Coming to terms with my anxiety and PKU in the workplace

Don't ask why I've got bags on my feet lol!

Apologies for the absence, I have been feeling at a bit of a loss lately as to where I should go next with my blog. My life isn’t the most exciting right now (compared to what it was like six months ago); I’m currently experiencing the realities of adulthood and trying my best to adjust to them – this means pretty much living in a constant cycle of work, sleep, repeat.

This change feels like it is much harder to adjust to because I’m nowhere near where I want to be in terms of a career and that is frustrating to say the least. I know that these days the chances of graduating university and walking straight into the perfect job are slim, but in all honesty I feel lost. However, right now I have a simple plan – to save as much money as possible until next summer when I’ll be embarking upon a new adventure.

Starting this new job was a challenge for me. Not many people know this, but I sometimes badly struggle with anxiety (not trying to play the sympathy card here, I’m just being open). Although I do have some anxieties about my PKU, for the most part my anxiety revolves around something completely separate to my diet. I don’t want to go into too many details, so what I will say is that even though the past three months have been overwhelming difficult for me I am now hopefully heading in a better direction.

Anyone beginning a new job is bound to experience a mix of emotions, but if you have PKU this is yet another thing that might contribute to your nerves. On top of trying to face my personal anxieties at work, at the back of my mind there was my PKU lurking. Meeting a lot of new people who obviously didn’t have any idea that I have this condition made me nervous. I am not actually sure why this was the case, because really my PKU doesn’t affect my ability to do my job. I can go to work, come home and drink my supplement and my colleagues would never have to know.

But of course, inevitably there are going to be situations such as my work’s Christmas do so naturally my PKU would have to come into conversation at some point or other. Eating my dinner on my break one time brought this conversation about. I actually get asked a lot of the time if I’m vegetarian, which there isn’t really a straightforward answer to – “yes, but not by personal choice”- is a confusing reply so it always requires further elaboration. But I have found that over the years I have had to go through this explanation so many times that it has become a good knack of mine. I think that starting up this blog has even filled me with a little more confidence for when I have to talk about my PKU.