I thought I would do a little post with any updates about health and income for 2023.
If you don’t want to read it all, the short version is that my health is worse, I am struggling to survive even worse than before due to the cost of living crisis and living on a poverty income of PIP alone, plus the mould and damp are much worse so there is mould on literally everything now.
Health
My health has been getting worse over time and it will keep doing so. My chronic fatigue is much worse so I can’t type, talk or move much at all and it is taking longer to recover.
You might have seen I haven’t posted as much on social media, which is because of this.
Typing, talking, moving are all really painful and draining. More so than they used to be just a few months ago.
Withdrawals every 48 hours from Fentanyl, is getting worse too. Much worse. And Fentanyl withdrawal is not fun, yet I have to suffer every 2 days.
If you have been here before, you will know that I use Fentanyl patches every 48 hours instead of every 72 hours, due to the fact I start getting withdrawals after around 37 hours. So I use the Fentanyl off-label which means I have to speak to my doctor every 3 weeks and have for 3 or 5 years now.
Income
My income sadly is still around the same, although with the cost of living crisis, it is much WORSE for me now as everything costs much more but I only get a similar amount to before from PIP, which is all I can get until I get enough National Insurance (NI) credits, then I will be able to get ESA too, as I currently only can get credits only ESA which is just NI credits and no money.
Thankfully PIP went up a little in April, but with the cost of living crisis, it hasn’t really given me anymore money than before, as it all goes on bills which are massively higher so it kind of neutralised the increased PIP which is still well under £400 a month total income.
So I am still living on a poverty income on PIP alone for another year or two before I might be able to get ESA.
I would love to say things changed for the better, but sadly they didn’t and it is worse than ever.
Damp And Mould
The damp and mould are much worse now. This could be due to no heating or from more flooding as I flood every time it rains, or the broken gutter, but it is MUCH worse and things are now starting to get covered in the mould such as anything near the wall with start to get mouldy.
My clothes even get mould on them and I have to wash them to remove it. There is mould starting to spread to more things.
My cosmetic bottles also have mould on them as they are near the window in the bathroom where there is mould of course as that whole wall has mould.
Nothing we can do about it as I live on a poverty income and the person who I share with, also doesn’t have spare money. I couldn’t afford any of the cost, let alone 50% or 25%, I can’t even afford 1%.
Yes, I know how bad mould is and this could be black mould which is really dangerous, but unless you are a philanthropist millionaire who wants to help, there is nothing I can do. I get people saying “you need to get it fixed” but that is about as helpful as a straw with holes. I am not a magician so I can’t magic money up, and I cannot work as you know.
Broken Gutter
The gutter is still broken because I obviously can’t afford to replace it. It has been broken for 4 years maybe now, but used to get patched up now and again with paste, but as it is just so damaged, that isn’t really working so I need a whole new gutter as it is leaking so badly and letting water in the house as well as making mould and damp inside the house.
As this is a listed building (lots of old homes from the 1800’s are listed in the UK) which means that it has to be wood and it has to look the exact same. I got about 15 quotes in total and the cheapest was £700! They were £700-£1200.
There is no way I could EVER afford this, even though I wouldn’t be paying for it all, I would just have to pay towards it, but I couldn’t afford even a 1/50 of the cost!
The broken gutter means there is LOTS of damp and mould on the entire back wall, plus the front wall is mouldy too from the flooding every time it rains.
I need a damp proof course on the front and back of the building plus of course a new wooden gutter. Desperate for these but nothing I can do about it.
So the mould, damp and a cold house are much worse now and nothing I can do about it. They will keep getting worse and the mould will keep spreading.
I really wish there were building contractors that did non-profit work to help people like myself and others in similar situations, but I can see why there isn’t as it is expensive to do a damp proof course or fit a gutter. Both are things I need.
Just in case anyone is shouting “get your landlord to fix it” if you remember, I have no landlord as I can’t afford rent anywhere. I live here because a kind person said “live here for no rent, just pay bills” so I have NO landlord nor a landlord agreement as I have no landlord.
Lots of info on this in my about me page if you want to know more as I have covered this many times so not going over it again here.
Heating
I haven’t had heating in many months, including over winter, because I can’t afford it. Even when it was 5c inside I couldn’t afford heating and it really had a bad effect on my health and the damp and mould which is much worse now.
I boosted the little heater for 5 mins once a day in extreme cold temperatures until I couldn’t afford that either. Heating hasn’t been on as I can’t afford it.
It isn’t quite as cold now thankfully, but it is still only 10c inside this house, so it is still cold.
You may remember that I started a goal on Ko-Fi for heating and food, although I sadly didn’t get anywhere with that. I did get a few kind donations from some lovely people when I first started the goal so thank you for that. I just couldn’t promote it enough on Twitter anymore as my health deteriorated.
I still have the goal up on Ko-Fi as I still need food and heat, although I never expect a penny as always! That is the site that you can use to donate in general too.
Notes
If you want to read more about me and more about my income and benefits, check out my About Me page, which tells you everything you might want to know.
If you wish to donate or help in paid or FREE ways, check out my Support Me page.
Anything helps and it all goes on food, bills or heat (depending on what I need most), but all go on essential living costs so you are helping massively no matter the amount.
As always, NOTHING ever expected! But if you want to and can help, I really do appreciate it.
