The Mental Debt Struggle...

IndiJonesi

Hi @keedie, just been catching up with your diary and your comment about the car tax stuck out.  Have you claimed your reduction due to being in receipt of pip?  Indi x

cinnamon123

Yay for finding money! It is such a boost when we do

LittleMissDetermined

Love it when I happen upon previously stashed cash… it’s a real bonus and you should defo treat yourself x

Sun_Addict

I didn’t realise, as no one ever pointed it out, that when Mr SA was diagnosed with a brain tumour someone should’ve informed DVLA. I did eventually and they took the license off him. It’s so easy to overlook. 

How lovely to find the money, I hope you treat yourself to something nice, you so deserve it. 

AntoMac

What a great find with the £35 Keedie. If anyone deserves a bit of good luck It’s you.
Hope the assessment went well

Keedie

That was great advice @IndiJonesi, I vaguely remembered that there was something to do tax exemption but I don't have enhanced mobility for PIP so I didn't qualify, so I crossed it off my list. But I didn't make a proper note of the 50% exemption on standard mobility, so thank you for the reminder 😁.

It really is easy to overlook DVLA notifications isn't it @Sun_Addict? I think part of the problem is that medical professionals just assume that as the motorist we're fulfilling our obligations, but as sick person or their relative, we're so sidetracked often with processing a diagnosis or surviving, that we look to the professionals to guide us. It's a shame that he lost his licence, have they given any indication as to whether or not he will have the opportunity to have his licence reinstated?

It's definitely super exciting to find an old stash of money @cinnamon123 and @littlemissdetermined. I've decided to take a break from London all by myself and go to Brighton. I went there for uni and it's always got a warm place in my heart and it's my happy place. I need something for myself that I can look forward to. No son. No work. No running around after everyone else. Just reading, going for short walks, sleeping in and having some long overdue me-time. I've seen a Premier Inn for £81 for 2 nights in mid-January 2023. It's a little way away, but it gives me time to save the rest of the money to book the hotel, train fare and to eat dinner etc. I'm looking forward to having that break. I asked my mum if my son could stay with her for a couple of days and she was happy to help. I just need to think of how he'll get to and from college as it's cheaper for me to go mid-week.

The assessment went really well @AntoMac. The consultant was really polite as she listened to me and was able to offer me support and solutions to my situation, rather than brushing me off and telling me that there's no cure for fibromyalgia and I just have to manage it with mindfulness on YouTube and accept that it's hard (like that dismissive Rheumatologist). I explained my daily life and how I am effectively housebound most of the week, dependent on a carer twice a week, struggling to single parent and work and how my bipolar likes to just make the whole thing worse. She was so kind and knowledgeable, but realistic. She agreed that medication wasn't in my best interests and admitted that it only worked for 15-20% of patients and where I have a history of medication intolerance, and adverse side effects, it wasn't worth it. She also said that physiotherapy wasn't going to help me, as the difference between a quality of life with fibromyalgia was essentially down to symptom and lifestyle management, and that I needed to be taught the skills to manage that. So she's referred me to their INPUT Pain Management Programme where I can attend a course to help me manage the conditions and to implement small but consistent changes that can give me a better quality of life. She's also given me a TENS machine and the nurse showed me how to use it and gave me some patches that will last a couple of months. It felt a bit weird at first, but the vibrations really helped, and the best part is that as it's part of my treatment, I get replacement pads for free 😁. So I can cross a TENS machine off my Adaptations, Wellbeing and Equipment (AWE) Wish List 💃🏽. I do need to find a cheap little cross body bag to house the machine in, as I had it tucked in my hoodie pocket today, but I need more freedom of movement and be able to wear different clothes. So I've put that on the AWE List. I've also agreed to try a Licodaine Infusion treatment, where you have that numbing stuff they give you at the dentists via an intravenous drip and it blocks/resets your nerves and pain signals. If successful it will last anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. But the thought of being able to potentially blink or move my arms without pain makes me too scared to hope, but I'm secretly doing cartwheels inside. It has a 1/5 success rate, but nothing ventured and nothing gained.

I was so grateful to finally get some help that I nearly cried. I explained the saga of being withdrawn from one to one therapy so that I could get some help with the debilitating pain and fatigue and getting rejected and she said it's common knowledge that that particular service is known for rejecting repeat applications. Makes me wonder why I was referred again in the first place 🤦🏾‍♀️. But I've had good group psycho education courses for bipolar that have helped and I now have another referral with the psychologists, and I still get to have specialist support with the chronic pain. Oh, and my blue badge application was approved so I paid the £10 fee today and I'm so excited to get it soon.

LittleMissDetermined

What a wonderfully positive post Keedie. So glad things are getting better for you in terms of support for your pain management. Sounds like the doc was really clued up on what works too x

AntoMac

That is such good news about your assessment Keedie. Not being in near constant pain really isn’t much to ask for is it? I did think a one to one rather than a phone assessment would be much better. Glad you had someone that really listened to you. It makes all the difference.
Onwards and upwards 

Squirrelz92

Absolutely brilliant news regarding your hospital appointment and the outcome! Much better than what they have previously been providing you with. Plenty to give you hope now that your pain will become more manageable

Cracking find, £35! I'd be over the moon! Definitely wise to spend it on yourself and not put towards debt or bills. We all need that special treat! x

Keedie

Yes that doctor was amazing @LittleMissDetermined and @AntoMac! The Rheumatologist I saw last month was moaning about how hard and frustrating it is for doctors to see and treat patients with fibromyalgia as there is nothing that they can do. I got the sense that she was annoyed that I dared ask for help with my pain when there was no point. This doctor treated me like a person, was knowledgeable yet realistic, and I respected that a lot more.

I'm definitely more hopeful @Squirrelz92, as being in constant pain is depressing. My son thinks that my TENS machine is odd, and when I put one of the pads on him for him to try it, he was freaked out by the sensation and that I had that pulsing and walking around when we were at a sixth form open day yesterday 😂.