I'd like to start by saying I do realise their are far more people out there worse off than me, and I know money is limited to help those who really need it. But I'm getting fed up.
I've had chronic back pain for over two years. It started on the first few weeks of my pregnancy with DD2, one day just couldn't stand. Extreme pain, far worse than childbirth! Needed help on the toilet, very limited mobility and all that jazz. This lasted about three weeks and improved enough for me to do stuff independently, albeit on painkillers.
In the past two years the pain has been unchanged, lower back pain with nerve pain going down my right buttock and leg (I wouldn't strictly call it sciatica though, it goes down the front of my leg oddly enough, and never goes past the knee)
My GPs have been pretty useless 
they just said I had mother's back (whatever the fuck that is 
) They were happy to hand out a variety of pain relief though, paracetamol, ibuprofen, codeine and tramadol.
Finally one GP started to take me seriously after several tearful visits, first referred me to a physio (I'd already seen one in pregnancy thanks to my lovely midwife) but I didn't find it changed anything. I saw a chiropractor (privately) twice a week for three months, didn't change anything. I saw a remedial therapist three times (privately again, thank god my dad was funding all of this!) And again it didn't change anything.
Finally the GP relented and send me for MRI. I have a large disc protrusion, which is pressing on my nerve root. I've been referred to neuro at my local hospital but this was a month ago and I'm still waiting for an initial appointment to be made with the consultant.
In the meantime I'm in pain. My lack of choices is getting me down. I'm a trained nurse but had to give up my job because of my back. Now my professional registration has lapsed and I wouldn't be able to return to practice (even if I was fit enough) until late next year (because of the intake of the return to practice course)
I call myself a SAHM because I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. This is where I'm a bit unsure and needed some advice. Technically I can do most things. I can drive around, change DD's nappy, lift her, do the washing etc. but I do it all in pain. I take regular tramadol and paracetamol to keep the bulk of the pain away (it never goes completely)
When I read about people getting ESA it seems to be that they cannot do things. I certainly couldn't if I didn't have all the pain relief, but I manage most activities of daily living independently. What I can't do is find a job that wouldn't exacerbate the pain. I certainly could nurse at the moment, or do any care assistant work, I'd be in agony. I couldn't sit at a till or desk for any length of time, since my back went, about half an hour is all I'd manage in a chair. I can't sit on my sofa at home because it leaves me in so much pain, and I need to lie flat on the floor at regular intervals to help me manage me pain.
I apologise for the length and waffly nature of the post, I'm feeling sore and emotional this morning, and utterly fed up. At the moment we survive on DH' s wage and child tax credits. We are OK, but their's never anything left at the end of the month and I'm sick of feeling trapped and unemployable. I just don't know the ins and outs of the system, whether pain affects your claim or not, or whether they'd just tell me I was a scrounger and to get lost I know their's people in far worse health situations, and I don't want to be taking the Mick when they need it more.