Jsa and High blood pressure

marydot

elfen wrote: »

How can high blood pressure get you on ESA?

I really dont know as Im not going to claim it, as Iam on JSA until I find a job then i will sign off.

happyinflorida

If you've got high blood pressure and depression, then it may well be worth discussing with your GP - talk to your GP about what your symptoms are and ask the GP if they think you should change from JSA to claiming for ESA ie : does your GP think you are incapable of working at present? That would then result in a different sort of claim being made.

Fire_Fox

NASA wrote: »

Its usually associated with something else ie. anxiety. Its in the Incapacity Reference Guide in its own right though.

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I don't think many doctors would sign someone off sick just for high blood pressure, although you can't tell these days.

It may be appropriate to sign a patient off whilst their hypertension was stabilised with medication if they had a physically strenuous job. Heavy lifting is contraindicated as it tends to involve holding the breath momentarily and tightening the abdominal muscles, which increases the pressure in the chest cavity. Ditto overhead lifting which puts additional strain on the heart as it has to pump the blood up higher than normal.

As NASA says hypertension often coexists with other conditions such as obesity and diabetes, the latter confers an automatic high risk for heart attack. Anxiety can send BP sky high, so if you were already hypertensive it might be appropriate to remove the source of the stress from the equation i.e. sign the patient off work.

Oldernotwiser

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Anxiety can send BP sky high, so if you were already hypertensive it might be appropriate to remove the source of the stress from the equation i.e. sign the patient off work.

Don't you think that living on benefits is more stressful than working?

Fire_Fox

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Don't you think that living on benefits is more stressful than working?

Depends on the job and your family circumstances, I don't think it's possible to generalise. I have been on JSA several times in my life - briefly between contracts - and I was also on IB for a couple of years. I find it more depressing than stressful but it's just me and the cat, I have no proper debts, I do have savings and I can afford to accept minimum wage.

Many years ago I was 'sacked' from a job on the grounds of ill health and it was a relief. Work was causing the stress, my personal life the depression and I couldn't cope with both. At it's worst the stress was physically debilitating - my hands shook, I was nauseous, lost loads of weight, couldn't sleep even with benzodiazepines, self medicating. Low dose beta-blockers were a revelation - within an hour or two someone said to me it was the first time he'd seen me smile in weeks!!

I would imagine if you were a middle-aged man with a strong work ethic and a young family to support the reverse might be true. Being on benefits would be more stressful than working in a pressured job - lots of debts and contracts to service, wondering if you were too old to retrain etc. But just because a doctor signs you off for stress doesn't mean you will end up on benefits, it could be just removing the source of the stress for a period whilst you recharge your batteries, put systems into place to reduce the stress in the workplace and/ or learn coping strategies.

marydot

Just an update

I went to see the doctors this wedesday and got my blood pressure check and it was hign..190 over 87 and now iam on medication which is good,had to go back this morning for another check and it has lowered ,so thats good news.Have to go back in 2 weeks again for another check.
Each arm gave a different reading, even the doctors were confused lol, anyway its under control.

Had a phone call this morning from a job I applied for a week ago, asking me to go for an interview tomorrow:j He said he was interested in me, which iam pleased about, thats 2 interviews this month, did not hear anything from the first one but that one was for part time anyway, tomorrows interview is for full time :j

I will keep you updated.