Anyone about? *feeling depressed*

Jenna

Hey... sorry to post and just whinge on but tonight I am feeling very depressed and stressed out (neither of which is gonna help my health - I have Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E.) but there you are).

Just wondered if anyone is about that I can chat to?

Thanks in advance for reading this xx

Kavanne

Hellooooooo

I am about and I just had a bit of an anxiety episode re: an unknown credit card charge as you will see in my credit card thread! Doh! There's an episode I shall have to tell my counsellor about.

pavlovs_dog

hi Jenna.

this time of night you usually find most people in the moneysaver's arms, down south of the forum. they're mostly a friendly bunch, especially if you're as happy to talk about any old random carp as they are

why don't you pop in and introduce yourself?

p_d :beer:

spora

Hey how come your feeling stressed and depressed?

sidefx

Hello

you are not alone so tell us what's wrong.

Jenna

Aww thankyou didn't expect so many nice replies.

Am feeling down as my health has got worse over the last few months and a lot worse over the Christmas break. For example I was meant to be working from home this last week but wasn't well enough.

I'm meant to be back in the office on Monday and whilst I might make it in, I'll have to do nothing all weekend to try and shore up my energy reserves. I think I'll need to talk with my boss about maybe working from home more often or even hiring a PT employee to take some of my workload off me - my job now has increased from when I started with the company and it's more like a job and a half! But terrified of talking to him - I don't normally admit M.E. to anyone except my best friend, boyfriend & family - am too afraid of judgement.

My boyfriend isn't any help to me right now as he's fast asleep.

I'm worried about how to fill in the DLA forms (I'm re-applying as my current award runs out in a few months) & also about money (e.g. what happens if I don't get the award again, etc).

And am just generally on a major "feeling sorry for myself" session (lol).

Sorry not really expecting any answers here just a bit of rant.

Thanks guys for listening xx

novagirl

Is there not a number you can call or any guidance notes for your DLA forms?

spora

Hello,

Heres what i would do: I would talk to your boss asap. Having ME is nothing to be ashamed of and if your boss is even half decent he wont judge you. Its not fair that you have to do all this work with your condition and in all likelyhood it is going to make your health worse.

I would also wake your boyfriend up for a little hug

My boyfriend always says to me to wake him up if i ever need him, even if its just for a hug. Its amazing how better it makes me feel

Jenna

There is but people are typically very skeptical of M.E. so I don't like to call the DWP - too chicken! :rotfl:

I'm considering joining Work & Benefits which has been recommended on here before but is £18.95 for a year's membership ... saying that the DLA payment (even on lower rate) would cover that so it might be worth the investment.

sidefx

Maybe try asking for help in the benefits bit of the forum. Sorry I have no words of wisdom, but late night isn't the best time for anyone feeling low. I really hope you feel better about things in the morning. Look after yourself

Jenna

Thanks guys I will try and think of what to say to my boss. One of my symptoms is actually having some issues with finding the correct word (e.g. the other day I said that the scented candles TASTED good without realising what was wrong!) and also feeling - on a bad day - like I'm thinking through cotton wool and not being able to string together a decent, constructive thought/sentence.

** edit - case in point - my continued sentence was supposed to read and therefore I'm concerned that I won't explain properly etc. I've thought of trying to make up a fact sheet to explain the symptoms etc but I'm not sure if that's overkill - I don't want to be seen by him as attention seeking. He's normally a really decent guy but I'm just a little paranoid of being judged/treated differently!

Mostly I'm okay but have been worse recently. Writing is better than talking though - e.g. here I'm better because I can think about (and re-read) what I've written before posting.

I'll try the Benefits section soon when I'm feeling stronger - maybe tomorrow if I can. Maybe the people there will have some good tips.

Thanks xx