john999

No, a RO can do anything the BVA can do, but in many cases they just don't want to do it. They pass the buck. This adds years to a claim if not decades.

I see no advantage to IU or 100% schedular except it feeds you and keeps you alive. You have to be pretty disabled to get either. Everyone here would give it back to get their lost years back and have a decent job and be able to sustain relationships they lost due to their problems.

It does cost you extra when the VA bills your insurance for SC conditions. They shift the cost of your care to private insurance. This will eventually affect your premiums. Think about it! In order to save a dime they are breaking their oath to vets to carry the burden of those who have given their health to defend the nation. It is outrageous for them to bill private insurance for SC conditions and give that BS about it not costing you a dime. It is the nation's responsibility to care for us, and not some private (for profit) company. The nation is betraying us again via the VA cheapskates. I go to the VA to get pills and document my disabilites. That is it. I get to pay for the thousands of vets who just turn up at the VA for treatment who don't have a dime and are not service connected. I should not indirectly be paying for that cost. I am paying for it since my premiums went up 12% last year with no cola in my miserable retirement pay from civil service. I pay more in medical premiums than I get in cash from my disability retirement. In a few years I may not even be able to afford the insurance I worked for 20 years to get in retirement. It bugs me!!!!!

Yes, and they will bill you for service connected issues as well until you stop them. It is not that easy to stop them. I have tried and tried and yet they continue to bill my private health plan for SC conditions and medications and even a C&P exam. I call the insurance company and tell them they are being defrauded. They don't want to try and find out which claims are valid NSC and which are SC inappropriate billings. They just pay and allow the VA to cost shift onto the backs of their paying customers. I don't get it.

They could say "not one molecule or atom" of evidence.

What was your stressor? Maybe you need to be more graphic in the detals. They like blood and guts. Your GAF is pretty low. The GAF does not agree with mild PTSD. You need you own doctor that you pay.

The old USSR treated the vets of the Great Patriotic War pretty well. They treated vets of Afghanistan like crap. I think the Russian army is a brutal place. I don't think they treat vets well. I think other countries in Europe vary in their treatment of vets. I think the really properous countries like Germany and maybe the Northern European countries do better than the USA. I think treatment of USA vets is a national shame.

Bob If you can't win a PTSD claim with your experience then nobody should be able to win regardless of what is in your SMR's. I guess if walking into a minefield is not the most horrifying feeling one can imagine when fellow soldiers are being blown up and you are blown up as well. If that does not fit the definition of extream fear and helplessness the VA better rewrite the regs. The VA's denial of your claim is absurd. Of course, the low ball of my claim was absurd as well. I spent two weeks in a VA nuthouse within 6 months of my discharge. I was discharged with a DX of schizophrenia and I got 10%. How many people with schizoprenia are only 10% disabled? I guess I had a mild case like a very mild case of PTSD as if that exists.

I took mirtazapaine one time and I did not really wake up for three days. That stuff is horrible. Worse than neurontin for me. It knocks me out.

The thing about the records is I don't know what is in them. It might hurt me or help me. The actual records I want may not exist, and they may send me the same old junk. I asked for specific records. But I don't know if I will get them. This is why I want them sent to my personal doctor. If they say "This soldier is a personality disorder etc" the VA does not need to hear that again from the army. They screwed me enough the first time. If the records say I was being treated for legitimate medical psychiatric condition that will be a differenct story. If my lawyer got the records he might have some duty I am not aware of to tell the VA. Until I know exactly what is in them I want to have control of them via my doctor.

Pete992 Are not the VA some cheap bastards? I don't have copays, but you could probably do as well at Walmart for those who do have copays.

I think the VA just applies the regulations regarding stressors. I don't think they care if it is combat or non combat as long as it meets criteria. The thing is the VA does not care about individual vets. It is a machine. They have a quota of claims to make either denials or approvals.

If you were there formally for the secondary conditions then I think you got a good chance. You have to wait for the exam report. It sounds good to me.

The thing is he has to say that in his written report. Saying it to you means nothing. These doctors usually don't include linking secondary conditions that are not formally claimed by the vet. You may have gotten lucky. In 40 years I have had two sympathetic C&P exams. The rest were slamming me. Don't give up!

You know when you read the regulations you find things that are kept secret from the general vet population. GERD could sure hurt your teeth. PTSD causes teeth grinding. Certain meds can cause teeth clenching and grinding. Even vets who are 100% still have the battle with the VA over what kind of care you get. My VA dentist would not justify an implant after he pulled one of my teeth. He also has been very reluctant to do a crown for me. I got the implant on my own dime since I did not trust those idiots to do the implant anyway. You are always fighting the VA system about money. It has little to do with patient care and everything to do with the balance sheet. I did get them to pay for some crowns I got while waiting on my IU appeal. With the VA the first answer is almost always "NO".

I asked for release of some psychiatric records from my SMR's that were never found before this time. I got a letter back form NPRC that they will only release them to a doctor who can explain them to me. These are records that have not been in my C-file for 40 years. I requested them specifically this time. I can't believe that these records were not given to the VA when I filed my orignial claim. What do you make of this requirement that the records have to be released to a doctor and not me? This is the NPRC in St. Louis. I am sure going to get them sent to a friendly doctor.

What I know about Bay Pines is what I read in St. Pete Times talking about 40 violations in medical standards of care or administration. St. Pete Times said these were serious violations. I don't know what it means. Many serious violations at the Tampa VAMC over the years.

I think you will have better luck with major depression since your suicide attempts fit that DX like a glove. You have records of suicide attempts in the military. You don't need to claim PTSD to get 100%.

Rales Concentrate on getting all conditions service connected. Worry about effective dates later. You might want to get IMO/IME to help make all the connections to secondary conditions. You had a back problem in service. You had one consult on abdominal pain. You have to do all you can to make the connection between these military medical records and your current conditions. You need to get a copy of the C&P exam to see what the doctor actually said. Just because he nods his head at the exam does not mean he writes you the kind of report you will want.

You have to be unemployable due "solely" to SC conditions. You have to watch that word. If you have any other NSC conditions they VA may try and say that is the reason you can't work.

You need an IMO/IME to bolster your claim. You don't have to have every symptom of PTSD to get a claim approved. The VA is just dancing around. Appeal this denial and ask for a DRO Hearing. Get some more medical evidence to DX you with PTSD. Nobody has all the listed PTSD symptoms.

I would ask for a referral to a VA shrink and start getting treated for chronic pain syndrome and depression. I would also file the IU form if I could not work even if I was 10%. If you can't work due to SC disabilites you are entitled to IU. 4.16b. If you convince them you cannot work due to SC they will probably bump you up to a rate that they can live with and grant IU. This is how they get around granting extra schedular.

To show sleep apnea as a secondary condition is probably an ordeal unless you had symptoms on active duty. If you have been out of the service for 20 years and are now obese then you know what VA will say.

The bilateral thing is supposed to increase your rating via a formula. It could be a factor in getting over the hump to IU. The higher your rating the less it impacts your rating. I have bilateral factor in both legs and arms. It has tiny inpact on my rating which is 90%.

I would describe my symptoms in detail. You are making a statement that you can't work due to your symptoms. What symptoms?