Looking for help

[DozerDog]

Hello all, I'm trying to find any female that was deployed to Afghanistan or Middle East during Operation Enduring Freedom 2002, that is now suffering from ovarian failure, early menopause or menstrual issues. 

I have been trying to file a claim for over a year due to the above issues with no luck. There is no medical documentation to prove my case. 

If there is anyone out there suffering from the same issues, or you know of anyone who could be, please get in touch with me. 

I have no family history of ovarian failure but managed to go through menopause by 35. Looking for help! 

[Buck52]

Also you can call into the Hadit.com Radio Show hosted by Jbasser and Jerrel Cook

This show is usually advertised on the Hadit board for the time its air live.

Usually on Thursday Evenings at 7:00 pm eastern time 6:00pm central.

They have guest on the show and can answer your questions that you may have.

this is a really good thing hadit has and it's all free information

all you have to do is call in and talk with them and get some of your questions answered.

the call in # is 347-237-4819 

They are a great couple & very knowledgeable Veterans & very happy to help.

[Vync]

Welcome to Hadit!

I'm not a female, but will try to help.

For service connection, you'll need three things:
1. Event/injury in service
2. Current diagnosis
3. Nexus/Medical opinion connecting #1 to #2

For #1, being in theater can be a factor. This might be a long shot, but you may have been given an anthrax vaccine, possibly others, before deployment. Some of the vaccines can have side effects which could develop years later. I just did a quick search for "anthrax vaccine side effects" and it came back with a lot of details.

For #2, unfortunately, you have this item covered.

For #3, a doctor, preferably a specialist, does not need to be 100% certain. It does help them greatly to have something concrete to refer back to as the suspected root cause. If they can write a medical opinion backed by medical rationale, they could attribute your illnesses with a 50/50 level of certainty, such as "at least as likely as not". It sounds like "probably" or "possibly", but each of those terms are rejected by the VA. If you are able to find any case studies for your doc to reference, they can help reinforce their opinion.

Consider the chance your ovarian and menopause illnesses may have been caused by something else. If you were exposed to burn pits over there, that could be a contributing factor.

It also might be worth exploring service connection for other disabilities. Once your combined VA rating reaches 50% or higher, the VA will treat any condition you have. I would recommend you obtain copies of your service treatment records, vaccination records, and the medical examinations from when you entered and departed the service.

I mentioned the vaccination records because when I joined the Army in 1990, they used an assembly line for jet gun immunization. They stopped using them in 1997 after contamination concerns. There may not have been any adverse reaction from the vaccine itself, but many service members and veterans got sick from various diseases they were at no risk of contracting, such as hepatitis. This goes to show that even something the military did to help keep you from getting sick, could actually have made you sick.

Regarding the anthrax or other vaccines, Department of Health and Human Services has a web site called Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), where you can report, and view report details (minus any identifying details). They rely on self-reporting of incidents.

https://vaers.hhs.gov

The search feature is a bit overwhelming to go through and appears to be geared more towards researchers and epidemiologists. I did a sample search filtered by female gender, military administered vaccine, symptoms containing the words "ovary", "ovarian", and "premature menopause", the anthrax vaccine, etc... It came back with 7 or 8 hits. I copied/pasted the results below, so the formatting might not be perfect. In this case, the lady reported being administered the anthrax vaccine and had a number of significant symptoms, including premature menopause. Perhaps you might be able to find others and print the results for your doctor to review.

Quote

Details for VAERS ID: 197815-1

Event Information Patient Age 41.00 Sex Female State / Territory Tennessee Date Report Completed 2003-02-14 Date Vaccinated   Date Report Received 2003-02-14 Date of Onset   Date Died   Days to onset   Grantee Non-Grantee Vaccine Administered By Military Vaccine Purchased By Unknown ** Mfr/Imm Project Number NONE Report Form Version 1 Recovered No Serious No * VAERS 2.0 Report Form Only ** VAERS-1 Report Form Only "Not Applicable" will appear when information is not available on this report form version.

Event Categories Death No Life Threatening No Permanent Disability No Congenital Anomaly / Birth Defect * N/A Hospitalized No Days in Hospital None Existing Hospitalization Prolonged No Emergency Room / Office Visit ** Yes Emergency Room * N/A Office Visit * N/A * VAERS 2.0 Report Form Only ** VAERS-1 Report Form Only "N/A" will appear when information is not available on this report form version.

Vaccine Type	Vaccine	Manufacturer	Lot	Dose	Route	Site
ANTHRAX VACCINE	ANTHRAX (BIOTHRAX)	EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS	FAV 043	3	IM	RA

Symptom
ABDOMINAL PAIN
ARTHRALGIA
ARTHRITIS
CONSTIPATION
EYE DISORDER
FIBROMYALGIA
GASTRITIS
HEADACHE
HYPOTHYROIDISM
MIGRAINE
MYALGIA
PREMATURE MENOPAUSE

Adverse Event Description

Excellent health prior to 1st vaccine & avid runner. Three Vaccines given Oct 1999-May 2000. Developed migraine 3 days after 1st vaccine (ill for 3 days). Joint & muscle aches.Was told that this was normal for this vaccine. In March 2001, diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, osteoarthritis, & early menopause: May 2002, diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (diagnosed by 3 Rheumatologists):Feb 2003, diagnosed with Gastritis. Eyes deteriorating, continuous joint and muscle pain (debilitating at times),Abdominal pain, constipation, headaches. Medications: Levothyroxine, Paxil, Darvocet, Diclofenac, Ambien, Nexium.

Lab Data	Current Illness	Adverse Events After Prior Vaccinations
Colonoscopy, EGD, TSH, MRI's, CAT scan, X-Ray's, variuos blood tests.	NONE

Medications At Time Of Vaccination	History/Allergies
NONE	NONE,

 

 

[broncovet]

I agree with Vync who took the time to give a great explanation.  It will likely boil down to a doctor's opinion as to whether or not it is "at least as likely as not" that your condition(s) are related to xy event in military service.  

The "loss of use" of a reproductive organ (caused by military service) is  SMC K, which is about $105 per month.  Its somewhat explained here:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.350

In part,

Quote

(1)Creative organ.

(i) Loss of a creative organ will be shown by acquired absence of one or both testicles (other than undescended testicles) or ovaries or other creative organ. Loss of use of one testicle will be established when examination by a board finds that:

(a) The diameters of the affected testicle are reduced to one-third of the corresponding diameters of the paired normal testicle, or

(b) The diameters of the affected testicle are reduced to one-half or less of the corresponding normal testicle and there is alteration of consistency so that the affected testicle is considerably harder or softer than the corresponding normal testicle; or

(c) If neither of the conditions (a) or (b) is met, when a biopsy, recommended by a board including a genitourologist and accepted by the veteran, establishes the absence of spermatozoa.

(ii) When loss or loss of use of a creative organ resulted from wounds or other trauma sustained in service, or resulted from operations in service for the relief of other conditions, the creative organ becoming incidentally involved, the benefit may be granted.

(iii) Loss or loss of use traceable to an elective operation performed subsequent to service, will not establish entitlement to the benefit. If, however, the operation after discharge was required for the correction of a specific injury caused by a preceding operation in service, it will support authorization of the benefit. When the existence of disability is established meeting the above requirements for nonfunctioning testicle due to operation after service, resulting in loss of use, the benefit may be granted even though the operation is one of election. An operation is not considered to be one of election where it is advised on sound medical judgment for the relief of a pathological condition or to prevent possible future pathological consequences.

(iv) Atrophy resulting from mumps followed by orchitis in service is service connected. Since atrophy is usually perceptible within 1 to 6 months after infection subsides, an examination more than 6 months after the subsidence of orchitis demonstrating a normal genitourinary system will be considered in determining rebuttal of service incurrence of atrophy later demonstrated. Mumps not followed by orchitis in service will not suffice as the antecedent cause of subsequent atrophy for the purpose of authorizing the benefit.

(2)Foot and hand....

 

[Vync]

There are also other ratings specifically to females which are outside of the "loss of creative organ" that Broncovet stated. You can follow this link, which also contains all of the rating tables for other issues (just scroll up/down, or search).

§4.116   Schedule of ratings—gynecological conditions and disorders of the breast.

[broncovet]

Thank you for correcting me, Vync.  SMC K is obviously not the "only" way to get compensation in this regard.  

[Vync]

40 minutes ago, broncovet said:

Thank you for correcting me, Vync.  SMC K is obviously not the "only" way to get compensation in this regard.  

It's not a correction. It's an addition!