john999

I filed a claim in 1972 and got 10%. It took 30 years to get 70%, and two years to get IU. I got a CUE going back right to 1971 (my date of discharge) asking for IU, and my lawyer says I have a good chance. Anyway I can collect from those criminals who denied me years ago is a good thing, and may encourage others to fight.

There are now a million claims somewhere in the process either in development or appeal. The system is in crisis.

In my city some car dealers felt sorry for some Iraq/Afghanistan vets and bought them new vans with all the devices to help them be transported since they are in wheelchairs. These vets got charity and everyone slapped themselves on the back. Why is charity necessary for these guys? You have to be insane to volunteer for combat duty in America.

If you were denied chapter 35 then appeal that denial. Like Berta says you should get an IMO to state your PTSD is permanent and total.

When you file your Form 9 you can ask for a traveling board. I think if you claim is at the BVA you could ask for a traveling board, but it might add time to your claim and I mean years from what some have said. When your VSO does not give you good advice to begin with it gets harder to correct these mistakes later. I think that almost all of the time it is better to get a personal hearing with the VA. The impression you make on the board member or DRO matters. It can mean more than a pile of paperwork, not to say written evidence is not crucial.

Everyone is getting upset. We need to be a little less judgemental. If you read all possible side effects of even tylenol you would not take it. If the medical professionals don't warn, or even know about side effects how can patients. Also, drug companies down play side effects and distort the severity of the side effects. The only doctor I have who warns me about side effects is my 70 year old VA shrink who is a real, old time doctor from great state of Texas. How he survives being in the VA I don't know. I guess because he is most qualified doctor they have.

I got the check and it is spent already.

Pete I have the cough too and I take lisinopril. I am glad you mentioned that. It feels like something is sort of irritating my throat. I was taking another drug from a private doctor but the VA changed to the cheaper one.

Purple Many vets take multiple drugs for multiple SC conditions. Take methadone or morphine and try operating on them. Side effects are part of a person's disability. Drugs also interact with other drugs you may need and then you have some sort of side effect that is disabling in some way. Just read the possible side effects of any drug you take and then multiply that by the number of drugs you take. Half the people here have had awful side effects from medications. Many suffer constant pain rather than deal with side effects.

I got a rating of 70% with a GAF of 50. The main thing was I was not working and my doctor said I was unemployable due to my MH condition.

Essentially unemployable means that the c&p examiner did not want to use the correct phrasing which he surely knew, the jerk. I may have said this before but I had a C&P doctor say he could not determine if I was IU because I was unemployed.

Why do they bother to tell me that it is my responsibility to tell them if dependents change if they are going to drop the hammer on me if I don't respond to their letter? They know a certain percentage of vets won't reply for various reasons and they can then cut compensation and pay no interest on money they save. Thanks for the update on procedure to reinstate dependents.

When docs who are tying to be helpful tell you that you have some disorder you must remember that unless it shows up in your SMR's the VA is probably going to deny it. If you SMR's show a diagnosis of depression or bi-polar then I don't think it is a far jump to show that chronic pain or some medical condition aggravates it. However, if you are starting from no record of diagnosis or treatment for a mental disorder in service then it gets harder. Depression due to a medical disorder and PTSD are about the only mental conditions I know that don't require some in-service documentation of diagnosis or treatment. With PTSD you have the verifiable stressor which for many is a mountain to climb. If you are depressed because you are in chronic pain and unable to get around due to a SC condition then that is doable, but you still need careful medical nexus statement. Anything that muddies the water about what is causing the depression creates a big problem. Three words that gives the VA something to hang their hat on to deny the depression claim as SC'ed is all they need. These guys are not looking for reasons to grant compensation . It is the reverse in my experience.

The VA sent me a questionaire about my dependents today. They asked if my dependents have changed. Behind that was a threat to cut off my dependent compensation if they did not get the questionaire back in 60 days. They remind me that it is my responsibility to inform them if dependents change. What if the letter got lost in the mail, or if I moved and the letter was not forwarded by the post office. I would have my compensation reduced. I would watch for this little gem. It looks like one of those letters you get from the VA reminding you that you have an appointment at the VAMC. There is always that implied idea that vets are most likely trying to defraud the government, but have just not be caught yet.

I don't think you should go with trying to prove bi-polar due to a medical condition. Bi-polar is considered one of those things you often inherit where there is a genetic imbalance in chemicals in the brain. Tons has been written about bi-polar running in families. What you want is depression due to a general medical condition, not bi-polar. Now a medical condition could aggravate a bi-polar condition, but it would not cause it I don't think. I agree with what Larry is saying. Better to not submit such evidence because the VA will jump on that and say your bi-polar condition is the cause of all your problems, and unless your bi-polar is service connected that will hurt you bad.

Why not hire a lawyer?

If you have pain it means your body is still alive. When you stop feeling pain in your feet after having pain for a long time it may mean the nerves are dead.

If what you say is true I would fire the DAV Monday morning, and request in strongest terms for them to send your file to the BVA to be rated ASAP. Your claim is already almost 5 years old. If you get denied hire a lawyer. I take it you are not having a personal hearing at the BVA. This would be better if you did have a hearing instead of them just rating a pile of paperwork. You probably should have at least had a personal hearing with a traveling board.

I think a group of individuals have to file suit and then they have to get permission to get it certified as a class action suit. In a class action the lawyers get all the money and you get a check for about 60 cents, but it might change the behavior of the VA.

If you are getting 90% compensation you make too much to get SSI. SSI is welfare for disabled who don't qualify for SSD. With SSI you are disabled, dirt poor. You can get medicade, food stamps, section 8 housing etc. Actually, you are better off on SSI than on SSD, but you have to crawl in the dirt. You will be reminded frequently that you are a worthless piece of &^%$ at least in my state.

Clown Man You are right about the VA giving weight to a particular piece of evidence to give the effective date they want to bestow. I had a claim on appeal for about 4 years. I got so fed up with the denials and remands I went to a new shrink. He said I was 70% unemployable etc in the present tence. I got the IU award based on his letter. I just did not get it until the hammer fell on me. Four years of appeals wiped out as far as effective date. This is sort of "inside baseball", and how should a vet know this until it is too late. I got zero help from the DAV. The VA plays more games with effective dates than anything. If we all had attorneys from day one this would not happen if the lawyers were worth their salt.

Most of the drugs I take for anxiety,pain and depression leave me limp. The drugs like Paxil are the worse. It is horrible to me because the only drugs that work on my anxiety and depression are in the paxil familiy.

Last time I ate at the Golden hog farm I got food poisoning. Can I at least get a hamburger from the home of the Big Mac?

Yes, I am sure they don't have a deductible like we vets do. I never get a dime in travel because I live 15 miles from the VAMC. It still takes an hour to get there due to lack of parking.

Are you totally disabled from your heart condition? If you are working at all then I don't think you can get more than 60% no matter what. I have 60% for the same condition as you and I was already 80% and P&T when I got that rating. The extra 60% only got me up to 90%. VA math!