john999

Billy I am not knocking combat vets. After and during Vietnam (my war) there was no PTSD diagnosis. We were diagnosed with anxiety, panic, depression, psychotic disorders etc. If you have some mental health disorder related to service why would that not cause sleep apnea just as well as PTSD? The VA is just focusing on PTSD because they are getting heat from congress. They even moved the non-ptsd patients to their own building away from the other mental health patients at my VAMC. PTSD is an anxiety disorder. The difference in the VA's mind is that you have to have a verifiable stressor. If you are diagnosed with depression in-service you probably have anxiety and all sorts of physical problems as well, but you don't hear about that at all. I got a PTSD diagnosis 35 years after I was diagnosed with a different mental health disorder. It did not matter to me since I was service connected for 35 years already. Also, if you are a cook and get shot by a sniper on guard duty you are just as dead as a grunt on patrol at least you were in Vietnam during TET.

If you are paying an IMO good money for a report it is good to use it to rebut things the VA may say in your rating. I think you could do both. Have an IMO to hand to the C&P man, and then wait and get another variation if the exam or rating goes bad. I handed in two IMO's when I applied for IU. The VA denied my IU based on me having a NSC condition. I then went back and got another IMO to get around that problem. When VA then granted IU they denied P&T. I went back and got another IMO to beat that. IMO's are the best medical evidence besides what is in your SMR's. To win the VA lottery you have to get evidence.

I would hand the IMO to VARO and get date stamped copies. The C&P doctor is going to make his own judgement and probably won't even read the IMO. The thing about doing an IMO before you get the C&P result is that you don't know what parts of the C&P exam you want your IMO to rebut.

I can't argue with that statement from Veterans for Change. Just remember the Bonus Army and how they were attacked and beaten. We are still being attacked and beaten by the VA with denials and delays.

It seems the focus is always on PTSD when many vets suffer from other anxiety disorders and mental health disorders. Why the tunnel vision just on PTSD?

The St. Pete VARO is pretty slow, but you will get your rating. I am at the St. Pete VARO as well for about 35 years. You usually have to fight for everything you get, and they give low ratings. Some of the ratings I have gotten have just been pathetic. They are not big on logic. St Pete is a very busy VARO. There are over a million vets in the St Pete region. They get about 10,000 pieces of mail a day. I would not want to see their mailroom. It would give me nightmares.

Ask for more!

I think Kelly's letters get looked at by some aide and go into the file to gather dust. The way congress is going to do something is for them to get pressure from large numbers of veterans. They are not good for much, but they count money and votes.

Rikkor When you post you should use regular English grammer. Internet shorthand makes it hard to follow you. No offense, my friend.

I believe that only final decisions can be CUE'ed. You don't want that ,so appeal this reduction.

I got a disability policy. It is not subject to ERISA otherwise I would probably hav had to hire a lawyer by now. I have to submit paperwork twice a year to keep getting my $675 a month for life. It is just worth it, but I wonder.

I have heard that claimants who have disability insurance that falls under Erisa usually get cut off rather quickly. Any PA can say you are able to work and that will trump ten neurosergeons and a bushel of psychiatrists. Insurance companies are just theives. I bought a long term care policy for my wife. Now after 7 years they want to increase the premium by 25%. I contacted a class action lawyer because a whole class of people under age 70 are affected. This may or may not be under Erisa, but the federal government promoted it as the best policy in the industry. They endorsed it and encouraged federal employees to get it. I got one in the private sector and there is no premium increase.

Even death is not the end. You die, and are then transported to a lake of fire, and burn for eternity. That is the good news according to the Southern Baptists I know. They were talking about me since they consider me a heathen. I told them I prefer a large frying pan so they can flip me over when I am done on one sie.

Carl Just be sure you stay with us until you get the help you need. Don't accept "No" for an answer. If the VA retired Navy Captain can't handle it that is his problem. Where has he been living besides a glass jar.

Wings I did not know that once you were certified to the BVA you could not go back and have the DRO look at it. I keep learning things here. My conception of a good way to go is the following: RO rating, NOD, DRO Hearing, BVA and then Court. That gives you four shots at it and it will surely be remanded from BVA or Court back to the RO at the end of this four or five year journey. Meanwhile you grow old, die and are reincarnated as a fly buzzing around the RO's head. You have to be a Buddist to really win at the VA.

I had a C&P exam for a heart condition secondary to DMII. It was done by a PA. I knew it was BS. I went and looked at what is required testing to do a good C&P for a heart condition. This PA did none of the required testing. She just made guesses based on what I told her. She guessed my METS on the fact I told her I could walk three blocks. I got the necessary testing done and appealed. I went from 0% to 60% on appeal. I think the PA should be in jail.

I filed for IU when I was 30% SC. I could not work and I had been accepted for SSD. Both my private psychiatrist and psychologist said I could not work due to SC disability. The VA hemmed and hawed and came up with a "new" 70% rating. After another battle I got IU. Like most have been saying "If you can't work due soley to SC condition then you are entitled to IU". I was told that an inferred claim for IU required a 70% rating. This is nonsense. Anything in your VA record that indicates you can't work due to SC condition should trigger an IU claim.

Actually, the biggest benefits from P&T status are possible property tax exemption and ChampVA. I pay no property tax in Florida and I get the DV tags. What does it matter about war time service if you are P&T? I have war time service in a combat zone. People got hurt worse than me in jeep accidents back at Ft Polk. The deserve it just as much as I do if they can't work because of it. I think someone is BSing you.

If you are 60% SC and one disability is at least 40% you have enough for IU now. File for it regardless. If you can't work due to SC disability file for IU. Don't wait for a PTSD diagnosis. I have been diagnosed with everything from schizophrenia to bi-polar, panic disorder and PTSD. It does not matter if you can't work because of it. My rating included all four of those disorders, plus a few. I got 70% and IU.

Go to the VARO and tell them you want a DRO Hearing. You can stop this thing. I did the same thing myself. I asked for a DRO and they were going to send it to the BVA. I sent in a Form 9 and wrote on it I wanted a DRO hearing. Hand deliver the Form 9 to the VA with your request for a DRO Hearing. How far are you from the VARO?

Get ready for the veteran's court! No one is going to be there to advocate for you. Did you write a brief? You understand that CUE is a legal argument. It is not like a regular claim where you have benefit of doubt. Are you going to the BVA to argue your case, or are you just going to let them do their "work" on you? These claims can be lost on the wrong word in a sentence. The words "weighing the evidence" are fatal. When did you file initial NOD on this CUE. If it is not too late to get a lawyer then get one. You are going to need one.

VAF I did not know that you must have filed the "initial" NOD before June 2007. You are saying that any existing claim before 2007 on which prior NODs were filed are dead to lawyers at BVA or RO. I thought that if you got a NOD after June 2007 even on existing or old claims you could hire a lawyer. Can you point out that regulation and give us the wording. I believe you. but I just want to see it if you don't mind.

I have paid a very steep price for every dime I get from the VA in pain and suffering. I would rather have not paid it since I was doing quite OK before I became disabled with a wife and a mortgage and a car payment.

If you file one new piece of evidence the VA will base their effective date on that evidence and wipe out 10 years of backpay. Ten years for a claim to be rated and appealed all the way is a crime. It took me about 25 years to go from 10% to 30% and another 10 years to go to 70%, and two more years to get IU. One more year to get P&T. 3 more years to get correct ratings on agent orange claims. That is 38 years of dealing with these VA clowns. I have a CUE claim that is about two years old.

I think you have a good claim. The main thing is the quality of your dental report. You have to have your dentist say that it is at least as likely as not that your dental problem is the result of your PTSD. He should explain how it happens and why it happens to you. You should get a C&P exam for this eventually. You need strong medical report to make a connection.