Hi everyone. Sorry if this has been asked before. I’m 33 and I’m waiting on results to get a diagnosis but since 2 weeks ago I’m unable to walk very far, I’ve always had trouble but b never this bad. I had a completely meltdown looking for cars in a car forecourt as my legs wouldn’t carry me any further and I started to cry (very embarassing) I already have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Do any of you have a blue badge? and if so do you think I’d qualify without the diagnisis or shall I wait, if Ms is even what I have. Regards Cat
Ive recently had my Blue Badge after applying online to my local council.
It was very straight forward and took about 3 weeks from start to finish.
From what I can gather if you meet certain criteria you will almost definitely have a badge.
You can still apply for a badge without a diagnosis but maybe having a confirmed diagnosis would help.
Go to the dot gov site and look up blue badge, from there you will find your local authority and how to apply.
It really is straight forward.
Your Fibromyalgia would allow for a badge without the MS if it was affecting your mobility.
Just to add to Jactac’s reply, if you get DLA or PIP then that will help too, but isn’t necessary. If I remember right, you can qualify based on how far you can walk, but I’m not sure what the distance is. Expect to be rejected at first though, but don’t accept that - appeal it.
Good luck
Dan
Thank you. I hope to get all my results this week. So I’ll wait until I get those. I’m going to go out today, I’m going to take note of how far I can walk before it becomes unbearable too. At least I’ll be able to fill in the former accurately then .
Hi. I love my blue badge! I didn’t think I would get it but following advice from this forum, I completed the form as though I was having my worst ever day. I also sent the letter from the neuro confirming the MS dx. I think it’s worth backing up the application with as much medical paperwork as you can.
I haven’t entirely got the hang of it yet (using it out of my area, that is). Oddly enough after I applied I had a relapse and my mobility did get worse!
Louise
1 Like
Hi,
Usually the criteria for getting a Blue Badge is being unable to walk 50 metres or more (or getting high rate DLA for mobility or PIP for mobility).
50 metres is actually quite a lot further than you think. And you do need to think about whether you can walk 50 metres then be utterly stuck, unable to walk or move any further. (Think about not doing it once, but being able to do it again and doing it safely and reliably.)
I’ve never been a proponent of ‘as if it’s your worst day’, just in case you have to have an assessment and aren’t as bad. Plus, with a Blue Badge application, without an award of DLA/PIP, your GP has to certify your walking ability.
However, don’t do it as if it’s a good day either. Think about what you are like generally, consider your good and bad days and try doing a timed 50 metre walk (you can always compare yourself against someone without walking problems going at an average rate).
If I were you, I’d get the claim form from your local County (Borough or Metropolitan) Council, then take it in to your GP. Ask them whether they’ll support your claim.
Of course, if you can’t do a 50 metre walk, and your GP supports you in this, then you’d also qualify for PIP for mobility at the standard rate. Which would of course gain you a Blue Badge as of right. (Although you’d have to complete the damned PIP form, but there’s nothing lost from applying!)
Sue
50! That’s a lot. In Ireland it’s 20 and you only need a gp letter confirming this and what your need/disability is.
I’ve always struggled but since 2 weeks ago when I had a meltdown in a car forecourt, ironically looking for an Auto car as I am seriously struggling to drive my manual. So today I did a little test, hubby suggested we go for a stroll to a park or something to get some exercise. The weather did not permit this. So instead we took a trip to the local garden centre. We parked about 15 meters from the centre and by the time we had walked 2 aisles my legs were in agony. I had to hold onto my hubby, he knows when this happens I’m in pain as I don’t like to verbally tell him as I feel I’m just complaining. He said are your legs giving up, I nodded, he suggested buying a wheel chair on eBay, I laughed and said no way I’m 33…no offence to anyone in a wheel chair but my mental state is not ready for that yet. Consequently I’m now struggling to move around the house since my venture out this afternoon. My neurologist secretary said last week to call tomorrow to check if my results were back. I will call and also mention that I am struggling even more so to walk. Thank you all for your replies. Cat
1 Like
Cat. I was exactly like you. Most of the forum members were, I’m sure. 
Diagnosed only 18 months ago, my mobility has been in freefall. Four months after dxd, I was needing the support of a crutch, given to me by Physio. Three months after that, I needed a rollator. Another three months I couldn’t get anywhere outside without a wheelchair. The HSE (nhs in Ireland) let me have a basic model, but it was too heavy and cumbersome for me. We bought a lighter model last April, while I waited for my personal one from the Health Board here. I finally got this new one last week and it has given me a new lease if life. Believe me, when ms gets the better of you, which it will do, you’ll be only too glad to use whatever means you can, to make life easier.
Btw, I’m only in my fifties. Hardly geriatric. x
Hi Cat
I truly get why you’re not mentally ready for ‘proper’ disability. It absolutely sucks that you’re only young and are having mobility problems. What might make walking a bit easier is a crutch. It helps to hold you up more than a stick and you can get more interesting colours than just a grey NHS one. I used a crutch for years, often I was linking arms with my husband with the crutch on the other side. (Mine was purple! But they come in many different colours/designs!)
After some time, I started to use two crutches when I was out alone. And honestly I was much more stable and could walk slightly better and safer.
I first used a wheelchair on a holiday when I was about 42. I felt stupid. I felt like everyone would be looking at me. I felt like I was too young. I hated it. But it did allow me to see a few places I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I still wouldn’t use one except under duress. I was 45 when I started to use one all the time. And I still felt stupid, kind of ‘wrong’. But eventually I got over myself.
You’re not in a position where you need to use a 'chair. But don’t completely rule out the possibility of using one on an ad hoc basis when your legs are not going to let you do something without one.
(Btw, I also used a loaned buggy to go round Monkey World about 10 years ago, there is no way I could have walked all around and seen the lovely chimps without it!)
Sue
1 Like
You lovely people are so wise. I did resort to a stick on my recent trip to New York. It didn’t bother me at all, without it I would have not managed to leave the hotel. However it helped that other than my best friend that I was with, no one knew me. How did you guys cope the first time going out with an aid…when seeing people you knew, did you feel you had to justify yourself? Sorry for all the questions. I’m anxious of what my future holds. Cat x
Oh yes Cat, I felt so very self conscious and like Sue said, kinda stupid! Why!!!
You are short sighted, wear glasses, hard of hearing, use a hearing aid, break a leg, use crutches…(there’s no logic is there), you have an “invisible” disability and use a mobility aid. I know using the rollator I felt like a little old lady, and for weeks using my chair, I felt like I’d grown two heads. I was sure everyone was looking at me. Of course they weren’t and it was only my paranoia. Again as Sue said, it didn’t take long to get over myself. Using my chair when outside allows me to see/do/go places I couldn’t do without it. Simple.
Funnily enough, it’s small children or even tots in push chairs/buggies that look at me and the chair. A touch of “wheel envy” I think…“Cor! Look at that grown up in that chair! Wish mine was like that”
Your so right. And the tots thing made me smile. I don’t judge anyone in a chair, or even every wonder what might be wrong with them. So it is silly to think that people will be looking at me. It’s so nice to hear that you guys felt the same. I feel I was being shallow having these thoughts and I’m really not. Let’s see what the consultant has to say this week, if my results get back. Fingers crossed.
The trouble is Poppy, that in our heads we’re still young. And looking relatively ‘cool’ is still part of our intrinsic nature. In spite of growing older and probably not looking cool even in the best of health. (Maybe I’m just projecting my own vanity here!)
Sue
(Still envious of your new chair which is way cooler than mine!)
1 Like
But we ARE!!, and I’m determined to grow old disgracefully anyway.
I budget carefully so I can still take(drag) hubby away for a week abroad every year. I used to go solo for a week or two and hubby would join me for the last one. Now he isn’t happy for me to go alone, (and at the moment I don’t feel that confident enough for that, but I’m going to work on that). So now I have it that we go 2/3 times a year, on a shoestring mind!
He is a red head and fries in the sun. Factor 50 all the way! I am a sun lover and have sallow skin so always tanned easily. My family are amazed to know I still sunbathe topless. I still go in and out in all the right places, so as long as I’m not going to scare anyone, I will continue. I got a tattoo a couple of years ago, a belly piercing aged 54, a year before my diagnosis actually. I have my hair tinted every six weeks because I refuse to go grey. Oh, ans I’ve recently started getting a shellac polish on my nails every month or so, (if I can afford it). It’s not about being seen as “cool” though. It’s about who I am and sticking two fingers up at ms I suppose. It has made a difference to my life. A big one. But it’s not going to change me. Me! I’m still me, who laughs at silly things, who has a very droll sense of humour, who is impulsive, headstrong and fiery. Cool? Hell who cares?!
And yes, I love the look of my new chair. I can’t believe it’s mine! When I’m in it , there is actually very little chair to be seen, apart from the wheels. Shopping in Aldi was a totally different experience last week.
Instead of being pushed by hubby, with a basket balanced precariously on my lap, and the mounting pile slowly covering my face, I rolled alongside him, as he pushed a trolly. Usually, while HE decided which aisle we were going to, as he ranged from dawdling, bordering on coming to a complete standstill (and causing a bottleneck), to trying to give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money, this time I was able to go where I chose and he could follow me or not. It was actually a reasonably pleasant experience in contrast to the fraught, tension filled outing it has been. Happy days. x
Oh dear. I’ve just read my rambling reply to Sue and realised it’s got nothing to do with the original post.
I’m SO sorry Cat. Really. I just ran away with my thoughts there. Erm, no pun intended…the only running that happens for me these days! x
Poppy please don’t apologise, your post made me smile, keep rambling away. It sounds like your enjoying life which is great to read.
Ah, that’s okay then, if I made you smile. Life is only what you make it and you have to play the hand you’re dealt. Have a smiley day today.
Cat,
Probably easier once you’ve got diagnosis as you’ll have proof. Just make sure you put all the appointments on the form.
Ask your neurologist to refer you to wheelchair services. I got a chair about a year ago and at first was frightened I would bump into people I knew. (not literally)
I used mobility scooters in the local town and friends saw me.
Now I’d rather be in out in a chair than not out at all.
Jen
xx