OA at 34...Encouraged to apply for PIP

tanith

Totally agree teddysmum I am determined that O/A isn't going to dominate my life so I've learned to live with and carry on my life despite the pain I manage most things myself with a bit of help from my OH with things I find very painful. On the whole I can do most things by adapting how I do it and by doing little by little rather than all in one go.

fredandwilma

You could try using a TENS machine, although it doesn't work for everyone:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tens/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Meditation also works quite well for pain relief too, practiced on a regular basis.

In general, i find keeping as active as possible/ moving around tends to help, too.

hth

f&w

rockingbilly

teddysmum wrote: »

We all have different pain thresholds or levels that we are willing to tolerate, so some are more affected by a condition than others.


Mine threshold seems to be quite high, as people, who find out what my problem is say they are amazed that I even stand, but I do and also walk the dogs. I have to be careful, but I'm quite pig headed about what I will do, even if I suffer later.

Thankfully PIP no longer places much emphasis on a diagnosis but on how you it affects your life.
This is where I am amazed: As you say you get on with your life, others pop the pills and they get on with their lives.
There are some that despite being able to do the same, will play on the fact that they are unable to walk anywhere without suffering telling the DWP that they spend 95% of their time in bed. Who says who has a higher pain threshold? With my problems I shouldn't be able to do more than shuffle a few yards, yet with medication and a strong will I can (grimacing) walk in excess of 100 metres. Who should qualify for PIP mobility, me or the one who says that they spend the majority of their life in bed?
Like the OP says they will not lie.

teddysmum

rockingbilly wrote: »

Thankfully PIP no longer places much emphasis on a diagnosis but on how you it affects your life.
This is where I am amazed: As you say you get on with your life, others pop the pills and they get on with their lives.
There are some that despite being able to do the same, will play on the fact that they are unable to walk anywhere without suffering telling the DWP that they spend 95% of their time in bed. Who says who has a higher pain threshold? With my problems I shouldn't be able to do more than shuffle a few yards, yet with medication and a strong will I can (grimacing) walk in excess of 100 metres. Who should qualify for PIP mobility, me or the one who says that they spend the majority of their life in bed?
Like the OP says they will not lie.

Oh, I do 'pop the pills' and couldn't function without them.:p

It is often easier to sit back and do nothing, but then, things get worse quicker. I went to a Diabetes UK talk, given by a cardio vascular surgeon, who told a lady using a wheelchair, because of a condition he treats, that she should do some kind of exercise, even from her chair, as her vessels, particularly in her legs, were more rapidly deteriorating through lack of use.

The trouble is that some think benefits are compensation for their condition and not a means to help with the extra costs involved, so play on it.

My son knew a man knows how to play along and does have a genuine condition, but exaggerates it, convincing those he needs to, so gets the most possible.

He refused corrective surgery and claimed that he sometimes needed carrying about the house (a large man with a very small wife and daughter ?). He had an unofficial job (cash in hand) which sometimes involved lifting heavy objects and he easily lifted a stocky toddler.

Someone actually reported him, but he denied everything and his 'employer' denied that he did anything other than seated work , despite witnesses saying otherwise.

In contrast , some genuine people make the mistake of showing what they can do, despite suffering, and lose out because they want to be genuine.