john999

Yes, I got the same email.

Just be sure all your documents and claims are at the VA. You can't really hurry them. You just have to wait. Have you had C&P exams on all these issues?

50 large goes a long way. I agree with Pete. Go for 100% if you can!

Hadit is the best vet site on the internet. Anyone can get a sympathetic hearing here. Hadit is an institution.

I am hoping I find a jackpot in the form of a CUE going back to 1971 that I found in my C-File. Get hold of your C-File and who knows what you may find especially ancient decisions. The VA was very sloppy during bad, old days. Much worse than now. Many of these old decisions the VA just picked and through the evidence and kept what they liked and excluded the rest. That is the possible basis of a CUE when they don't consider all the evidence.

In 1973 I got a decision from the VA. I never got appeal rights. That is not a CUE according to the rules since it fall under "duty to assist" so says the BVA. I guess that not sending you a decision also falls under "duty to assist" since you can't appeal what you never got. It seems an incredible lack of due process. They don't say that CUE's are rare for no reason. The VA makes them rare.

OPTO Yes, I was a postal worker who retired on disability. I got rated 70% and denied TDIU. I did a DRO and got the TDIU. It took about ten months I think. In my case the VARO went over my claim with a microscope to find a reason to deny it. I had to get another medical opinion to win it, and then another to get P&T. They just fought me all the way.

If you have had your C&P exam you might just wait for the decision. If it is against you then get the exact evidence you need. Getting TDIU or 100% from the VA is a job. It is a long term project. You have to get it and then you have to keep it. The VA does not rush for the dying. They won't rush for us either.

My claim sat at the St. Pete VARO for 10 months waiting for a new decision on TDIU and I was on SSDI and had 70% rating. You believe it when you get it in writing. Sometimes the VSO will tell you sooner. Did you have an independent medical opinion to back you TDIU claim? I had three IMO's which finally put me over the top. Consider that ST. Pete gets about 10,000 pieces of mail a day.

My back is a little better these days but I am not sure why. Some days it is OK and some days it starts to hurt. It does not matter much what I do.

The fact the VA dropped the ball on you is awful. They failed their mission big time.

I think you will never know!

Hey, Vetslady I filed under "unauthorised expense" through Fee Base. First, the VA threw my claim in the trash. I dogged them for 6 months to get my money. This was for the period between my claim for IU and my award. They did pay back to my effective date. It was like wrestling with one of God's angels. I have been cheated by the VA so often I like to win one every once in a while. File the claim and let them deny it and then appeal if you have to, but you only get a real answer in writing when you file the paperwork. Remember, the first answer you get with the VA is usually "NO". Fact is they are damn liars and BS artists. Like your husband if I had not used a private dentist I would have lost teeth. I was not going to do that.

You can get reimbursed for dental care from your effective date. I did it. You go through Fee Base. You have to fight for it.

A severe pain/anxiety attack can seem like a heart attack. I, myself, have ended up in ER thinking I was dying due to anxiety. It is hard to distinguish the symptoms at times. You want to be damn sure it is not a physical problem first.

You want to get in treatment and stay in treatment in order to safeguard your rating.

I got a 0% rating for heart disease secondary to DMII back in 2006. In 2008 after 2 years of appeals I got 60%. Do I have any recourse under Nehmer? The VA cheated me on the effective date anyway giving me the date I won my appeal instead of the date I made the claim. I only ask because I got "S" based on when I got the 60%. I got the Nehmer letter saying I was not on the list.

This kind of therapy is like the therapy for phobias. However, PTSD is not a phobia. I don't trust the VA to do this therapy in the very slow and steady measures it might take. The VA uses the cookie cutter approach to everything. There is one cure for everyone according to the VA.

I think that was a good exam. If you are not SC'ed for PTSD now you soon will be. You did well to say your childhood and years before Vietnam were good and then after Vietnam you had the symptoms. If you mention anything about conflict in your youth they like to jump on that to show pre-existing basis for anxiety or personality disorder. I see the VA is using a very tough criteria for PTSD exams.

For those with DMII if you read the VA training letter it is a revelation. If you go to your VA PCP they will never draw the line and connect dots to all secondary conditions identified by VA's own training letter.

If you have severe and chronic pain you can be rated for the mental part of this via a rating for Chronic Pain Disorder/depression. I assume you have trouble sleeping and your activites are restricted. I bet you take strong meds for the pain. If you often feel life is almost not worth living then you are probably depressed and have chronic pain disorder. You can get a separate rating for this secondary condition of your back trouble.

It took me 30 years to get 80%. Congrats on all due speed.

Hedgey It is such BS. Every few years there is a new cure for this or that emotional illness. They used to believe that lobotomy was the cure for anxiety neurosis. Before that chemical shock and before that they just threw people into the river to see if they floated. It is all barbaric and based on ignorance. They don't know how to cure PTSD or schizophrenia or bipolar but that does not stop them from trying all manner of things on people.

The VA is just cheap.

I deal with St. Pete VA. I have not found them to be over generous. You really need to have your ducks in a row. For the anxiety claim I do know some good doctors who can give good and pretty cheap IMO's. They are in Tampa. I think for most mental health claims a good IMO is almost mandatory. If you are not chewing the carpet they tend to give low ball ratings.