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rpowell01
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Posts posted by rpowell01
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A few days ago my left left started hurting. I didn't think anything about it but today whenever I lay straight or standup both my legs hurt really bad. Am I pinching my sciata? It goes down the back of my buttocks, back of thighs and back of calf muscle. I hope this Venlafaxine isn't doing this.
I am not going to take the Mirtazapine after it did that to me. I will cut it in quarters if I need one to sleep but as of right now I finally got me sleep straightened out, well somewhat.
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I agree, I have never taken something that made feel like i was being filmed on the National Geographic channel as being a bug. I never slept 18 hours in my life and this stuff made me sleep that long. This is too much for me to handle and I am quiting all psych meds, properly of course. If this is the VA's new program to deal with pain I don't want no part of it. Yes, this is what my pysch doctor told me is the new way of dealing with pain. No so for me....
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Well I finally received the lower dosage today so I can get off this evil medication. Worse thing about this is yesterday I received Mirtazapine which I read a lot folks use here. OMG, I took it at 6:30pm last night was out until 2:30 today and I am still feeling like poop.
I am done with all the psych stuff. I am coming off the venlafaxine then I am done with it. I rather be in pain than to go through all of this. I have become a bug and I am done with it.
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Then you go to the SSA office yourself and get copies of the records and send them to the VA. They cannot deny you copies of your own medical records. There may be a charge or a fee but it would be worth it.
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Well that didn't go well. I woke up this morning mad for no reason. Had bad headache so I had to take one again. I guess I will wait for lower dosage to get here.
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Eitherway get you a doctor to write an IMO stating you cant work because of your issues. This will give you more or some weight for your claim.
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Hey come to find out I have been having a bad reaction to the Venlafaxine. my PD is going to take me off this med and put me on another. Of course I have to take the lower dosages first because of the withdraw effects of it. Does anybody know if Tramadol will replace the lower dosage of Venlafaxine since they both are effexors? The reason I ask is because it usually take 2 weeks for the meds to be shipped to me and I cannot wait that long to get off of Venlafaxine. I am scared it might be damaging things in my body and I really need to quit taking it. I am going to try this idea and see what happens. If I have to go through the withdraws until I get the lower dosage I am willing to go that far.
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I know London, KY is where I had to send all my SSDI questionaire papers to.
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Why are you not getting paid for training or even going to school? You are entitled to any college learning. Second, if you qualify for VocRehab to where you can go to college then the Counselor cannot tell you WHERE to go to college. They can give you names of colleges but they cannot say you have to go to school here or there. I would call the Patient Advocates Office in your area and ask them about this.
I had a friend who just told me about the VRAP. Here is a link on some information on VRAP:
http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2012/03/new-vrap-gi-bill-for-unemployed-vets/
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I understand. Got Dr. Bash on my case to evaluate my records. Will be sending out a whole binder to him tomorrow so wish me luck. I have "hadit" with the VA's incorrect C&P exam statements and C&P examiners not reading over the military medical records that show current claims were issues in the military and excluding them in the requestion to the RO.
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Wow TBird, I don't have that issue I just can't sleep and my sleep is messed up so badly right now. Thats why I quit taking it for a few days to get my sleep straight. But after I found out about it's withdraw effects yesterday I had not choice but to take it around in the mid afternoon but of course it made me sleepy and once again my sleep is messed up. If many people have such problems with this medication why does the VA Psych doctors still prescribe it?
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Anybody here taking Venlafaxine? Be careful of not taking it for two days, I just found out the hard way for the past few days....Worse medicine withdraws I ever had...
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Yep that is correct. You only get paid for time you are in school. Any breaks you don't get paid. I never got paid for any breaks between terms.
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ooops sorry
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Nothing to say except awesome, awesome and more awesome!!! Congrats...
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Congrats and I believe I can say I only had one compassionate C&P examiner. Funny the VA didn't even mention his reports in my last award letter. I frown about them doing that but I smile whenever I see people like you get what you deserve.
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I also have a slight leg length issue due to my scoliosis. You might consider getting a doctor to opine on the scoliosis being related to the rib facet injuries and then have them expound that the scoliosis is causing a leg length problem that is causing undue stress on your lower extremities (therby making them Service connectable). If you have any respiratory issues you might look into a med opinion on the relationship to the rib problems.
My scoliosis is to the right and I have had 5 boughts of Kidney stones. If I have another one (certainly don't want one)I think I will ask the doctor if my body getting scrunched(new medical term) to the one side is contributory to the stones not clearing/catching.
Best of luck!
The problems with my right leg is because of my neck and thoracic spine issues. I didn't have pain in my right leg until the radiculopathy of the arms and chest appeared in January 2010. Funny thing about this is I sent the VA an MRI report from 2007 that showed I cervical spondylosis with bulges. I had this MRI because of the headaches I have had since the injury in the army. This was the first MRI I had since I got out because I was too proud to go seek medical help. I do appreciate the help you guys are supplying me. I need all I can at the moment.
I have finally given up on trying to do this by myself and now will let the dice rolls as it rolls. Hopefully it rolls right with the current TDIU and NOD with DRO. The VA has decided to do the TDIU before the NOD with DRO?
I just want answers from the VA and they haven't given me any. Even my PCP can't give me any and was is so bad is he hasn't sent me to see a specialist as of YET on the cervical issues. I have one more appointment with him on the 11th of June and I am going to ask him kindly WHY. My VA Pysch Doctor made this appointment for me because it is a concern of mine I made to her. Then after this appointment if he doesn't do anything then I am transfering out of the Bay Pines area to James B. Haley in Tampa who I know has a spine center there.
I would drop this whole thing if somebody would just go in and correct the issues. I even told the VA in my claims last year that it wasn't about the money but about somebody correcting the issues. This is all I want and I will leave them alone but until them I am taking it to the courts if I have to.
JohnB and Carlie have been great help but I think I have bothered them too much in messages.
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I am wondering about something. On the increase from 2010 and the new award letter this is how it shows:
Mechanical Cervical spine pain (also claimed as limitation of motion and bulge in neck and previously evaluated under DC 5290)
I know what "also claimed as limitation of motion" is but what does "and bulge in neck" mean? I do understand the DC 5290 which is an old evaluation they did away with in 2002 or 2003. Are they saying that the bulge in my neck part of my sc'd diagnosis? See why I am asking what this means because I have been denied radiculopathy as secondary to my neck.
The shortness of breathe I had for about 1year or so is coming from my cervical disc protrusion at C5-C6. After I had Physical Therapy for a month back in December the shortness of breath went away. I still get it once in awhile but not everyday like I use to.
After Physical Therapy the VA sent me to my neck sounds like Rice Krispies and I am only 43. The only neck and/or back injury I have ever had was the one from the Army. I have guarded them ever since them very carefully.
BTW here is the BVA I am standing on that I found recently.
http://www.va.gov/vetapp/wraper_bva.asp?file=/vetapp11/Files5/1145925.txt
Lay letters over ruled the examiners "without resorting to mere speculation"...I have one lay letter that has been written and I can get many others written by family and friends who has known me ever since I got out of the Army and have seen my cervical issues.
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Well after 16 years I finally got them to recognize the thoracic spine which an MRI does show Type II endplate disease and spondylosis/arthritus throughout my thoracic spine. They never brought up my thoracic spine originally in the 1996 award letter. It was like they just totally disregarded it.
On past and current award letter not once do they mention the facet rib dysfunction. But in my army records it shows this is where all my issues started after the injury. From there it went to my lower back and then up to my neck. Just think about this injury. I had hyperextensionto my neck and upper back in on incident. I bent them so far backwards I was able to see my feet from behind me. The MEB gave me Mechanical Lower Back Pain Syndrome. But, on the MED doctors report it does show that I had Facet Rib Dysfunction at T8-T9 and the goals to reset them were not met, along with my other issues in my cervical spine. I just didn't understand my rights back then like I do today and if I knew back then what I know today I would have disagreed with the MEB. It also shows I had mild scoliosis and a leg length discrepancy. I didn't think about the leg length discrepancy until a few days ago whenever I read it in the most current C&P report. Correct me if I am wrong but if I had the leg length discrepancy and the army doctor gave me a show insert as treatment isn't this a cause to file a claim if I am having an issue with my right leg today? No, I couldn't wear the insert because it hurt my foot too much. Even though the VA C&P examiner said was less likely than not (less than 50%) caused my my back issues he noted that I had the insert due to leg length discrepancy. He did this a couple of times on the C&P report, kind of hinting to me this is why you are having these problems and the problems existed from the military. Of course they denied just about all my secondary issues except the Anxiety NOS.
Now I am at a stand still because I filed a NOD with DRO and TDIU. It seems the VA is working on the TDIU before the NOD with DRO for some reason.
71M10 I never thought about this is why I could be having chest pains which I filed as secondary to my cervical issues they denied it of course.
jvretiredvet I don't see those codes you mentioned anywhere.
BTW they never even mentioned my rib dysfunction in any of the C&P exams nor any award letter. I also know that I now have to get an IMO from a specialist such as Dr. Bash who knows about this area.
I know I have a long haul in front of me and me filing for TDIU and SSDI I am hoping they get approved. I have guarded my neck and back since that injury and now I have spondylosis throughout my thoracic spine and neck which is causing disc protrusions in my neck with foraminal stenosis. One C&P examiner said she couldn't make a determination if the Cervical DDD was a progression of my injuries "without resorting to mere speculation" and then this last examiner stated "less than" (less then 50%) on my secondary issues of the pain in my arms, right leg, shoulders and chest. So I am in a world of sh** as it was said in Full Metal Jacket. But I will hopefully be able to get that IMO soon...
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Whenever i was in the Army I was diagnosed with a few Facet Rib Dysfunctions after my accident. The Physicala Therapy attempted to treat them and she was able to reset them so she referred me to a Family Medical Doctor on the base who stated he could reset them. Basically I had a few ribs at my thoracic spine area that were kind of popped out of place. He pushed on my back and a few days later is when I started having some serious issues. Anyway, this issue has never went away and I truly believe I have been dealing with this dysfunction since 1994 since the Army. I am wondering if this would be a totally separate issue than the thoracic spine issues I have? Does anybody know of a Diagnostic Code for this because I can't seem to find one?
Thanks
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It all depends on the College your going to. I know for example if you are taking 2 classes @ 3 credits each then it is full time. You need a total of 6 credits to be full time. But again it depends on the college because some colleges have what is called FastTrack program where they cut the terms shorter to 5 weeks. My college terms are 8 weeks where others are 12 week terms.
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I think Chapter 31 will deny but again it depends your disability and situation. For some people work actually aggravates their disability and makes things worse.
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I can say that if anybody here has back and neck issues like I do and cannot afford this type of bed then go get 1. Serta memory foam mattress or 2. Go to Walmart and get a 4 inch memory foam mattress cover. I have found these to help me and I can tell in the mornings whenever I wake up.
Also, I have did some research and found out that these "pillow-top" mattresses are the worst thing for a person's back and neck.
Venlafaxine
in Entitlement - Veterans Compensation Benefits Claims
Posted
Yep thats exactly what it was. I had to get a Toradol shot at the James A. Haley hospital. I always get pain down the left and/or right side of my buttocks but never like this in my legs. Now I know what is causing my constant leg pains but it was in both legs. Really weird, because my left leg started hurt days before this and then boom both my legs started hurting but the pain was greater than I have had experienced before. I had problems walking for 2 days because they felt weak also but that Toradol shot did the job and now I have to watch myself. I am a lot better and I have to now watch what I do. I don't know what I can pick up or can't. I cannot even get on my knees and do any work or it goes out.
I am also finally on my last low dosage Venlafaxin pill and well I can feel the difference. I don't feel like a bug anymore but the pain in my arms and chest muscles are worse than it was whenever I was on Venlafaxin. Like I said I rather deal with the pain than feeling like a bug. That is my reaction to that medication.