diabetic type

1984cathy

is diabetes type1 an illness for PIP.The situation on my health is bad particually in both feet .My general health is not that good  as i have arthritic pain in all my body.When i stand from a sitting position i go really dizzy and have to grab something till the dizziness passes over while i am standing.people may ask why i dont just sit down again till it passes over.when the dizziness passes over i get shaking in the left side of my body when i get this it makes me feel dizzy again and i feel like i am going to pass out.I have had a few incidents where i have  laid on the floor in the recovery position till the effect wears off, sometimes up up 10 mins I have my face conuultation on the 14th oct at 9am.I am dreading this consultaqtion,

janer1967

Hi there 

I am type 2 diabetic I used to have standing dizziness and found out it was low blood pressure due to continued infections 

The numbness in feet and legs is also a side effect of diabetes 

I have had drastic effects due to diabetes which I wont scare you about but controlling your blood sugars is vital 

Good luck for the consultation 

chiarieds

Hi @1984cathy - I'm pleased you've met @janer1967 who understands about type 2 diabetes. I don't have diabetes, but do have 'arthritic pain,' & suffer from low blood pressure due to a genetic disorder. People don't often realise how distressing low blood pressure can be, & how ill it can make you feel. One trick I learnt was to tighten my abdominal muscles whilst sitting, & just before standing, which often helps. I taught this to my son, who also has low blood pressure, & if I say I've had a particularly bad day feeling dizzy, & nauseous, he now asks me if I've remembered to tighten my abdominal muscles before standing up!

Whilst this can alleviate symptoms, it would be worth mentioning this dizziness to your GP or consultant. There are ways of alleviating this with/without medication, but your Drs. will be in the best position to advise.

As far as PIP goes, this is how your disability affects certain activities of daily living &/mobility, rather than any diagnosis you have. Please look at this link, including the notes at the end: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/Scores-for-PIP-Descriptors-2020.pdf

Before you have your PIP assessment, if you've kept a copy of your initial claim form booklet, have a read through, as questions will be based upon this. Try & give a couple of recent examples as to the difficulty you face with any activity/descriptor that applies. Say what happened, why, what was the consequence of this, if that also applies. Try to give as much detail as you can to explain any problems.

There's nothing to dread; the questions will just be about the difficulties you have. Take your time, &, if needed, ask for any questions to be repeated, or put another way. My best wishes, & please let us know how you get on, thank you.

janer1967

Hi again 

Is it a PIP consultation as you said face consultation presumed it was something else as I thought PIP assessments are still over phone 

@chiarieds have f2f started again 

1984cathy

yes i got a letter  stating that i will have a PIP consultation the the 4th Oct 2020 at 9am.Yes you are right  due to Covid 19 my consultation has taken  weeks for this consultation .I am trying to find out if you score any points for having any aid 

janer1967

I am confused as it is the 10th oct today have you had your assessment 

It isnt a consultation it is an assessment 

You can score points for aids but sometimes depends if the aids have been recommended by a OH or if you have just purchased them yourself 

What aids are you referring to 

chiarieds

@janer1967 - as far as I'm aware they haven't. The OP did ask if diabetes type 1 is 'an illness for PIP', so I presumed their query was about this, & an upcoming phone assessment, trying to read between the lines.

poppy123456

1984cathy said:

yes i got a letter  stating that i will have a PIP consultation the the 4th Oct 2020 at 9am.Yes you are right  due to Covid 19 my consultation has taken  weeks for this consultation .I am trying to find out if you score any points for having any aid 

I think you may have the date of your assessment wrong because we are already on the 10th October and you said your assessment is on 4th October. Please check the date of your telephone assessment.

1984cathy

sorry janer1967 it is the 14th oct   2020 @ 9am i have a preparation chopping board for veg and a nutra bullet for chopping up veg its electric,perching stool for the bath ,two waking sticks,shoe horn,sock puller,extra handrail for going up/down stairs,hand rail that fits on the bed so i can pull myself up in a morning.

janer1967

See in op date was 14th oct 
Still confused it is face to face ? 

Diabetes on it's own may not get a Pip award as with all conditions it is about how that condition affects you 

A lot if people have diabetes without it affecting their daily living or mobility I did for 20 plus years it's only the last 3 years that it has caused other conditions that have affected me 

poppy123456

Face to face assessments are still suspended so it's very likely a telephone assessment.

poppy123456

1984cathy said:

sorry janer1967 it is the 14th oct   2020 @ 9am i have a preparation chopping board for veg and a nutra bullet for chopping up veg its electric,perching stool for the bath ,two waking sticks,shoe horn,sock puller,extra handrail for going up/down stairs,hand rail that fits on the bed so i can pull myself up in a morning.

You won't score any points for the nutra bullet because this is often used by people that don't have a disability and is not classed as an aid. Also the chopping board is not an aid for the purpose of PIP descriptors.

Walking up the stairs is not considered in any of the PIP descriptors.

Perching stool for the bath is an aid but it will depend on the reasons why that is needed. Hand rail on the bed is also not an aid for PIP and won't score you any points.

Walking sticks are of course an aid for the mobility part but whether you'll score points for an award will totally depend on how far you can walk without pain and discomfort.

janer1967

Aids like hand rails , sticks , bed rail , perching stool , sock puller and such will be classed as aids not sure about the chopping board and nutri bullet but still worth mentioning them 

When I was asked about chopping veg I said I buy ready prepared as i cant chop and I got points because I couldn't do the task 

janer1967

See @poppy123456 advice as she is the real expert when it comes to PIP 

chiarieds

Hi @1984cathy - you can both gain or lose points for using an aid. If an aid is widely available, & doesn't cost too much, & it might be reasonably expected that use of such an aid might help you carry out an activity, then you might not 'gain' points.

As @janer1967 mentions, it may depend on what aid, & whether you just bought it, or whether it was recommended by a therapist, for example.