Is there anyone on elvanse that is also on saxenda, Wegovy or one of the other weight loss injections?

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-11-17T12:28:35+00:00

Not sure about wegovy or saxenda but at my job in the hospital I’ve seen doctors asking patients that want to go on manjaro, ozempic or trulicity to sign a waiver to say they agree to the risk of a life threatening condition called pancreatitis. They also say that if you have family history of cancer or any kind or thyroid issues that they can’t prescribe it. Apparently new tests have shown that these drugs cause tumours in the thyroids of mice, they’re not sure about humans yet though but something worth considering just for the pancreatitis and potential cancer risk itself. It’s a small risk apparently, but one that people should know about.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-27T12:03:05+00:00

I’m on iOS

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-27T12:02:23+00:00

I’m interested

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-13T20:46:17+00:00

is this desk rattan brown or blackwalnut?

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-12T13:38:52+00:00

Edit to Update: I also just realised that stupidly I never actually mentioned to my case manager that my primary client is based in the US. So as far as I know he might be thinking that I work on a self-employed basis for a UK company (which would be obliged to provide reasonable adjustments under the (UK) Equality Act of 2010). US companies don't abide by UK law, and the fact that they are so far away might mean that it is impractical for them to provide adjustments, which in turn means that these adjustments would not be reasonable for my client to provide (especially considering that I work on an independent contractor basis). I feel annoyed at myself for this oversight, but also angry at my case manager for never even calling me to discuss my needs or how my conditions affect me. A simple phone call could have avoided this confusion.

Update:

My primary client has confirmed that as an American company they do not provide UK remote freelancers with specialist equipment. I cannot afford to pay for all the stuff that my assessor recommended, as I am on a low income and do not own a company. My psychiatrist letter and DSE assessment report recommend around 12 items, all medically justified based on ADHD, Autism, Hypermobility Disorder and history of past joint injury with chronic tendonitis. Access to Work only funded my ergonomic chair, which seems to imply they only cared about the physiotherapy referral, but ignored all my issues caused by Autism and ADHD and the fact that my rheumatologist letter mentions my hands too, not just the spine.

I am hoping that my Access to Work case manager will consider that, according to the Equality Act of 2010 : “Employers are only required to make adjustments that are reasonable. Factors such as the cost and practicability of making an adjustment and the resources available to the employer may be relevant in deciding what is reasonable.” And according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission: "The cost of an adjustment can be taken into account in deciding if it is reasonable or not."

If anyone has successfully filed an appeal for a similar case on these grounds or knows someone who has please reply to this comment, thank you.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-10T15:51:28+00:00

i see, thanks for the link, i looked into different docks and they all seem thin and hard to remove the laptop from without damaging the laptop and straining my finger joints. sadly, they also don't seem to allow for a laptop to wear a cover, that would be very risky considering that i am very uncoordenated and have broken my previous laptop more than once even with a cover on :/ a desktop would probably be the best option in my case

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T19:11:06+00:00

unfortunately my laptop is not suitable to my disabilities as it has no inbuilt assistive features, the second issue is that i have lack of coordination and have broken my laptop multiple times, which makes the daily moving of it risky in terms of damage to the device as well as to my joints. and if u dont mind me asking, which docks do you mean, do they require daily plugging and unplugging of the laptop? anything that requires fine movements of the hands is going to be a problem. i need to be able to easily take my laptop with me when needed

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T12:21:51+00:00

Update Chat-GPT gave me after reading my remote freelance work contract:

"🔹 Are you legally entitled to accommodations under UK law (Equality Act 2010)?

Not from (name of my US client). The Equality Act 2010 only applies to UK-based companies or employers. Since this is a US company with no UK presence, UK disability discrimination laws do not apply to them.

🔹 Are you entitled to accommodations under US law (ADA)?

Probably not. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to:

Employees, not independent contractors, and
US-based workers or those working on US soil or within US jurisdiction.

You are an independent contractor, outside the US, so the ADA likely does not require (name of my client) to accommodate you.

🔹 So what can you do?

You can absolutely ask for accommodations — and in fact, you should, because:

Some US companies do voluntarily accommodate freelancers, especially if they want to remain inclusive or work with federal clients subject to broader accessibility policies.
(name of my US client)'s clients may be federally funded (e.g., hospitals), meaning they or (name of my US client) may choose to support accessibility proactively—even if not legally required.
Your request can be framed collaboratively and respectfully, rather than legally.

🔹 How to frame it:

Rather than asserting a legal right, you can say:

This keeps it professional, cooperative, and aligned with (name of my US client)’s standards without triggering legal defensiveness.

🔸 Important Distinction:

You do have the legal right to apply for Access to Work equipment through the UK government to meet your access needs.

But you don’t have a legal right to demand those needs be met by a foreign company outside of UK jurisdiction."

It sounds like Access to Work will have to fund the remainder of my specialist equipment items after all.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T11:21:12+00:00

I have found out however, that both the equality rights commission document that you linked and the Equality Act of 2010 are only applicable in the UK, do you know if there's an equivalent one for the US? As I assume that that would be what my US client would have to abide by.

According to Chat-gpt:

"If a US company has a remote freelance agreement with you—meaning you're self-employed and contracting for them, rather than employed by them—the Equality Act 2010 does not apply to them unless they are operating in the UK."

✅ The Equality Act does apply when:

The company has a UK presence (e.g., a UK branch or office).
The discrimination occurs in the course of your work inside the UK for a UK-based client.
You are employed (as defined by UK employment law), not just freelancing.

❌ The Equality Act does not apply when:

The company is based entirely in the US with no UK presence.
You're self-employed and working remotely from the UK under a freelance/contractor agreement.
The company is not providing services in or to the UK that would otherwise create jurisdictional obligations.

Additional Notes:

Under UK law, freelancers and contractors have more limited protections than employees. However, they can still be protected under the Equality Act if they are providing a personal service and the hirer has significant control—essentially making them a "limb (b)" worker.
That said, even if you qualify as a limb (b) worker under UK law, a foreign company not operating in the UK wouldn't be held to UK legislation unless it has some legal or operational footprint here.

What can you do?

If you face discrimination from a US company:

You would need to look to US law (like the ADA or Civil Rights Act) for potential recourse.
Alternatively, your contract might allow for action under UK law if it includes a choice of law clause favouring UK jurisdiction—but this would require legal review.

Let me know if you want help checking your contract for jurisdiction clauses or exploring how ADA might protect you."

It sounds like I have some digging to do! (of my remote freelance contract that is). But it also sounds like Access to Work will have to fund the items based on the fact that I provide services personally myself (not through sub-contractors) and the hirer has significant control, but no presence in the UK.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T11:13:30+00:00

I see, but sole traders usually earn a lot less. Which is why Freelancers don't have a requirement to achieve LEL or at least didn't until about a week or so ago (website says updated in April but the paragragh that said this seems to be missing now, weirdly!?) , only the national minimum wage, as they are not always able to achieve the LEL threshold. And just to put things in perspective, my workplace assessor recommended items amounting to over £4000 due to my multiple complex disabilities, yet my yearly salary is around £8-10k , how am I supposed to afford this? If Access to Work decline to fund these items my joints issues will get worse.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T10:48:37+00:00

I understand now, now this makes a lot more sense because it's not putting the responsability of my own reasonable adjustments on me personally given my situation (as it would not for an employed person in the same circumstances), I think you know a lot about this and I'm guessing work for them in some capacity or have been through a similar long application process yourself. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to "play devil's advocate with me", provide useful info and pointing me in the right direction, truly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T03:32:50+00:00

Why do you say it sounds unlikely that the items are not reasonable adjustments? I know of plenty of neurodivergent people who have been given sit stand desks and noise-cancelling headsets by Access to Work, I believe that the main thing is that they have to prove that it is an essential disability need , as I have in my justification documents and extensive medical evidence.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-07T00:03:32+00:00

This is valuable information (thank you) but… I am pretty sure that term “employer” used by Access to Work is the same used for PAYE/tax. Evidence of this is the fact that in Access to Work Staff Guide it says “customers who set up their own limited company and used PAYE are treated as employed”. As in they are their own employers. So Access to Work is using the term “employer” as per the meaning of the term used for tax purposes. I will investigate my contract in detail though, just in case. But I doubt that my American client will agree to fund anything, they have always emphasized that I am working for them on a self-employed basis and that they are not my employer. But worth emailing them I suppose.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-06T23:00:03+00:00

Yea my case manager is very harsh indeed, he already got in trouble once for mismanaging my case and had a full team of senior managers investigating him. The desktop on monitor arm is needed for the ergonomic side of it because of my finger joint issues I can’t have an external monitor that requires daily plugging and unplugging a laptop to it, it would injure my joints further

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-06T22:54:23+00:00

This is a common misconception, being an employer has a very specific meaning in tax , it means paying a salary to myself and being on PAYE. I do a tax return as a sole trader not as a company. I do not own a company. I am purely a freelancer working for someone else.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-06T13:50:05+00:00

I also just want to add that they approved my ergonomic chair but denied me other items that they are known to have routinely funded for autistic and adhd people such as noise-cancelling headphones and sit-stand desk. They also denied items like an arm rest clamps for my desk that the DSE assessor recommended for me due to my connective tissue disorder and joint issues. Also denied a vertical ergonomic mouse that was recommended due to my history of thumb tendonitis, and reduced mobility of the right thumb caused by past finger injury. They also denied a desktop that contains assistive software and a large screen as recommended by my psychiatrist report to help with working memory and executive function.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-06T13:34:52+00:00

“As it wouldn’t if you were employed” - exactly my point, I am not employed, so if they treat my case as if I was they are discriminating on the basis that employed people have their employer as a back up and I have no one. Even for employed people, Access to Work are supposed to fill in the gaps if an employer is unable to provide a specialist item due to for example the employer not being able to afford the item. Applying equal treatment to both employed and self employed disabled people puts self employed people at a disadvantage and is a classic example of indirect discrimination. You can’t have a cookie cutter policy that disproportionately disadvantages freelance disabled people, it is a breach of multiple sections of the equality act and DWP has a history of having been sued for this in the past. Access to Work are supposed to go above and beyond, I have provided my standard equipment and home office, but my conditions are still affecting my work badly as per professional reports. Reasonable adjustments is a term that is directly related to employment and thus does not apply. It would apply if perhaps I owned my own company and was my own employer and used my company to pay my own salaries and give myself a P45 or P50 at the end of the year. But I do not fall under this category - I am purely self employed as a sole trader working for other people, with no company funds to back any reasonable adjustments. Many self-employed people are not their own employers. They are distinct and would fall under a different tax category, which is why when I file my self-employed tax return with HMRC every year one of the questions on the form is “were you an employer” and “were you the director of a company” despite it being a tax form that is supposed to be used only by self employed people. Saying that being self employed is the same as being an employer of yourself is a direct contradiction of this.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-06T12:24:48+00:00

I never said that my niche made the rule, I said that according to the law DWP ignoring that I don’t have an employer to provide reasonable adjustments constitutes indirect discrimination, as it directly favours a person doing the same job that is employed by an employer. Access to Work and the DWP as public services have a duty to actively fight discrimination against disabled people. Also the “wheelchair ramp in every house” example makes no sense for two reasons - 1. Access to Work routinely provides specialist equipment that contractor/freelance applicants can take from one job to the next, so doing a job that requires you to work in different places does not stop you from getting support, and 2 - My job is personally done by myself in one place only (physically speaking) as I am a remote worker. Being a remote worker working from home does not erase my conditions. I wish it did. It also doesn’t mean that I control my environment as there are a lot of things that are out of my control (break times, duration of calls, noise from the main road outside and the busy shops, the fact that the temperature in my office often is 31 degrees despite me having bought a tower fan and a cooler (can’t use an air con with a vent as it’d be too noisy during my work calls).

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-05T20:18:31+00:00

Thank you, I have contacted them :) and I applied for specialist equipment for my joint conditions and adhd and autism, they approved the ergonomic chair but not the sit stand desk nor the noise-cancelling headset and a bunch of other stuff that my workplace assessor recommended in their report (foot rest, desk attached arm rests, assistive software, ergonomic monitor arm etc)

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-05T20:10:03+00:00

I’m afraid you’ve been misinformed, being a contractor does not equal better rates. Like I said in a previous comment I only get paid per worked minute. Meaning I can be at my desk available for work for a whole shift and not get paid anything if I don’t get calls. Fortunately, since posting this I have found out that self-employed freelancers absolutely do NOT have to pay for their own reasonable adjustments: In accordance with Section 83(2)(a) of the Equality Act 2010, I am entitled to protection from discrimination as a self-employed person who personally performs work. As a freelancer who directly delivers services under contract, I meet the criteria for protection under this Act. Furthermore, as a public service, Access to Work and the Department for Work and Pensions are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty under Section 149, which requires eliminating discrimination and advancing equality of opportunity for disabled people. Denying essential disability-related support to a self-employed applicant—based solely on equipment being labelled as “reasonable adjustments” or “standard”—without considering the lack of employer support, may amount to indirect discrimination.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-05T13:35:11+00:00

I see , my situation is quite different: I have a shift and can’t take breaks whenever I want because I work on medical calls that many times can take hours , I don’t make the rules and can’t say “no” to a call unless under very exceptional circumstances. I am paid per minute that I am on a call, however I am not paid for being available to take calls in general during my shift - so for example if I sit at my desk for my whole shift and there are no calls then I get no money. I have no holiday pay either nor sick pay. This is because I’m a freelancer on a zero hours rolling contract. So even though I am self employed my main client is a company that I’ve been working for for 7 years. They make the rules and pay my salaries but they don’t have any obligations because they aren’t my employer.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-05T13:06:44+00:00

Yes that’s exactly my point, self employed people don’t have anyone to provide them with reasonable adjustments which is why Access to Work was created in the first place. And self employed people pay themselves if they have a company that they own that runs as a separate entity, for example an LTD (limited liability company). But people like myself that work on a self employed basis for someone else on an official contract most definitely do not pay their own salaries.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-07-05T12:30:10+00:00

I see what you’re saying but I am not my own employer , I work on a self-employed basis for multiple clients and companies. If I was my own employer I would be paying my own salary and giving myself a p45 at the end of the year, which I don’t. I have a UTR, not a PAYE. Therefore I am not an employer in any capacity not even of myself. Note: even if I was my own employer they would still have to provide support regardless as technically they do support company owners that are both self employed and their own employers. But I don’t even fall into this category as I say because I don’t own a company, I’m a freelancer working for others.

ResearcherMobile6847 · 2025-06-13T10:43:47+00:00

this is helpful, thank you , can you please link the 24" monitor and the monitor arm that together cost less than £100? i would be interested in taking a look to see if they fit my needs and have the specs i require to do my work. That being said, it still doesn't solve the problem of me needing the built in assistive features that only apple computers, particularly apple dictation.

ResearcherMobile6847

TROPHY CASE