideas. Even if I went on Disability for the long term (I don't get the sense my body can cope with working full time tho I'm still looking for ways in which to look at it all holistically & come up with strategies) I wouldn't mind working a day or two a week later on maybe, doing something that was low in stress. Just wondering if there are any positive stories out there?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

hi j7...you don't mention how qualified you are but stocking store shelves at night would be low stress....research assistant depending on the field of research you could probably work at home doing online work and finally apply for various levels of government jobs as a person with medical disabilities; good luck. maitland

[yololife]

I don't know how qualified you are, but the company i'm working for is quite supportive of me. You should look for a smaller company or consider working at home.

[cw_2009]

I work in a office..

yololife, on 02 February 2012 - 07:38 PM, said:

I don't know how qualified you are, but the company i'm working for is quite supportive of me. You should look for a smaller company or consider working at home.

[Jazzi7]

Thanks for the response guys.

Hmmm... my qualifications. I'm a trained pharmacy assistant & that worked to some extent because I could go on deliveries & manage my day a bit that way. Have time alone in the car if I had alot of gas. Work in a toilet stop if I needed to. But visiting old ladies with their scripts wasn't too bad on the stress scale. I could also go for walks between the two shops when one shop ran out of medication or a product that the other needed which happened regularly at times. But it was small business & it seemed like wherever I worked you were rather treated really badly or not paid right. Or made to feel like dirt. Lectured for the till being 20c out. Not respected. etc. etc. So the job perks were outweighed by other stresses to do with the job. It's a long story but all of that has added to my troubles to some extent. But I went into office & call centre work a few years back which has been better. Though I find office work incredibly boring & I would have diahorrea every morning and be in pain until about midday-ish... and then come good just before lunch... & I would be working an 8.30 - 5 kind of day so it effected my productivity alot. Which doesn't win you any points. Then when I worked in call centres (government) the breaks were micro managed & toilet breaks were 5 mins exactly by the second. Which includes your travel to where ever the toilet is. Which I found incredibly stressful & anxiety building. Plus lunch breaks are exactly 30 mins by the second so it was then difficult again because you had to eat quickly which doesn't do my system good at all. And then rush to the toilet before or after lunch. My body didn't cope with that very well in the long run either...

I suppose stacking shelves would be low stress but my back is not so great either. If I had to do some lifting & it can still depend on your boss. I've tried applying for government jobs but it's not always easy to get your foot in the door & the applications are so stressful & long winded. I have to be in a good way to cope with it.

Maybe I'll look into some online jobs? I've recently decided maybe I need to get a bit crafty & make some necklaces or something for something positive & confidence building. It would also give me a bit of pocket money & something fun to do that would take my mind off things. So I am thinking creatively a bit too. I've thought of having one of those in home businesses but I can't say I'm much of a sales person. And it would take alot of energy I just don't have right now to build up that kind of business.

[tummyrumbles]

I couldn't imagine anything worse than timed toilet breaks! I've been an office worker all my life, but I'm starting a new job as a personal carer. I've never done work like that before so hope I can handle it OK. Part-time jobs are the best. My main problem at the moment is gas building up in the afternoons so I thought a job where I'm virtually on my own would be ideal (it's domestic work for elderly in their homes). The work I normally do is OK, but I'm sick of the worry. I get up super early and resent the fact I still get gas in the afternoons, it seems so unfair. I would have thought a pharmacy assistant job would be good, although you do have a lot of other staff around you and I guess you're sort of trapped at the till if you do that mainly.

IBS sufferers probably shouldn't choose office work, unless you're on your own or it's only a few hours. Unfortunately online jobs are mostly scams and I've never come across any genuine ones. Forums are a good place to see if anyone has found any but stay clear of any online companies asking you to pay something up front. I'll update what the personal carer job is like later on as I'm hoping that relieves a lot of the stress.