hi, I wonder if anyone would know or be able to help. I’m currently self employed I have been for the last 8 years as a courier. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and graves in October last year but was struggling at work pretty badly from around April last year, I have multiple people helping me to lighten the load and even on instances have had help to load my vehicle as some of the delivery’s are too heavy. Previous to all this no help required was fighting fit and ready to seize the day. Under the doctors advisement I’m limited to about 2 hours of work a day as my job can be pretty exhausting without my diagnosis but I’m obviously now only earning under half of my previous pay would anyone know if I’m entitled to any help the specialist has said I’m looking at a minimum of 18 months before I can get back to normal and even then it’s going to be an uphill battle due to the muscle wastage in my arms and legs. I’ve been told I could apply for pip by a friend but has anyone been successful in there quest for financial help
Many thanks Kelly 😁
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Sittingduck85
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Maybe speak to your local citizens advice to see what help you could apply for . I'd say get the ball rolling as soon as you can with universal credit for instance because the process can take a while ,hope you get sorted x
Thanks for that, yeah I definitely need to look into something I think I buried my head in the sand at first and was maybe a little naive thinking it wouldn’t go on as long as they said
Turn to us charity also have helpful hints and you can find videos on YouTube.
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While you look into claiming might be worth checking your thyroid treatments is optimally treated.
What are your latest thyroid results? Eg TSH, FT4, FT3, have you had antibodies re-tested (TPO & TG - TSI & TRab) & nutrients such as folate ferritin vitamin D & B12. (and always include the lab ranges as they vary between labs)
In range or “normal” results is acceptable to doctors, but drs do not always carry out complete tests & correctly adjust dose to ideal evels.
Hi thanks for that I’ve not long got in from work so I’m running on pretty much empty at the moment so didn’t think how the heading could have sounded. Latest blood test was
Tsh 0.01
T3 10.9
T4 26.4
I had a tsh receptor antibodies test in November that was 49.09
Sorry im abit useless with the test results it’s all numbers and letters to me. All I know is I feel like poop exhausted all the time and struggling to move myself about. It was abit of a whirlwind in October I went to the doctors originally for an ear infection to get some antibiotics and the doctor noticed my heart rate was 147 I said it’s always like that 3 days later I’m seeing a specialist and being told I’m very poorly when I just thought my body had taken a battering from work.
So FT4 & FT3 still high (always add lab ranges, as ranges vary). They are high levels by most ranges we see.
Your TSH will likely stay low long after FT4 & FT3 are brought down.
Positive TRab confirms Graves’. Assume that’s well above range?
What medication have you been given? usually carbimazole is chosen, there’s also PTU (these are both anti thyroid) & will lower how much your thyroid puts out. You may also be helped with propranolol or another beta blocker. This can help with symtoms while underling cause (high levels) are being treated .
Hi, yes graves is confirmed also, I was given carbrimazole 40mg twice a day and propranolol to begin with then my bloods came back after Christmas as low and was having trouble with my heart rate being too low was at this point 45bpm so was told to stop them then was put on levothyroxine 100 micrograms a day and the carbrimazole lowered to 30mg twice a day but prescribing gp didn’t read the hospital notes that well as was only prescribed 30mg a day I knew about the lowering of the dose but didn’t know what the hospital had said so went with it only noticed it last week when I got a Hospital letter saying that 30mg twice a day wasn’t working so now they’ve increased it to 40mg twice a day.
it's definitely worth having a chat to Citizens Advice Bureau. ( assuming you can still find one) they often have info on all sorts of help that wasn't immediately obvious.
i'm out of touch with current benefits system as it applies to self employment , i used to be part time self employed as i could work it round my limited energy, and was getting a small regular amount of WTC to make ends meet which was great for smoothing out the random periods where i couldn't work as much , but that's been phased out and is no longer available to new claimants .....i can't get Universal Credit at all as i've too much capital, so i never looked into it ..... (but U.C looks to be a bit of a nightmare for the self employed to be honest) .....as a result i had to pack in being self employed and find 'employed' work for 8 hrs a week. and am still contemplating the need to get a lodger.
people do tell me i could maybe get PIP , ( and apparently capitol doesn't rule me out) ...... but it seems to be a very long process, designed to say 'no' initially to as many people as poss ,, and only give them anything after a lot of appeals...... so, while you might well get it in the end if you are very persistent... it's unlikely to be any help in the immediate future .
it's worth asking you local council about any help with council tax for people on low income etc . some of them have low income schemes, that you may be eligible for.
hope you can find a way to keep the wheels from falling off .
be kind to yourself... you are properly 'not well'
hi, thanks for that I’ve not heard of that one someone else has mentioned esa and apparently it isn’t as tyrant as pip 🤣 I’ve just kind of bobbed along this far been supported by my friends at work and my wife but I feel like I need to try fill the little hole we have regarding money while under my wife’s strict instructions of sit down and rest 😁
also , ( can't believe i'm having to write this in a civilised country !) but , GP's can refer to food bank . takes a bit of pride swallowing ... i couldn't make myself go though their door while i still had some swedes left in my veg cupboard.
forgot to add this link to my first reply.... somewhere to start maybe : citizensadvice.org.uk/benef... how-universal-credit-payments-work-if-youre-self-employed/
wife will do a happy dance that there’s someone else that agrees with her 🤣 not in my nature to rest I work 6 days a week and am always on the go she’s taken the weight of doing all the work but I do go to work 4 days a week at the moment I was off to start with but was going stir crazy so agreed with the doctor I would go for 2 hours missing my customers and friends at the depot but on bad days wife is at the ready with a chair bless her
i can still hear my lovely work mates frustrated response when i kept trying to keep going when i wasn't fit enough .....
"look .... you have 'one job' f.f's.sake . ... to get better .... stop buggering it up by trying to do too much . Yes , we ARE all a bit sick of having to help you , and yes , we do want you to get better quickly ,,, so sod off and lie down .... like everyone told you to"
Graves is a poorly understood and badly treated Auto Immune Disease and I would suggest you speak with your doctor and or consultant about them writing letters supporting your claim for benefits. ( I wish I had done this when diagnosed rather than eventually resign and settle for an early retirement when 58 - and settle on half my private pension had I waited til 60 ) :
Graves is life threatening if not medicated and though you are already on the medication there is no quick fix as the consultant has already advised and you need as little stress as possible in order to get through this first phase of Graves Disease.
There is likely a genetic pre-disposition with maybe a family member a generation away from you with a thyroid health issue and Graves can be triggered by a sudden shock to the system like a car accident or unexpected death of a loved one - or for others it seems to come on ' totally out of the blue ' and no 2 peoples journey with Graves the same and why it is poorly understood but we do know that stress and anxiety are common triggers.
Your body has taken a battering and your body in a ' heightened state ' , lost muscle mass and with you feeling really unwell and there can be something of a brain / body mismatch in what you think you can do and actually what little you can do without feeling totally exhausted.
The Beta blocker Propranolol is safe guarding your heart and slows down the conversion of T4 into T3 as it is too high a level of T3 causing the symptoms being tolerated -
and the other prescription is an Anti Thyroid drug - Carbimazole or Propylthiouracil - PTU - and all this does is semi block your own new daily thyroid hormone production and ' buys you time ' while we wait for your own immune system to calm back down again and your thyroid hopefully reset itself without the need for any drugs.
So it seems at your first blood test after diagnosis your T3 and T4 had fallen to far through the ranges with you then dealing with the equally disabling symptoms of hypothyroidism -
so it was decided to try and treat you with Block & Replace whereby the AT drug is increased to fully block your own new daily thyroid hormone production but ADDED IN is a measured dose of T4 so your T3 and T4 do not fall too far through the ranges with a view to try and stabilise both yout T3 and T4 thyroid hormones at around 45% through the ranges allowing you to function.
The NHS generally allocate a treatment window with the AT drug of 15-18 months with the view that this is enough time for your thyroid to reset itself without drugs and if ' remission ' is not found the conversation then moves to definitive treatment - and RAI thyroid ablation encouraged rather than a thyroidectomy.
If you eyes are involved, dry, gritty, light sensitive or streaming , RAI should not even be a consideration as this may well exacerbate your eye symptoms further.
We do now have some research that you may like to read and keep -
The most rounded of all I researched is that of Elaine Moore - books and website - though I only started my research when much more ill some years after having RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 ( when I knew nothing ) and referred to as a conundrum by my doctor - ( I now self medicate as refused any treatment options on the NHS - and am now much improved and haven't needed to see a medical profession since 2018 ) :
There is a lot to understand and get your head round - just go 1 step at a time -
recovery is not a straight line and you need time and less stress on your side to ride out this first phase of Graves -
talk to your doctor to sign you off and ask for any medical reports to cover in advance the next phase of this disease as it progresses over the treatment period of the next 18 months -
to allow you the time and financial support you need to lower your stress levels and to get you back to a better place than where you are now -
When the thyroid malfunctions and you become either hypo or hypo the body struggles to extract key nutrients through your food no matter how well and clean you eat -
so please ask your doctor to run your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D as if these too have fallen through the ranges your health will be further unnecessarily compromised.
We can read the results of any blood test for you - as just being in a range, somewhere, anywhere, is not where optimal health and well being sits.
I am too tired to read everything. I got pip but it took something like 8 months and a lot of rejection.
We applied for universal credit as I couldn't work and my husband is self employed (courier plus own ebay business). Universal credit has been great with financial support as well as support to help my husband grow his business.
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.. and if you're going to not pay something, make it the water bill ... they can't turn it off . 
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