Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I would try to see your doctor before the meeting - or at least talk to his office - and get some kind of piece of paper with your IBS diagnosis on it. That, combined with the references other posters have given you, should make it clear you have a health problem to deal with, not a lateness problem.

Beyond that, definitely talk to Human Resources as soon as possible and make sure you know what your options are with regard to FMLA and disability. If Human Resources isn't helpful, you probably have some state office (Labor, Disability, something like that) that can tell you what your options are. Also, for some medical conditions, employers are supposed to make reasonable accomodations, but I'm not sure IBS is covered by these requirements and that may vary from state to state. Again, Human Resources should know this and, if not, the appropriate state office should.

I completely understand that getting up early does not solve the problem. Before I got relief from Heather's approach, it didn't matter if I'd been up for 15 minutes or 3 hours, my body was always most likely to decide it needed a bathroom break - or 2, 3, 4, 5 - just at the time I HAD to leave the house. One thing I found that did help, though, was leaving early. If I had to leave home by 8am to be somewhere on time, I'd leave at 7:30am or even 7am. That gave me lots of time for emergency bathroom breaks, which seemed to take some of the pressure off and make it less likely I would need them. If your supervisors are not willing to be flexible about your hours, maybe that approach would help you.

In the longer term, I would strongly suggest you try the EFI Diet to help with your IBS symptoms. Imodium and possibly a prescription anti-spasmodic can be extremely helpful, also, until you stabilize on the Diet. As someone else mentioned, a lot of people have done well with the hypnosis tapes. And given the stress from your job, maybe some of the stress-management techniques discussed in The First Year would help, too.

BTW, this is the appropriate Board for all general IBS questions. You can see a brief description of each Board's function here.

HTH. Take care and good luck with all of this.

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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]

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