how bad do your cramps have to be before you stay home from work?

Im home on my lunch break from work, didn't want to go in at all, but felt guilty since i was not getting sick.

I am doubled over with cramps and medicine nor alternative therapies are not helping. I should and probably will go back to work, but honestly don't feel well.

when do you make the judgement to stay home sick? are cramps and pain enough or do you have to be throwing up or having the runs?

my coworker tells me i am crazy and to stay and relax, but maybe the work ethic guilt thing gets in my way...


i guess i am looking for ppl to gear me in either one direction or another with their stories...maybe i am too hard on myself or maybe i am a wimp?

 

Have you seen a doctor about your cramps? If they are severe enough to keep you home from work then you might want to consider making an appointment.

Personally I have never missed a day of work for cramps and mine are horrendous. I usually take a muscle relaxer and pain killers and hope for the best the first couple of days (I get a ride to work on those days). I also have "girl problems" which cause the pain.

So, go to the doctor! At the very least s/he may be able to help with the pain.

 

i only get cramps on my first day but theyre fucking brutal. i havnt taken time off work, but i try to get that day off if i can. it depends on what kind of work im doing. atm, im working on a farm, and i havnt had them at work yet but if i did, i wouldnt be able to get any work done, id have to go home to my heating pad.

 

i don't stay home from school when i get cramps even when i am doubled over, moaning. i bite my lip and go, remembering that it'll only last a week at the most, and then when i get home i lie down on my bed with a really awesome lavender pillow thing i put in the microwave and sleep.

i don't take asprin for my cramps because i feel that when i do, they're always worse the next month.

good luck!
calla.

 

recently, I have been having significant issues with my cramps. My period was 1.5 weeks late this time around and the cramps are unbearable. I'm going back to my doctor on thursday. I haven't found a pain reliever that helps. I suck it up as best as I can and go to work. Today I had to take more breaks than usual.

 

When I was younger, I had to skip school on the first day of my period almost everytime as my cramps were so bad. When I started taking the pill, the cramps disappeared almost completely. But now I'm in the situation again where my cramps are absolutely horrible as I stopped taking the pill a few months or so ago. Evening primrose oil helps a bit I think, however a lot of the time I just wanna curl up in bed and cry for a while.

 

Your body hurts so bad that you are in pain, doubled over and can't concentrate on work. That meets my definition of "sick".

If you are sick, call in sick and don't feel guilty.

 

Be gentle and tolerant of me; I'm a guy who is also a small employer with numerous female employees. At least one that I'm aware of had serious issues with cramps but for obvious reasons I stayed out of it. She didn't work out for other reasons and we parted ways.

If you are just uncomfortable you may have to tolerate it at work. If you hurt badly enough you can't work and be productive, then you need to stay home. Most employers won't ask why if it's only a day or two. Frankly, I don't ask becasue I consider it none of my business. If an employee is worth hiring, then I trust them enough to know when they should be at work.

The bigger isuue is how you deal with it long term. If you miss just 2 days per months x 12 months, that is 24 days, which is more vacation and sick time than most people have. Put another way, it's over 10% of a work year. If you miss 3-4 days per month it adds up to 36-48 days per year - nearly one fourth of a working year. No employer can handle that. Obviously, they need someone in your position or you wouldn't have a job. It will have long term career implications for you. It may not be fair, but neither of us get to make the rules. The first rule of being successful is showing up. I think there is even a famous quote to that etffect, but I couldn't find it this morning.

Also, I can't imagine it would be fun knowing all your time off was used for cramps rather than allowing for any other illnesses or vacations. I think you need to see a doctor. Surely they can help lessen the symptoms with something. My vote is stay home if it hurts too bad but call a doctor. Maybe I'm way off base and I'm sure I'll get flamed but I think this is the best long-term strategy. Millions of women have become very successful and I'm sure some of them have had to deal with this issue. Good luck and try not to let it get you down.

P.S. I just reread your post and noticed your age. Since you have dealt with this issue for 20+ years, I'm sure you have worked it out to your satisfaction. If I had noticed the age first, I probably wouldn't have even chimed in. Good luck.

 

I don't think anyone would miss 3-4 days from work unless it was really, really severe. But usually, as the womyn on this forum tend to say, it lasts usually the first 1-2 days.

I get them SO bad that I see spots. I've passed out from the pain. It's just horendous. If you're experiencing pain that you can't concentrate on your work, then definitely go home. I'm positive that no man would go to work if he felt that kind of pain. Don't feel guilty, us womyn don't have to be the incredible hulk, even though it sometimes seems like we're expected to be... It's almost inimaginable how bad cramps can be!!!

 

And don't feel pressured to take drugs, either. They may help, but I had an old boss who tried that one on me (he was rude and said "why dontcha just pop a pill or two and then you can stay?") and I told him where to go. You deal with your pain and YOUR issues the way you want to, not the way your boss deems approporiate (can you tell I'm bitter towards that old boss of mine? hahah!)

 

my cramps are incredibly painful.
i started my period on monday, and i had to work on monday..
my cramps were so bad i was totally wiped out and extremely sick.
i ended up leaving half way through work cause i couldn't take it..

i'd say if you're in that much pain, and you think it's gonna affect how you work, then you should stay home

 

Every woman that posted in this thread gets bad cramps? I thought me and my sis were the only ones. This makes me sad! To know that so many women suffer every month.
I would rather take prescription pain meds for the pain (lortabs worked rather well, but I don't have any right now), but since I could get free bc pills from my free clinic I opted for that because that's what has worked for me before.
I don't get "evil cramps" (as my sis and I call them; excruciating pain, nausea, faintness) anymore, but the first and second day of my period are still usually "crampful". Thankfully these cramps are quite tolerable.
Women, if you are in excruciating pain, doubled over, moaning, take a day off! And try to get some help.
I don't feel comfortable being on birth control for an extended period of time, so at some point I'm going to have to find another alternative.
I find pot really helps.

 

When I would get them very bad, the pain would also be accompanied with faintness and lightheadedness, (not to mention nausea). That's when I would usually stay home from work, because if I did go I'd likely pass out and they'd send me home anyway.