should I claim disability allowance??

[ologyannie]

I have fibro and am currently self-employed. my problem is it,s getting harder each day to do my work, biggest problem is concentration., I start a job do about 10 mins work then just can,t find the get up and go to complet it. I also have real problems getting around because I feel as if I,m walking on razor blades. I have looked at details on the .gov website but due to the fibro brain befuddlement nothing makes any sense. Any helpful suggestions would be welcome.

[Kasha]

I'm in the same position as you so I am looking forward to reading peoples opinions. Ive worked all my life but left one job because I wasnt coping with the long journey there and back and now I'm finding I cant cope with the stress I have just applied for long term ESA if I get the ESA then I will considering applying for Disability . I believe its very hard to get these days and particularly with Fybromyalgia

[Hidden]

Hi

You could certainly claim but be warned both ESA and DLA are hard benefits to claim, the Govt has made them both harder to get because they have tightened the criteria. As you may or may not know DLA can be paid if you are either in work or out of it. It is supposed to help with the day to day costs of being disabled.

ESA can only be paid if you are unable to work due to illness. With ESA you can be placed in either the work related group (WRAG) where you will have to attend interview, workshops etc related to helping you back into work (although you are not forced to look for work like you are on JSA) or the Support group for the most disabled or ill people, where no work activity will be required.

if you can get help from somewhere like Welfare Rights or Citizens Advice as they are very knowledgeable about benefits and can help you avoid some of the pitfalls of filling in the forms.Also the amounts you get are not exactly princely sums, although you can get free prescriptions and some help with housing costs.

Hope that made it a bit clearer for you.

[Kugagirl1]

Hi , it is hard i was put-on contribution based incapasaty alowens for life 5 years ago i got turned down DLA 3 times . Then the government changed it to ESA an i failed the medicaladmitedly this was befor i was told i had fm but yhat day i was in a right state i could hardly walk an id had a bad time with my IBS . ( was looking ruf ) what he put on my form was a well edited version of what hapend an was said , ive complained an appealed with the help of charity that hellp people with thing like this in our area . Im Dyslexic as u can prob tel an this is with spell check ! So form filling scares the poo out of me . Im waiting to hear they said 6 months so next mounth hear we go ive had to do a diary , record my meds apointments evan do a bowl movement chart & mood graf . The next thing is ive got to b coached to just give answers an not go around the houses as i always do lol . I think this is y ive had 3 realy bad episodes in last few months ill b glad when its over . Im not going forvDLA as i couldn't go through this againe id rather sell my car .

Realy good luck to anyone that goes for it but get some backing before hand i say every bit of hellp u can fingers crossed to all xxx kuger girl xxx