Atrial Fibrillation and heart attack, difficulty continuing with work

[markpts]

HI there, new to the site, i'm 42 and have had atrial fibrillation for since 2006. In june i was moving house and suffered a heart attack. Was in a coma for a week then hospital for a month then i had a defibrillator fitted. I've been self employed since 2004 to present day, since coming out of hospital i'm finding i can't work as much as i used to as i get tired very easily. I'm still struggling with the device pain and am slowly coming around to that i can't do as much as i used, to walking etc. I have a young daughter and am not as active as i used to be with her that is quite upsetting. I'm getting worried about work and that i can't do as much as i used to (working 9-5+) so i was wanting to see if anyone could advise me if i would be able to claim pip to help. Stuggling to find any help out there and i love my job but am having to face up to my current health situation. any help would be massively appreciated.

thank you

[Jako999]

Sorry I don’t know the answer to your question but someone will.What I will say is my HT and 4x bypass were in June and there is no way I can go back to my physical job yet it to early I’m looking at around the 6 months mark I think you are trying to push to hard and need to relax a lot more yet.

Good luck

[Hidden]

Sorry to hear you’re finding things difficult. Depending on how much you earn, you may be eligible to apply for universal credit to top up your self-employed income. You might also benefit from trying a calculator like the one at turn2us.org, as that will give you a personalised indication of what other help you may be eligible for based on your current income and circumstances. It is also important to keep in mind that it’s very early days in your recovery given everything you’ve been through.

In terms of PIP, the major caveat to you applying right now is that you won’t be eligible unless/until your disability (as they word it) has lasted 3 months, and it also has to be reasonably expected to continue for at least a year. Beyond that, eligibility is determined by how your condition effects your day to day ability to function, rather than what’s actually wrong. So for example, if you struggle to wash and dress yourself without getting breathless, or can do it but then need to rest for a few minutes due to fatigue, that would be the kind of thing that would score you points on a PIP application.

I always advise people to look at the points descriptors that PIP assessors use before completing the forms, and would always advise support is sought from someone experienced in completing the forms the first time, as many eligible people get turned down purely as a result of how they fill in the forms. It’s very much about how you word things as it is what you actually say. The descriptors can be found here, and will give you some idea of whether you’re likely to score enough to be awarded anything:

citizensadvice.org.uk/Globa...

Hope that helps a bit, but it really is very early days for you. I have a relatively benign arrhythmia, and after a major bout of that, I’m completely exhausted for about 6 to 8 weeks to the point of napping in the chair twice a day, so I’m not surprised you’re struggling right now.

[Prada47]

Hello sorry to hear of your troubles, what is your line of work if you don't mind me asking ?? I had a HA in 1982 and worked for a further 20+ years. Some aspects of what I did had to change but overall I continued to work. So I think some changes may be necessary to your schedule, I never think PIP or UC can offer the same as a wage these are my personal opinions and I hope you can find a way out of situation. Being self employed I also don't know your pension situation so may be worthwhile investigating what the situation may be in the future.

Regards

[Hidden]

Hello

You have been through quite a lot there and it is understandable you cannot do as much as you used to in time that might change but for now you have to listen to your body and try and I know not easy accept how much you can do

If you can claim anything Hidden has given some really good information what you might be entitled to and I hope their reply will help you and make things a little easier for you to x

[10gingercats]

Citizens Advice Bureau is very helpful I. have used them for many things.They always come up trumps.They even helped with a stalker once and said they would enforce the law if she did not stop her worrying behaviour.!