17 year Old with IBS

Indie_Kid

GlasweJen wrote: »

I was giving advice to another poster about using bepanthem wipes a few months ago because they're easier to use than the cream and we both get sores from other complications, do you think i could have come up with that gem without experiencing it?

That was me, I think. And they do make so much difference. Due to an unrelated issue, I have a scar very close to my backside and have bled a few times due to wiping. Never had that problem with wet wipes.

passatrider

Benup wrote: »

No not at all, just the way you answer questions make me feel as if you think im faking it...that im making a big deal out of nothing... didnt mean to upset you, sorry.

You will get use to that on this forum because it tends to be full of do-gooders who think everyone who claims benefits are on the scrounge.

Take no notice of them and just go with the good advice you have been given.;)

GlasweJen

Sh, i honestly can't remember now, probably was though.


OP I can recommend this book for advice on talking to your doctor about IBS and also some tips on management of the condition but seriously, without a sick note you'll get nothing benefits wise and if you leave college your parents will lose their child benefits/tax credits and it's quite difficult to claim JSA when you're under 18.

dmg24

passatrider wrote: »

You will get use to that on this forum because it tends to be full of do-gooders who think everyone who claims benefits are on the scrounge.

Take no notice of them and just go with the good advice you have been given.;)

GlasweJen's advice is spot on, and I can't see where anyone has suggested that those on benefits are on the scrounge?

Benup, many of us are quite blunt in our advice, but it is well intentioned.

chris1973

but you try having severe IBS for 3/4 years and see how it affects your life!

Try having it for 22 years!. Blimey you aren't even a novice yet. Wait until you've got huge piles and bleeding fissures from the alternating trots - constipation. You ain't even a rookie. Care to Swap???

I'm Speaking wholly from my own experience. I've had severe IBS since I was a teenager, I was diagnosed after collapsing in agony during my GCSE exams, and have had it all through my adulthood (i'm 38 currently)

When I was diagnosed it wasn't that well known, and the pain was so bad that it was originally (mis)diagnosed as Appendicitis and then as a Kidney Stone.

I left college at 19, and have held a full time job ever since. A large Part of my job also involves driving, which is the worst kind of torture you can have with IBS, needless to say i've got all of the toilet stops and service areas programmed into my Sat Nav. Some days you just feel nauseous all day, and other days you daren't even fart in case you soil yourself - literally, but you need to just get on with it, nobody is pretending its fun or easy but I still manage to get up at 6AM for the last 17 years and work through it. Most of the other people I know and those I read off through the IBS self help groups also manage to work sin some capacity also. College should be a walkover in comparison, enjoy it and get the most out of it whilst you can.

Good grief, i've been in college and held a job so I can speak from both aspects and I'll tell you now that i'd give my next stool to be back at college. I suspect that from your age, that your experience of IBS far outweighs your experience of / in the working environment!. If you are really expecting life in the workplace to be less stressful and threfore less likely to exaggerate your IBS symptoms than life at college, I suspect that reality will be likely to give you one swift kick up the backside.

I probably have an average of 5 sick days a year off with the IBS, and that is when it is BAD, i.e doubled up in agony with Stomach Cramps, I also get very bad back pains, and over the last few years i've also had chest pains with it, in fact i've actually had it so bad for this last week that i'm not sure that its going to ease up ever again.

I'm single, and have one income coming into the house. If I don't work I don't get paid, my employer doesn't pay sickpay, and so any prolonged time off is either SSP or going to result in a cardboard box in the park. Get yourself through college then get a decent job with prospects that will pay you for being sick, and you may find a sympathetic employer who'll give you medical insurance for treatment when you need it.

Or you can leave college now, get a deadend job for an employer, where you work in a 'battery hen' environment for somebody who doesn't give a to$$ and gives you the bare minimum of everything and let your IBS take the credit for making that decision.

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but IBS doesn't have a cure. There are various medications and diet changes that can help ease the symptoms but it will never go and you'll still be prone to random flare up's of varying severity, lasting for various lengths of time - usually in a traffic jam 20 miles from the nearest services!.

IBS can put a dampner on your life, it can also make you extremely depressed. However it will only CONTROL your life if you let it, and its here for the long haul, so best start dealing with it now eh?, and getting to grips with it, before it gets to that point.

Indie_Kid

chris1973 wrote: »

Its never crossed my mind to claim benefits, even though i'm constantly in a lot of pain and misery, I still think that benefits should be reserved for those who genuinely need it, and I'm speaking as a severe IBS sufferer myself.

There are benefits out there. However, IBS doesn't give rise to care and /or mobility that someone can't generally deal with themself.

chris1973

There are benefits out there.

Care to list them, in detail with links?

Indie_Kid

chris1973 wrote: »

Care to list them, in detail with links?

DLA & ESA. However, there is no reason why someone with just IBS has care and /or mobility needs or is unable to work.

chris1973

DLA & ESA. However, there is no reason why someone with just IBS has care and /or mobility needs or is unable to work.

So aren't you contracting yourself. You list two possible Benefits stating that they may be possible to claim for in relation to an IBS sufferer, and then on the same paragraph, state that there is no reason why an IBS sufferer should NEED to claim them.

According to my own GP, the number of cases of IBS that get diagnosed these days is on the increase, there are a huge number of cases out there and a huge percentage of people who suffer from it. I would imagine that a precedent being set, and benefits becoming claimable for all of these cases, would quickly bankrupt the country and bring the system crashing down.

Indie_Kid

chris1973 wrote: »

So aren't you contracting yourself. You list two possible allowances stating that they may be possible to claim for in relation to an IBS sufferer, and then on the same paragraph, state that there is no reason why an IBS sufferer should NEED to claim them.

You asked what benefits were out there. I simply stated ESA & DLA. I also pointed out that IBS doesn't generally give rise to care and /or mobility needs or make someone unable to work.