It takes a lot of planning and luck! My prevent, lithium, keeps a fairly tight rein on the beast. I'd keep an e-tank in the trunk of my cruiser. When beasty came knocking I'd advise dispatch I was out of service for a bit, huff my 02 for 10 minutes, and hopefully be back on the beat. Occasionally it'd take an imitrex shot to get me thru it. A few times I just had to give up and go home.

Not to pat my own back....(but God I love doing that!!! )....the rest of the time I worked harder and produced more then anyone around me. So the few times it really did get me down, my supervisors were quick to forgive. Kinda building up a work "IOU" bank!

Joe

Echo the previous posts, particularly what Joe said about building up an "IOU" work bank. When I'm having good days or good weeks I try to bust my hump so that the boss understands when I need to step away from my desk or take some time off.

I'm also fortunate that I got approved for FMLA for paid time off. So anytime I have a bad cycle or just a bad previous night, I can call my boss and I don't have to worry about the time I miss.

any lawyers out there?

Im in law school currently and this all just started... Im having a very difficult time keeping up with my school work.. if this was my first yr Id be in trouble...

still even if I can get through the bar... I dont know what I can do about this.

For those of you who have understanding bosses, you are very, very lucky. I have been with the same government department for nearly 19 years, and through 2 ugly divorces, 2 pregnancies, 2 stints of maternity leave and part-time work, sick children, a couple of my own illnesses, and my father’s long battle with cancer and eventual passing, I have always had wonderful, understanding bosses who were flexible and kind. However, since June last year I have had the double whammy, first of the drama with my optic neuritis and the Maybe-Multiple-Sclerosis path that that has led me down, with lots of visits to the neurologist and all the tests, then since November, 2 x 7 week cycles of Cluster Headaches. And really, really sucky bosses.

I had it out with them on Tuesday in a meeting with my Union rep and a woman from our Human Resources department, and she seemed genuinely shocked at the way they had treated me. The outcome is that they were told to back off, and quit hassling me about the time I’ve been taking off work. My plan is to go and see the HR woman in a one-on-one meeting, to go quite in-depth about the whole CH thing, what happens with the headaches, what it will mean day-to-day when I’m in a cycle. My bosses will not stop being dickheads, but she is in a position to make my life easier because if they are not doing the right thing, and I have the union AND the organisation on my side, then they get in the shit for it

I have been feeling so down about work and so unenthused – and definitely rebellious – but you guys are so right, the best way to keep up with the demands of the job is to work my guts out while the beast is leaving me alone. I guess that is true in other areas of life too, isn’t it. Especially since I have little kids. Might as well take them to the beach this weekend – next weekend, the beast might be back.