john999

If the CUE was made at the VARO you have to file at the VARO. They may have misread the entrance and exit hearing exams. The VA is pretty dumb so it is possible. That would be a CUE. The old decisions were often horrible with no reasons or basis and very little evidence. They also picked and chose what evidence they would list and/or refer to in their decisions. Granting hearing loss as SC in 2008 and denying it in 1983 does not make sense. There is something really screwy about your 1983 rating and your effective dates. The older claims from 60's and 70's were even worse.

I read in VBM that a vet whose foot skin condition gave off a bad odor was enough to grant TDIU. The bad smell was a barrior to employment and this was recognized by a VA social worker.

If you have received your rating the NOD clock is running.

Stay in treatment and gather evidence for the day you cannot work any more. If you get 30% you can get 100%. Most of us started just like you with a lower rating but as time went by we appealed and got higher ratings.

Pete When I first contacted a VA social worker about home health care the SW had it billed to medicare. That pissed me off since I was HB. I was not impressed with the worker who came from some agency in the area. He never showed up on time, ever. I did get the VA to pay, but I am unhappy to here they are cutting costs on our backs and the backs of health care workers. This is how they screw us by cutting here and there where most won't miss it. Do these VA types ever read their mission statement without laughing?

I think that when certain time limits or load limits are met they will ship your claim anywhere just to show they are doing something. Claims get shipped to the St. Pete VARO and they are already ten feet under water with claims.

What is your theory of the CUE when you were denied the first time? You need to file the CUE and explain exactly what the CUE was and when and where it was made. If you are waiting for the VA to CUE themselves it may be a few dozen years. What was the evidence the VA used to deny your claim? What was the evidence you had to grant your claim? What was the VA's reason for the denial? I agree that an error was made but was it a CUE? John

I got P&T in less than one year after being made TDIU. I was denied P&T in my rating and I appealed it by NODing denial of Chapter 35. I never had a C&P for P&T, nor did I have one for TDIU.

One thing for sure is that many people with PTSD are also suffering from severe depression. These things go hand-in-hand. Just like many with depression and/or PTSD self-medicate. Over the years the VA has often changed my DX, but my compensation remained the same.

Very unusual unless you go to the VA and tell them you are cured and that you now have a job paying 100,000 bucks a year. I am 62 and have been P&T for almost 11 years. I have not gotten any orders to show up for C&P exam on my TDIU P&T. During the 11 years I filed numerous claims for other conditions and for housebound. No problems!

Are you able to work 40 hours a week? Are you able to maintain relationships like marriage or long term GF/BF? If you answer "yes" to these questions then you probably won't get 70%, but who knows? If you don't appeal it you will never know. I would try and get an IMO to bolster my claim.

You know I have gained more from posting on Hadit than I have given over the years. When I first posted I did not know what TDIU meant. A few years later I had it. I learned about complications of DMII and SMC's here on Hadit. No VSO ever told me squat. I also learned never to give up on a claim, and not to dismiss a claimant just because their case sounded incredible. John

One thing to consider is that the VA knows that once you are rated TDIU you will probably never work again and you will eventually get P&T. Your spouse and children will have benefits. Your spouse may get DIC for life and your dependents get ChampVA. This is expensive and the VA knows it.

Vista I would not be too sure about VA doctors knowing what they are doing. I was accused of fraud just because I had a college degree in psychology and could describe my symptoms.

If the VA can find one fragment of a sentence in your SSD records or IMO that states any other reason for your inability to work that is not SC the VA will probably deny your claim. There just has to be no doubt that the reason you can't work is due solely to SC conditions. The VA can twist a phrase into a pre-exiting condition or a NSC condition to deny TDIU. They did it to me and I had to get another IMO to clarify a previous IMO. It took an extra year. John

File for TDIU today unless you can do it yesterday! If you are unable to work file for TDIU. I filed when I was fired from the post office. I had just a 30% rating. I did not listen to all the people who told I could not do it. Within a year of being fired I had a disability retirement instead and was on SSDI. I also had a new rating of 70%. My TDIU went back to the day I filed back when I was just 30%. John

Since filing for P&T is considered a request for an increase you could do it through your rep if you trust him. How long have you been 100%? If you don't get cooperation from your rep you can request P&T yourself by sending a letter directly to your VARO via certified mail/return receipt. P&T is a claim, but the VA usually looks at your treatment record and if they see your condition is static you should be made P&T. If you are over 55 P&T is almost a sure thing.

A decision and award was made at the BVA on your appeal?

If your PTSD has not improved in one year from time you got 100% you should ask to be made P&T.

I don't think he will lose his compensation. In fact, if he is not getting 100% or TDIU he should be getting it. The hospital report is a lot of speculation about a personality disorder, depression vs PTSD etc. I think the hospital report supports either TDIU or 100% for depression/PTSD. A service connected DX of depression is just as good as PTSD as long as the exam doctor says he can't work.

A buddy from Vietnam I contacted about 2 years ago just got 30% for PTSD. He also has a claim in for DMII. I talked to him for the first time in 40 years and encouraged him to file a claim because he was in bad shape when I was in Nam. He went all these years living out in the woods and never went to the VA for anything. I am going to tell him to stay in treatment and appeal that rating when he has some more evidence. His wife has cancer and he is in pretty bad shape himself. My other buddy is in Idaho and dying from AO. I am really happy I was able to help him and send him in the right direction. He is poor and does not have a working computer. John

AV Can you get a second opinion on the Glaucoma from a private doctor? I went from 0% to 60% rating on heart condition because I asked for more testing and appealed. My problems are secondary to DMII. I would keep appealing these ratings and get more testing via your PCP or private source.

If you claim gets to the CAVC it is easy to check on its progress. When it is at the BVA it is in a black hole.

Hedgay It is probably the Seroquel that is making you feel blah! You know it is an anti-psychotic. It is a powerful tranquilizer and with the 2mg of clonzepam you must feel pretty sleepy and sedated. The VA needs to do labs on you and Carlie to see what these drugs are doing to you.

Your TDIU claim with 90% and SSDI is pretty much a slam dunk. You might get 100% if your other disabilites add up to 50% on their own. That would give you 95% rounded up to 100%. If you want to go back in time and say the VA should have inferred TDIU when you got SSDI that would depend on other factors including if your claim became final at any time. This is for a CUE.