Celiac Disease And Fmla?

[gfsweetness]

Hi everyone,

I have browsed the boards here at the gluten-free forum for several years and have just not ever gotten around to joining. I am currently having some issues that I would really like some input on, though. My situation is one that I'm sure a lot of you can identify with. Four years ago, I began having a multitude of problems- dizziness, extreme fatigue, tremors, "brain fog," short-term memory problems, mood swings, insomnia, severe stomach pain, nausea, D., C., and others. I had a brain MRI, heart monitor, glucose test, various bloodwork and everything came back negative. I found out that my aunt has celiac disease and I put myself on a gluten-free diet. Within 2 weeks, I felt better than I ever knew it was possible to feel! I went back to my doctor after about 2 months and he had the blood test run. It came back negative and his admonition to me was, "Well, the blood test came back negative but you seem to be doing better so just keep eating gluten-free." By that time, I had piles of medical bills and, being a single woman living on my own making about 20k a year, I was not only sick of all the testing but I also couldn't afford to have any more tests run. I have been eating gluten-free ever since and most of my symptoms have disappeared.

I have moved several times in the past several years and returned to my home state 2 years ago. The doctor that had run all of the previous tests was no longer in practice and I did not have health insurance again until about a year ago (I was off work to care for my mom, who has Stage IV breast cancer, so I have not bothered to find another primary care physician. I am very careful about my diet and adhere to a strict gluten-free diet, but as we all know there are going to be mistakes at some point. Herein lies the problem: I work for a large company and am allotted 17 paid days off per year (14 vacation & 3 sick). I have used 14+ of those days sick with my Celiac. When I have an accidental ingestion of gluten, I am incapacitated for a minimum of 4 days (migraines, vomiting, extreme dizziness & weakness- I can barely move, much less go to work). As careful as I am, I have had about 4 "incidents" over the past year. Because I work for a large company, the corporate policy states that I need to be written up and if I miss any more time, I will be terminated from employment. My supervisor suggested that I request intermittent FMLA for the time off because she knows that I work hard and am not calling in just to blow off work. My problem is that I have not seen a physician until this month. I know I have Celiac and I know why I get sick- why should I run to the doctor every time I accidentally ingest gluten? That simply gets too costly.

I am now facing another round of testing because I've begun the process of re-introducing gluten into my diet so that I can get the biopsy and have the diagnosis set in stone for this very reason (and also because I strongly suspect some other immune deficiencies). This means that I will be missing even more work for doctor's appointments, testing, etc. My physician would not sign any FMLA paperwork because I am a new patient and she was worried about legal ramifications. Has anyone else gone through a similar situation? If so, what are some things that I can do to protect myself? How can I guarantee the safety of my job? What are some ways of getting around the clause regarding the "ongoing supervision of a physician" clause in the FMLA? Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I know this was a long post. Thanks for reading all of it! I am looking forward to hearing your response.

[MaryJones2]

FLMA generally is available when you have a serious health condition that removes you from work for more than 3 consecutive days. I'm not sure that intermittent doctor