john999

You need IMO's to clear up this mess. You need doctors that you are paying to evaluate you according to the VA schedule of disabilites.

It is not really normal but I would sure as heck attend the exam. The VARO should send you a letter for the exam. This way you get paid for milage also.

The truth is PN is subjective to some extent. The doctor sticks you with a pin and asks you if you feel that? If you say "No" that is evidence of PN. I am sure that if they prick you hard enough unless you are totally numb you will react, but not if you have mild PN. This was how the VA determined if I had PN in both feet and both hands. I got 10% in each limb and my EMG was normal. Actually, the doctor who did the test for the VA was so incompetent the test was considered as null and void. I just got the pin prick test. I felt some things and did not feel others so I got ten percent. It was secondary to DMII. I claimed it or I would never have been examined for it. The VA knew I had DMII but never did any tests for secondary conditions until I filed claims for those conditions. That is truly piss poor medical treatment. You have to DX yourself before they give you an exam. It is not part of the routine C&P exam for DMII at my VAMC. I was DX'ed with calcification of some of the veins and arteries in my legs. I had complained about a lump on my leg and got a CT scan. I filed a claim on my own initiative for artery disease. I ended up with a 60% rating for CAD. All this was secondary to DMII.

Did you get Avandia from the VA? If you did then they may see themselves as co-defendants. CYA perhaps. How would they find out?

Allan The trouble is that Florida where I live is drug central for these pain clinics that are just fronts for the buying and selling of narcotics. The VA is feeling the heat. People from all over the country come to Florida to buy drugs and then take them home and resell them. It is easy for drug dealers and addicts to get drugs but hard for real pain patients. If I want to pay hundreds of bucks to get oxycodone or oxycontin from a bunch of crooked doctors who deal on a cash basis only it might be OK. I don't want to get in deep with a bunch of junkies and crooked pain doctors. If things remain the same I may be in with them anyway.

Yes, file for IU. I filed for IU before I even got SSD. I was 30%. If you don't file you don't get.

What I like about DRO Hearing is you can explain the details of your claim. The DRO gets to ask questions of you. If you were not there to answer the DRO would just guess and make a decision based on what he knows without you there to untangle the knots in your claim. One simple misunderstanding can and often does result in a denial. For instance, for some reason the DRO may not know you are on SSD or that you are not working. He goes with what he knows.

Yes, if you have permanent side effects you describe there are lawsuits regarding this issue. All those anti-psychotic meds have that side effect. I got it bad when I took stellazine for a short while. Seroquel is an anti-psychotic medication to reduce hallucinations and severe anxiety. If it is expensive I am surprised the VA uses it at all. I think what you describe is Tardive Dyskenisia (spelling). Look it up on google. The VA likes these heavy duty kinds of meds and hates things like xanex, valium and even clonazepam. My pain doctor at the VA told me that clonazepam and opiate meds are responsible for many accidental deaths. Valium and xanex are even worse so they tell me. I don't believe them. I think they are worried about vets selling their meds on the street in particular xanex and valium.

The other thing that will cut backlog is for new congress to change rules to make it harder to file a claim in the first place. What they have kicked around before is the idea that only vets hurt in "line of duty" could get paid sort of like workers compensation. If a soldier gets run over by a beer truck while off duty then he is on his own. This kind of thinking appeals to many who worry about debt.

I read an article in the St. Pete Times today that was carping about Vietnam vets getting compensated for DMII resulting from AO exposure. They point to the vet who spent 3 hours in RVN and now gets compensated for DMII as if this is typical. This is the run up to the opposition to RVN vets getting compensation for IHD. The idea is, of course, that the aging vet population would have died anyway from AO presumptive diseases. The media and the public never get tired of kicking Vietnam vets even when they are sick. For years we were portrayed as psychopathic baby killers and losers and now we are freeloaders who live high on the hog due to AO compensation. The only good vets are the Greatest Generation vets and current vets of OIF/OEF. The rest of us are sucking the government teat and just refuse to die fast enough. Sorry! I do get sick of hearing "Welcome home OIF/OEF vets" when I call the VA. Pretty soon it will be "Welcome home vets except for free loading Vietnam vets who are not dead yet".

It means they will advance it on the docket. You still have to prove cue.

Even if you are rated 70% the VA may still find some reason to not infer IU. File for it now. When you win the date of your IU will go back to the time you filed for it. The VA could just deny your IU claim and you may have to fight for a while, but if you appeal and win you get the date of IU filing. I filed for IU when I was 30%. It took another year and a half to get the IU, but it went back to the date I filed for it.

I say file on any mental condition you have evidence for and don't just pursue PTSD. I have a bad feeling that it is going to get harder to get PTSD claims and other MH claims as well. You have to look at what the VA is actually doing and not what they say. You know the VA sees this tidal wave coming at them. They want to get out from under anyway they can. Allowing the VA to be the last word on PTSD DX is going to be murder. These doctors will get the word to not dx PTSD and they will just leave the vet twisting in the PD wind.

You worked for it.

allan I have not been able to get a regular MD to prescribe for me. The VA gives me the oxycodone short acting, but they keep reducing the number. I get the anti-drug lecture from the VA. They told me that because I take clonazepam I am likely to OD. I take two clonazepam a day and have for years. It seems the va is just trying to cut me off of pain meds any way they can. I don't break the rules so they have to find some other reason to get me out of the pain clinic due to heat from local newspapers and media about abuse of oxycodone.

Paxil would help with the worry problems. The worrying is part of obsessive/compulsive aspect to anxiety disorder. It has something to do with your levels of seratonin in your brain. I worry all the time as well. I feel like something bad is lurking out there for me. The SSRI drugs help with that but you know the side effects.

Since the va is giving me such a hard time about filing my percoset scripts I went online to search for pain clinics locally that would be better for me. I signed up for a list that was a yahoo group. It turned out to be a list of junkies that were discussing clinics and doctors who were crooked enough to prescribe to drug addicts. I got lots of unwanted advice on the street price of oxycontin and how to crush the pills to either inject, snort or smoke them. What I did find out is pressure from the DEA has driven up the price of narcotics at pharmacies. I was told there is a shortage of the oxy drugs that is artificial. I guess you can get anything on google. No doubt the bad press these drugs have gotten has made them more profitable for crooks and dealers. Those who suffer real pain get the shaft.

If the VA makes AO diseases presumptive for Blue Water Navy it will mean billions in disability. That is the complete bottom line. Not the science but the dollars. If they can kick it down the road another ten years there will many fewer vets to try and collect. This is their twisted and sick dream. Wait the vets out until they die off and then deal with the aging widows except ones like Berta.

Blue water navy....it won't be presumptive for AO via Vietnam/Blue water. He will have to show he set foot on Vietnam soil.

What you do is go to a doctor you want an IMO/IME from and if they are willing to do it let them figure out how to bill your insurance. They have their ways. I did that via BC/BS. I got a great IME from a shrink and BC/BS paid for it. I don't think they knew they were paying for it.

Does the VA know you are on SSD? If you are on SSD for SC conditions that is as good a proof of being IU as I can think of for VA purposes. There is no question of retirement. You are already retired via SSD. You have all you need for IU now is your SSD is solely due to SC conditions. With denial by Voc Rehab and having SSD this should put you over the top on IU.

If you have some organic disease reason for the insomnia it might be different. If it is a result of anxiety, depression or PTSD it will all be rated under PTSD most likely. On my last MH rating I was rated for about 5 different conditions but it was all under just one DX.

If your VARO is St. Petersburg you need to check to make sure they got all your evidence and material. They are horrible about losing things. I use St. Pete. I had to fight for every single thing I ever got from them. If you don't get what you want the first time ask for Personal Hearing with DRO. Which VSO are you working with? Be sure the VSO has submitted your evidence. Some are miserable, lazy jerks and do almost nothing.....DAV. You should stay onboard here and keep the pressure on your VSO to keep you in the loop. The claim is your responsibility.

Military divorce lawyers know the ins and outs of disability compensation and alimony. When a retired military person divorces if their retired pay is converted to disability pay I think the ex can't get his/her hands on it. No moral judgement just what I heard. That is why these 4 star generals try and get 100% disability when they get discharged after 40 years of service. They dump the old bag and marry a 35 year old bimbo. No alimony.

Get more evidence and appeal. That is what you should do with every claim.