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 .

Would strongly suggest you visit your local group:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

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

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 ?

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

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.

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.

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 . .
oh well lifes tough but im tougher 

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

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 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 

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