PIP

my wife is peresting me about filling out a pip form (personnel independents...don't know what the other P ..is for ) feeling the anxiety creeping up don't want to do it but i know it will help with the bills should i be awarded it , hate the thought of someone poking and proding at me, tried writting everything down and looking at my list of pains i think NObodys gonna believe that  this is what am going through  when they look at me  cause as everybody say " your looking good" everything is on the inside, things you can't prove that are going on!

feel like am padding backwards

These moods come and go, especially when anything reminds us our disability. PIP means Personal Independence Payment, but probably involves an assessment. Citizens Advice can help you fill this application form in. The assessment tests tend to be geared to fail people, but you can, and should, appeal. Most appeals succeed.

I am on Attendance Allowance, being over 65. I cannot go very far independently and certainly cannot shop or get to appointments without help. There is no shame in these benefits as they keep you independent and functioning.

Alas, many of us ‘look good’ but suffer ongoing frustrations and mood swings. My bugbear is my weak left arm and hand. I have some use of it, but it is not ‘normal’ if you know what I mean. As for walking, that requires total concentration to avoid stumbling or tottering. The concentration is wearing in itself.

However, let me end by cheering you up. I am not long back from the doctor’s, where I had a blood test. The nurse asked me if I took anything to thin the blood. ‘Only gin’, I replied.

Hi

Yes someone will help you fill in that form if you can't ask citizens ask Samaritan they will tell you who to ask......just made my cup of tea thought it tasted funny.....yes Dolly had put coffee in the cup to....oh well just one of those days ? love Dolly

Hi Mr Proctor, I too had the same reservations about pip, I had an assessment yesterday, I don't know if I will be successful but I will keep trying and so should you, as someone said there is lots of help out there to fill in the forms so get all the help you need to get it sorted, good luck, Deb

 

Thanks John

It's not the shame of applying  I have always struggled filling out forms, now its worse  because I have trouble processing  things  at a pace that's to fast for me, have just fallen out with the wife cause she keeps saying "have done this or have you done that yet"....its time like this I just want to walk away

Make things up with her. We are all in the same boat. Everything that took me a few minutes now takes ages. Even buttoning up a shirt is like a marathon.

mind you, we all need a bit of tough love. Early on in my recovery my partner would snap at me if I didn’t attempt tasks. I found that if I thought it through the job could be done. Even putting out the dustbin was a bit like planning a trek to the South Pole, but I found a way of doing it.

Form filling is a major chore, but you can do it on line bit by bit. You do not have to do everything at the speed of light. If I manage three or four tasks in a day, that’s enough for me.

Keep your chin up Mr P

Thanks again for your words of wisdom.... While I know you're right  the darker gremlins manage to make it to the light... Cup of dolly's tea may go a, long way.... Time for the kettle.... 

Hi, I think we all have the same anxiety and stress when applying for benefits, as it goes against the grain when you've never had to ask for help before.

I found that the PIP assessment wasn't actually that  bad. It was basically being asked the same questions as the ones on the form you have to complete in the beginning, which is frustrating to say the least. It took about 2 hours and they enter the info on to a lap top.

Whilst attending a local support group, I was advised that I could also be entitled to ESA (Earnings Support Allowance), which is either based on yourNational Insurance Contributions or is earnings related. I had never heard of ESA. Again you have to be assessed which took months to organise but was quite pain less, just frustrating.

Good luck, it certainly helps to ease the financial worries,  if you are unable a to return to work.

 

Mr P, I forgot to say how good the Stroke Association is helping with benefit applications and appeals.

hi susan

my wife works for the job centre so we know all that i can't get  and i don't Qualify for any thing as she earns too much, am currently on sick pay but that won't last much longer and i can't get back to the work i did before my stroke ...i was an HGV driver and the b.u.g.g.e.r.s (trying to get words past the senseor)took my licence for a year and i would fail my medical next year now so i have lost my job just haven't told my empolyer yet....

deepbreath and keep paddling (paddling the right direction now)

PIP is personel independence payment.

Difficult to apply for, but persist and they will come good.

Age concern might be a good option , they helped me with the attendance allowance. Came to my home, filled in the form and I got at first attempt.

Hope you have your formal diagnosis  (letter from hospital to your GP, you should have a copy) handy.

You probably need help to apply. Pre stroke I was an FCA and filled in these forms by the dozen. Now I cant do my own. Brain just wont allow it. Likewise couldnt do my own tax return. Got it wrong and had an investigation. Pre stroke people paid me to do their tax returns. Did those by the hundred.

So we need help.

Colin