These observations are true, well, at least they are true for me, other arthritis sufferers may differ in their symptoms.
You may notice (I think the time that this blog is written appears somewhere on it) that this is being written at Oh My God It's Early O'clock. This is because I had to walk around a supermarket yesterday (Saturday) morning to scrape together some food for my wife and I to
"Why", I hear you ask "should a walk around a supermarket keep you up at night?"
Simple, I reply, arthritis is agony wrapped in a dose of pain enhanced when exercising and in cold, wet weather. You may have noticed the country is bathed in rain type precipitation at present, this and the general low temperature at this time of year does not help reduce this pain.
Pain, you may have experienced a severe sprained ankle (pain rating about 8/10 for a week or so), well arthritis is about 7/10 all day, all year even when dulled through painkillers, then, you have to walk too far and it goes up, the painkillers don't dull it, so you take more and the pain is still there and a side effect of the painkillers is - insomnia!
This is, however perhaps one or two days per month, but I cannot plan which day(s) it might be, there could be an emergency that means too much standing or walking, but I can tell you what the next day will be - one spent drowsy or in bed asleep! Fortunately, tomorrow is a Sunday so if I were working it would not necessarily mean a day off work, but, as said before, I can't guarantee which day of the week I will be kept awake overnight.
The Atos (Advanced Termination of Sick-people) snapshot is taken on one day, in my case on one of the hottest driest days of the year, one that was, for me, a fairly reasonable day. So the person that examined me, did not see me at my worst and was not willing/able to take my description of the bad days. Mind you, he also could not tell right from left and did not test the flexibility of my legs, yet commented on it in his report!
Now, I hear that one of your colleagues wishes to add to my embarrassment by giving me a "Benefit Payment" card. To highlight to people in shops that I am one of these people labelled by your government as a scrounger. As others have said, we only await the badges that we have to sew onto our coats, or the tattoos that we have to wear on our foreheads to announce to the world that we are unable to work. A horrible reflection of something that took place in Germany eighty years ago!
So, Dave, if I may call you that, Mr Cameron, I hope and pray that none of your relatives ever have to suffer the indignity of a debilitating illness or, through no fault of their own, end up disabled.
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