Curious about coping with work

When I feel stressed out, I take a few days off. I get 6 weeks vacation a year so I am able to do this. I also am on FMLA so if I need it, I will use FMLA time too. Everyone has to deal with stress daily. It's a part of life. If I can eliminate certain stress, I will.  For the stress that cannot be eliminated, I just try to deal with it as best that I can. 

Wow that's awesome that you are able to get so much time off. I have never had or known of a job that kind of time. Thank you for your response. Maybe I need to re-evaluate my search pool. Thank you for your feedback.

I have 3 weeks vacation per year. I'll get an additional week in a few years.

However, since prior to UC I was rarely sick, I have accumulated vacation and sick days in total about close to 4 months.

I work for the federal gov of Canada.

I think a lot of the coping with work bit depends on how you let your work get to you, and how flexible your employer is to meet your needs.

I work at a software company. Work used to stress me out at times before I got uc, but out of necessity, I don't let things get to me like I used to before. It's more a state of mind thing (*ohm zen meditation thing lol*), things get done when they get done, I don't let people at work get under my skin (office politics), and I forget about work when I turn the key in my car to leave each day.

Things that accommodate me:

• We don't have hard and fast deadlines. We'd rather release the software when it is as bug free as possible rather than rush in order to meet an arbitrary deadline with lots of bugs.
  
• I have a lot of flexibility with my work start time, as long as I do an honest 8 hour day and 40 hour week they don't care if I arrive at 7:45a, 8:00am or 8:15a (on rough mornings that is a lifesaver as I don't have to stress about being late). If I arrive 15 minutes late then I leave 15 minutes late.
  
• If I need time off then I can call in sick (no questions asked) and leave early from work (which I've done when I had an accident at work ).
  
• I also have about 4 weeks of vacation/sick time a year and a boss whose mantra is "if you have the time use it when you need it". I've never gotten rejected for time I wanted/needed off.
  

My current boss is awesome probably the best I've ever had. And I've worked for some real ballbreakers before who bust you for being 1 minute late. I've never told my employer that I have UC, as I haven't needed to.

Wow this is a lot of really good info. @ Somedude I'd been toying with the idea of leaving the US for Canada for some time. You have just given me another reason to consider it ... @ iPoop I love the name lol. Your situation sounds pretty close to ideal. It would be awesome to get a set up like that myself. And I really do try the zen thing but I have yet to master it. I'm still working on that... @ Jovigirl71 I totally understand where you are coming from. I'm not sure if I would be able to qualify for disability at this stage. But I've had UC for 8 years now and things seem to be changing a bit. Flares have become more frequent and a little more difficult. I am not sure of how it will all play out but I REALLY don't ever to the Remicade or Humira thing. Ive refused it before. Eliminating the source of the stress makes a lot more sense to me. Although I know that's not always possible, it does make sense to always try.
Thank you all for your feedback!

Hi Hope - don't be afraid to go for counseling. A counselor can really help you think through your situation and give you coping/de-stressing techniques. If you are in school, you might have on-campus services for that.