Thread 55 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Autumn 25 - Yr 4 Uni and Graduates

[Oblomov25]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.
Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp
Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and advice to be had.
Previous thread 54:
Thread 54

@Shimy Oh no. Hope settles soon.

@mummyinbedsgreat news.
@ShimyI have been diagnosed as having tennis elbow in both elbows. But I have lots of joint pains so I wonder if it’s something more.

DS finally made contact yesterday for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Apparently he’s enjoying medical chemistry a lot, but not so keen on physical chemistry. He was bizarrely really impressed that I could name all 20 amino acids given I’ve never done a medical chemistry module. Whilst this is true, it isn’t the full story. I have a PhD in molecular biology for starters!

@EwwSprouts Thank you. It's a nightmare! as soon as i start doing some work on the keyboard it starts firing up. @icanbewhatiwant Sorry to hear you have it in both elbows, mine is also in both elbows, because im right handed the right elbow is worse, had it for about 6yrs now. You might be right that theres an overarching/underlying cause of it all. I have Fibromyalgia and pain in all major joints. Have you seen a Rheumatologist? I ignored the niggling pains for yrs until one day i woke up and could barely walk. Had i got a diagnosis sooner I could have avoided the severity of the joint pains or completely avoided it altogether.

I've, had steroid injections, and seen a physiotherapist for sessions. The only thing that relieved it is 2kg dumbell excercises taht were initiated via a special chronic painmgt programme run by Nuffield fitness centre.

@Shimyfirst of all my hip has been hurting for more than 10 years. I’ve had it x-rayed recently and been told I have osteoarthritis in that hip. Now the other hip has started to hurt, but nothing on that x-ray. My finger joints all hurt as do both elbows. My shoulder has days when it hurts, plus one knee. I’ve been going to Pilates classes and a friend who is a personal trainer has given me exercises to do with weights. These are both meant to help osteoarthritis, but I feel it’s just getting worse. The gp just said it is age related plus tennis elbow. I also have something called Morton’s neuroma in each foot, this is a knot in the nerves between my toes, it only hurts when I walk barefoot, I’ve had an injection in one foot which really helped, I’m having one in the other foot in March. But apparently the only solution is to have the nerve cut out. So, lots of aches and pains for me. My tennis elbow doesn’t sound as bad as yours though, it just aches and is sore when bending, but it’s not too bad, but if I bash one, now that is painful! I manage to do a fair bit of walking still, I walked over 6 miles yesterday, split in 2 walks. I walk and lift stuff at work too. So I feel I’m quite active. I thought I was quite flexible until I started the Pilates, I’m one of the youngest in the class but they all bend much more than me. I have considered going back to the GP. But I’m sure I’ll only get fobbed off. The physio for my hip took one look at how I walk without limping and signed me off. But my hip doesn’t hurt with every step, I get a sharp stab for a step or two then it’s ok again. So no help from them. I do worry about what I’ll be like in 10 years time though.

@Shimyi didn’t see the last part of your post about the dumbbells. I should keep going with mine then. I’m doing 4kg though simply because I lift a lot at work and feel the 2kg are too light, I did start with 2kg. I could lift more but I won’t as I’m worried I’ll irritate my joints more.

@icanbewhatiwant I think you are doing so well with all & keeping yourself fit as well. I though i was doing well with walking about 3 miles daily but 6! That's quite a lot. Yes, GPs/Consultants can be very dismissive because they see it everyday and much worse. As you said, they see a person walking without an aid or hobbling and think, 'go home!'. Just manage it as best you can. I'm hoping my hips will hold out until at leat 70 before a hip replacement (if at all) calls. But ive still over a decade to go, in the meatime, the walking and pilates and last yr i added swimming are doing wonders.

Re: dumbells, when i first started, i quickly moved to 3kg and my elbows flared up straight after, I also tried gentle push ups (knees down) but it aggravated my elbows very badly.. I was told it's not about what you can lift but what works for the condition, so i've stuck to 2kg since, but i think the recommended weight is different for everyone.

@ShimyI am struggling with Pilates. Not my elbows but my hips. Sometimes it’s quite painful the next day, so I need to figure out which moves are causing it. I dont think my hip will make 10 years. But I’ve done 10 years since my first mri so maybe I will make another 10. Walking is probably more like 3-4 miles daily as my husband, for health reasons will only walk a mile and a half/2 max. We go twice daily. When he doesn’t walk I go further unless I’m working early/late. I expect swimming is good, but I really, really can’t be bothered with swimming.

The good thing about Pilates is you can tailor it to what your body can cope with and build it up gradually. Do you know about the Nuffield centre fitness classes? you might benefit from it. Its a physio/excercise for people with chronic pain and its free. Your GP can also refer you or i think you can enquire directly at the centre. The program includes free full membership at the centre for 6 mths. It's a combination of gentle Pilates, strengthening of joints etc , they do a health assessment on you first.

@Shimythsnks. I just looked that up, but can’t see anything apart from a subscription where people can join (and pay)

@Shimyive found it now thanks. Filled it out. Though it’s a fair trek to my nearest one. Probably an hours drive. But I’ll see what they say.

@icanbewhatiwant Good luck, I hope you get on on it.

Just to make sure you've found the right one, ive included a link here just in case:

Joint Pain Programme | Nuffield Health

@Shimyyes. That’s the one I did. Thanks.

I'm another joint pain sufferer. Had terrible pains after childbirth. Current pains are under investigation for possible rheumatoid arthritis.

@AnotherNewName460 How is your DS's house buying going?

DS is just about there. The chain is ready to exchange, they are just waiting for DS to have his mortgage offer finalised. The 'proof of address' held it up. He had to wait for a credit card bill with his houseshare address on. When he got his Barclays credit card bill, it could not be accepted as he was trying to get a Barclays mortgage. (You could not make it up!) Then he was told he could use a Santander current account statement as long as it was printed out at a bank. That would take 2 days to process. Arghh. He has jury service in a fortnight, just to add to the stress... and his ex girlfriend coming for an interview at his company.

DD is now 'official' with her chap. She is off on an overseas deployment in 3 weeks for a month.

@Aslockton he pulled out of buying the house before Xmas as the survey came back showing some serious issues which could have cost £70k to fix! He was meant to start looking again after Xmas but there is very little new on the market at the moment.
I’m glad your DS is nearly there, fingers crossed for a simple completion.

two knee ops and bad arthritis in foot here. Blinkingjoints are a pain in the backside (not literally at least) but do impact my day to day life. Steroid injections give some relief but not pain free. I do Pilates and the instructor is great and adapts a few bits for me, 80% of the class I can do as it is. She is a wonderful instructor though and Pilates has definitely helped me become more mobile. I highly recommend.

So sorry to hear about you pains @Piggywaspushed . What do you do to alleviate it? I'm sure yout too could benefit from those classes at Nuffield. They really are good.

@Aslockton Wishing your ds good luck with finalising the exchange and has all needed documents and hope he finds jury service interesting.

@AnotherNewName460 Pilates really is brilliant for joint strengthening and flexibility. I always say, if there is one thing i could change about the school curriculum its that Pilates should be mandatory in every school from Reception to yr 13. I think there will be a huge reduction in difficult births and the aftermath of it, and MSK problems in later years.

Can't do anything until we know what it is for sure. Pain is OK at the mo but all in hands and feet.

Sympathy to all those with aches amd pains. I'm ok at the moment but have had chronic pain in the past, which has been sorted out variously with physio, exercise and orthotic inserts. I'm another advocate for yoga and pilates, apart from a few years when the DCs were tiny I have done one or the other throughout my adult life and I really notice the difference if I have a break for more than a few weeks. Which happened last year when the parent crisis kicked off, I have made a determined effort simce Christmas and my strength and flexibility are coming back. What I'm not good at is making time to do bits at home (I go to studio classes) which would really help. Parental crisis shows no signs of abating unfortunately but at least DB has stepped up slightly now.

Anyway, DS didn't get the job he interviewed for last week but he had some encouraging feedback and it has prodded him into starting manual driving lessons. He is starting an extra volunteering role soon too.

DD is in a tangle for year 2 housing - the new Renters Rights Bill is causing issues because one of the prospective housemates is an overseas student. They are also worried about taking on a joint tenancy under the new rules whereby if one person leaves the entire tenancy automatically ends. Anyone else with a current student encountering similar?

Exciting news re @Aslockton ds' house purchase, despite all the obstacles!

Sorry to hear of all the aches and pains. I don't have any of that at the moment, but what I do have is constant waking up in the night to go to the loo, which is really impacting my sleep... If anyone has any ideas, let me know! I keep meaning to start Pilates - must do that this year!

@EndlessDistraction sorry to hear the job was a no, but glad that it resulted in some positive feedback at least - he's very positive and proactive!

Ds can't look for any housing until he knows whether he's going abroad for a semester or not. Do these new rules about joint tenancies apply across the board or do landlords have a choice whether to apply them?

It's automatic @crazycrofter so all joint tenancies will be affected (in HMOs, it won't affect e.g. couples that rent together and split up, or families where a DC leaves home). I read a few blogs last night that said it will probably lead to a lot of landlords exiting the student market and many of those that stay will move to individual tenancies, but then the landlord can move anyone they like into your house and will do so ASAP to make up the rent.

It's a worry because with it being new no one really knows how it will all pan out in practice yet so the uni can't give much advice.

That does sound worrying @EndlessDistraction . Ds was talking about sharing with his bestie from school, who's also at Nottingham, as he's a bit of a lone ranger and would probably otherwise get a studio - but would be happy to share with ds for one semester and then take over renting the whole place for the rest of the year. Ordinarily I wouldn't think this would be advisable, as he's risking his friend changing his mind about paying the full rent for semester two, but ds has known him for years. But sounds like ds would have to stay on the contract for the whole year anyway...

Hope your dd gets somewhere sorted and no one drops out!

Thanks @crazycrofter the bigger problem specifically for them is the guarantor situation for the overseas student in their group. Apparently with the new rules the landlord cannot ask for rent in advance which is one way overseas students used to manage by getting their family to pay the year upfront. We'll have to see.

The only properties that are exempt is purpose built student accommodation (so private halls). Ds is currently flat hunting. There are three of them and they are all currently in a private hall but all graduate this year.