Teaching and IBS
#260192 - 04/26/06 11:59 AM
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pinkprincess
Reged: 08/17/05
Posts: 415
Loc: Manchester, u.k
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I`m thinking of going into teaching English when I finish uni, but I keep thinking - what if I need the loo when I am teaching a class full of kids.
Does anyone here teach? and if you do what happens when you get an attack whilst teaching a classroom full?
My other career choice is journalism, so if anyone has any advice on either careers please let me know!!
Any advise will be appreciated...I am just waying up pros and cons. 
Jo xx
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http://www.myspace.com/jo_elsmere
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Hello,
I don't have IBS but I do have ulcerative colitis and have had it for almost 3 years now. I just finished teacher's college and hope to be working as a teacher in the fall. I had to do 4, three week placements for the program and like you said the bathroom can be tricky at times. I found that my first week would be a little bit of an adjustment at the school, getting used to 'going' to the bathroom only at recess and lunch and sometimes only lunch if things were busy and the kids needed to stay in for extra help at recess.
I would advise being somewhat stable prior to starting the program because it is a pretty intense 8 months and I think the fact that I'm stable on meds right now really helped. I haven't had an attack yet but I'm sure that you can get the teacher next door to cover your class if it was an emergency and you need to go to the washroom.
I don't think there's really any job that is totally 'IBS friendly' so really I think it's important to do something you love doing and manage the IBS as best as you can.
Good luck in your career decisions.
Jenn
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I taught English right after college. I only had 2 classes a day, but had to staff the writing lab when I wasn't in front of the students.
I managed my IBS with diet ONLY at that time, and it was difficult. I had to time my meals so that I would eat only a little before the first class, then eat and get sick before the second... It was certainly a high wire act. 
Now with meds I bet I could easily handle triple that. I've just recently gone back to a 9 to 5 (in addition to my work-from-home job  ), and I've been medicated and stable. So far so good!
Good luck-- I'm a big believer in following your dream! All the best,
~nelly~
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Thanks guys, Its so hard to decide what to do for the rest of your life...I mean there are sooooo many paths I could take. It is scary...especially considering the ibs factor. I know I shouldn`t let it intefere with my decisions but it does. I can just about handle it at the mo, whilst I am at uni but I know a new job = stress = ibs attacks galore.
hugs
Jo x
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http://www.myspace.com/jo_elsmere
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I taught grades 7 - 13, and there aren't many breaks in the day. This was all of course before I found Heather's diet. I would literally eat rice for breakfast and lunch and then go home, eat, and suffer the rest of the evening. It was a miserable existence. Plus, I was always very tired at work because I was so hungry and undernourished!
I found it depends on your principal. Hear me out. One, I dared not tell him because he was a jerk. Then my next principal was really nice, and I laid it all out on the table. He arranged the special ed teacher and EA's (next door) to be "on call" for me in case I needed to step out of a class. The spec ed teacher had IBS too so was very understanding. That way, I could nip in and out, without much problem. I found that once I had that comfort and opportunity for relief, things were much better.
Stress - a huge factor for me. Once I stopped teaching to raise my babies, my IBS symptoms almost disappeared completely. Stress was my number one trigger, and teaching is stressful.
Not the teaching part but the admin, and the behaviour problems.
Not that teaching isn't rewarding. Some days I miss it so terribly. I feel like I left a part of myself in that classroom.
I'd say if you can get your symptoms under control, and some supportive fellow staff members, you'd be just fine.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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trust me Im terrified too...I finish in 4 weeks and I know working in an architects firm and having to do presentations to clients etc is going to be very stressful!! I am terrified at the thought....but at the same time u have to treat it as a challenge and not let it take over your life! If they said they were taking immodium/loperamide off the market....now THEN i'd be stressed....until then...my faithful friend will hopefully get me through!
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 Natalie
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I really would like to go back to school and get a nursing degree. Do you think I can be a nurse as bad as I am? I think this is what I want to do...but can I do such a stressful physical job where many times you are too busy to even get a lunch break with my health? the pain, gas, constipation...all of which are worsened by stress?
I'm so torn with this. I'd love some feedback, please. Should I just let this idea go and accept that I can't be a nurse? 
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~ Beth
Constipation, pain prodominent,cramps, spasms and bloat!
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Hi Beth,
I think the best idea would be to volunteer in a hospital or nursing home first to see if you like the environment and how it affects your IBS.
Volunteering is always a good idea in my opinion prior to making any serious career changes.
Just a thought though.
Best of luck with your decision.
Jenn
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I teach and it's hard. I'm C so I would imagine it's a lot easier for me. But it's hard to be "happy" and enthusiastic when you're nauseated. I've missed many days this school year for not feeling well. It's pretty tough writing up sub plans when you're sick. I guess it would be easier teaching college though, because you don't have to worry about leaving the students alone. Every hour and a half, I have 5 min. to get to the bathroom and back. Then I have a 30 min. lunch. We're not allowed to leave the kids alone...although I have. Just haven't been caught yet.
Good luck to you in your decision. I don't know what I'd do if I stopped teaching but I've certainly been thinking about it. You can only do your best...so, try it and see.
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Flipada - IBS-C "It's a gas, gas, gas"
**Lauren**
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I'm not a nurse, but I do work in a hospital in a stressful clinical job (I'm a medical technologist on a melanoma clinical trial). The hours are often long and unpredictable and many times we are too busy to take lunch or even the "20 minute snack breaks" we are allotted (similar to nurses' schedules, I'd think).
Needless to say this job has greatly worsened my ibs and hiatal hernia.  I continue to stick with it because I really like what I do and the people I work with. But I probably can't do this for much longer.
Not to discourage you. This is just my experience. And...I was a teacher before this. My ibs wasn't so bad then, thank goodness or I don't know how I would have survived. I barely made it through each school year - so much stress and long hours and weekend/evening work. Obviously I didn't like it and that's why I became a medical technologist which is better for me than teaching I think, even though it has it's downsides.
I don't know if there is an ideal ibs friendly job, but I often wish I had an office job where I could have snacks/drinks at my desk so I could eat when I needed to as well as be able to use the restroom when I needed it.
Sorry, not much help here.
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Kara
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Gosh its such a hard decision...ooooooh god. I think I`m more confused now. If teaching really is as stressful as people say it is I don`t know if I should do it. But I love English and I don`t see how teaching that would be anymore stressful than another job. Oooooh I so hate decisions...I wish someone could just decide for me.
Thanks for all your advise...I`m still stuck though. I know I should follow my heart but my heart is just as confused as my head.
hugs
Jo
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http://www.myspace.com/jo_elsmere
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Jo,
If it's stress you're worried about, being an English teacher out of all the kinds you could be will be more stressful than most. That is if you're thinking about high school. Our poor English teachers were already bogged down with stacks and stacks of papers but now with the state cramming stuff down their throats, they're exhausted.
I don't know how to encourage you. Maybe it's because I'm more than disillusioned about this job. I'm a Spanish teacher so my job isn't much better. What I've found is that my job is what has seriously contributed to my condition.
Lots of stress.
Sorry...
Maybe in your case, it could be different. But I wouldn't seriously consider it until you're stable.
Good luck.
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Flipada - IBS-C "It's a gas, gas, gas"
**Lauren**
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Re:
#260528 - 04/28/06 08:20 AM
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pinkprincess
Reged: 08/17/05
Posts: 415
Loc: Manchester, u.k
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Hmmm but my other option would be journalism and that would be just as stressful with lots of deadlines and less holidays. I was thinking of teaching English at higher and further education (16-18 year olds and adults) or Early years (3-5). I`ve got some work experience lined up for the summer, in an early years class and at a magazine...so providing my tummy lets me, it should clarify some stuff for me.
Thanks for the advice...I don`t want to let the ibs affect my career decision cos then I`m letting it beat me really aren`t I? And we don`t want that, I`m not letting it win!!!
(harder done than said!).
I guess if I can handle lectures at uni and get a teaching qualification after my degree then I can handle teaching...oh well,what will be will be!!!
Hope everyones well
Hugs
Jo x
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http://www.myspace.com/jo_elsmere
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Hey Beth, I don't recommend nursing AT ALL! It's super stressful, long hours with barely any sleep. The schooling for it is super hard and so very demanding.
My friend is a nurse as is her mom and sister. I've heard lots of stories and I think for us ibs-ers it just wouldn't be a good match AT ALL.
But there must be something related that you can do. Do you want to help people, or is it the medicine/healthcare part of it that you like??
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and it's SUPER hard. It really is a full-time job PLUS brining work home to do as well. They are both super stressed and it's a very hard job. That said, I admire them both so much for all the hard work they do.
Just so you know it's a very difficult job and the rewards seem to be very minimal, according to them. They both have had problems with their principals and fellow teachers. It seems very competitive. All the teachers want their principal to think they're the best, etc. And the principals seem to want them to o a lot of extra work. One had to coach a sports team and did other extra work. At her review, the principal STILL said she wasn't doing nearly enough! LOTS of office politics.
The other one teaches gifted students. She is going crazy with the outline of studies she has been given. She thinks it's not challenging enough and is having trouble teaching things that arte fluff. So from what I understand, many teachers get frustrated with what they have to teach.
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Teaching is a very thankless job. Don't count on the kids being greatful! Nor the parents!!! More likely than not, you're going to end up in behavioural confrontations every time you turn around. I got told to f### off at least once a week. I had violent students that would throw furniture, utter death threats, I had the hood of my car keyed ($200 to repair), and that's just the beginning.
If you don't have supportive staff and admin, you're sunk. It's all a game of chance.
Plus, they have a VERY FIXED amount of sick days (very few) and you are REALLY FROWNED UPON if you take hardly ANY. PLUS, you have to do all the work anyway, because you have to prepare lessons for the supply. So if you're stuck on the toilet, you're still expected to produce photocopies and lesson plans. It's really not worth even staying home most times - it's just more work than it is to actually go in.
Call me crazy, but I was there because I had some belief that somewhere, sometime, someone, I was able to teach some kids something, and make their lives, and future a little better. That's about all we can hope for these days.
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Formerly HanSolo. IBS, OCD, Bipolar, PTSD times 3.
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I teach high school English, and I can verify that it's very, very stressful. I love my job a lot of the time, but I also recognize that it has contributed to problems with my health.
I haven't had too many "emergencies" of late, but when I do, I get the kids working on something independently, and I just leave. Sometimes I'll give the teacher next door a nod so that she can keep an eye on them; sometimes I don't. It depends on what that class is like.
If your IBS is really bad, or if you're very sensitive to stress, it's not a good career choice. But even though it can be thankless, it can also be very fulfilling.
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Christine
Those who can do; those who want it done better teach.
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Considering your advise, I`ve decided maybe English wouldn`t be best and I think I will do primary (3-11 years old)
I did a morning where my mum works today, a nursery (age 3-4 years) and I loved it! I didn`t feel stressed, I was too busy. Obviously I can`t decide after a day but I think I want to do this. I am going to do a few weeks when I finish in the summer and go into a school where my boyfriend`s brother`s girlfriend teaches (age 9-10). So I have a different range to consider.
What do you all think?
Jo x
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http://www.myspace.com/jo_elsmere
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