john999

Is there a relationship between DMII and sleep apnea? I have read that those with DMII are three times as likely to get sleep apnea as those without DMII. Does this mean there is cause and effect relationship of just coincidence?

If you have DMII the doctor can see it by just looking at your HbA1c and fasting glucose levels. Have you ever been tested for neuropathy or any other secondary conditions of DMII? When I got my C&P for DMII the doctor just looked at my latest lab results and said "Yeah, you have it", so this is what it could be for you. If you have any pain in your feet,legs or vision troubles this could be secondary to DMII. Heart disease can be secondary. Once you have DMII it opens up Pandora's box.

You need to get a doctor to review your medical records and state that your DMII and HBP started in service. How long have you been out and are you diabetic now? You need what we call an independent medical opinion to make the link or nexus statement. The VA won't do it.

They would send it back to your VARO for them to get more evidence or testing. You need to get help from your PCP. The VA will probably just send you for another C&P exam. You have to fight to get more testing.

The same doctor should not have done both C&P exams. He is biased by past experience with you. I think you could use that for an appeal. The damage from the accident likely could have caused the neck problems and I think you should get benefit of doubt, but my opinion in that arena does not count. The VA has their finger on the scale. Keep appealing. Your best hope is the IMO route.

My narcotic pain meds are 5-8 days late every month. This is unacceptable, but what can I do? In Floria there is so much pressure on pain management doctors that they don't prescribe as well as the VA. I could not get oxycodone and fentanyl patches from a private doctor. If I did I would be paying out the rear end. I have 5 years of treatment from pain management at the VA. If they try and dump me I will raise question of malpractice. I have been on narcotics via the VA for at least 5 years including morphine, methadone, percoset and fentanyl. If I should not have gotten narcotic meds then they need to explain to a lawyer why they prescribed them for years. Same goes for the clonazepam. Try going cold turkey from clonazepam. You can have convulsions just like valium or xanax sudden stop of meds. I came off a pretty good dose of valium and that was very unpleasant to say the least.

I think at your age you should ask for P&T. I am 62 and have been P&T for ten years. When I got TDIU I was denied P&T. I filed an immediate appeal and got P&T within one year. I think the worst that will happen is that you get denied but I doubt it.

BM6546 I have a rating decision from 1973. It looks much like yours with just letters and a few lines to justify my rating. My CUE got all the way to the Court before they discovered that the rating criteria for my condition had changed between the time I filed in 1972 and the time I got a decision in 1973. I hired a lawyer. You might consider it since you original claim is 45 years old. Those old claims really stink with much evidence ignored or excluded if it did not the purpose of the VA.

Go to Document Release at your VAMC and get the records you need. You sign a request for information and they will send you what they have. You have to do it in person.

I think you will get a rating, but I don't know how much. The doctor does not make the rating. You should check to see what the VA's exam for this condition requires to get certain ratings. It is all ROM, so the less ROM you have the more disability you get. It is not really fair since pain plays a big part. I have shoulder/neck problem and I don't worry about ROM. It is the pain that gets me.

You did the right thing by correcting the 2003 mistake. Now you just have to wait. Physical injuries usually have pretty clear indications as to the percentage of disability. For joints it is usually ROM. For the neck it probably ranges from your neck being immobile to pain on full ROM, but there could be more to it. You fit in their somewhere. When you get a copy of the C&P you can compare that to what the C&P requires according to VA rules. See if the doctor did a full exam according to the rules. Lots of times the doctors are in a hurry and don't give a full exam according to Hoyle. This can be important if you appeal.

I send them one every year and I have been TDIU for ten years. Then I call to make sure they got it. Sending it certified mail is a good idea. I have no earned income but I have taxable income. I wonder if they would send me one if I just waited? Probably not, but then they might declare I did not respond and try to bump me.

In Florida the spouse can keep the 100% exemption but she/he must be on the deed at time of death of the vet. You can't wait to have your new wife on the deed until they read the will. I paid for my house before I got married, but I broke down and added my wife to the deed, so she could get the exemption. What a guy! Now I have an official taster for all my food. I am worth more to her dead than alive. This is slightly creepy knowledge.

This is why it is often good to have someone else present your claim for you. I don't want to be my own lawyer.

In private practice it depends on which state you live in as to the rules for narcotic prescriptions. The VA has had vets sign a agreement when they get pain meds via the VA. At my VAMC I must sign an agreement to get on opiate program, so I can get my drugs without going for an exam every month. They do random urine tests on me when I go to the VA. It may be, in fact, easier to get these drugs via the VA than from private doctors. However, I never get my drugs on the same date each month. I get percoset and fentanyl patches. I have never had a "Hot" urine test for anything illegal but I still get the third degree after 10 years. Florida where I live is harassing pain doctors and patients along with the bad doctors and drug addicts.

The local VAMC's just make these rules up and then try and bluff you. It is just about money. My VAMC went over budget and started making cuts.

Tri-care is all I would get but that might be worth it. If army kicks you out and then VA rates you as 100% effective one day after discharge do you think such a vet would have a shot at getting honorable changed to medical?

It is probably better for your exam if you are not responding well to drugs for anxiety. This points to difficulty in treatment and severity. If you go to your anxiety exam and you are sweating and your hands shake that is positive for anxiety. If the exam doctor sees you relaxed and at ease he is not likely to DX severe or even moderate anxiety. The doctors always comment on any distress they see.

Hey, Bob Oh, I am quite sure VA cops would mace and shock and beat any vet who stepped one inch out of line at a VA facility. I have seen them do it. To get attention for vets is the problem. It seems no matter how many news stories I read or see on TV the same crap continues. I cannot solve a simple problem at the VA. I can't get my pain drugs on time. This makes me want to occupy the pain clinic.

I am having some success with cymbalta for pain. That is sort of shocking to me after years on narcotics. Nobody knows how a particular drug will affect an individual until they take it. This is the lab rate syndrome. I took thorazine many years ago from military shrink. I started to have muscle cramps to where my head twisted around and locked in place. I had to walk to the hospital on base and get an injection. The anti-psychotic drugs usually have some major and possibly permanent side effects. These are the drugs that allowed mental hospitals to discontinue tying people down, multiple shock treatments and freezing baths to control patients. It is a trade off between chaining people to the wall and turning them into zombies via drugs like Haldol. People used to die from mania, depression and schizophrenia. Now they can survive and some can prosper.

You would be asking the BCMR to change your 635-212 to a medical discharge with a pension. Someone on here got their medical separation changed to medical retirement. It is much harder to do if you want to change from general discharge to medical with any payments. I know because I tried to go from honorable to medical via BCMR and they threw it out because it was more than 15 years since I was discharged. What is SPN 264? There is a guy here named Rockhound who was medically discharged from the service due to schizophrenia and the VA disagreed and DX'ed him with a PD and he got no benefits from either the military or VA. I was told that you usually need a lawyer to win these things, but I could be wrong. You might as well try since you have nothing to lose.

Better to depend on old system of getting proof of submission of evidence and claims and avoid this Ebenefits mess. The VA can wriggle out of any mistake on Ebenefits. If you don't have an official letter in your hand that is either a VCAA letter or rating decision I don't think it means anything.

If you work and earn money the VA will probably see this as an improvement in your condition. Try and get P&T before you consider working. Can you drive a car? Consider how the VA may view your ability to work and a 100% rating. If you do get SSDI forget about working.

Justlurk I think you may be part of the 3%-5% that actually wins one of these appeals. What was your rating when you were separated for medical?

Occupy the VA since we are treated worse than homeless and college students on break. They get headlines and we just get lines. It is congress to blame for this mess. 20% of returning OIF/OEF vets have PTSD and will probably file claims. This is what happens when you have two wars that have lasted almost ten years. We may be in Syria or Iran next so do you think the VA is ready for that? This is not just some VA employees, but a system that has failed. Vets should not be divided. All of us are being mistreated if one of us is mistreated.