john999

You have been getting shock therapy for 18 months and you are only rated 10%? Shock therapy is for the most severe depression where there is a chance the person will die due to just shutting down. You need to get a lawyer and file a claim for 100% benefits. Are you 10% for a psychiatric disorder. If so get a lawyer. You should not be fighing the VA and SSDI by yourself in your condition. Did you talk to a lawyer when your SSDI was stopped? I think you really need professional legal help.

Did the vet die from a SC condition? You can get really basic amount of money for the burial.

That is a typo, but what is an expediant way to fix it?

I took mirtazapine 30mg and it put me out for three days. I just can't stand those drugs that put you in twilight world for days. I can take opiates adn things like valium. I took welbrutrin and no effect. Prozac has the effect of making me stop thinking which in my case is good. I think way too much.

With SSD there are expert lawyers who can help you. With VA the area of expertise is just beginning. There are probably 30 lawyers in my city who do SSD, but only a few who do VA law from VARO onward, so getting good representation is a problem. SSD is much better organized than VA. The SSD files and system of ajudicating claims can be fast. I got mine in about three months. Can you imagine getting IU or 100% from scratch in three months from the time you file?

Kelly Can we go to Slab City to resist po-lice state intrusions?

What SSA cares about is "can you work"? Your doctor report must say in no uncertain terms that you cannot work for at least one year due to your medical conditions. SSA does not care about stressors or all details. They want to here that you cannot work.

How about having your private insurance billed for a c&p exam?

You need to get a psychiatrist to say you have PTSD and that you are unemployable. You need a verifiable stressor as well. I would say to get into treatment for PTSD first thing.

TestVet How would you like to be led into combat by a 20 year old shake and bake, or a 2nd Lt fresh out of ROTC or OCS? You know they baked arrogance right into that cake. When the military need bodies for combat they just do what they have to do to get them. If it means "shake and bake" or lowering moral,physical or mental standards they will do that as well.

Most vets with 70% for ptsd find it hard to keep a job. Start saving that money for the day you have to file for IU. You get your IU money and then you can file for SSD. The way these disability programs work is they starve you out. You have to be really incapacitated to wait for the money. Anybody who can will go to work to avoid the torture of waiting a year or 18 months for money. Many here have sat for years with no income waiting for 100% or IU. This stress makes their conditions twice as bad in the end. It makes for a lot of bitter vets as well.

I say that the only way to get retro back to 1970 is via a CUE unless your claim has been open all this time. Duty to assist won't help you in a 40 year retro quest. Another reason why it is so hard to win retro to the "way back time". If you claim involves duty to assist, argument over weight of evidence don't count that retro money. Yes, you are getting screwed, but join the club.

The VA is waiting for something.

Right, Pete Even when you have the best surgeon and best help you can still die during a serious procedure. Hospitals are crawling with these staff infections. My VAMC looks dirty to me. They had to cancell surgeries due to flies in the OR for a while.

If you had filed for a head injury in 1970 and were denied or low balled, and then you discovered lost medical records that should have been before the rater then you might be able to get retro. The only way is a CUE I think. CUE's are only based on what was before the raters at the time, or should have been before the rater. If the TBI was not claimed in original decision I think you are out of luck. Even if they head injury was claimed you have a tough fight. Getting the big retro from the VA is hard work, but a few here have got it.

My advice in the future is don't use the VA for serious medical issues. So many awful things can happen inside a hospital including deadly infections. The way to do good at C&P exams is to whine like crazy. The VA does use the vet's desire to not fully describe the pain they are in against them. Fill the pages of documentation with complaints. This is how you maintain treatment and compensation. Hanging tough during exams means less compensation and less treatment for pain. My VA psychiatrist told me this. He told me to rate myself a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on pain. He said that is how you get their attention. I have had three different pain specialists in the last 4 months. They know nothing.

Stepp If you have a decent lawyer representing you he/she is supposed to decide what you should do next. That is what they get paid to do. Is your lawyer your POA. You need one of the lawyers from the list that was posted recently. You sure as heck can't go to vet's court without a good lawyer or you will lose.

Sledge What were you building late at night with all the hammering and banging going on, and strange boxes being delivered to your house?

I am using one of the lawyers from the NOVA webpage. These are the ones who have gone to the seminars and learned at least something.

I called BC/BS yesterday and disputed a statement of benefits that showed they paid for a SC condition. They first said there was nothing they could do. I reminded them that they were getting cheated. Then they sent VA a letter saying I was disputing this claim as it was for SC condition. I am going to make an appointment with my congress critter soon and ask her to investigate this practice. I also got a call from the VAMC this morning asking me 20 questions about my use of pain meds. They asked me questions like "When was the last time you bought illegal drugs" or " Do you ever take your pain meds to feel better or help with your depression". One wrong answer and you don't get your pills. Most questions are obvious, but some are more trickly like "Have you gotten into an argument in the last month?". I take it that would mean your meds are making you emotionally unstable. My big mistake was in actually being honest a few years ago regarding some side effects of my pain meds. I told them that sometimes they make me forgetful. If I were to admit that now I think I would be cut off. I am SC'ed for chronic pain disorder and I get charged for the pills and grilled by the doctors and nurses. I get the distinct impression they are trying to get us all off opiates by hook or by crook.

DAV is still opposed to lawyers representing vets. They have some service where the DAV will get lawyers for certain vets for free. Anything to get their bitter foes away from the money tree. Most join the VSO's for representation. They always tell you that if you become a life member your representation will be better, Hah!

We have been saying that here for years. If you deal with the VA long enough you probably will be hauled away. Some of those c&p exam doctors had me wanting to reach out and touch someone. Then you automatically lose.

How did the VA determine your MST was related to childhood abuse? This is a big NO,NO discussing childhood events with the VA. You have two problems I see. You are pegged as a personality disorder, and having the VA rooting around in your childhood. Do you have verifiable evidence that you were assulted in the military? I advise you to keep your federal work issues separate from VA claims. The VA is going to say your current problems are due to stress from work. You can easily get federal retirement, but it pays very little. I have been down that road. If your job is the reason you are breaking down then you can file for workers compensation. However, you want to keep all these issues separate from your VA claim. When you apply for federal retirement you probably will have to apply for SSDI. When you apply for TDIU from VA it must be for solely SC conditions.

If every vet with a slam/dunk who got denied could line up they would reach the moon. Eventually, good evidence will win but it could take a long time.

I had a BVA Traveling judge hearing 5 months ago, and I am still waiting. You are not going to get your decision right away. What your lawyer might be able to do for you is to shape your appeal so that if you fail at BVA you can win at court of veteran appeals. This is the value of a lawyer I think. What you want from your lawyer is help in not making some fatal error in your claim. The lawyer may not be able to win an impossible case, but he can win the ones that are on the borderline, or the ones the VA has decided they are going to stonewall.