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I'm currently on the Work Program.
At the moment I'm feeling pretty wretched as, not only is my thyroid condition playing up causing my symptoms to recur, I'm in constant discomfort from shoulder tendonitis, which I ignored for 7 months hoping it would recover with time. My son was having so many problems of his own, and still is, that I simply let my health issues slide.
Unfortunately last week I suffered side effects to the anti-inflammatory medication I was prescribed, and fear I have now lost some more of my residual hearing (I've been severely to profoundly deaf for the last 9 years). I can't make out coherent conversation very well on the phone at all now, whereas a few weeks ago I could muddle through. This has made it impossible for me to book health care appointments without having to physically travel to receptions so I can lipread what is being said. It is very time consuming and using up time I should be using to search for work. If my benefits were to be cut, I don't know what to do. It was bad enough last year surviving 6 weeks with no income apart from child benefit, when I was moved from ESA to JSA.
Over the next fortnight I have 2 doctors appointments, a blood test and an audiology appointment to readjust my hearing aids again. Ridiculously I am terrified of not keeping up adequately with the job search and yet I also realise that I am suddenly physically incapable of actually doing many of the jobs I thought I could do. Heck, I can't even lift my arm to put things in the cupboard or even clean the house without pain and it's getting worse! I may have to go for a scan and, depending on the results, would be referred either for physio or an operation to restore mobility to my arm.
Trouble is I still look well, even though I feel very weepy and pathetic. Having read what the Tories are proposing to do to jobseekers, I actually feel suicidal at times. This just isn't me!
I would like to get signed off just to get some of the constant pressure and blame off but I don't know how to go about it. A lot of information sources are inaccessible to me as I can't use the phone. If the GP thinks I'm fit for work then I don't know what I'll do. It seems that crucial pieces of my medical records have disappeared and I was signed off ESA last year on that basis. I'm trying to get registered disabled and my GP couldn't even address that as they have NO record of my hearing problems any more, nor of my brain scan nor of the MS tests (I suffer intermittent sensory loss and minor paralysis, but it isn't MS).
Can anyone offer any advice on the process and likelihood of getting signed off. Would I still have to sign on, for example. Thanks.
I don't think ATOS would pass me as they are quite brutal. I'm scared of going through that on top of everything I've been through so far. The thing is, I need to work as it is nigh impossible to survive and bring up a child on JSA, or minimum wage for that matter. I'm just cracking under all the pressure to conjure a job out of thin air. I'd actually been playing down my health issues as I thought they'd prevent an employer from considering me.
I've been applying for realistic jobs for years, but balanced that with the perspective of having time and energy to do other useful things, like my voluntary work. So, before I was forced into this insane pointless job-seeking charade, I used to have dignity and a sense of purpose. Now my life feels a constant round of failure and pointlessness. It's affecting my ability to be a good parent and, more frequently these days, I wonder if my son would be better off without me. Sorry to be so miserable - it's my fault for reading the subtitles on the damned Tory conference yesterday.
Oh Harissa, you have every right to be feeling miserable, so please don't apologise for it. You know in your heart of course, that your son wouldn't be better off without you, but I can understand why you are saying that, as I've often thought along those lines, so I know where you're coming from.
There is a hell of a lot of pressure on you, not only from JSA, but dealing with your son's recent health problems as well as your own, and it's knocked the stuffing out of you. Do speak to the GP, get advice from him/her, and take things from there. Go ahead with the claim for disability allowance. You can only try, and if it doesn't work the first time, appeal the decision, you have that right. Loads of hugs and positive thoughts for you. xx
I agree the conference stuff looked pretty scary.
As the Work Programme etc is so new, and seems to vary by region (ie by provider), I really do have very little information. I know that some time ago we were talking about whether you would be on Employment Support Allowance (ESA) which has now replaced the old Incapacity Benefit and this is the route you would go down. Here is some info about that system, hope it helps. You could also check the procedure for transferring from JSA to ESA by contacting our Benefits Specialist.
Re your health problems, do try and get them to balance your thyroid medication, I have had problems with mine since I was 17 and although it can take a long time between tests to see where you are at, the medication itself is fairly straightforward so hopefully that at least can improve for you 
Thanks, Hazeleyes, it's appreciated!
I suppose one of the factors which is making it harder for me to cope at the moment is I can't just pick up the phone and chat to friends. That used to be a life-saver.
I don't actually think I'd qualify for actual disability allowance, as it happens, though I'm trying to get registered disabled as it would make it a lot easier for the box-ticking people to understand. Currently we have to reclaim bus fares when we go to the hospital but, with my level of hearing loss, I ought to have a disabled bus pass. This would put the odds a bit more in my favour as it would mean that, should I get a low-paid job, I wouldn't have to spend most of the day's pay on commuting there. It would also mean I could travel across town by train for 35p, a journey of 8 minutes by train but 1and a half hours by bus!
I'm so sorry things are so hard harissa.
I really can't see what all these changes are trying to achieve.
Sending you my support too harissa.
All these changes are putting too much pressure on people. I hope things improve for you very soon.
I'm feeling a bit better after a restful weekend. I think the treatment I was put on for my shoulder somehow affected my thyroid medication. Plus I always panic when I lose a bit more of my hearing as I never know if it's going to recover.
I see my Work Program adviser this week and am going to ask about signing off and whether it will cause more problems than it solves. Mostly I'm keen to avoid a repeat of the chaos last year. At one stage ATOS were threatening to have my benefits cut off as I hadn't attended a medical for which I hadn't even been given an appointment. By then I'd been moved to JSA anyway and had no income because even those payments had been cocked up. It took ages to sort out!
Wishing you good luck with the adviser Harissa. Hopefully things will be a bit clearer after the chat.
A month on and I'm still no nearer to getting signed off. In spite of the Work Program, Job Centre and CAB advisors ALL telling me that the GP must fill in a Med3 form so I can be transferred to ESA, the GP insists that there is no such thing, so she can't sign me off!! 
However, she has told me I need to rest my shoulder and arm until I'm better. (I'm a mum, how can I do that??) Anyway, far from the 2 month wait I was warned about, my ultrasound scan is in 2 weeks and I'll find out then whether I'll be needing an operation.
One surprising thing is that the CAB told me I should never have been switched from ESA to JSA, on account of my severe hearing problems. Is it worth making a fuss now, though, as is the ESA going to be phased out? I think the main problem is that the coalition government rushed through so many new procedures but forgot to notify the agencies actually involved in carrying them out.
Hi harissa
Sorry to hear that you are still in pain with your shoulder and arm, you need to get your son to do as much as possible for a while and also not worry too much about the housework 
I had not heard that ESA was being phased out, what I suggest you do is to check things out with our Money Expert.
Also, the med3 form was replaced with a nre form which is commonly known as a Statement of Fitness for work; click here to read about it...surely this is what the GP should be filling in?
Thanks, Louise. That is a very useful link. I'm going to be emailing the CAB later about the ESA situation and am wondering whether I could take a fully-hearing advocate into the GP surgery with me next time.
In the past my original GP had refused to sign the Med3 on the basis that I was allegedly "cured" of hypothyroidism, quite ridiculous really as I'm going to be on medication for the rest of my life and periodically my hormones go out of balance and I'm not fit for much at all. The deafness (and occasional vertigo and tinnitus)is a permanent disability while the shoulder thing, touch wood, is only temporary but for how long? That's 3 medical conditions which are severely limiting my job opportunities at present.
As for the housework, I decided to get a small lightweight vacuum cleaner as I couldn't even lift my old one (which had fallen to bits in any case and was held together with gaffa tape). Son took one look at it, said "Can I have a go?" and hoovered all the downstairs carpets!
New vaccuum cleaner was one of the cheapies from Tesco and its best feature is the retractable cable lever - reminded me of the old Constellation cleaners from childhood.
What a good idea about the vacuum! And I do agree about having someone with you at the GP appointment, not "just" for the hearing problem but also having someone with you can be a big boost, I know it has helped me to do that myself.
Think we're all be rushing out to buy a new hoover now hehe
Hope it all goes well harissa
Hi Harissa. Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time health wise. If I were you, when you see the Dr, I would ask him/her to sign you off. I honestly would be surprised if you were turned down. I'm not sure if you would still have to sign, but I would hazard a guess and say no. Even if you're signed off by your own GP, you also have to see the 'benefit drs' (not sure of correct name), and at the end of the day, it would be their decision rather than your own GP's. Ridiculous!! Go for it, you have nothing to lose. Write it all down, so you don't forget anything. Surely someone with your health issues wouldn't be turned down for disability either, though I do know they are clamping down. Good luck with your appointments.