To claim PIP for Fibromyalgia does the diagnosis have to be confirmed by a consultant rheumatologist or will the GPs diagnosis be enough?

[Bolognese2022]

I want to put a claim in for PIP as I have been told by the GP's on two occasions that my symptoms are probably Fibromyalgia, especially given my family history.

It has taken a bit of pushing to get the doctors to look at my symptoms collectively rather than as individual issues. All the blood tests and most of the scans have come back as normal. However on the GP app I have noticed Fibromyalgia it isn't on my medical records. Last time I claimed PIP I had to provide lots of evidence for the conditions I have and then have a telephone assessment.

Could anyone give me some advice?

[Bolognese2022]

Thanks

[CM1EDSUK]

Medical evidence isn't needed for a PIP claim; in fact roughly 50% of claimants are successfully awarded with no medical evidence whatsoever. Therefore who may give a diagnosis, GP/consultant, is irrelevant.

It is usual however for a claimant to have an assessment, now usually by phone. The assessors don't normally contact your GP/specialist(s), so the onus is on you to describe if you can 'reliably' do the functional activities that are looked at with PIP.

What you should do is give a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity such as pain or fatigue.

As far as being able to do any applicable activity reliably, this means can you do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or does it takes you much longer than someone without a disability?

[Nelly1]

Hi, PIP Is not about the conditions you have, it’s about how the conditions affect your ability to carry out day to day tasks.

Can you do a tasks safely repeatedly without being in pain or discomfort.

For example, can you cook as basic meal? If not then explain why.

I cannot cook a meal because it hurts for me to reach for the pans, chopping the vegetables causes pain. I am unable to put my hands above my head to get the …. Out of the cupboard.

Anyway sorry, the answer to your question is no, you do not need all the medical evidence and they don’t take Fibromyalgia very seriously anyway.

Good luck.

I have my review telephone consultation on Thursday this week.

[Bolognese2022]

Thanks to Nelly 1, Ajay575 and CMIEDSUK for your replies.

Unfortunately I have a number of health conditions and disabilities therefore I was informed I had to have an assessment. It was by telephone due to covid, I did describe how my conditions affected my ability and day to day tasks. However, I think I was a bit to honest in some areas so next time I will be more guarded in what I say.

My GP was also contacted as I have read her reply.

I will keep looking on site to see what people write about PIP its very informative.

[Strugglingthrough]

Hi I only had gp sick note to say I had fibromyalgia, that didn't seem enough for pip and I was refused it ,so get as much as yiu can.