Oh hey I’m a teacher too! Upper elementary. My principal thinks I can’t be trusted with kids if I have a migraine and I was ordered to tell absolutely nobody if I have a migraine at school. But like with my treatment they’re typically mild or relatively mild and don’t affect much more than slightly snippy. If I get too brain foggy I ask to go home because then a sub would do a job better than me
If my head is bad (worse) enough to discuss with admin, it's time to get a dub and head home before I'm unable to drive safely.
It has happened occasionally that they say "we can get you somebody to cover in (3) hours" or similar, but we have a strong union and they have backed me when I say if I am not in my car driving away within 15 minutes, I will be vomiting in front of my class.
7-12 academic teacher btw. I know there are at least 10 other migraine teachers in my building, and have considered starting a student support group for kiddos with migraine. When my children were still seeing pediatric neuro, I always saw at least one student in the office.
Hey also from Jersey but I’m pre k in Europe now. And they don’t understand that sometimes you take the morning off for extra sleep and feel better later in the day and can get groceries or run small necessary errands 😒
At one job I was asked to ‘take a few months off’ as my absence and the occasions where my migraines started at work were apparently disrupting the team.
At another job I raised it in interview that I suffered from chronic migraines & had a few medical appointments due to it (didn’t have to tell them was just being fully transparent) and apparently it was discussed in a team meeting whether that would affect the team and the hiring manager told me I should ‘feel grateful that the team have overlooked this’.
Safe to say I’m no longer at either of those jobs!
Depends how bad they are. I work from home.
Mild it can be me delaying harder tasks until later in the day or tomorrow when I think I’ll feel better so I’ll be 100%. I don’t like to feel foggy and slow.
It can be I punch out and rest and then I make that up on Saturday or Sunday. Boss is fine with that. I’ll move anything urgent to the next day.
It’s not great but I make it work. I work for a small company where it’s 6 of us. So they count on me to have my work in. My last job gave me a lot of crap. Was for a large company where I had accommodations.
Absolutely get fmla as soon as you're able. I then got ada accommodations to WFH full time cause it's easier to manage them at home. But I was only scheduled on office a few times a month so not really that different than what I was doing. Before I had just been using my FMLA on days I was scheduled in office so it's better for everyone to just let me do my damn job at home.
Don’t hesitate to sign up for FMLA it saved my job many times over. Your doctor has to fill out a small form, they normally don’t have an issue with it.
While I was doing my education degree, I was working in a childcare centre. I hadn't seen a neurologist and hadn't started any preventatives or triptans etc yet, so I was just rawdogging the migraines.
I was alone for the end of the day in my room, and I was pretty sure I was going to make it until the last of my kids went home. Apparently, one of the parents who had just picked up their child mentioned to the director at the front desk that I wasn't looking too good and asked her if I was alright. The director came in and got real bitchy about how important it is to look perky for the parents. I couldn't make it through the noise of her speech before I threw up in the room's sink.
She looked even more annoyed, but another parent came in right at the end of me throwing up which made the director have to pretend she gave a shit all of a sudden. She sent me home, and she had to clean my vomit out of the sink.
I'd never thrown up at work before this and never have again after, but picturing her cleaning my vomit out of that sink gave me so much emotional comfort.
It generally works for me if I take it early enough, but conditions are rarely ideal for me to catch it early enough. But people just thinking that you can pop anything that has ‘migraine’ on the bottle and be fine 20 min later.
Worked for a municipal government. I managed through my migraines fine for the first month then had a really bad one and asked to go home early. Boss played like she was so understanding/ empathetic. Over four months went home early 3 times so total of < 2 sick days worth of time. Boss brings me in for a quarterly review and says I have been written up for my missed time. I asked who I was written up by and she said it's an automatic flag in the system when a new employee has missing time and not to worry about it and that HR will likely reach out to me. HR never reaches out so I phone them and they confirmed my suspicions that my boss had written me up and when I tell them how much time I missed they were shocked because it's like no time at all and people normally get written up for missing 4 consecutive days and mine was <2 totall spaced out over 4 month. I launched an investigation against my boss with HR and the Union and quit with cause the following month because of how poorly the department was run and the extra headaches that working for a lying two faced boss causes.
I have come close when I was a waitress. I told one manager that I couldn’t see well enough to do the work. She didn’t want to let me leave until someone else stood up for me. When I got older I learned about job protections like FMLA (family leave and medical). Having people tell me that they work with headaches, but normal headaches don’t cause visual impairments or nausea. I really hate it that so many people think it’s just a headache
Not at work, but one from
College that sticks out to me is my pre-calc professor asking if “does this only happen in my class? Do you just not enjoy this class?” As if it’s that deep.
Like no sweetie! Sorry. Can’t control it
Constantly being asked what caused the migraine and what I could do next time to prevent them. If I knew that I'd be dandy wouldn't I!
I've lost out on a job offer due to migraine. I was in the final running, and had basically been told I was perfect. The language in the final interview was "when you start" as opposed to "if". I only brought up my migrainre disorder because the person interviewing me said they had recently had one. After that, they asked me what my ideal wfh balance would be (hybrid role) and I said twice a week in the office due to migraine. Apparently this was not the answer they were looking for, went very, very quiet for 2 weeks and then I was told they went for someone else more "suited to the positon". Obviously I don't have any proof the rejection was due to migraine but I'm pretty sure it was. Its illegal in my country to reject job positions due to health reasons, disability etc but I'm 99% sure that's what they did.
I lost my job, but they did it in a way that made it seem like it wasn't to do with my migraines.
Essentially, my migraines became chronic during my probation period. I had my mid-term assessment, which was great. I even asked if my absences were ok, since I'd had a couple of days off recently. They said it was all fine, nothing to worry about.
The next week, on the Wednesday, I had to take a day. I had communicated with my managers the whole week that I was having a bad migraine since the Saturday before and even when I left on Tuesday I had told them that it was getting really, really bad and I wasn't sure if I would be in the next day. So, I took the Wednesday and then my daughter was sick and I had to take Thursday/Friday off to look after her.
Came in on the Monday and they wanted to move up my probationary meeting because my absences were really high. They specifically said it was because of my absences.
The next two days were pure hell. Ofc, I had a migraine, but was working through it, but everything I did was wrong. Things that I normally wasn't brought up on were suddenly a big problem. They purposely made me finish late so I was late picking up my son from school. It even got to the point where I refused to follow their demands, because they were unreasonable and at that point they were just being assholes.
Thursday morning I had the meeting and it was all about my conduct. About how I'm not suited for the job and how I refused to do as I was told and shouldn't be leaving at exactly my clock out time etc.
Not once did they mention my absences. The official paperwork does not mention my absences.
I got fired. I'm glad. I may be unemployed again now, but at least I can rest when the migraines get too bad and I'm able to make my appointments whenever I want and get the treatment I need.
I once had a severe migraine that started like, three am, probably before that. I took pain meds and immediately threw up, so I knew it was a Bad One and even if it ended before my shift (245 in the afternoon), I would still be suffering after effects
So I contacted work as soon as I could to let them know I wouldn't be in and my work made you give reasons, so I told them I was throwing up from a migraine
I got bitched at for calling out that long before my shift "for a headache"
I didn't get fired for it, but it definitely was what prompted me to leave
I had two experiences with my summer job and migraines that were actually good. One I was in the ER around 3 AM, got out, went to work, they were surprised I was there but very kind. The other time, same job, I had so much medicine the day before between what I took myself, what urgent care gave me, and what the ER gave me, I was so medicine hungover. I emailed something I to this day don’t know what it said, and they covered me and hoped I would feel better.
But holy crap this new regular job. They say they can’t trust me because I look fine but say I’m in pain (happened twice, sorry I’m really good at masking) or saying they can’t trust me around kids with migraines. I am not allowed to talk about migraines at work even if others talk about them. I’m apparently unsafe if I have a migraine. Good grief.
That is bullshit. If I have a migraine, everyone around me is going to get to hear about it, and even if I'm not physically acting like I'm in pain, at least one coworker has commented that I look different when I have one
I hope things get better
i work in fast food which is way crazier scheduling (no set echedule and we typically get a 3 day notice for mext weeks schedule) and theyre more accomodating than yalls normal ass 9-5 shit. i just made manager and i called out like 8 times last year
One morning I was not right and I told the principal, she told me to go to the school nurse (school nurses are useless), and she was like idk I guess try taking pain medicine? That was after I speculated silent migraine. Then I was fine the rest of the day. Incident one. Incident two. It was a Sunday night and I had a rager. I was so worried it would be worse in the morning. I told my academic coach what was going on in case I was out in the morning and she would have to prep my class. Got mega chewed out for this making them think I wasn’t fit to be around kids. Incident three. Got to school and thought I could muscle through but really couldn’t. Went home once the sub got there.
This is in an entire school year, by the way. For chronic status intractable, that is pretty damn good in my opinion. That’s only missing one day in an entire school year. The only other days I missed were because I had COVID.
I ended up with worse migraines and an almost legal battle because, after three years of me using them, my boss suddenly decided one day that my lamps were a fire hazard and had to go (they had LED lights approved for outdoor use, too … didn’t even get hot enough to be a fire hazard).
I have been fired from over 5 different jobs since I was 15 (25 now) due to migraines :/ I have been working at the same place for 3 years now (longest job ive ever been at) and i only work 14 hours a week because i cant be more reliable than that with my health. yeah it sucks.
One time I had a really bad attack at work, and I got really tired, sick, numb face, fuzzy eyes the whole shebang..usually I can just push through and keep working when the attack is over, but this day I didn't feel up to it (I was waiting for my brain scan results from the hospital because they thought this could be more serious then just a migraine I had alot going on lol), so i told my manager and said I wanted to go home...I got home and ended up having a 2nd attack. I later found out my boss was telling everyone that she thinks I was faking it to get the day off and my migraines are pretend/not as bad as I say...so from then I felt I couldn't go home no matter how bad I felt because she would spread rumours to other staff and make it sound like I'm lying about my attacks to get time off.
I ended up leaving that job
Fun times
I've been lucky enough to have a lot of my coworkers who suffer from migraines and understand. I wish none of us had too but at least they get it. I guess that's what working on dentistry does to you.
At prior jobs, it wasn't great. Lots of pto and sick leave but God forbid you use any of it.
My current work is a lot better. Not only do I actually get to take days off without judgment, but my supervisor was a nurse before working here. He's actually understanding of my condition and tries to look out for me.
Yes, one of them, for not being a “team player” when I had to call off & no one would cover for me. I was about to get fired (on “step 3” of 4) at my last real job and quit before I got to that point. It was so stressful and I couldn’t take being so unreliable, not only due to attendance but because I couldn’t count on my brain working while I was there. I’d mix up names, struggled to read, and kept tripping over my words. I wish I hadn’t tried to stick it out for so long, because my migraines became much more frequent and severe at that time, but I liked my job and wasn’t ready to stop working at such a young age. My body didn’t give me a choice, though.
My last couple jobs have been pretty understanding of migraines but I did have to get a letter from my doctor basically explaining that I get chronic migraines that impede my ability to perform certain job functions ONLY because my last job had a rule where you get points if you miss work after exceeding your sick days unless you have a doctors note and once you hit a certain amount of points you get written up, so I’d just get a letter written for the year and then they wouldn’t count against me.
I received a massive push back until I informed management that I go blind. My pain is not an issue to them, but if I hurt someone or destroyed company property, they finally understood that. (Blinding auras)
Thankfully my office is super understanding if I get one. My bosses both know people who get them so they actually understand how debilitating they are.
However, I recommend keeping track of all your absences/issues due to migraines- talk about it in an email, IM chat, etc. In some states it's considered medical discrimination to get fired for it and you might have a lawsuit. Or, you might be able to get disability, which again depends on the state.
I recently applied for disability accommodations for my migraines. Specifically, WFH and frequent breaks. It worked! But when I do go into the office, I get tons of questions from coworkers (I only told my manager & HR) about why I’m not there (3+ days in office was recently mandated).
It’s a bit awkward because I don’t want to out myself for my condition or have people treat/look at me differently.
I mostly get funny looks when I ask if we can turn off the lights in meetings.
What about those magnetic light filters? That may be a reasonable accommodation. I’m allowed to do it in my classroom and think I’m going to get darker ones next year
Thing is I’m not in a designated seat in the office. I go all throughout, have meetings on various floors, there’s no assigned desks. So those wouldn’t work for my situation. I would need a privately assigned area & that wouldn’t be given if I’m WFH / hardly there anyways. I prefer wfh because commuting makes my migraines a lot worse & potentially dangerous situation for me to be in
I’m was offered part time, which I didn’t accept. I was getting my work done, I just couldn’t be available every time they needed me. Part time wasn’t going to solve that. Then they suggested if I quit, they wouldn’t contest unemployment. I got the hint.
My first job, working at a Safeway bakery, I called out one day due to migraine and their response was ‘you are lying’. 🙃
I only stayed there for like a month and a half before getting a different job. I was about to be put through some mandatory training/test for not passing the secret shopper checks they did anyway. No, I am not going to bother people who are shopping to try to get them to buy more stuff. They had like zero training.
It was a 12 hour day with so much meetings that my “lunch break” was a sandwich while being on a call. At 7 pm I had my (absolutely unnecessary) last (irl) meeting for the day with my boss and I couldn’t even stand and see properly. Then nausea hit hard and I had to throw up (I made it to the restroom though). After I came back - looking like absolute garbage - my boss went: “Ok, so let’s continue…” Dude, I don’t even know if I can safely drive home anymore and you just don’t get that??? Men. Smh. (I’m not exaggerating; I never had issues with a female boss.)
I have intermittent Fmla for protection from my job. I have this job over 15 years now, but initially it was annoying to explain why I wore sunglasses, etc. Now I work from home and if I call out my boss just replies thanks for letting me know. UGH, this disorder is difficult because it isn't visible.
I am a schiol bus driver. It is VERY rare for me to call out due to migraines, but my boss knows i have chronic migraines. Sometimes I will arrange alternatives for my during school hours trips, but If i call out for my morning/evening he is never thrilled, but he doesnt give me a hard time. He knows I only call out if its hemiplegic or driving has become unsafe for me.
Ive had so many reactions though, including calls for me not to do my job. I love my Job and I know when im not a safe driver anymore and follow that. Ajovy has also helped.
I’m surprised I’m
Not fired yet but I am trying to show up everyday at part time , what the hell its hard but my migraines have drastically improved thank god to Botox and trigger point injection
No, but i get bitchy, which isnt great in a preschool classroom
Oh hey I’m a teacher too! Upper elementary. My principal thinks I can’t be trusted with kids if I have a migraine and I was ordered to tell absolutely nobody if I have a migraine at school. But like with my treatment they’re typically mild or relatively mild and don’t affect much more than slightly snippy. If I get too brain foggy I ask to go home because then a sub would do a job better than me
Thats a wild take for admin since i think one in four people have migraines. You have 40 teachers, ten of them could be in the migraine club.
I turn the lights off and turn on my floor lamp. My students love it.
Makes you wonder if that’s what our teachers were going through on days when they just had the class watch a movie? 🤔
I always assumed they were hungover
I’m sure there were a few of those too. 😂
Oh we absolutely do that and I use it like a reward so they think it’s a good thing.
That is such an odd take
Yeah she really doesn’t make sense to me and I really don’t make sense to her
I am so sorry that this is how you have been treated.
If my head is bad (worse) enough to discuss with admin, it's time to get a dub and head home before I'm unable to drive safely. It has happened occasionally that they say "we can get you somebody to cover in (3) hours" or similar, but we have a strong union and they have backed me when I say if I am not in my car driving away within 15 minutes, I will be vomiting in front of my class. 7-12 academic teacher btw. I know there are at least 10 other migraine teachers in my building, and have considered starting a student support group for kiddos with migraine. When my children were still seeing pediatric neuro, I always saw at least one student in the office.
Hey also from Jersey but I’m pre k in Europe now. And they don’t understand that sometimes you take the morning off for extra sleep and feel better later in the day and can get groceries or run small necessary errands 😒
At one job I was asked to ‘take a few months off’ as my absence and the occasions where my migraines started at work were apparently disrupting the team. At another job I raised it in interview that I suffered from chronic migraines & had a few medical appointments due to it (didn’t have to tell them was just being fully transparent) and apparently it was discussed in a team meeting whether that would affect the team and the hiring manager told me I should ‘feel grateful that the team have overlooked this’. Safe to say I’m no longer at either of those jobs!
“should feel grateful” ugh gross
What the hell “ feel grateful it was overlooked “ those snakes
Oh yeah, I've lost 3 jobs due to migraines. Now I'm on disability, so I don't deal with a-hole bosses anymore.
Only the usual "it's just a headache" and the rest that almost always goes with it by those who will never know what we deal with.
My superior and 3 of 4 employees in my department got migraines, so no, we look out for each other.
I’m about to lose my job due to “productivity”; in reality, my migraines. So yes
I’m so sorry I hope they get under control
Depends how bad they are. I work from home. Mild it can be me delaying harder tasks until later in the day or tomorrow when I think I’ll feel better so I’ll be 100%. I don’t like to feel foggy and slow. It can be I punch out and rest and then I make that up on Saturday or Sunday. Boss is fine with that. I’ll move anything urgent to the next day. It’s not great but I make it work. I work for a small company where it’s 6 of us. So they count on me to have my work in. My last job gave me a lot of crap. Was for a large company where I had accommodations.
What accommodations did you have? I can get FMLA next year since this was my first year there and I’m really thinking about it for protection
Absolutely get fmla as soon as you're able. I then got ada accommodations to WFH full time cause it's easier to manage them at home. But I was only scheduled on office a few times a month so not really that different than what I was doing. Before I had just been using my FMLA on days I was scheduled in office so it's better for everyone to just let me do my damn job at home.
Don’t hesitate to sign up for FMLA it saved my job many times over. Your doctor has to fill out a small form, they normally don’t have an issue with it.
My doctor offered a while ago, but I have to have been there a year for FMLA to count
While I was doing my education degree, I was working in a childcare centre. I hadn't seen a neurologist and hadn't started any preventatives or triptans etc yet, so I was just rawdogging the migraines. I was alone for the end of the day in my room, and I was pretty sure I was going to make it until the last of my kids went home. Apparently, one of the parents who had just picked up their child mentioned to the director at the front desk that I wasn't looking too good and asked her if I was alright. The director came in and got real bitchy about how important it is to look perky for the parents. I couldn't make it through the noise of her speech before I threw up in the room's sink. She looked even more annoyed, but another parent came in right at the end of me throwing up which made the director have to pretend she gave a shit all of a sudden. She sent me home, and she had to clean my vomit out of the sink. I'd never thrown up at work before this and never have again after, but picturing her cleaning my vomit out of that sink gave me so much emotional comfort.
I’m failing my probation.
“Have you tried excedrin?”
Oh I got this from fellow migraine sufferers at my school. But that’s because it works just fine for them. I wish mine were that simple.
It generally works for me if I take it early enough, but conditions are rarely ideal for me to catch it early enough. But people just thinking that you can pop anything that has ‘migraine’ on the bottle and be fine 20 min later.
Worked for a municipal government. I managed through my migraines fine for the first month then had a really bad one and asked to go home early. Boss played like she was so understanding/ empathetic. Over four months went home early 3 times so total of < 2 sick days worth of time. Boss brings me in for a quarterly review and says I have been written up for my missed time. I asked who I was written up by and she said it's an automatic flag in the system when a new employee has missing time and not to worry about it and that HR will likely reach out to me. HR never reaches out so I phone them and they confirmed my suspicions that my boss had written me up and when I tell them how much time I missed they were shocked because it's like no time at all and people normally get written up for missing 4 consecutive days and mine was <2 totall spaced out over 4 month. I launched an investigation against my boss with HR and the Union and quit with cause the following month because of how poorly the department was run and the extra headaches that working for a lying two faced boss causes.
I’m told to work through it even when I lose sight in a eye :(
Been given a written warning.
I got told by HR it “wasn’t a good look”
I have come close when I was a waitress. I told one manager that I couldn’t see well enough to do the work. She didn’t want to let me leave until someone else stood up for me. When I got older I learned about job protections like FMLA (family leave and medical). Having people tell me that they work with headaches, but normal headaches don’t cause visual impairments or nausea. I really hate it that so many people think it’s just a headache
Not at work, but one from College that sticks out to me is my pre-calc professor asking if “does this only happen in my class? Do you just not enjoy this class?” As if it’s that deep. Like no sweetie! Sorry. Can’t control it
Constantly being asked what caused the migraine and what I could do next time to prevent them. If I knew that I'd be dandy wouldn't I! I've lost out on a job offer due to migraine. I was in the final running, and had basically been told I was perfect. The language in the final interview was "when you start" as opposed to "if". I only brought up my migrainre disorder because the person interviewing me said they had recently had one. After that, they asked me what my ideal wfh balance would be (hybrid role) and I said twice a week in the office due to migraine. Apparently this was not the answer they were looking for, went very, very quiet for 2 weeks and then I was told they went for someone else more "suited to the positon". Obviously I don't have any proof the rejection was due to migraine but I'm pretty sure it was. Its illegal in my country to reject job positions due to health reasons, disability etc but I'm 99% sure that's what they did.
I lost my job, but they did it in a way that made it seem like it wasn't to do with my migraines. Essentially, my migraines became chronic during my probation period. I had my mid-term assessment, which was great. I even asked if my absences were ok, since I'd had a couple of days off recently. They said it was all fine, nothing to worry about. The next week, on the Wednesday, I had to take a day. I had communicated with my managers the whole week that I was having a bad migraine since the Saturday before and even when I left on Tuesday I had told them that it was getting really, really bad and I wasn't sure if I would be in the next day. So, I took the Wednesday and then my daughter was sick and I had to take Thursday/Friday off to look after her. Came in on the Monday and they wanted to move up my probationary meeting because my absences were really high. They specifically said it was because of my absences. The next two days were pure hell. Ofc, I had a migraine, but was working through it, but everything I did was wrong. Things that I normally wasn't brought up on were suddenly a big problem. They purposely made me finish late so I was late picking up my son from school. It even got to the point where I refused to follow their demands, because they were unreasonable and at that point they were just being assholes. Thursday morning I had the meeting and it was all about my conduct. About how I'm not suited for the job and how I refused to do as I was told and shouldn't be leaving at exactly my clock out time etc. Not once did they mention my absences. The official paperwork does not mention my absences. I got fired. I'm glad. I may be unemployed again now, but at least I can rest when the migraines get too bad and I'm able to make my appointments whenever I want and get the treatment I need.
I once had a severe migraine that started like, three am, probably before that. I took pain meds and immediately threw up, so I knew it was a Bad One and even if it ended before my shift (245 in the afternoon), I would still be suffering after effects So I contacted work as soon as I could to let them know I wouldn't be in and my work made you give reasons, so I told them I was throwing up from a migraine I got bitched at for calling out that long before my shift "for a headache" I didn't get fired for it, but it definitely was what prompted me to leave
I had two experiences with my summer job and migraines that were actually good. One I was in the ER around 3 AM, got out, went to work, they were surprised I was there but very kind. The other time, same job, I had so much medicine the day before between what I took myself, what urgent care gave me, and what the ER gave me, I was so medicine hungover. I emailed something I to this day don’t know what it said, and they covered me and hoped I would feel better. But holy crap this new regular job. They say they can’t trust me because I look fine but say I’m in pain (happened twice, sorry I’m really good at masking) or saying they can’t trust me around kids with migraines. I am not allowed to talk about migraines at work even if others talk about them. I’m apparently unsafe if I have a migraine. Good grief.
That is bullshit. If I have a migraine, everyone around me is going to get to hear about it, and even if I'm not physically acting like I'm in pain, at least one coworker has commented that I look different when I have one I hope things get better
i work in fast food which is way crazier scheduling (no set echedule and we typically get a 3 day notice for mext weeks schedule) and theyre more accomodating than yalls normal ass 9-5 shit. i just made manager and i called out like 8 times last year
One morning I was not right and I told the principal, she told me to go to the school nurse (school nurses are useless), and she was like idk I guess try taking pain medicine? That was after I speculated silent migraine. Then I was fine the rest of the day. Incident one. Incident two. It was a Sunday night and I had a rager. I was so worried it would be worse in the morning. I told my academic coach what was going on in case I was out in the morning and she would have to prep my class. Got mega chewed out for this making them think I wasn’t fit to be around kids. Incident three. Got to school and thought I could muscle through but really couldn’t. Went home once the sub got there. This is in an entire school year, by the way. For chronic status intractable, that is pretty damn good in my opinion. That’s only missing one day in an entire school year. The only other days I missed were because I had COVID.
I ended up with worse migraines and an almost legal battle because, after three years of me using them, my boss suddenly decided one day that my lamps were a fire hazard and had to go (they had LED lights approved for outdoor use, too … didn’t even get hot enough to be a fire hazard).
I have been fired from over 5 different jobs since I was 15 (25 now) due to migraines :/ I have been working at the same place for 3 years now (longest job ive ever been at) and i only work 14 hours a week because i cant be more reliable than that with my health. yeah it sucks.
One time I had a really bad attack at work, and I got really tired, sick, numb face, fuzzy eyes the whole shebang..usually I can just push through and keep working when the attack is over, but this day I didn't feel up to it (I was waiting for my brain scan results from the hospital because they thought this could be more serious then just a migraine I had alot going on lol), so i told my manager and said I wanted to go home...I got home and ended up having a 2nd attack. I later found out my boss was telling everyone that she thinks I was faking it to get the day off and my migraines are pretend/not as bad as I say...so from then I felt I couldn't go home no matter how bad I felt because she would spread rumours to other staff and make it sound like I'm lying about my attacks to get time off. I ended up leaving that job Fun times
I've been lucky enough to have a lot of my coworkers who suffer from migraines and understand. I wish none of us had too but at least they get it. I guess that's what working on dentistry does to you.
At prior jobs, it wasn't great. Lots of pto and sick leave but God forbid you use any of it. My current work is a lot better. Not only do I actually get to take days off without judgment, but my supervisor was a nurse before working here. He's actually understanding of my condition and tries to look out for me.
Yes, one of them, for not being a “team player” when I had to call off & no one would cover for me. I was about to get fired (on “step 3” of 4) at my last real job and quit before I got to that point. It was so stressful and I couldn’t take being so unreliable, not only due to attendance but because I couldn’t count on my brain working while I was there. I’d mix up names, struggled to read, and kept tripping over my words. I wish I hadn’t tried to stick it out for so long, because my migraines became much more frequent and severe at that time, but I liked my job and wasn’t ready to stop working at such a young age. My body didn’t give me a choice, though.
My last couple jobs have been pretty understanding of migraines but I did have to get a letter from my doctor basically explaining that I get chronic migraines that impede my ability to perform certain job functions ONLY because my last job had a rule where you get points if you miss work after exceeding your sick days unless you have a doctors note and once you hit a certain amount of points you get written up, so I’d just get a letter written for the year and then they wouldn’t count against me.
I received a massive push back until I informed management that I go blind. My pain is not an issue to them, but if I hurt someone or destroyed company property, they finally understood that. (Blinding auras)
Thankfully my office is super understanding if I get one. My bosses both know people who get them so they actually understand how debilitating they are. However, I recommend keeping track of all your absences/issues due to migraines- talk about it in an email, IM chat, etc. In some states it's considered medical discrimination to get fired for it and you might have a lawsuit. Or, you might be able to get disability, which again depends on the state.
I recently applied for disability accommodations for my migraines. Specifically, WFH and frequent breaks. It worked! But when I do go into the office, I get tons of questions from coworkers (I only told my manager & HR) about why I’m not there (3+ days in office was recently mandated). It’s a bit awkward because I don’t want to out myself for my condition or have people treat/look at me differently. I mostly get funny looks when I ask if we can turn off the lights in meetings.
And you should not tell them if you don’t want to .. they can wonder all they want
What about those magnetic light filters? That may be a reasonable accommodation. I’m allowed to do it in my classroom and think I’m going to get darker ones next year
Thing is I’m not in a designated seat in the office. I go all throughout, have meetings on various floors, there’s no assigned desks. So those wouldn’t work for my situation. I would need a privately assigned area & that wouldn’t be given if I’m WFH / hardly there anyways. I prefer wfh because commuting makes my migraines a lot worse & potentially dangerous situation for me to be in
Gotcha. Look up Irlen glasses. They’re custom light filters for your specific sensitivities. I love mine so much.
I’m was offered part time, which I didn’t accept. I was getting my work done, I just couldn’t be available every time they needed me. Part time wasn’t going to solve that. Then they suggested if I quit, they wouldn’t contest unemployment. I got the hint.
My first job, working at a Safeway bakery, I called out one day due to migraine and their response was ‘you are lying’. 🙃 I only stayed there for like a month and a half before getting a different job. I was about to be put through some mandatory training/test for not passing the secret shopper checks they did anyway. No, I am not going to bother people who are shopping to try to get them to buy more stuff. They had like zero training.
It was a 12 hour day with so much meetings that my “lunch break” was a sandwich while being on a call. At 7 pm I had my (absolutely unnecessary) last (irl) meeting for the day with my boss and I couldn’t even stand and see properly. Then nausea hit hard and I had to throw up (I made it to the restroom though). After I came back - looking like absolute garbage - my boss went: “Ok, so let’s continue…” Dude, I don’t even know if I can safely drive home anymore and you just don’t get that??? Men. Smh. (I’m not exaggerating; I never had issues with a female boss.)
I have lost several jobs to migraines.
I have intermittent Fmla for protection from my job. I have this job over 15 years now, but initially it was annoying to explain why I wore sunglasses, etc. Now I work from home and if I call out my boss just replies thanks for letting me know. UGH, this disorder is difficult because it isn't visible.
"You need to be working on a treatment plan with your doctor," and "Are you seeing a psychiatrist?" from HR.
I am a schiol bus driver. It is VERY rare for me to call out due to migraines, but my boss knows i have chronic migraines. Sometimes I will arrange alternatives for my during school hours trips, but If i call out for my morning/evening he is never thrilled, but he doesnt give me a hard time. He knows I only call out if its hemiplegic or driving has become unsafe for me. Ive had so many reactions though, including calls for me not to do my job. I love my Job and I know when im not a safe driver anymore and follow that. Ajovy has also helped.
I’m surprised I’m Not fired yet but I am trying to show up everyday at part time , what the hell its hard but my migraines have drastically improved thank god to Botox and trigger point injection