ESA 50, new Typical Day form / Fibromyalgia etc

Hi Berlioz,
Fibromyalgia and the fatigue that goes with it, is a difficult problem for ESA decision makers. Often claimants with this illness can on occasions function totally normally, and then the fatigue hits in! All ESA activities are supposed to reflect tasks you might have to do in a job, or tasks you might need to perform successfully, such as mobilising, getting to the toilet etc. The key is to consider what happens for 50% of the time AND if you can do the activities repeatedly across a day. Remember these are work type activities. So whilst you mst need to just walk to the office door, and perhaps once or twice in the building, if you need to do a filing job, the times you would need to carry files, or perhaps use a pen, islikely to be many more times a day than mobilising. Have a look at each activity in the members guides, think what sort of job task each relate to, and consider the repetition a normal able bodied person would do if employed to do that task. Then think about your own abilities. Could you do the same repetitions. Could you do 5, 10, 20, etc.? What would happen if you tried? Would there be any knock-on effect the next day/s. How long would the effect last, would it stop you doing this activity or others? Would it affect physical or mental health? If you couldn't get close to a likely full day of repetition or even half a day, you should score points.
Also remember that even if you can perform activities, if there is a substantial risk to your health, or someone else, then thus is an exception that can give you both limited capability for work and work activity. (ESA Regulations 29 and 35). The 'substantial risk" could comprise fatigue, especially if it causes falls,or other safety risks, or if it aggravates anxiety, stress etc.
I hope that allows you to have another angle as to how to fill in your form.
Just a final afterthought. It is very tempting to just tick the 'it varies' box or put 'sometimes I can't...' This is unlikely to score points on its own. Provide examples. Explain that eg over the last week you had 3 days in bed due to fatigue or falls. If you have had safety issues explain these.Maybe write the answers on a piece of paper first( bullet points would be enough) just so you can work out what to write on the form. Be critical, if you give little detail, and undersell your disability, DWP will be all too eager to assume you have simple health problems and will score you few or no points!
Hope this helps.
LL26