Possible to get DLA or Funding?

cceg

I have a severe skin condition called Psoriasis
I also have Psoriatic Arthritis
I have recently had to come off all the medication that helps keep my skin condition under control because it was making me ill.

So, now my skin is very bad and sire again.

I have a 'season ticket' for my prescription and get all sorts of creams and oils to help.

One thing that really seems to help is dead sea salt products, but i can not get these of prescription.
I am spending about £45 per week on products to help.
I am also having to have x4 baths a day to sooth my raw and unbearable skin
Thus, spending alot extra for hot water.

Would i qualify for DLA? I think not? As i self care - even though i can not get through the day without so many baths to help.
Or is there any funding i can apply for to help with all the extra costings involved?
I work part time, my Dr has offered to sign me off sick as i am so sore, but i would rather keep working as it takes my mind off it for a while.

dmg24

If you do not have care or mobility needs (i.e. can you bathe without assistance?), you will not qualify for DLA.

cceg

I can,
But only because i bathe 4 times + a day.
If i only bathed once a day my skin would be so sore i wouldnt be able to bend my knees
I also need to put cream on my body all over after every bath, the whole process takes about 70 mins. (Each bath)
I can then not get dressed or go out fr 2 hours while the oil soaks into skin

Except my back, i can only have my back creamed while my husband is around, i can not reach it myself.
Threrfor the skin on and around my shoulder blades is painfully bad.

i work 3 days a week 4 hours per day

dmg24

cceg wrote: »

I can,
But only because i bathe 4 times + a day.
If i only bathed once a day my skin would be so sore i wouldnt be able to bend my knees
I also need to put cream on my body all over after every bath, the whole process takes about 70 mins. (Each bath)
I can then not get dressed or go out fr 2 hours while the oil soaks into skin

Except my back, i can only have my back creamed while my husband is around, i can not reach it myself.
Threrfor the skin on and around my shoulder blades is painfully bad.

i work 3 days a week 4 hours per day

The DM will take into account your ability to self manage, so I can't see you getting anywhere. Even in the case of a child they would only qualify until they are able to bathe/ manage creams etc themselves.

Does your husband work? You may be entitled to help if you are on a low income.

cceg

Yes, our earnings are ok and we manage, but with all the extra hot water and dead sea products ( which seem to be the only things that help ) our bills have gone up over £200 per month which is where we are struggling.
Husband leaves for work at 5.30am and gets back around 6pm.

Its crazy, I have this for life - yet get no help with prescription charges, yet my SIL has a wheat allergy and gets FREE bread on script and earns a good wage.

dmg24

Are you under a dermatologist? They may be able to offer an alternative. Plus it would be worth check if your water provider has a scheme for those with high water usage.

(I appreciate you are stressed, but a thank you never goes amiss.)

cceg

Yes I am
I have been on a range of very serious medication ( which have their own problems ) and have had to come of them as my blood results suggest they could make me quite ill.
I see my derm twice a month - at the moment they can only offer advice ( and most of that is to wean myself off all the steriod creams i have to use )

I am just utterly fed up.
I am 33 and HEALTHY, enjoy work, enjoy living.
I have a skin condition which is sadly now so severe it now effects everything i do in life.

I work in A&E helping others and saving lives.
I have to wear body sized tubigrip bandages at work to save my uniform from getting soiled by all the cream and oil i have to use.

Yet there seems to be nothing out there that helps me. ( Apart from very expensive dead sea salt, and thats only sooths - doesnt really help )

Thanks for suggesting about contacting local water provider, but after looking on their website i cant see anything

Richie-from-the-Boro

Reference DLA Care & Mobility, you are clearly mobile / able to self administer your own needs / and work. You have a disabled male child on high rate. You earn about £5k pa but you husband has high earnings.

At first glance, mobility appears to be out of the question, care however does cover issues to do with copious extra hot water requirements, though I suspect a DM will tell you that a shower rather than a bath will cover the personal hygiene aspect under DLA rules. Your choice for (1) ' alternative therapies ' at £200 + per month, and (2) ' bathing ' rather than showering is your issue. If you could persuade your derm-o to prescribe the specific brand name preference of cream was having a positive therapeutic effect on your psoriasis / eczema and also prescribe baths rather than showers you could go some way to helping your self with a claim.

cceg

I have to bathe as i have soak in coal tar oil / dead sea salts and soak for a good 30 mins.

I would prefer to shower, but would not get the treatment i need.

Yes i do have a child on high DLA, he has severe autism. At 8 years old he is still fed and wears nappies. His needs do not come into this.

I posted this thread as a thought of getting some funding for something that helps.
It is proven that dead sea salts help, but for some reason it isnt avaiable for a script. If i lived elsewhere in the world you would get help, you can even get funding to go for 3 week treatment sessions to the dead sea.

I give up, i asked a simple question and feel although i have been shot down.
No wonder this country is a disgrace,
I prob wouldnt have this severe auto immune disese if i was a deadbeat.
Its disgusting that i work bl**dy hard, everything i have tried hasnt worked and in the long run makes me ill, I ask for a little bit of help yet there is nothing.
I am working even though i am in great pain and have turned down the offer of a sick cert.

Fed up.

Richie-from-the-Boro

cceg wrote: »

I have to bathe as i have soak in coal tar oil / dead sea salts and soak for a good 30 mins.

I would prefer to shower, but would not get the treatment i need.

Yes i do have a child on high DLA, he has severe autism. At 8 years old he is still fed and wears nappies. His needs do not come into this.

I posted this thread as a thought of getting some funding for something that helps.
It is proven that dead sea salts help, but for some reason it isnt avaiable for a script. If i lived elsewhere in the world you would get help, you can even get funding to go for 3 week treatment sessions to the dead sea.

I give up, i asked a simple question and feel although i have been shot down.
No wonder this country is a disgrace,
I prob wouldnt have this severe auto immune disese if i was a deadbeat.
Its disgusting that i work bl**dy hard, everything i have tried hasnt worked and in the long run makes me ill, I ask for a little bit of help yet there is nothing.
I am working even though i am in great pain and have turned down the offer of a sick cert.

Fed up.

The comment I made on the bairns DLA was reference high water heating costs and other household costs you already have to bear, compounding your own already difficult problems. If it came across any other way either you have misunderstood my motivation - or I did not make myself clear enough.

As you are NHS, they have ' complimentary therapy ' as a service to patients and their own staff heath [ Occie Health ] system. Maybe they can help with the prescribing issue you have, or maybe they can prescribe a ' coal tar ' solution [ active ingredient ] from the internal pharmacy as an alternative to your preferred alternative therapies retail product.

You say "" It is proven that dead sea salts help "" is it ? .. .. If it had an efficacy then NICE would already have approved it.

sueturnersmith

Unfortunately there are many 'medications' that are proven to help which the NHS won't provide.

For instance, I have severe heart problems, and it has been proven that CoQ10 can help prolong life. Unfortunately they are so expensive that the NHS will not prescribe them, even though many other countries will.

I think your only chance of getting any financial help would be to try going for the heavy water usage idea, as has already been suggested.