john999

I think TestVet is right. I was 70% and on SSDI and the VA denied my TDIU the first time. I got it on appeal in about a year. You probably will get your 100% or TDIU but don't be over confident. That is a way to get your feelings hurt. Mine were hurt often by the VA.

Hey, we have vets who are TDIU and forget to send in employment questionnaire and get reduced. That is a real bitch since I don't trust the VA to ever send me such a questionnaire. I send one myself ever year and I am P&T for 12 years in August.

In Ronald Reagan's day I believe from my own experience there was an effort to reduce vets and get them off the rolls. I don't know if this is happening again but the VA is not fond of a 100% vet who passes 20 year mark and is "home free". That is the vet's last hurdle. I don't know if they do this to P&T vets or not? If you are over 55 and have been 100% or TDIU for five years it is supposedly much harder to reduce you. The VA has to meet a higher standard to reduce you. The VBM discusses this in detail. They have to show sustained and clear improvement over time, and not just one exam. John

You know I was treated in a military hospital for a mental illness and was later discharged with zero disability. I soon ended up in a VA hospital within a year of discharge and got 10%.....$28 a month. This was in bad old days but I see these days are not much better. It took 30 years to get to TDIU. The first 15 years after discharge I never made more than $6000 a year and lived like a dog. I put in for increases and all the VA asked me was "do you hear voices"? I worked at odd jobs and tried to go to school. I was not functional either socially or occupationally. I had to appeal a general discharge myself and got it upgraded to honorable. I also have sleep apnea and it depresses the hell out of me.

If the military aggravated any condition you can get compensated. Maybe you had ADD and you still got PTSD on top of the ADD from military experience. I saw a guidance counselor before the military, but in no way did I consider myself mentally ill. They just wrote in their notebooks and got me through high school. These childhood DX'es are a lot of bull. Teenagers act crazy for all sorts of reasons. I wanted attention and care and got abuse and neglect, so I enlisted in the loving arms of the US Army and got sent to Vietnam. Maybe I was predisposed to emotional problems, but I did my service in the combat zone and will probably die from AO to prove it. You know during WW 1 the British had 65,000 cases of shell shock after the war, and probably a couple of 100,000 that cracked up, but went back to the trenches and got KIA. If you told your CO you could not stand it any more you got put against a wall and shot.

I had a GAF of 50 and was on SSDI. I got 70% and TDIU. At that time I was DX'ed with Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I know I should have gotten 100% but I had to fight for over a year just to get TDIU. I had been SC for 30 years at 30% before I got serious about my claim. Now I realize I was screwed from day one back in 1971. The VA will diddle you with no problem. The RO rates you and not the doctor.

Are you working? That is main question between 30%-50% and 70%-100%.

I have an ongoing struggle with my OSA. I finally got a mask I can tolerate, but the machine still causes dry mouth. I don't think I can tolerate over 5 hours of cpap without my machine going dry or me finding the mask just too uncomfortable. I am getting better. I tried a dental device with no luck.

VA discovered calcification in my legs doing a CT scan and it was SC'ed with a good medical report. Artery disease and DMII go hand in hand.

I agreed to pay my lawyer 20% of retro and he has been with me since my DRO Hearing all the way to the CAVC, and beyond perhaps. Now I wonder if he will try and collect from both EAJA and 20% from me? He did briefs for DRO and BVA which were ignored.

20% of any retro. is the usual deal.

Were you DX'ed with OSA in service?

You are not working, correct? You are getting treatment at the VA and taking your meds. This is what they want to hear at least in early stages. You are being a "good" patient, right? See if you can get P&T via appeal if you have to go that way.

Pete is exactly right. The shrinks and VSO's encourage these difficult PTSD claims. Now ptsd can only be diagnosed by VA. This is not good unless you have a PH and a few combat awards. The VA tends to DX adjustment disorder instead of PTSD.

Major depressive disorder sounds low at 10%. Usually , you get at least 30% since MDD is a psychotic disorder that tends to reoccur. What kind of meds do you take for the MDD? You got 100% but I would try and get increases for insurance purpose if the VA tries to reduce one rating.

Get a CT scan of your legs sometime. Since you have DM type one it may very well show artery disease which is pretty easy to connect to DMII. That can get you an extra 60% because if you have calcification in your legs you probably have it in the heart and brain.....CAD and Stoke. When the VA proposes to reduce a 100% vet they have to look at entire disability picture not just one C&P. They are just trying to get away with dirty work.

If they don't rate you both on social and occupational functioning that is an error for appeal.

This is why I hump out to the VA about ten times a year to complain to my shrink and PCP about my conditions. I have been TDIU for 12 years and HB for three and I don't want them to declare me well. I just put in for an increase in my DMII. It won't get me a dime but it shows I am getting worse not better. If the VA recommends a medication I try it once at least. I, too, have been SC for 40 years and in the first 15 years they did try and shake me loose once, but I had my ten years in and kept 10% rating way back in the 80's.

I was SC for bipolar disorder, ptsd, panic, and schizophrenia......yes, almost impossible, so the VA just rated me 70% for schizophrenia. They threw it all at the wall and waited for the last thing to stick.

Yes, a good IMO doctor should be able to get TDIU out of a 90% SC disability picture.

The VA almost shipped my claim off to the BVA even though I did have a NOD with a DRO request that was in their hands. You have to keep your eye on them and check frequently yourself. You can't depend on some VSO to do this for you. I know that is a shock, but true knowledge to old timers. VSO's have caused me much grief over the years. Piss poor representation to the point of malpractice.

The thing is you need a doctor to use this reasoning and make a report in your favor.

Appeal to CAVC???? Did you have a lawyer?

I got SSDI for SC condition and VA made my TDIU retro to that date. If the VA knew about your SSDI solely for SC condition they should have inferred TDIU. Berta is right that this could be CUE

He got his money with no interest, of course. I bet there are many WWII vets who are owed money but are now to old and sick to fight to get it. I think a lot of WWII vets got pretty high ratings right after discharge only to be reduced a few years later. These guys were trying to get on with their lives after the Great Depression and WWII so they just went forward. Same with Korean War and Vietnam where vets just allowed their ratings to be reduced because they were doing OK as young men/woman.20- 30 years later the disability drives them into a early retirement. If I had got proper rating when I was discharged I could have gone to college without having to work 30 hours a week using pitiful G.I. Bill which only covered about 40% of my expenses. Now I am fighting to get that money and it is taking almost a decade. I did get my degree which no one can take away from me (a lot of good it did me). John