Any teachers out there?

Just a quick vent, today is my first day student teaching. I'm already nervous, but even more so since my digestive system is a total wreck. Any suggestions for dealing with symptoms while teaching?

I taught college classes while flaring. i personally dealt with it by
having a place to sit
moving around the room sometimes eased things.
always wearing loose fitting clothes
bring plenty of water to stay hydrated and keep your BP up while you are standing.
Get plenty of extra sleep (I was bad at this but it is really important)
Good luck!

Many classrooms have more than one teacher, especially in special education where integrated classrooms are utilized. I would agree to inform your supervisor of you additional needs and would also suggest informing any other teachers in the room so they can take over when you need to duck out quickly. Maybe avoid eating too much during the day - that is something I can actually control and I plan meals around my work schedule.

Good luck! I am actually a school psychologist and used to work in the schools. More recently I have taken on per diem work at the preschool level so I can work from home and set my own schedule. I just dropped my son off for his first day today and have to say I do miss working in the schools sometimes, especially the excitement and freshness of the start of the year.

Slightly related. My Daughter is an EA. Last year she came home not feeling well a couple of times, and then had to take days off for Infusions or the odd Doctors appointment.

Her Principal actually got frustrated with her, and suggested that she take a leave of absence.

I think that unless employers and co-workers have experienced health issues, or are coping with some sort of disorder of their own, there's not a whole lot of compassion in the workplace.

That's what I used to do, only eat once I got home. Just be really careful you don't run your body down. While it worked for me short term I think long term it wore me down quite a bit and contributed to flares. Though I still usually skip a major breakfast because that works for me. My main meal is usually between 3 and 5 and I usually scatter little snacks in before and after that. Make sure to really take care and time for yourself. I found baby food worked well for a little blood sugar boost that was easy to digest. If you can handle things like ensure I sometimes took those with me though I found that they sometimes caused stomach pain so try it on a day off.
Most people were accommodating but not all. It's best to bring it up before it becomes an issue and have a plan in place. Talk to the ones running the program first would be my suggestion. I have had people tell me to take time off rather bluntly and unsympathetically but I have also had the opposite where they were totally accommodating and supportive.

Currently I'm in remission and temporarily working from home/finishing my grad degree that got drawn out because of interruptions from health issues so I'm pretty good most of the day now. But i still frequently feel crumby(abdominal pain, nausea) in the morning if i wake up too early and/or have to hurry. It goes away after a few hours and it helps to slow down and yes, about four hours! I find putting just a little something in my stomach helps. Its always worse if i don't get enough sleep. When I was not in remission my day was like a curve where I was bad in the morning, peaked late morning/ afternoon and then went down hill in the evening when I'd get home, eat and crash but usually I still had other things to get done so I did a lot of pushing through feeling terrible.

I hope you have good luck with your coworkers too. personally I have made a lot of friends with coworkers and by being open about it because you never know who else is silently going through tough times too. You always get a few that never had a bad day in there life and can't understand. It helped relieve my stress because i didn't feel like i had to hide or cover something up.

I think when you tell any superiors, make sure you have in mind your plan to avoid as many issues as possible, such as waking up extra early so you don't end up late (this was my biggest problem)

I cant remember from other posts, what is the plan right now for dealing with this flare?

Hey SydMar, How is the student teaching going?
I'm doing a combined art/ science/ tech program. I can relate to the stress.
Yikes! be careful! Nov 29 is so far away! I'd highly highly suggest trying to find someone else before that. you are under a ton of stress right now and that can mask a lot while it gets worse. Not to scare you but I've been in similar situations and lets just say they never ended well. I know its a lot to juggle but I'd hate for your final semester to get messed up!

oops, sorry I didn't get back to you on this. Yeah the guilt thing used to get to me too. It was a big problem and contributed to me leaving things until I was very sick. So totally not dumb! I could go on and on about this. I still have issues with it at times. I once apologized to my PCP for coming in so frequently. She jumped at me said, "what are you apologizing for?" with such a tone that I've never done it again. My doctors hear from me constantly. Im not happy with it like that but thats what my health requires at the moment and they are all great about it. once the Crohns calms down you wont have to do that as much.

Hope the teaching is still going well!

yeah it can take a long time to find one you are happy with. I think I've been to 6 total over the years for long term care or for second opinions. They were pretty much all good doctors but either didn't have the best judgement, lacked good communication or had hard to deal with personalities all of which can have a negative impact on how well you do. Its hard to find one that has it all. I'm happy with my care now though. At my worst last year I was either on the phone, in the hospital or at an appointment with my GI and/ or pcp once a week, sometimes more. It was craziness, I was sure they had had enough of me, but at least the GI would joke about it, which made me feel better and they were always the first ones to reassure me that I had legitimate complaints. My Pulmonologist actually brought it up and told me straight out that's how it is with crohns patients and to not let it bother me. I still have issues with GERD so unfortunately still having to fairly frequent contact my doctors. While I have stopped apologizing, I cant say I don't second guess each time I have to call about an issue, i guess its just part of who we are. The good ones don't make you feel worse
Let us know how it goes!