Can You Get Disablity For Thyroid Problems

[TiffanyParrish]

I have been reading some of the posting and some are like me, extremely ill and cannot work
due to thryoid .... can we get disablility benefits for this??

Thank you!

[selmaS]

it would depend on the type of dissability u r talking about...do u currently work? if so do u have long term diss thru work? did ur dr tell u not to work?...I have heard that SSI takes up to 2 yrs to get, not sure about for thyroid issues tho.

Good luck
Godspeed
"selma"

[kipland]

I believe that it takes a very long time to prove that you can't work due to thyroid issues.  Hopefully AR-10 can chime in, because he's been through this.

[redheadaussie]

In Australia it is very difficult to get onto a Disability payment. I should know! I've been on it for over 7 years! I get reviewed every year and every year I have to convince the government that I am indeed unfit for full time work..or even part time work. I get assessed by a doctor who then decides yes or no I ought to continue getting money.
  I am not sure what it is like in any other country. But for here, you really have to be almost dying before you can get it. Hopefully I can get off it soon and start getting some decent money.
Cheers!

[AR-10]

Last October 1st my GP told me I could not continue trying to work. I was to go home, quit working AT ALL, and file for SS Disability.

I filed for disability in October of last year. Social Security Disability. I was denied, and appealed, and received it about a week ago.

There is such a thing as temporary disability from the government, but I was not qualified for that in 2006 when I lost five months because at that time I owned rental property.

Th back pay they sent me was for seven months, rather than twelve or eleven. I think the rental property messed with that, too, until we sold it (thank you God) last Spring.

This is not a rant, but I will tell you what to expect if you try to get disability.

Thyroid patients almost never get it.

The first denial is automatic and can take six or seven months to be denied. The only reason I wasn't denied again is because a friend of mine is very plugged in to the political machine and he got my U.S. congressman's office involved. As in, he called them and told me when I contacted them that they should get me some disability because I NEEDED it, so kick some butt. The people in the congressman's office know my friend's VOICE, let alone his name and reputation, and they know if he calls it's go time.

I don't know how much butt they kicked, but I was not denied a second time. They did draw it out as long as possible.

I have letters from my GP saying I will not work for at least another year and a letter from my Endo saying she could not put a date on my recovery, but it was not soon, and I could not do any physical or stressful activities, including recreation.

I have documented heart damage that may resolve itself, or it may not. I lost 25 pounds of muscle, and I am still 15 pounds shy of my average weight of 142lb. My body is not able to work.

I know another person who has other health problems and also cannot work. She was denied twice. If she wants to persue it, she will have to hire a lawyer and the lawyer will end up with a third plus expenses.

The initial check I got will help a lot on paying back bills, but I will not receive a check for October until the third week in November. I have to make sure I can set enough back to live two months. So somebody is not going to get paid.

In the meantime, I need to pencil out a budget that will allow me to live on $1,000 a month. ($1,600...my wife has some income)

LOL!!!!!!!!!

Not complaining, mind you. Just pointing out the reality of the situation. Oh, I have always carried my own Blue Cross insurance. I have to keep that policy for at least two more years no matter what. My wife's supplemental policy, too. Insurance is critical. Public assistance is so horrid it is not even an option.

If you are insured through work, you may find yourself in a situation where you have no insurance. If you are put in a situation where you have no insurance, it is possible that when you get insurance again, there will be several pre-existing conditions that will be excluded from coverage.

That's how my experience has been. I had to sell my business. I had to sell a lot of personal possesions. I will be selling more.

My recommendation would be to get healthy as quick as you can and avoid the frustration.
:o)

If you have no choice, you had better have the full support of more than one doctor and documented physical damage.


As a little insight as to how things work, here's a paraphrase of my denial.

"We find that you do in fact have physical impairments and cannot run your own construction business. However, your brain function is good, and all your limbs function. There is no reason you cannot return to the factory job you had eighteen years ago and perform the duties of a mail clerk."

They went back and looked at my complete work history. That was the last job I had before self-employment.

I couldn't keep my business together using subcontractors to do all the work. I couldn't handle the stress of lining up jobs and overseeing their progress. I couldn't handle an hour a day of it. I have heart damage that is documented, repeatedly.

Yet this person was telling me I can go get a job that no longer exists and stand on my feet eight hours a day doing physical work.

It's rather daunting if you have to go through a system that fosters that sort of logic.

[mirabella45]

I remember SSD telling me if I was able to lick a postage stamp then I could work...I then appealed and won..It took almost two years for me.

Mine was back related

[Jac567]

In the UK if you are sick/disabled you have no chance, I mean the last thing you need it to have to go to Job Centre Plus and argue that you are ill when you have not the energy to stand up... and you usually get a pile of gobbledegook forms to fill in which make no sense at all. Then they turn you down. They wanted to assess me, ( the assessment is to walk up steps and walk down steps and touch your toes and a load of Sh1t that has no relevance to your illness). I said why have you turned me down for benefits (this is the first time in my life I have asked for assistance) I have always had a full time job and a good work record up to two years ago. When my sick pay from work ran out I applied for sickness benefit... It was a long long hard slog. In the end I rang Job Centre Plus when I got yet another letter telling me to go to an assessment centre miles away.... this same day I had an appointment  at hospital so I gave this priority needless to say the Job CP people were not impressed. The upshot of this was I rang the benefits people told them I was taking interferon for 48 weeks and I has lots of side effects the main one been hyperthyroidisim. My GP told me I could retire as unfit for work and get all long term pension entitlement. (however, I do not want to do this as I actually enjoy working) when I am able. I rang the JobCentre People and explained "If I am in work my take home pay  is four times more than benefit, so why on earth would I be applying for it, if I didn't need to. There is no room for manover or individuality, it just a tick box exercise. I have to give credit to one lady at the Job Centre Plus who rang me and advised me to get evidence from my Hepatologist and Endocrinologist and asked for my permission to write to them on my behalf, she clearly got intouch and everything was sorted. Why did this not happen on my initial attempt to get benefit. In the UK they tell you to go to citizens advice to get help with applying for benefits but these are a voluntary group who alway have lots of queues and you could end up there all day to find out that the adviser no less about things than you do and you do this whilst you are sick and unable to be out of bed. I reckon the system is all wrong. in order to qualify for benefits if your GP says you are ill then that should be all that is needed.

[fragrance850]

How about circumstances in Canada, does anyone know about it?