I'm wondering how strong of a case I have

[hemipepsis5p]

Hello everyone,

So I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 2 years after I got out of the Army (left Army in November 2011, diagnosed in Jan 2014). While I was in the Army, after my second deployment, I'm very certain I entered a hypomanic state (I was having racing thoughts, pressured and rapid speech, grandiose thoughts, and a decreased need for sleep). I know now what hypomania feels like because it happens to me every so often and I have to have my medication dosage increased.

The details are that basically after my second deployment my buddies and I came back from Iraq, and most of them were stop-lossed and ended up leaving 1-2 months after we returned. I was basically on my own in a whole new platoon and really just fell apart. This is documented on my post-deployment health assessment, where I asked to see a therapist and documented my drinking problem and the problems I had been having with irritability and whatnot. Also, I specifically remember having a plan to move to New Haven, CT and write a philosophy book which would make me famous and help me get into Yale once I impressed Yale professors at book signings. It's really pretty embarassing to admit that and I know now that I was completely delusional. I still had 6 months left on my contract when I was forming plans like this, and I was drinking up to 1/5 of Jim Beam per night starting at 6pm and ending at 2am, chugging a bunch of water, stuffing my face with food, then racking out until 5:50am and getting up for PT and doing a full, normal day on 4 hours of sleep. This went on for about two months until my PLSGT caught wind of how much I was drinking and I ended up cutting back. I remember having tons of energy and being very irritable. The anger and drinking problems are on my PDHRA.

After I got out of the Army, I entered a bout of moderate depression and saw some VA psychiatrists. I was tested for ADHD, diagnosed with OCD and depression, and put on an antidepressant. I believe that this made me hypomanic again (when a bipolar person is given a regular anti-depressant, that is, an SSRI, the medication typically causes rapid onset of hypomania/mania, sometimes even resulting in hospitalizations), and about 2 months after being on Prozac I dropped out of college and moved to Connecticut with the idea of becoming a world famous chef. A few of my friends lived in CT and one of them worked at a restaurant. Iron Chef (the old, Japanese one) has always been one of my favorite shows, cooking was my biggest hobby, and I was confident that one day I would be as good as Iron Chef Sakai or Iron Chef Kenichi, my two favorites from the show, or Gordon Ramsay, who is still one of my idols. When a cooking job didn't materialize, I ended up going to college for psychology and gained a boatload of insight into my condition, and suffered through horrible anxiety, depression, and alcoholism until I finally went to a general provider for it (the depression, mainly). He prescribed me an antidepressant and told me to meet him in a week. I came back a week later feeling absolutely amazing, with the same symptoms I had had way back in the Army and back when I decided to pursue being a chef; racing thoughts, grandiose delusions, rapid speech, irritability, etc... He told me "Wait here, I'll be back in a little bit..." and he left and closed the door and I heard his muffled voice along with a female colleagues and she sounded very concerned. He came back in and told me I wasn't supposed to feel much of anything until the 6-week mark, and he is 100% certain that I have bipolar disorder, and I need to find a psychiatrist. I did just that, and am now a happy camper (compared to being suicidal, lol) making his way through undergrad for a computer science degree.

It's been 2 years now since I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, but I vividly remember having the symptoms back on active duty. I requested my complete VA medical history and they sent it to me, but this was years ago, and I do remember my first psychiatrist had written in his notes "observe for possible hypomania." That was about 5 months after I had left the Army, and that was when he started me on the Prozac. I have requested my complete medical record once again and plan on "putting together my case."

I guess my question is "What are the odds of me getting my bipolar disorder connected to my service?" I'm looking to start the disability process as my treatment is really expensive and I've finally stopped feeling ashamed about all this.

[hemipepsis5p]

Okay, so I have looked around and I am not able to find an answer. At the top of (what I think) are my diagnoses in my paperwork, there is a statement that has me worried. I have included a picture underlining the statement I am concerned about, and the statement that disagrees with it. I'm asking because I'll be sitting down with my psychiatrist on Wednesday and asking him whether these diagnoses could be related to my in-service issues (they're the same issues) and he may have big questions about this; does the paperwork say I'm diagnosed, or not? I think it does... but I want other opinions on this:

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by hemipepsis5p

[green]

I don't think the diagnosis is inactive, the VA has moved to snomed(sp) codes which are configured differently.  I think they are saying you couldn't currently select that code in the system.

[hemipepsis5p]

Thanks. This is also what I suspected, mainly because the ISM criteria is different from the DSM-IV that was out back then, and the DSM-V that is out now.

[Buck52]

sorry I could not find a diagnose above?

a veteran can't diagnose himself? unless your were meaning the code for the diagnose.

The code for diagnose was inactive at that time  you might try again.

 

..........Buck

[hemipepsis5p]

Buck -- the picture is of diagnoses made by my primary care doc; they were later verified by two VA psychiatrists.

[Gastone]

hemi, at this point, your claim is VERY WEAK; because you haven't FILED IT!

All your Med records are already with the VA, right? Go online and file the FDC Claim yourself, let the VA C & P Drs and Raters figure out exactly what SC's you have. The worse that can happen, more tests or evidence will be required, and maybe your FDC will turn in to a Reg Axx Claim.

Just don't sit on filing the claim, at the very least file a Notice of "Intent to File," in order to establish a File & Retro Date.

Semper Fi