advice needed

[norbert]

Hi im glad you have sorted everything out, i don't want to be personal but i have been off work myself for 5 weeks as im having problems with my hands and feet too i just wondered what your symptoms were ive got swollen fingers, hand pain, knee pain, foot and toe pain, muscle twitches and pins and needles when i sit for a while, i have had nerve conduction test and blood test which came back ok, and im seeing rheumatologist again in 2 weeks as he doesn't know about my knee/foot problems yet, RM are sending me to see a occupational doctor and have talked about me coming back to do sorting or something light, what sort of tests did you have to have for your diagnosis? and did you get much hassle from work while you had time off? any info would be helpful.

thanks

Both my big toes were swollen and both my thumbs swollen, also had foot pain and problems with my wrists (tendonitis), also my jaw and shoulder pain. Also got psoriasis on my chest..had blood tests and x rays which showed damage to some joints.. this is linked into the psorisis and is a condition called psoriatic arthritis. this took along time to get diagnosis, noticed trouble with feet about 5 years ago after playing football my feet didnt feel wright and its just continued. Been on tablets past 6 months and my condition has improved greatley, layed of the alcohol, and tried to eat more healthy and been going to the gym. In total been of 11 months and yeah in the early stages were getting a bit of hassle, but your heath is more important than work so i decided it was going to be a long term sickness while investigations were going on. How long you been having problems by the way .

that's a interesting point about laying off the alcohol etc as RM & don'tgiveATOS will try & use that against people to try and wriggle out of things and make out it's somebody else's fault . It is b***ocks as RM has been under investigation by the HSE since 2004 & RM has a sky high record of industrial injuries .

I've had it from a " medical expert " , idiot in charge who was well known for stinking of drink & AM have tried to get rid of him on more than one occasion - Probably thought he was being clever . I made sure I did a brief log of my life off duty to cover me against that sort of thing .

However I accept RM has more than it's fair share of p***heads with self inflicted health problems but it's juvenile cynicism & insulting to tar everyone with the same brush - but !

[ardley]

Hi i have been having problems since January so six months now but have only been off work for 4 weeks and have 1 more week off until i go back, your symptoms sound similar apart from instead of my big toes swollen i have 2 bent toes the ones next to the big in both feet, and sharp pains on top of right foot and to the side, it seems to take forever to get a diagnosis i never know what to tell work whether its arthritis or a nerve problem, well i hope to find out more in a couple of weeks thanks for replying and i hope your feeling a lot better especially now your back at work.

No worries ...hope u get a diagnosis so you know whats happening because there is nothing worse than not knowing what happening to your body it effects you mentally as well as physically. If it is arthritis keep in touch and i may be able to help.

[ardley]

Hi all, just after some advice. Been a postman more than 6 years now and enjoy most parts of the job. Went of sick last jusly because was having problems with my hands and feet and was in alot of pain and stress cos i didnt know what was happening to me..Anyway i stayed of sick while further investigations took place and a few months down was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. After trying different medications etc ive finally got control of the condition and iam 95% better than when i ist went sick. Ive used atos all the way through and my own doctors/specialist. After nearly 6 months of sick i had a telephone consultation with atos who declared me fit for to return to work on a steady basis , just a fews hours a day each week until i reached 6 hours aday cos iam on a 30 hour contract. So of i went and did my 1st week back and had no problems. Then i get home to find a letter from royal mail saying that they were retireing me on ill health grounds from the very next day..and they payed me out a lump sum..Now to say i was confused was an understatement. I phoned my line manager and he had no idea what was happening, what a joke !!. Anyhow got the union involved and they said the same, so obviosley i appealed against the decision. This was at the end of january and iam still waiting for a decision and its now june. Again royal mail have sent to do face to face , and was declared fit, then 4 weeks ago a specialist was sent to my work and i was tested to see what capabilities i could carry out , specialist said i was fit enough to do all tasks, I thought this would have been sorted by now , the way my case has been dealt with has been a joke and very stressfull..can anyone give me any advice cos i dont know where this is going , Thanks

This is my second week back now, theyve put out starbursting on council estate, been over my time everyday so far...flats all over the place which iam finding a bit harsh on me..g ot done at 4 today knackered..but not stressing about it cos iam doing the job properly now, no shortcuts, in on my time, not using car, correct bag weights etc..Think iam going to see union man tho to see if they can accomodate me on a flatter walk so i can use trolley and would be have less impact on my joints. Iam covered by dda i think cos of the condition which i have been diagnosed with.

[General Mannerheim]

Atos specialist How surprising he thought you could do all task .
Did you agree a rehab programme when you went back to work?
If your finding it hard then you should tell them now,otherwise they will just shat on you again until your unfit for work again.

[ardley]

Atos specialist How surprising he thought you could do all task .
Did you agree a rehab programme when you went back to work?
If your finding it hard then you should tell them now,otherwise they will just shat on you again until your unfit for work again.

no rehab programme, just told straight back to full duty,s...going to see me union rep tomorrow about problem with flats and the fact that the duty iam doing is far too long..so hopefully they will accomodate me on a flatter round where i can use trolley.

[General Mannerheim]

no rehab programme, just told straight back to full duty,s...going to see me union rep tomorrow about problem with flats and the fact that the duty iam doing is far too long..so hopefully they will accomodate me on a flatter round where i can use trolley.

If Atos havn`t given you a rehab plan one of the managers should have arranged a plan with you when you had your welcome back to the nut house and here is your stage warning routine ,afterall you`ve been off for ages and it takes sometime to get back to full delivery stamina despite what some management narks on here say, although at the moment your manager is only giving you starburst which is okay and as it should be ...... until you have a proper rehab plan in writing then they could come to you at the end of the week and tell you that from next week you will be expected to do a FULL delivery.