Daily migraine but not entitled to employment supprt allowance HELP!

Hi everyone.
I now have to appeal because the questions in the assessment didn't accommodate neurological stuff, aura foggy heads nausea. Any ideas on how to intelligently quantify how this effects mental, cognitive and intellectual functions, and physical functions to qualify. I would have thought it really obvious that someone going through daily migraine couldn't work but I managed to score no points. According to the letter I will now get no income. I could write a hell of a lot about how I feel right now but I am trying to be really practical at the moment. was there a while back a really good thread that broke down clearly how this effects us? I don't think I can put something together sensibly at the moment I'm too angry at the unfairness and ridiculousness of this.

regards
Di

Dizzyflower,

Oh dear. I wish I had some really excellent suggestions but I am in exactly the same boat as you only I'm in Canada. I was on short-term followed by long-term disability for two and half years. In January, I tried to go back to work but the migraines got steadily worse and my family doc ended up declaring me to be completely disabled from performing not only my occupation but any other. I ended up getting terminated from my position at work yet the insurance company felt that "there were not sufficient clinical findings to support a severity of symptoms which would prohibit me from performing the duties of an alternate occupation". This, despite that fact that it was their medical form that my doctor filled out and on that form he declared me unable to work.

When I asked the insurance rep what job I could possibly do given the fact that I have chronic daily migraines and that these migraines are always associated with cognitive impairment she said that she wasn't sure but I still needed to provide more medical evidence. The insurance rep is arguing that my cognitive impairment is not because of the migraine per se but because of the pain associated with the migraine. She further concluded that because I have access to pain meds this should fix everything and I should still be able to work.

I am now waiting on a letter from my neurologist to submit to the insurance company. I don't know if this letter will suffice or if I am going to have to undergo MRIs and cognitive testing to placate the insurance company. In the meantime, my husband and I are living off our line of credit and praying for this to get resolved.

My suggestion to you is to get some kind of legal counsel. Right now, my father is helping me with my claim as he works in the insurance industry but if things haven't resolved by Christmas we are probably going to have to hire a lawyer. For the most part, I think the insurance companies stall for as long as possible in hopes that people will give up and they won't have to pay out.

I do apologize for going off on a rant of my own. I have more or less accepted my circumstances at the moment and am really working at not stressing out about it. Hearing about this stuff really makes me mad though. I hope that you have the means to fight this thing and that you are not left in limbo for too long. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

DF, I am sorry about your problems getting your disabling condition recognised properly by the authorities in question.

You are quite right to appeal against this decision,especially in view of the new governement regulation and well publicised incompetence of (often private) companies emplyed by the governemnt, who now have say who can, and cannot get any disability help. IT is all a terrible mess and many people with very serious disabilies are refused the help to which they are entitled.

But do not give up. Try to get some good advice and backing of some organisations that can help you with filling up the forms and give you advice how to present your case during one to one interviews.

Lawyers cost lots fo money, unless you can get Legal Aid (which is not easy), so you could do worse then staring byvisitng (or calling) your local CAB and getting as much help from them as possible. They always have many useful leaflets in their waiting room, which can give you idea where you can get even more help and more specilist advice.

They can also offer an appointemnt with a lawyer in some cases, but beware that they are often either retired and/or quite inexperinced and new to their professions, so try to take their advice with as much common sense as possible, and check and recheck what they tell you with some other sources.

Do not give up, fight for what you are intitled to.
It is not your fault that you are incapacited and cannot work becasue of this condition.

Also make sure that you include a copy of a letter from your Nuerologist (the kind they send to your GP) which confirm your diagniosis of chronic M. If you cannot get such copy, ask your GP to write you a letter confirming your diagnosis and daily symptoms to include with your appeal application.

I will have to fight this. I don't know what work I could do, having spent till 1.00 asleep because of migraine too bad to cope with today and then the rest of the day in pain on top of the lights and vision stuff.

The trouble is that the forms seem to only count fits, not needing to sleep off pain. I cannot see how someone is expected to put up with pain and cognitive problems and still work because we can physically still be able to push a button. it reads that because I can still manage to d this, the pain and cognitive issues and lack of control do not count.

To me it would seem to be a basic right to be only expected to perform tasks that we can perform safely and without pain and fear of injuring ourselves. It seem to me that we are the victims of people in charge that have not experienced conditions that the medical profession are unable to treat themselves.

I am sorry to hear that the situation isn't better in Canada too. I hope you get somewhere with it soon.

Di

Dizzy,

Type in disability in the search feature here. You will find a number of threads by people who went through the process and were finally successful in getting covered. Some good recommendations in there. Good luck!

I forgot that in this country it is called incapacity and in other countries dissability. I might be able to search a lot easier now. Dissability is a benefit that is separate in UK.

Regards

Di

DF, it is not just the difference in the words incapacity or disability, in our different countries.
I think in UK the legal rules concerning getting incapacity benefits are also quite different to those in US.
Their procedures for getting disabilty, are quite different to ours here in UK, so they will not apply in your case.

This is why I suggested that you seek some help and advice by contacting CAB.
I found them extremely helpful, as they directed me (when I needed help) to the right organisations where I got invaluable and advice and guidance.

It is also true, that inityially I needed to call few times at CAB before I got to speak to the right person who gave me the best advice. But it was well worth it in the end.
So do not be discouraged if you don't get the right person that first time and keep trying.

It is easy to mess things up , if you make a mistake becasue you do not know how best to fill up the forms, especially when you are appealing and you need to make a strong case. So make sure you get some help with this.

Mini is quite right that the laws are very different. But I think there is some general advice that's still applicable. Mainly, almost everyone gets turned down at first it seems. It requires perseverance, good record keeping, and often good legal help. If there is an assistance center or legal help there, that sounds great. Good luck to you!