john999

Larry I think you have a claim for an EED. The VA does this all the time often using the date of a C&P exam to establish the ED. You claimed IU and depression in 8/06 and that is what your effective date should be as I see it. Did the VA have some new evidence they based the later effective date on? You know most vets are just so happy to get IU after starving for a couple of years they take what they can get no questions asked. I think the same thing happened to me. I had a claim on appeal for about 5 years. I added some new evidence and that is the date the VA used for my 70%. I got a CUE going back to the very beginning so I am waiting on that.

The DEA and the state of Florida has put the fear of God into the pain management doctors. All they want to do now is give those expensive steroid shots.

Like I say if you were DX'ed with major depression in service and you have that diagnosis now you can walk around the PTSD verification process. PTSD and major depression are different conditions even if they are co-morbid. You need a medical opinion from a shrink to say that you developed major depression in the service as evidenced by suicide attempt. Since that time you have suffered recurrent bouts of severe depression and are currently severely depressed. Your depression is at least as likely as not connected to your service and you are totally disabled. You have PTSD as evidenced by your records, but you don't have to prove it if you have been DX'ed with depression. What you do need is an opinion that you do not suffer from any personality disorders. The personality disorder thing is the VA and DOD's way of escaping paying compensation. Half the vets here were tagged with such DX'es at one time or another. It is a dirty game. The VA recently tried to say that the reason I could not work was due to passive-aggressive personality rather than the schizophrenia they diagnosed me with back in 1971. That is because I filed a CUE on the original low ball rating. The VA sort of tried to get me to chase the red herring/strawman of making a PTSD claim when I already had a accepted claim for another sort of mental health issue. That was a trip that was not necessary, and may also be in your case Mrkman. If you have been gettting treatment for depression since you left service you have all of the legs of the claims process in place. In-service DX, continuity of treatment and current diagnosis. I don't know if this is the case, but it would be easier than a PTSD claim if it were so.

If you don't mind me asking how old are you? If you have 30 possible years of work ahead of you that is very different than a 55 year old vet who is 100%. The older vet has a much bigger incentive to keep his 100% rating and forget about ever trying to go back to work. Plus people over 40 have a hell of a time getting good jobs in this America. Shoot for some kind of self employment. That is the best deal for person with a disability. You won't be dealing with age and disability discrimination.

The only way you can prove that the VA got your actuall documents is to get date stamped copies of all the stuff you submit. That means a trip to the VARO with all your paperwork.

50% rating is way to low for a guy in this condition with classic signs of deep and major depression. What kind of pills does he take? I would file for IU yesterday for him. The VA is just low balling him. Has he filed for SSD?

If you have a diagnosis of major depression in your SMR's then that is going to be a lot easier to file for than non-combat PTSD since it is already established. What you have to rule out is those other personality disorder things like passive-aggressive disorder etc. If you have a current diagnosis of major depression and a diagnosis of major depression in your SMR's I think that would be easier than trying to put together a PTSD claim. You get the same compensation money for depression or PTSD. Don't fixate on PTSD. The VA is fixated on it. They probably know it is the hardest claim to win. With combat PTSD if you have the combat medals it is just easier because your stressor is conceded even though you still have to write some kind of stressor letter that is within the relm of possibility. With non-combat PTSD you have to prove the whole thing. Nothing is conceded that you can't prove.

I think that even with physical exams there is some subjective parts to a rating. I had a C&P for DMII. The doctor looked at my legs and commented on them. That part was subjective since he believed by some minor testing that I had PN from the looks of my legs and feet and the tests he did. So it was a combination of subjective and objective. When they prick your feet that are asking for subjective answer from you...."Did you feel that?", but DMII is an objective disorder. Even TBI is both objective and subjective. PTSD is all subjective judgement.

When I was rated in 1973 it was for a "nervous disorder". Years later the VA denied I was ever rated for a nervous disorder but I have the records.

This is the kind of claim where a good lawyer rather than some dense VSO would be of great help. You did not even get a C&P exam and it seems the VA has completely misunderstood your claim. That is because the VA is fixated on combat stressors where vet has combat medals. Non-combat PTSD has a greater hurdle since you must prove from records that the stressor event happened to you. Nothing is assumed just because you have the diagnosis espcially since many years have passed since your discharge. I think I would try and see if I could get a lawyer for this. Waiting for a DRO when you have not even had a C&P exam means the best that can happen is the DRO accepts your stressor and sends you for a C&P. Everything depends on your stressor being accepted, current diagnosis of PTSD and nexus between the two things. In your case there is no presumption of a stressor. Even those with oombat stressors who do not have combat medals have to prove it.

I would bet that the reason you got a 100% non-permanent rating is because you are young. They are not supposed to do this but they do it all the time. The VA probably is hoping you will improve enough so they can reduce the 100% rating within a few years. Why not sign up for one class on your own dime to see if you can hack it. Stick your toe in the water before you jump in. Just be sure you don't tell anyone at the VA you are feeling better or taking a class. This would be poison to a 100% claim in my opinion. What exactly did you get the 100% rating for? Was it Adjusmtne Disorder?

If your PTSD stressor has been verified and you are not working you are probably looking at IU or 100% rating. What did your C&P exam say? The C&P exam will be what the VA mostly depends on to make a rating along with other medical records.

Yoggie got a statement from his commanding officer to back up his claim if I remember correctly. That carried the weight.

I really don't think that there is any shortcut to getting a good outcome on a VA claim. Reconsideration, Nod, DRO, BVA ....all take time. You can win or lose every step of the way. Ask Berta!

Cavtroop Your post is really funny. I always wondered what they drilled into OCS cadidates in 6 months that led the Army to believe that was enough for men in combat. You know there was a strong recruitment effort made to get candidates for OCS when I was going through basic. They did not bother to tell the candidates they would most likely be infantry officers,and if they dropped out they would be 11b infantry enlisted. I guess the first rule the 2nd Lt learned was humility if they wanted to survive and not kill their men. I think sending a green officer to take over a platoon in combat was a crazy idea. I know they rotated the new officers out after 6 months which was another crazy idea. The grunts must have really loved getting a brand new officer who believed he could win the war.

You need to get your own private medical opinion to dispute his ability to work. You can file for IU. Nobody can stop you. File for it and then get evidence to prove he can't work, not from the VA. The sooner you file the earlier the effective date when you get it. The only thing the VA cares about is costs. If they can stall you by telling you that your incompentent husband could be a brain surgeon they would do it. They don't want to pay IU. You have to overcome.

Larry That's right, aggravation of a pre-exiting condition which you have to prove as well. You have the pre-existing condition, and the VA will swear on a stack of bibles that nothing you did in the service aggravated it. How many claims here are denied because some kid hurt his knee at football practice and the VA claims that his hospitalization in service was due to the old football injury, and not the fall from a watch tower.

That soft tissue sarcoma is the key. I don't know how many kinds lung cancer exist. I thought cancer was cancer but I should have know the VA would qualify it. Can they differentiate between lung cancer caused by smoking and AO? All Nam vets were exposed to AO and about half of them probably smoked.

Just be sure you get a VCAA letter for all the conditions your are claiming. No VCAA letter means something is wrong. SMR's, buddy statements, Dr. reports, personnel records to prove stressors (medals like CIB, Ph, medals with V device) this is what you need to send them. Remember there are three legs to a clalim. In service injury or illness, current disability and a nexus between the two. With PTSD it is different but you still have to show current disability and verifiable stressor and the nexus. If you have PTSD you don't want the VA to be able to come up with alternative explanations for it. Many cops have a hard time with in-service stressors because they had a career of stressful and life threatening events after service. Who is to say why they have PTSD? You need a doctor to rule out the alternatives. However, if you have a current diagnosis of PTSD, and you have the combat awards I think you will get a rating. It takes time and effort. IMO's are the most important aspect in my opinion.

For every success story we here on Hadit we don't hear about the guys who use the VSO's and get denied and just quit. I think the VA may be clearing the decks by throwing vets overboard. I bet a lot of younger vets just shrug their shoulders and get on with their lives after denials thinking that 10% does not matter anyway. It comes back to haunt them 30 years later.

File for IU. If he can't even handle his money how is he going to work? Let's be reasonable. I can handle my money but I can't work. If I could not handle my money I would know I could not work. You as spouse should handle the money. Otherwise it can get bad quickly. Nothing like finding out the spouse has run up 40,000 in credit card debt! Preaching the regs is OK but we live in the real world. No one wants to admit they are so messed up they can't pay their bills or keep track of financial obligations. Unfortunately, it is so, and I know it from my own experience with family members. It can cause maximum stress when you find out insurance has not been paid or bank notes are not being paid. You probably ought to create some kind of trust for him in case you die first, so he can't run through everything and end up on the street.

I just don't understand why our learders think they have to lie to get Americans to fight. They lied about Iraq and what a mess. The war in Afghanistan reminds me of the very early days of Vietnam. Slow escalation to disaster. It is wrecking the army. They are wearing the soldiers out by multiple deployments in my limited opinion.

You know that LBJ had told so many lies that when the USA actually beat the VC and NVA badly during Tet nobody back home believe it. Down south the VC really did blow it during 1968 Tet. However, they won the propaganda war on the home front. Walter Cronkite gave the war the kiss of death on national TV. I have read alot about the war. I think the brain trust that believed in the Domino Theory should be shown for what they were since most are dead. They were ignorant and deluded fools who had no understanding of the history of Vietnam. They lied about the Tonkin Gulf incident to get us into the war in a big way. Not one of the Best and Brightest understood that China and Vietnam were ancient enemies. They did not understand that Cambodia and Vietnam hated each other. We got out of Vietnam and nothing happened. China invaded Vietnam and got their asses kicked. Vietnam invaded Cambodia and got rid of the K.R. None of these great thinkers took a second to understand any history.

If you take any opiods for pain that will turn your stream to a drizzle. I think that the complications of severe PTSD are legion. There has not been enough research on this topic. Who really knows what a heightened state of arousal over a long period can do to a body? Humans are not designed to be on full alert 24/7. I think from what I have read the whole body and mind starts to break down like a machine that is running full blast all the time. You know it is going to break.

If you don't have combat awards or medals you have to have something in your records to verify your stressor. Ask Sledge how easy it is to verify a stressor if you don't have a combat award even if you were in 50 mortar attacks, or got shot at every night. Much easier now since the Army created the combat action badge. Those guys in convoys who saw their buddies getting blown to hell by an IED or took rounds can get the CAB. We Vietnam vets did not get that. No CIB,PH or award with a V device, no stressor conceded.