The Migraine – Is there a better ‘get out of work’ card?!

That’s long been a massive irritation for me in office-based work. People sitting there sniffing and coughing and sneezing over their keyboard, getting up for a another mug of Lemsip, moaning about how ill they feel but “their work ethic means they’ve come in anyway…”

WFH has it’s drawbacks, but I’m so glad I don’t share an office with one particular bell end who used to do this.

Genuinely didn’t realise what a **** he was being and expected praise.

Nope, experience. I worked with a woman in accounts that ‘managed’ the companies money, never took a day off, always always dragged herself in,  rarely even took holidays. The HR management found out eventually it’s becasue she was on the take, and came in so that no one else would to look closely at what she did if she wasn’t there.

ooosh, thats a pretty niche experience. Never ill, but defo a criminal. Do you know what happened to her? Just her marching orders? Or criminal proceedings?

And just to reiterate AGAIN, this isnt about migraines existing or not, it was a bit of friday fun  to unearth things like…

A former colleague used to get annual jury service for several weeks and my useless manager never batted an eyelid.

but, anywho…..

I had a colleague who was off for 6 months straight with migraines. Coincidentally, 6 months is the point when they dropped to half pay. I’m often surprised by how many people seem to become well enough to return to work at that point.

And just to reiterate AGAIN, this isnt about migraines existing or not, it was a bit of friday fun  to unearth things like…

I think the problem is trying to have a bit of fun with an issue people genuinely suffer from.

Don’t think it came across the way you intended.

I think the problem is trying to have a bit of fun with an issue people genuinely suffer from.

Don’t think it came across the way you intended.

yup, fair play, apologies to anyone who mistook what i was trying to say, i was in no way trying to poo poo anything migraine based. My error.

Do you know what happened to her?

The cops turned up one morning (both plain clothes and uniform). I mean at the time, I was just an office junior, the uniform turning up at the office was their first I know of it really. They did the whole ‘hand on the shoulder, would you like to come with us’ routine. Partly for our benefit as well I reckon. Took away the computer, emptied the drawers. The company (logistics) prosecuted her for thousands and she got a prison sentence – couple of years.

It’s less niche that you’d think, a chap in a circle of friends was also caught with his hand in the the till of the company he worked for, was sent ‘darn’ as well.

What BruceWee said. If you’re trusted by the business, “I was ill” really should be sufficient.

Most organisations have a sickness management policy or similar. I think ours starts if you have 4 periods of sickness in a rolling 12 month period. 4 concurrent days off is regarded as one period of sickness, but 4 separate days off are treated as four periods of sickness.

I got bitten by this. I had a stinking cold, was off for a couple of days, felt better so came back in on the Wednesday or Thursday, then had a relapse and was off again at the end of the week. Two periods of sickness, another day within 12 months either side of that and it triggers a review, I’d have been better off staying away the whole week.

For balance we’ve all seen people who drag themselves in when they really should be off sick, which can then spread their bugs and cause even more absence

Martyrs can do one. “I’ve never had a day off work in my life!” No, but everyone else has because of you, you throbber.

The rule of thumb I use is, “if I go in, will I be of any use to anyone?” If no then I might as well be in bed.

6 months is the point when they dropped to half pay. I’m often surprised by how many people seem to become well enough to return to work at that point.

Or, they aren’t but can’t afford not to.

The rule of thumb I use is, “if I go in, will I be of any use to anyone?” If no then I might as well be in bed.

Nice one, that will be off work for the rest of my life then, illness or not.

Or, they aren’t but can’t afford not to.

Yes, that happens too.

Migraines are awful if you work with computers all day. I seem to suffer them less since working from home though. Probably something to do with the awful office lighting.

I’ve actually only had two days off since I started WFH in 2020. That was due to gastroenteritis (the both ends, soul leaving your body, praying for a quick death variety). I even worked through having Covid twice so I wouldn’t end up behind in my work.

Reading between the lines here, but I think we have a classic case of workplace disillusionment on the part of the OP. For whatever reason, he has ended up in a workplace that has poor regard for its employees. Over time, he has bought into that philosophy and prided himself on being ‘hard’ and never taking a day sick. Possibly with dangled carrot of promotion that has either never materialised or has, but at a glacial rate. Now some realisation is setting in and he is looking for a focus for his ire. Justifiable? Possibly.

Healthy for the OP? Very unlikely.

Life is too short to worry about the motivations of others. If someone is taking the piss, the HR algorithm should pick it up. Or a general consensus may develop – which can also be unhealthy.

Do your own work, to the required standard, in the allocated hours (or more if you want). If it is too much, too little, too hard, too easy then deal with your own situation with whatever management you have. That is enough for anyone to manage without any lingering resentment towards others.

If you work in a place that has a zero-sum attitude to the workforce (a good thing for one employee has to come at the expense of another), then it might be time to find another job. Those kind of zero-sum arrangements only exist below the glass ceiling IME, keep the high salaries, guaranteed bonuses and buggering off early on a Friday to play golf for ‘us’ and let ‘them’ provide for ‘us’ by fighting amongst themselves for the last 5%.

I used to suffer with them, I’d go blind in one eye with the worse ones.

So, ermmm, yea the OP has my sympathy for having to suffer through life as a bit of a tool, it must be a burden.

Certainly is. My longest period without a day off sick was 12 years, and I think my total sick days over 35 years was probably about 15. Some people are lucky, some are less so.

Yea….. but how many people around you got the flu as a result of you coming into work?

Or, they aren’t but can’t afford not to.

I think it’s a fine line that has to be drawn somewhere.

Should people be able to take time off to recover quicker/better even if they ostensibly could work but to the incremental detriment to their health. – yes

Would almost everyone be better off physically and mentally if they didn’t have to work – also yes

At the end of the day you’re paid to work because it’s not something you’d otherwise chose to do.

As for the OP,

It’s not hard to come up with a 24-hour “illness” if you’re that way inclined.  Food poisoning, the squits and so forth.

Migraines are grim things.  There’s an adage in skydiving circles, “those who do can’t explain, those who don’t can’t understand.”  I, thank the stars, don’t have chronic migraines but I’ve had a few “several weeks” bouts and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.  As someone else said earlier, migraine is to headache as flu is to bad cold.  I can power through a headache but I could no more work with a migraine than I could if I was on fire, it’s horrendous.

More women have migraines than men and are often linked to their menstrual cycle, so pretty unavoidable in this case. They can be managed though and I can recommend trying different Triptone drugs as there could be one that works well and can stop a migraine instead of just masking the symptoms.

People often think a migraine is just a strong localised headache, and although this can be the case, they are often much more, with symptoms of sickness, diarrhea, dizzyness, nausea, visual distortions, confusion, slurred speech, lethargy etc. So I’m a bit more empathetic with sufferers. But there are often triggers too, so sufferers do need to have a look at their lifestyle, diet and sleep routine as these are often triggers.

The only person that gives a shit about someone never taking a sick day is the person themselves. Companies certainly don’t.

You never know what people are going through/letting on, suggesting they are faking is a pretty big breach of rule 1 imo.

What are the chances they fall on a Monday or sometimes on a Friday?!

A little less than 1 in 3

Yea….. but how many people around you got the flu as a result of you coming into work?

If I’d knowingly had flu I wouldn’t have gone to work.

I’ve not knowingly had COVID either.

Thankfully it seems much less common post-Covid.

The ability toward from home means that sick leave is reduced. Not been into the office for two weeks, but I have been working with this miserable cold. Not as effectively last week, but working.

Anyone with a genuine migraine would much rather be working without one. I’ve had only one. I’d rather not have any more. The analogy between cold and flu is accurate.

Some of the anti-CGRP antibodies for prevention are impressive. You are required to have failed three previous therapies and have four or more migraines per month (NICE).  Pfizer bought a company called Biohaven to provide intranasal and oral CGRP blockade. These work the same way.

Master sick day takers, take off Wednesdays. Or if they are going to be off a Friday or Monday, plant the seed days before, with the odd cough, sniffle and complaint of feeling like something ‘coming on’

You never know what people are going through/letting on, suggesting they are faking is a pretty big breach of rule 1 imo.

I think there are a lot of people out there who aren’t faking as such but have very different expectations around work and well-being and how the two relate. I don’t think the colleague I mentioned above was faking but the fact is that she pretty much missed 6 months in every working year.

Says as much about the employers procedures as it does about them TBH.

The masterstroke for days off in my workplace these days seems to be stress/mental health. Ain’t nobody going to question that in this day and age. ;)

What is worse…pretending to have an ailment to dodge working, or pretending to work and spending all day on stw….

This place is honestly incredible. I realise now why i only really post about bike stuff these days. And why some people leave to never come back.

My post was to create some discussion on those that have a ‘sick note’ in work and their reasons. Please remove the word ‘migraine’ and replace with ‘the squits’, or any other ‘less offensive’ ailments.

Some of the guff spouted above, then to suggest i am a throbber…. get f-ed. Utter utter tosh.

Its friday, the sun is shining, the weekend is about to begin, smile…. FFS.

Any mods in here, please close this thread, its just not worth it.

Serious contraventions of rule 1 here.

Before I started having steroids injected into my head, followed by 31 injections every three months, and now a self injection every month with not great side effects, I was on between 16 and 20 migraine days per month. Chances are some of those would fall on a Monday.

Yes, it’s such a convenient excuse, what with the nausea, the tunnel vision, the depression, the searing pain, the dizziness, the tremors, the fatigue, and then followed by the side effects from the drugs and the ‘hangover’. And the effects on personal life and relationships.

My wife also suffers with them hormonally, to the point where her previous employer started disciplinary processes, but backed down pretty soon once she pointed out the pattern of them, and reinforced it with an endocrinologist’s letter

So there’s a little understanding why your initial post has pissed a good number of people off.

The masterstroke for days off in my workplace these days seems to be stress/mental health. Ain’t nobody going to question that in this day and age.

That’s as equally unfunny as the post that started this thread.

That’s as equally unfunny as the post that started this thread.

Thanks, I was aiming high.

Its friday, the sun is shining, the weekend is about to begin, smile…. FFS.

I went for a ride before work, in amazing sunshine. It was you who decided to start a thread about the behaviour of others. Some people have set out to help you understand what some of those others are going through. Why wouldn’t they?

Its friday, the sun is shining, the weekend is about to begin, smile…. FFS.

Well, I would head out and ride my bike in the lovely weather, but as this is one of my migraine triggers, it’s lead to me kind of withdrawing from one of my favorite things to do in life.

Congratulations for not having a sick day for 5 years. Some other people actually are ill, or have an ongoing illness, or don’t come to work to spend illness.
I used to be fit and healthy and hardly ever took sick days. Now I have a bowel disease and struggle regularly to come to work ( but still manage to generally). To look at me you wouldn’t know I had any illness.
My wife gets migraines and I really feel bad for her. It’s not nice and comes on out of nowhere.

 then to suggest i am a throbber…

For the avoidance of doubt, “you” wasn’t you in my post, I was discussing people who boast about dragging their diseased carcass into work when they should be in bed.  Apologies if you took it personally but that isn’t what I said.

My post was to create some discussion

So trolling?

That’s as equally unfunny as the post that started this thread.

You seem to have interpreted my comment as showing a lack of understanding of mental health but it’s actually anything but (although it was slightly tongue in cheek). The understanding shown by my employer around stress and mental health is regularly weaponised by some staff. They use the threat of absence due to stress to get decisions they don’t like overturned in the full knowledge that it’s unlikely to be questioned and that cover staff will not be available. It’s absolutely crippling for school leaders trying to implement change and demeaning to those with genuine issues.

I realise now why i only really post about bike stuff these days.

And yet… here we are.

throbber

get f-ed

🤔

It’s less niche that you’d think

Common practice in my work (banking) that you need to take your holidays, and need to take at least a weeks worth at any one time. Big red flag if you never take more than a day off at a time

It’s less niche that you’d think, a chap in a circle of friends was also caught with his hand in the the till of the company he worked for, was sent ‘darn’ as well.

The first chemical company I worked at, a previous employee had been sent down for about 6 years IIRC for making ecstasy on the quiet. Little corner of the fume cupboard in amongst a load of other reactions, no-one gave it a second look. It only came to light because the primary ingredient for it was disappearing at an unusual rate…

After that it was kept under lock and key by the Chief Chemist and it needed several tiers of sign-off to access it.

One of the guys there was forever on sick. He’d rock up late or leave early due to “not feeling well”, he’d usually have 1 day off a week. Basically just a complete slacker. Anyway, work put in place a new policy around sick leave, return to work interviews etc and his health miraculously improved.

After a few months he found the loophole of claiming that his kids were ill so he returned to his usual 1-day a week off.

^^^

That was a fortnight BITD at my first job (LloydsTSB).

My side-effects weren’t properly serious other than them often making things feel much worse and often being unable to lift my arms whilst it was in my system.

I got the same on sumatriptan, so much so I hardly took it. I am finding the new generation of triptans released by NICE in the last couple of years 1000x better. I now take Rizatriptan which honestly it like night and day by comparison. In general, i can function to a good degree within an hour and apart sometimes sensitive teeth, experience no side effects of note.

For those who have struggled on the old triptans, I’d certainly recommend getting a review with your GP.

Am I alone in not giving a ****? I have 6 direct reports, that’s all I concern myself with, I do the roster/RTW. Sickness convos as is my job and HR and the Bradford Factor does the rest if when required. If people are working their ticket it’s either inept managers or falible processes of which there are quite a few sadly.

Persistent sickness can also be an organisational culture issue, some places are a shitty place to be but they’d rather go after the people than tackle the culture.

The first chemical company I worked at, a previous employee had been sent down for about 6 years IIRC for making ecstasy on the quiet. Little corner of the fume cupboard in amongst a load of other reactions, no-one gave it a second look. It only came to light because the primary ingredient for it was disappearing at an unusual rate…

After that it was kept under lock and key by the Chief Chemist and it needed several tiers of sign-off to access it.

One of the guys there was forever on sick. He’d rock up late or leave early due to “not feeling well”, he’d usually have 1 day off a week. Basically just a complete slacker. Anyway, work put in place a new policy around sick leave, return to work interviews etc and his health miraculously improved.

After a few months he found the loophole of claiming that his kids were ill so he returned to his usual 1-day a week off.

wow! a real life Breaking Bad. Was it for his own consumption or selling to the weekend ravers?!

Mrs Merman hasn’t worked for… nearly two years now, largely due to debilitating migraines. They’ve got progressively worse over the years to the point where she can now be bed-bound holding her head and unable to speak for four days at a time. Can’t keep anything down inc pills or water for the first 2/3 days, and can only sip water by the 3rd or 4th. It then takes her a day or two to recover, so that’s a week written-off. Impossible to hold down a job when she gets a bad one every couple of weeks.

Umpteen GPs and even more specialists seem unable to help. “I’ll prescribe something different, see if that works.”

Sometimes the (many) meds she takes, work but more often than not they don’t.

She’d give anything to be able to work.

Covid should have brought about a massive change in presenteeism, but it didn’t take long before covid related absenses counted towards absence warnings again. So just like with colds/flu etc., someone mildly affected could report at the workplace and then infect many not so fortunate. And because a covid absense counted towards absence records, they’ll turn up because they are either on the final or penultimate absence warning.

Even though those under 50 around December ’21 without a vulnerable to illness record, haven’t been able to get a free covid vaccine jab since.

While I can’t prove my covid came from my old rm delivery office in late Sept ’22, distancing was often diabolical while in the office before going out on delivery and the only other place I went near people were literally a few individuals in the Tesco Express on what turned out to be my last work day. After almost a year off with long covid, I ended up taking ill health retirement and I’m still a long way from being able to manage getting up at a reasonable time and managing to do at least a regular 4-hour shift somewhere part-time.