I am a teacher and have 22 years completed in June. But, the past 8 years have been an uphill battle with the past 2 years being extremely difficult. Do not think I can go on working 55 hours a week anymore. The demands continue to increase and my health continues to decrease. It is so scary and I have no idea what my options are.....
Anyone with any answers or ideas would be welcomed.

Wow Donna you are an inspiration. Your story is similar to mine. Bless you and all you do for your students on a daily basis. I'm sure they love you. I am having a very difficult time keeping up with my work load and also feel less reliable at work and defiantly at home. I give all I've got at work and once I get home I am done. The guilt builds and weekends are spent resting as much as possible with anxiety for the upcoming long work week. I get to work at 6:45 and get home on average at 5:30 with extra work I bring home to do. Just getting to be too much and I don't know what to do with my situation. Do not want to let anyone down at work or home.

I am also a teacher wondering how long I can keep this up. I started my career late in life, after my own children were all in school, and became sick fairly early on. Well, during my first year of teaching! I was diagnosed with pernicious anemia, severe migraines, peripheral neuropathy and central nervous system damage. As I was recovering from all of that, I was in a major car accident and spent a year wearing a portable TENS unit for the back and hip pain. The next year I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Eventually, I received the Fibromyalgia diagnosis. But the icing on the cake was when I was diagnosed with severe Iron Deficiency Anemia a few years ago, coupled with Celiac Disease. Between the B12 shots, the Iron infusions, the gluten free diet and all of the pain control meds, Being well enough to work has been a monumental effort. I have learned to let go of a lot of tasks that were unnecessary burdens, allow the students to do many of the things I would have done myself, accept imperfect outcomes and openly communicate regarding my condition with my employers, who are incredibly understanding. Nevertheless, many days I regret not being able to do all that I imagine doing or failing in some way. Some days, I crawl though the hours nearly hallucinating with fatigue, wondering if it will be safe to drive home. On days I feel well, I have to push myself to get it all done now because who knows when I will feel well again. This is not fun, but I tell myself it is developing my character. I absolutely love my job and my students and my colleagues. I think without them I would be in much worse shape. I just hate letting them down. I used to be so reliable and dependable.

I had to stop working. I was not able to be productive, and my quality of life was horrible. I tried three more times to do part time work from home, and all three times, I had to stop. I could not be reliable, which is what is needed from me for work.

so good to hear from fellow teachers...been teaching 28yrs ...yes its almost impossible to keep this up...I teach 13yrs to 18yr olds....very challenging these days...my 'kids' at school are amazing...I tell them straight out..when its a really awful day, they can be quite supportive ..BUT would love to stop...the effort of keeping going is exhausting..but need to complete another year and a half, otherwise i loose 40% of my pension...am a widow, so need the income..BUT many a day I wake up and think I just cant...BUT force myself to get up and get in the hot shower....that helps the initial getting going...live on 4x tramaset daily plus others tabs. Hugs to all of you out there..hang in...xxx