DLA reconsideration on LRC- scared I no longer qualify

p999j

I got a letter today stating that they because my DLA review was coming up shortly I would need to re-apply.

I suffer from chronic IBS which affects just over half my life in a debilitating way. Mental health, stomach pain, severe bleeding, shaking, diarrhoea and constipation alternating, etc and the medicines I take for it leave me sleepy and waking up tired. I work full time but have to work from home a couple of days per week and I have a very demanding job which I was off from for most of last year due to my health, leading to five figure debts. I have frequent absences.

I previously got LRC based on the issue of cooking my main meal. Part of the problem is the exhaustion which means I have no energy or motivation to cook a main meal. I have help to do my gardening and housekeeping. I understand many reading this would say I ought not get DLA. I would ask that you are please kind in any replies.

My question is really whether it is worth me reapplying or just to give up as it seems to be such a challenging process. I am rather dismayed at being interrogated through an appeals process again and have little strength to stand up for myself.

rogerblack

p999j wrote: »

I previously got LRC based on the issue of cooking my main meal. Part of the problem is the exhaustion which means I have no energy or motivation to cook a main meal. I have help to do my gardening and housekeeping. I understand many reading this would say I ought not get DLA. I would ask that you are please kind in any replies.

Being too exhausted to cook a main meal counts, in principle.
I have CFS, and that is basically the primary ground that I got LRC on.

(I did have to appeal to a tribunal)

Horseunderwater

Can I ask what kind of diet routine you follow? Too much fibre, coffee and lettuce or green salady stuff sets me off. You might need to eat more starchy processed food for a few weeks. Won't cure you but it might help stop some of the worst of it. Been there for years with it.
DLA has 2 aspects to it - Care and mobililty.
I think that the care part is harder somehow - Think of it like this
Do you need help cooking a proper main meal from scratch (not ready meals in microwave). Are you safe to do so - or would you drop hot food onto feet/floor burn yourself? If yes - you should get LRC
Do you need help getting dressed/washed etc every day? If yes, regardless of whether you actually use somebody - do you need that help? Then you'd prob get MRC.
Finally - do you need to be helped to loo in middle of night or turned over in bed, sheets need to be changed etc? If yes HRC. That is basically what they are wanting to know. Obviously in a bit more descriptive detail.
Mobility - Can you walk approx 50 meters with or without help /assistance? If yes then prob no LRM of no you might get LRM.
OTOH - if you find it really hard to walk 8-10 meters without falling and sitting down to rest, then you'd get HRM and all the trappings that come with that.
I struggle to walk more than 6-8 meters, have big trouble with stairs and steps, so I get HRM. But I only need help some days with the food as I do get very tired and shakey sometimes. Hence LRC.
I hope that some of the above will help. It is not so much the illness but the problems the illness causes you in all aspects of your life each day, if that makes sense?

Richie-from-the-Boro

The cooking test has completely changed in 2012. If anyone else with CFS [neurosis] has had a higher award than LRC in 2012 let me know, but as far as I'm aware the LRC is the highest for this, fear of ~ is easier ~ than motivation to.

The microwave displaced the cooking test [so no safe .. .. washing (boiling water), peeling, or chopping (big sharp knife) the ingredients] for this descriptor.

Roger see CSDLA/80/96

p999j

I really appreciate all your assistance. I find myself wondering how anyone with fatigue issues gets through these procedures.

They seem very intimate and dehumanising and rely on motivation in order for one to get through the rather long and tedious process. I need to focus my entire effort just on holding down my job. I gave up a relationship and a social life because of my fatigue.

I am dreading going through the enormous application form and due to a very poor memory (linked with concentration) I simply don't know a lot of the information on dates and times that is asked.

I don't know where to turn for help, except to here.

kingfisherblue

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Finally - do you need to be helped to loo in middle of night or turned over in bed, sheets need to be changed etc? If yes HRC.

Mobility - Can you walk approx 50 meters with or without help /assistance? If yes then prob no LRM of no you might get LRM.
OTOH - if you find it really hard to walk 8-10 meters without falling and sitting down to rest, then you'd get HRM and all the trappings that come with that.

The above two are not quite right. For HRC, you have to need help both day and night. If you only need care during the night, as you have described, it is MRC.

For Mobility, to get the high rate, you must be unable to walk at all, or if you can walk approx 50 metres but have substantial pain, you should qualify. The time taken and the manner in which you walk can also be taken into account. My son has receved HRM since he was three. He can walk 50 metres, but stops frequently to catch his breath and to allow pain in his limbs to subside.

LRM is more about the need for supervision when out of doors.

rogerblack

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

The cooking test has completely changed in 2012. If anyone else with CFS [neurosis] has had a higher award than LRC in 2012 let me know, but as far as I'm aware the LRC is the highest for this, fear of ~ is easier ~ than motivation to.

The microwave displaced the cooking test [so no safe .. .. washing (boiling water), peeling, or chopping (big sharp knife) the ingredients] for this descriptor.

Roger see CSDLA/80/96

I have several issues with the above.
Firstly - guidance changed in 2012 - when - link?
The only DLA guidance I'm aware changing this year is about care homes and hospitals.

You quote a 1996 case.
The judge specifically says in the above junction that lack of motivation can matter.

I've read many of the cases at http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/dlalaw.htm#Cooking , as well as browsed some of the unlinked cases on the tribunals service website, and can find no support for the wholesale rewriting of the cooking test caselaw you suggest.

What specific cases, changes in legislation, or guidance are you referring to?

In addition, CFS at least manifests as more than a neural condition.

It is specifically noted in the DMG for DLA that CFS can involve a physical component which may give rise to HRM.

There are people on DLA with HRM/HRC for CFS - it varies in severity significantly.
Some are able to hold down a full-time job.

Others are able to do little for themselves.

rogerblack

p999j wrote: »

I really appreciate all your assistance. I find myself wondering how anyone with fatigue issues gets through these procedures.

Slowly.
I would suggest reading the form a couple of times, then getting some paper, and note down answers to each question.

You don't have to do it all at once!

Try not to think of anything as 'your main problem'.

Go through the test, filling it in as if it was someone uninvolved that had watched you 24*7 for the last 3 months.

Could they reasonably make an argument that you have difficulties with the activities raised?

You may find http://www.nacc.org.uk/downloads/disability/adultguide.pdf very useful.