Asking for time off work?

The past month or so, I have been working my butt off, literally!!

I've had overtime every week this past month.

I've also noticed I have felt worse this past month than I have in a long time. I honestly feel that it's due to stress from working so much.

No one else I talk to seems to care, they just think it's great that I'm getting so much overtime! :\

Would it be wrong for me to ask to cut my hours back? Maybe 1 day less per week? (My job is open 7 days a week, M-S 9am-6:30 and Sun 12-4:30.. there have been more weeks than not when I've worked 6 days a week.)

Our office is short staffed at the moment, so I know that asking for less hours would be a huge inconvenience, but I have got to think about myself for once!

no , ask them..you do need to take care of yourself , for sure..

Don't get me wrong, the money is nice, but it's not worth risking my health over!

I'm not sure if my office is subject to FMLA. It's a small, family practice.
I know my boss is aware of my Crohns and some, if not most of my co-workers are aware.

I would rather work a few longer days and have more days off. I'm a bit on the lazy side. Nowadays my favorite hobby is lounging. I just feel like I never have time to relax :(

I really wish I had some kind of talent, so that I could start my own business. (Or that I'd miraculously become a millionaire and never have to work again)

I tried making homemade soap once upon a time, but that idea went right down the drain. Haha.

I know that I shouldn't complain because I know there are lots of people that have no job at all.

I think Crohn's should me a condition that is subject to getting disability. You hear of a few folks who get it, but it doesn't seem to me that it's taken seriously. It's very hard to work sick and flaring. My heart goes out to you whatever you decide.

It's not wrong, but it is a slippery slope. I got a job after my failed semester of college, and did well for 3 months. Then my health took a turn for the worse, and eventually they sent me home because I was so pale and looked so haggard. I called in the next day, because I was still feeling just as bad. And the next day. And then the whole week. Come monday, I finally managed to pull myself together to get back to work, but because I was employed through a 3rd party, they had no obligation to keep me. And they didn't. I've been out of work since then.

Reduced hours I think should be okay, but be very careful with sick days.

Sorry to hear that Bane. Were you able to draw unemployment or anything?

I feel like when I even mention filing for disability, people look at me like I'm some kind of a bum! It's not that I don't want to work, it's just sometimes I really wish I didn't have to!

Most days I'm "fine", or at least able to get by. But other days, I feel like the sickest person in the world :(

No, I never collected unemployment or disability. That was my first real job, so I only had the 3 months I worked there counting towards my quarters. Disability is something else entirely, and takes years to begin collecting, for Crohn's patients anyway. With such a variable disease, the default decision is denial, so you have to file a billion appeals. I'm only a few months into the process. I should have started earlier, but there is a social stigma to it, and with me being so young, my parents were extremely hesitant to attach a "Disabled" tag to my name for the rest of my life.

Also, while I don't go around shouting that I'm applying for disability, I don't hide it either, so it does occasionally come up in conversation. Whenever someone says something stupid like "You don't look sick" or "But you can still walk" I throw their ignorance in their face. Something along the lines of "You've never seen me on a bad day" or "Yeah, when I'm not on the toilet" or "You don't look stupid, either, but I guess looks can be deceiving." j/k, I keep that last one to myself. I think it very loudly, though. Sometimes twice. People are under the impression that people on disability are freeloaders, and I'm sure some are, but the vast majority are just normal people who need help.

A few months ago, some politician used an analogy that struck a nerve with me. He was talking about taxes, but it applies to social programs like disability too. He said something along the lines of "Why punish the people who can carry the water?" It bothers me for a couple reasons. 1: Taxes/social programs/whatever aren't punishments. They're tools. 2: It's a heartless sentiment. If you're carrying water back to a camp site, are you really going to hoard it to yourself and yours, leaving the people you don't like and are too weak to fetch water of their own to die? Most normal people would share it with everyone, especially if they're not the only ones carrying water.

So I tell you this: If you think disability is something you need to do, do it. You carry what water you can, and if people don't like it, they're free to find another watering hole.

Bane,
I can definitely understand the social stigma of being on disability.
I once metioned to an ex about how I had applied for disability in the past and he looked at me as though I had the plague.

It's especially hard for young people who on the outside don't look sick.
People tell me all the time that I don't look sick. Well then they should see me when I don't feel like fixing myself up! I'm not vain by any means, but I always try to look my best.

Good luck with everything, though!

As far as carrying the water. I carry my own water. Somedays I'm just able to carry more water than other days.