am i too proud, what do i do?

hi, all ive had the pleasure of having astema all my life,(not). usuall i feel it is ok but my triggers are too long to list, ive worked all my life and spent the last year in spain running a bar. smoking is one of my triggers and in spain you have choice to have smoking or on smoking...i chose smoking as everybody sits outside there. during my time there i used 1 releaver over the 1 year i was there. the air quality is awsome and worked for me so good, unfortunatly my buisness failed and ive had to return to the uk. ive been back 5 weeks and used 6 blue and 2 browns, 3 sets of steroids thus my trigger factors are 10 fold. THE POINT: ive never claimed benifits ever and currently on seekers allowence, should i be claiming sick benifit as i feel at this moment i feel i am incapable to give my all to a new employer. do astema sufferers receive incapacity benifit, whats out there for me. im stuck in bed with the cold thus triggering again leaving me almost permanent on ventolin and very lonly. alone, and feeling rather depressed, which doesnt help either, thnks greatly mick smyth

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Hi Mick

Im sorry you are feeling so unwell. This frosty weather sounds to be really getting to you. What a shame you had to leve Spain. I can't answer your questions bout benefits but the Benefit Enquiry Line should be able to help you. Tel: [phone].

Good luck.

Kathyx

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hi

sorry you have had such a rough time, you can try applying for disability living allowance, and income support, you have to be long term sick for a period of so many weeks not sure how many though, look into it , also citizans advise can be helpfull,

good luck

george xx

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Hi Mick, sorry about you having to return to our gloomy dampness here! I too find that spain is great for my asthma, especially the canaries.

Anyhow good luck with the benefits enquiry line - I found them really useful. I was looking to return to work following having children. When I went to the job centre and had an interview the woman was of the opinion that I wasn't really well enough to work. We couldn't come up with anything that i could realistically do.

I applied for incapacity benefit and ended up with severe disability allowance, as I didnot have enough stamps. I have had 3 appointments with their doctor for assessments over the last 10 years - never a nice prospect to have to talk about all your ailments and how they affect your life. However, I am really grateful for the benefit - it enabled me to borrow money to buy my little car which is my lifeline especially when my asthma plays up. I would not be able to get to the Drs. without it or get scripts otherwise at these times.

Hope some of this helps. Rest while the medication kicks in.

Sandi