After my TIA in November I return to work in January on phase return. I felt would give me some sort of normality and being myself again. It has been tough because some days I feel exausted even doing 4 hrs a day and I did brokedown once and felt into tears because I was overhelmed with work. I strugle with my memory, foccusing and specially putting together a thought process and even putting together a constructive email takes me a long time. I admit I went over the occ health recomended phase return and ended up doing more hrs than I should. Eventually the last 2 weeks I had episodes of dizziness and 1 fall associated with the dizziness. I have seen GP and been told my iron levels are low. Seen a neuroligist who believes that my dizziness is associated with bradycardia and I should see a cardiologist.
Today I had a Occ health doctor review and he sign me off unfit to work…I can’t stop crying and feel really down. I thought the call with the doctor would be to create a long term support plan to be at work. My confidence has been knock down and my fear became reality. I just feel like giving up on everything and handing in my resignation. Not sure how to move from here
Hi there. Your TIA wasn’t that long ago really. It was still a brain injury, you have to allow time to recover before you can start getting frustrated!! I know the feeling on that trust me.
It took me 3 months after my stroke to return to work. I wanted back sooner but it was recommended i stay off for three months and honestly that was best for me in hindsight. The fatigue etc has gone and works much more pleasant now
I’m sorry you’ve had a hard time with returning to work, it can be really challenging getting back to work so it’s important to always go at your own pace. We have some information on our website about returning to work which may have some helpful information for you to look over and help you to move forward.
@AXav Sorry to hear your return to work hasn’t gone as smoothly as you would have liked. I suspect returning in Jan, a mere few weeks after your TIA, was probably too soon. If your Dr has signed you off tyen they must think you need the time off. It’s not forever though so don’t beat yourself up over it. You’ve had a major illness strike & you are now also potentially dealing with another issue too. Concentrate on getting your health sorted then think about returning to work again. You shouldn’t resign. Just take some time to sort yiur health issues. My advice this time though would be not to rush back to it too soon & follow the advice of OH even if you think you could do more.
You can and will get so much better after your TIA, it just takes time and a lot of patience. It takes 6 months for the mop up and to get what it can up and running again. You are trying to run before you can walk and your brain is just not having any of it. It can’t be pushed no matter how hard you or anyone else demands of it. So it has basically put you on an enforced sabbatical whether you like it or not.
Hence the brain fatigue. Your brain is doing double time at the moment between remaining a relatively fully functioning body whilst at the same time doing all this mop up and repair work. Unlike in real life, your brain can’t take on any temporary staff to help share the load. Hence you have been put on a reduced service for the duration of said repair work
Brain fatigue is a thing in post stroke recovery! Over tax the brain and it slows you down, makes you clumsy, throws your balance off, slurs your speech, reduces drive and motivation, makes you more forgetful, scrambles and confuses your brain, to name but a few of the taxations. So you need to take this time-out to learn to pace yourself, recognise and know your limits and the optimal times to test those limits. Slow and steady wins the race.
I’m 4yrs post stroke, and I know I’d be able to work part time no problem if I had to. I could have managed work 20 months after my stroke, but I’m retired now and far too busy filling my days with my other interests instead
Thank you for all your comments. I have been signed unfit for work for a review in 6 to 8 weeks.
Can I get some clarification, as on the Occupational doctor note it states that the disability provision of the equality act 2010 not to be considered to apply in my case. I was under the impression a TIA is covered under the equality act or at least long term cognitive symptoms post a TIA.
The disability puece is a complex one but usually the lasted longer than 12 months or is expected to last longer than 12 months is used as a marker to say if the act applies or not. It may not apply now but could in the future if your condition doesn’t improve.
