Struggling with all these aches and pains.

[Tanyaannh]

The past week my pains have been getting worse and it's making me mentally and physically drained. I haven't been diagnosed yet but I'm hoping after my laparoscopy on Friday i will have some answers.

I spoke to my GP this week and she is now thinking it may even be Crohns disease and maybe still a gyne problem.

I've had to reduce my work hours and change jobs so I've had a major pay cut and I'm struggling to make ends meet, especially with paying for prescriptions and I'm constantly changing medication.

Can anyone give me advice on claiming Employment and support allowance? They have said if i work under 16 hours i can try and claim it.

[Paiis]

Hi,

I hope the laparoscopy can give you some answers and a diagnosis. I have been through a very similar situation. I lost my job and was signed off for almost a year with pains getting worse and no answers.

The GP would just add more medication to my ever growing list. because of this it was becoming very expensive each month and i found myself stressing about the cost of it all when i wasn't able to work at the time.

My mum told me about a pre payment which would work out cheaper. The doctors didn't give me the advice i needed the knew i wasn't working yet didn't mention the pre payment card. I opted into getting an NHS perception prepayment certificate, it’s £10 a month you can cancel it at any time if you don’t require it any more. Its via direct debit and comes out of your account each month and will just roll over each year unless you cancel it. I was refused income support as I was on SSP and under 25.

I hope this helps with the prescription expense.

Sorry I couldn't help with the Employment and support allowance.