hi all ive been having a terrible time for nearly 3 months now ive been in a really bad episode of ch's, its meant me having quite a few days off work and ive been having to leave at random times , its just been to much to stay at times ,
ive given my employees my medical notes from my neuroligist and doctors at there request , to prove i have been diagnosed with chs  :-/ , my boss has witnessed me with a kip 9 ha , but he says HR are telling him they must discipline me as i am not registered as disabled, im disgusted and angry but im to worn down to fight my corner atm , is there any advice or help i can get , i know they have to follow procedure and its unlikely ill lose my job this time , but its not something i want on my record  , and its not something i think i deserve , i could of quite easily got my doctor to sign me off work for all this time but ive tried my best instead, to work as much as possible.
how do i stand legaly etc , do i just have to take the punishment ? and hope it doesn't happen again ( wich it almost certainly will) ?
i just wish they would show some compassion , they are a huge worldwide company and they knew about my condition when they took me on .
i will almost certainly appeal against any action taken against me and i think i will wright to the very head of the company to show my disgust with them .

Not many around here are going to be all that familiar with English law.

Looks to me like you have a choice to make: Either register as disabled or suck it up and get back to work. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it seems those are the only two choices.

I chose the latter and missed a total of seven days in 25 years due to CH. At times it seemed downright impossible, but I did it. If I was missing a lot of work due to CH, I think I'd probably look into getting classified as disabled.

Would strongly suggest you visit your local group:

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They're liable to have a lot more "area specific" info for how to navigate your medical system to get the documentation you need. That's a tough place to find yourself. :-/

Joe

At the top of the Getting to Know Ya board is a thread called 'Letter to employers and colleagues'.

See if that's any help to you.

thanks for the reply's, ..........i have already given work the letter you mention and more information about clusterheadaches , but doesn't seem to have done any good , they are insisting on disciplining me ha ha  ( like we arent punished enough ).my hearing is on monday .
my plan of action is to print out and take lots of infomation with me about our condition , highlighting key points about it.
i will listen to what they have to say and then i will give my opinion , can i get into trouble for expressing my disgust at the company for pursuing disciplinary action against someone with a neuro disease ?
i plan on pointing out that when the company took over our old company they should of read my personal file and should of been aware of my condition .
my biggest concern is that i drive a flt for a living and i think they may try saying that im not fit to drive it , but i think that may be wrong , obviously i cant drive whilst im having an attack and they allow me to stop working and sit out untill its gone , when the ha has gone im back to being completely normal , on the occasions i cant get rid of the ha , i have left work to go home and use my oxegeon .
im not on any medication that makes me drowsy just zolmitriptain and o2 .
im sure on shakey ground and i just wish there was someone to talk to who knows about all this stuff in the UK, i dont want to incriminate myself in any way by accident  , Im thinking about going back to my doctors and seeing if they can offer any help advice or support .
what do you say to a man sat in front  of you , who actively wants to punish you for having this brain disease ?
they are making me feel like just throwing the towel in , i cant live without my job ,so whats the point ?

the best bit about it is the company dont even pay me when im off lol so its only me losing out . ::)
i wish i had just got the doc to sign me off for two months , it would of only gone down as one absence and i wouldnt be having the disciplinary , but ya know me being me ive battled through and tried staying at work as best as i can , we are only talking about 5 days lost in a 3 month period .

is there anyone out there who have sat in a disciplinary because of chs how did it go ?
im feelin pretty desperate right now .

you know what i dont even care about these headaches anymore , bring it on give me a kip 10 , i honestly dont care , ive done you for 17 years , theres nothing new you can do to me , ive had it all , there is no pain you can give me that i haven't already had and survived , i fear nothing now bring it on , 3 months is nothing , i can take it for the rest of my time here , bring it on , ive cried enough tears , ive been through enough humiliation , there is nothing new this shit house of a disease can give me that ive not already had , i laugh at your pain i laugh at your timing , there is NOTHING  you can do to me that i can not handle .i could sit and laugh at anything you throw at me , kip 10 ive done it for 15 years without ANY medication .its only 2 years ago i got any help , but the help isnt even any help lol o2 has given me some relief the rest is shite . so yeah bring it on , im bullet proof .

I hear ya Captian!!!!

Now thats one way to look at it.  In many ways a great way to look at it.  We all have to deal with this terrible beast,  But "Bring it on" is not something that sounds like a great thing to ask for.  LOL

Stay strong Captain.  It will get better for ya.  I hope you have tons of pain free time soon.

Hi there,
Sorry to hear of your problem. Could the citizens advice bureaux be any help. They have access to solicitors who will give a bit  of free advice. There are also solicitors who will give a free half hour consultation. Some years ago I contacted one about a work related problem  and he gave me the advice I needed there and then on the phone.
Hope you get it sorted. Let us know how you get on.
Maz.

I'm thinking a letter from your doctor, if he would write one. If he could/would have excused you from work missed, and you picked trying to work instead, a letter reflecting that would go a long way???? Sorry, don't really know English law. I also understand it is difficult to get oxygen there, otherwise I would suggest getting a few E tanks to stash somewhere at work.

Hi there.
I have had the misfortune of going through exactly what you are experiencing.
I worked for a corporation as a manager when CH started. My superiors constructively dismissed me as a result.

I did nothing wrong. I did my job well. In fact, I did my job better after the headaches started because I wanted to prove I was a good employee.

Corporations do not like anyone who is different or who needs special considerations. They need everything to run to the program. However, disciplining you for being ill is laughable.

Here are my suggestions:

Stay calm and keep emotion out of any meetings.

Just listen and find out what they are putting to you. Do not feel obliged to agree to anything at the meeting. You are allowed to seek advice. Do not sign anything at the meeting.

Consider taking someone you trust with you as a support person/witness.

Keep a diary and make accurate notes during the meeting.

Are you a member of a union? If you want to be you can pay dues privately and keep membership to yourself until things get very serious. They will give you legal representation in a dismissal case.

When you do not attend work or have to leave work, do you make sure you always follow company procedure? Never just leave or fail to have someone call in for you?

Beware of being asked by your company when you will recover. They may try to put you on a recovery plan and have you agree to a date by which you will return to normal attendance.

They may discipline you and try to put you on a Personal Improvement Plan. Do not sign it. It is not valid if you do not agree to it.

Remember these people are not there to help you. Do not trust them. Unless your boss is a relative or personal friend - do not trust him. He will probably be under pressure too or has been saying the wrong things if you are now facing disciplinary action.

It could get stressful, so you need to ask yourself what brought you to this point. Can you think of an event or issue? Is there a future with this company for you? Do you want to stay?

It can get ugly. I negotiated an exit that gave me 6 months pay and laid out everything the company had done wrong, which cost the Ops Manager his job.

I'm happy to talk and help if I can.

hey all thanks for the reply's , it seems im done with this cluster now , 3 months and 14 days of immense torture , ha ha ha but i beat it , and im stronger than before  ;)
i had my disciplinary and recieved a verbal warning .i was going to appeal it but i just cant be botherd on this occasion my lifes been on hold for the last 3 months and for the 6 months before that ive had another medical scare but i wont go into that . :-/, im just feeling kind of on a high at the moment and really cant face appealing there silly verbal warning .
it was kind of a bizzare meeting we had , the manager showed me the days i had off then asked for my reply , to wich i handed him a folder of information about cluster headaches and my personal medical records , he held his hands up and said he does not doubt the condition i have and he has seen first hand how bad it is , he said he wanted to leave me alone but his managers wanted the company policy to be inforced , wich is disciplinary and a visit top ocupatonal health , i expressed my disapointment at the company and left it at that , the outcome was a verbal warning wich is valid for 6 months , im hoping my next cluster will be more than 6months away , wich it usually is . ;D.
oh well lifes tough but im tougher  ;D

i couldnt hand out punishment to someone with ch .

Glad to hear the discipline was a "nothing burger " ecstatic to hear beasty is gone! Remember the motto here "enjoy your pain free time, but ALWAYS be ready to do battle with the beast." Hope this remission is a long one.

Joe

Hi,
Have you tried the vitamin D3 treatment. It has fantastic results for 80% of people who try it, including me, and has taken these boards by storm. It kicks in anywhere between 24 hours and 3 months - about 2 weeks for most. So it may stop your next cycle and solve your work problem. Go to the "medications, treatments and therapies" board and find the thread "123 days pain free and I think I know why". You will also find info about it scattered throughout all the message boards if you read them thoroughly. Hopefully some one who knows how to will come along and post a link here for you.
Its well worth a try as it's been so successful. Hope it helps you.
Maz.

Bizarre. Just bizarre.
Are the people you work for a bit damaged, or just corporate morons with delusions of adequacy?
Keep dated copies of everything just in case.

Hi.
You don't have to be 'registered' disabled for Disability Discrimination legislation to apply to you- in fact I am not even sure what you mean by 'registered' in employment terms.
There was a very significant Employment Law test case in the UK a few years ago which went all the way to the Court of Appeal (there is no higher employment law court than this) where an ECH'er won his case of disability discrimination and CH was found throughout to be a disability under the Act. This case has not yet been superceded so still stands. What this means legally for CH sufferers here is a huge amount but what it means practically and depressingly is not a lot as you may find pushing the "disability angle" does your career/workplace relationships more harm than good. If you are facing dismissal it may be worth rattling a few cages with it as employers are scared of the law but meanwhile I personally wouldn't!!! (P.S. used to be an HR Director so I know what I am talking about!) This may interest you- the OUCH UK link is no longer valid but the test case referred to is START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE; and START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE and START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

hi all hope you are all well , i thought id come back and share my story about what eventually happened at work .
i was given a verbal warning in a disciplinary and sent to an ocupational health interveiw with a company called Bupa ( my company pay these to carry out medical issues ) anyway i waited and waited and waited for this appointment with bupa to come through and nothing happend untill one day i got a call from them and the lady conducted a telephone interview , it was great , she was completely puzzled as to why i was sent for this interview as it was of her opinion my condition was coverd by( i think it was called  ddl ) and the company was expected to make reasonable adjustments and allowances by law , she ended the brief interview and told me should would send my company the outcome of the interview and point out  i was covered by this law .i allso got a copy of this report sent to me by email .
a few weeks passed and i heard nothing from my employers and then i fell ill with the flu and had a week off sick , when i returned to work i had a letter from the highest boss in the company(who i or anyone else has even met ) telling me i had a disciplinary with him ( which is strange because everyone else in the company has the disciplinary with there line manager ) .
so i turn up for the disciplinary with all my notes and the report from the occy health advisors ,
he starts to go on about how ive had 12 occasions in 12 months and i tell him i suffer from clusterheadaches , he says unfortunately the company's HR  have said my condition is not classed as a disability and im therefore liable for company disciplinary procedures, i keep my cool and ask him if we could refere to the report from the occupational health interview , he looks puzzled and asks 'what report' i said 'the interview you guys sent me for at the last meeting we had' , he looks angry and says i cant refer to any paperwork that was not submitted to him 24hrs before the disciplinary....lol  he then starts to try and change the subject so i go into my folder and pull out the report and try to hand it to him , at first he refuses to look at it and i have to tell him there is very important information on the report , he snatches the paper and starts to read it , going redder and more awkward the further he reads , he then adjourns the meeting , we re- adjourn and he tells me he did not know i had been sent to OH and that the meeting was now adjourned untill he can get his HR department look at it .lol :-?
so a few more weeks pass and i hear nothing untill one night the guy is waiting for me when i arrive at work , he is like a different guy he shakes my hand and asks if he can have a private word , he tells me HR  have confirmed im covered by this ddl law and the company wish to appoligise for any stress they have caused me he says he now has all the legal paperwork and he will arrange a meeting with him to discuss what adjustments and help can be made for me lol he cant apalogise enough and says' i hope you wont take this any further' , he says your verbal warning has been erased and basically my slate is clean .
the thing is i have in my possesion copys of this guy and my manager clearly stating that i was not coverd under any law and there HR department saying i needed to be registerd disabled to be covered by any laws lol
months have passed and ive still not received that meeting to discuss anything ,and ive had two occasions off sick which nothing has been said or mentioned to me lol
im annoyed they lied to me and tried getting me the sack but i fear taking this any further now would ultimately see me loosing my job somehow ,i have on record everything they lied about so i allways have it for the future .............it was a very bizzare experience and just shows how decietfull these people are , in the end there eagerness to get rid of me back fired, they thought getting me to go to OH would be the nail in my coffin but it didnt turn out that way and OH WERE ON MY SIDE  ;D

So glad it worked out for you. Keep all your evidence safe in case of future problems. Hopefully others reading your story will know where to start if the same thing happens to them.

Where abouts in Cheshire are you?  I have close family in Crewe.
Maz.

Captain Cluster Head, I'm very happy for you.  That's a great story.