Has anyone applied for PIP for osteoarthritis

[jadey0885]

Hi can anyone help me, I'm trying to find some information about PIP(personal independent payment) for my partner who suffers with osteoarthritis. He has been suffering from this for 10years and has only been diagnosed in August last year. Thanks

I have changed my job to a sit down one but it's just flared up arthritis in my hands and shoulders.

Even sitting causes me pain now. After a couple of hours I'm desperate to lie flat to relieve pain in my back and shoulder.

Oh dear sorry to hear that. I hope that doesn't happen to my partner. I don't know what else to say then. Seems like you have tried everything

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras that sounds like a miserable way to live. PIP aside, I’d go back to your GP. What about steroid injections etc?

The benefits staff won’t really care about your pain level, (Don’t mean that quite the way it sounds- they’ll look at what you can do) You have to say no to any questions where you being able to complete a task would take longer /result in excruciating pain. That’s not ‘normal’.

Could you pay privately for these ops? Surely it’s affecting your mental health .... I’d see my GP again and explain how badly it’s affecting your quality of life, etc

I have had/am having steroid injections but with varying results. Have had them in my foot which worked well for months, had 1 in my knee a few weeks ago that has had zero effect, having one in the back of my shoulder in a couple of weeks that may or may not work but they have said that there's a risk they might puncture my lung so they might not do it.

Surgery wise, I could possibly have it done privately but the problems that they've outlined would still remain, namely my age. At the moment they've said I will only get 10 years out of a new joint and then when they re do it they won't be able to give me a functional joint only a simple hinge so I will be barely 60 years old with a very compromised leg. The surgeon also said he doesn't think I'll get a good result from a new joint now and that I'll be worse off than I am now. That's really given me pause for thought.

I've got an implant in my back to try and reduce back and nerve pain but it's so hard getting pain treatments on the NHS. That's the difficulty I have at the moment - I need them to do something to manage my pain but they won't. My rheumatologist has said that he wants pain management to do procedures to block the pain in the joints but so far they've not been forthcoming.

I just don't know how to say to the benefits people that I can't do something. All the time I keep thinking that I can do it but it really hurts, takes me longer plus I pay for it later but I can do it. It makes me feel like I'm either lying or being a wimp for saying that I can't.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras just say no to the questions, you aren’t lying or being a wimp. It sounds horrendous. You clearly can’t do these tasks... not reasonably in any case.
I’d keep bugging my GP for more help.

Thank you for explaining this. I think I've been completely misunderstanding the criteria.