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Disability and lyme disease

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Lyme Disease
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Posted 8/20/2013 5:08 PM (GMT -5)
Anyone have any tips for getting on disability with lyme? Has anyone seen success from it?

I ask cause it really has gotten in the way of just having a normal life and even going to work. Some nights I can't sleep until later into the am and going to work is not an option when it reaches that point. I also have countless medical bills from er visits (probably a few thousand owed from visits) from lyme and coinfections so some disability help would help a lot at this point.

Thanks
Posted 8/20/2013 8:07 PM (GMT -5)
I'm so sorry you're having so much trouble. I was there just a few months ago. Do you receive any benefits from your job (or maybe a spouse's)? I'm currently on short-term disability leave, which is covered through my job. I looked at government disability, but our financial situation necessitated much quicker action than gov't disability would allow.

Through my job's disability, I receive a small portion of my normal pay each period. My insurance is still covered at the same premium, and I am able to stay at home and focus on resting. My job covers up to 22 weeks of disability leave. It has really been a godsend and has been key in improving my health. The only requirements are a monthly physician's evaluation of my condition and their recommendation for treatment. My LLMD has been more than accommodating in quickly faxing the physician's statement to my HR department.

Best of luck to you, and I hope that you receive some relief soon.
Posted 8/20/2013 8:33 PM (GMT -5)
My husband, Toby, is on a short term medical disability leave. It's good that he can rest more, but at the same time it is stressing him out...and we know that people with Lyme should try to alleviate as much stress as possible. I guess you can call it a "catch 22" situation with 'recovery vs. stress' as the problems when dealing with jobs. There can be that concern in the back of your mind that your job may not be there much longer. I will let you know if it comes to that and how it works out for us. I know my husband wants to continue working at Intel. It's been a tough ride, that's for sure.
Posted 8/21/2013 10:56 AM (GMT -5)
There has actually been a lot of discussions on disability and Lyme here. I would suggest that you use the search function on this site, enter the terms "Lyme, disability" and do some reading. There are too many good links, ideas and suggestions to try to list them all!

Also look into short term disability or state disability.

And best of luck to you!
Posted 8/21/2013 11:15 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks for posting this. Our daughter will be off our insurance in Jan., so she will need her own insurance. We had to pay $500 a month for a while before Obama changed things and allowed her to be back on our insurance. I know it would be hard to get disability for her and we don't know if we'll even try yet since it would be added stress. She looks very healthy, so nobody would believe that she is ill.
Posted 8/21/2013 3:58 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for the thoughts. I don't really recieve benefits from my job but at least it is one that doesn't require too much physical movement. It is mostly online stuff so it can even be done from home really, but it can get in the way when going in once a week isn't even really an option. I think one of the weird things with lyme and co-infections is that people may look healthy even if they are not really. I'll do some searching through lyme and disability, I did find a number though on one of my hospital bills for a program that helps people get on disability. She told me for my age it is hard to get on but that they do the work to get it going. I think one of the tricky things with lyme is how it can fluctuate so one day someone may seem normal and another day they may not be able to do much for hours.
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