john999

What the SSA doctor is going to be determining is can you do any work at all with your PTSD condition. That is a high standard. What I got was a very specific report from a doctor who does SSA medical disability reports. He got the wording down right. The medical must say that you are totally disabled and will be totally disabled from all work for at least one year. These are the magic words. I never had an exam from SSA, but I know people who have and it is not a walk in the park. If you get denied hire a lawyer. They are experts at this stuff.

How did the military explain the wounds your husband received? Shell fragment wounds don't usually happen outside a war zone. Where was he treated? Even if he got a few stiches it should be noted somewhere. I cut my hand in Vietnam on some barb wire and it required treatment. That is in my medical records.

That would be a double YES. During the first year after discharge you are considered to be in almost the same category as active duty. It is much easier to get things SC'ed during first year after discharge. Especially, any mental disorder.

You can get rated for chronic pain disorder. It is considered a physical and psychological condition. You should have a shrink diagnosis it and related it to your sc physical conditions. I am rated for chronic pain disorder but it is just part of my psychiatric disability that includes depression, anxiety etc. Most people who have chronic pain disorder have depression and anxiety. It goes along with loss of control. It can be associated with phobias and other problems as well.

Macool I saw a shrink at my VAMC in 1972. I went back in 2003 and he was still there. He was about 120 years old and still misdiagnosing patients. He retired and they hired him back as a consultant. I think this is what they do with C&P doctors. They are incompetent to do medical procedures but they can still do an exam any way the VA wants them to do it.

Just like Hoppy and Wings are saying when doctors don't find a physical cause for a problem they often assign it to your head. I have heard this over and over from people I have met who had real physical problem but were told it was in their heads.

Conversion disorder means it is in your head. I would go to a real doctor and make sure that this is an emotional disorder and not a stroke. Left side paralysis sounds suspiciously like something with a physical origin. I have heard of hysterical blindess and other forms of paralysis, but this is a bit too specific.

I did ask the DAV for a refund on my life membership. They refused, of course. What do I get from them besides their magazine which is poor and consists of them patting themselves on the back for their past glory? For future problems I can't handle I go to a lawyer.

Ruby Did you compare what the PA did on your exam to the official requirements for the C&P exam for your problem. When a PA did my exam for cardiovascular problems secondary to DMII the PA did not ask for the necessary tests. When I got the tests I went from a rating of 0% to 60%. We use the same VARO. The standard of C&P exams is shocking.

I get where you are coming from but you might want to wait until you get the rating so you know exactly what reasons they are going to use to possibly deny your claim, and then you hire a doctor to attack those specific reasons for denial.

Ruby I hope you appealed that 50% rating. A friend of mine who is now 100% also had a 50% rating from the St.Pete VARO even though he was on SSD for his SC condition. He finally started fighting back in a smart way and got IU and then 100% with HB. The St. Pete VARO are masters at low balling vets with emotional disorder. They just figure many vets will just take what they get and move on, and they are right.

What you need now are medical reports to show that your PTSD is severe rather than moderate. If you are working it is harder to do, but the closer you get to 100% the better. A few years from now you may,indeed, be unemployable due to the PTSD and you want it to be a short hop from your rating to IU or 100% disability. I went from 30% to 70% with no other information about symptoms except I was no longer able to work. There were no change in symptoms except my employer (the feds) was trying to get rid of those with any emotional/mental disabilies. I got fired because of my disability. I even got workers compensation for a few years and they just did not give a &^%$ or even fight it.

I would not even discuss or bring up the stabbing incident. If the VA brings it up you will probably need to get a medical opinion to rebut there attempts to blame your depression on the stabbing as opposed to the chronic pain from your back. Don't give them anymore ammunition regarding the stabbing. You are probably going to have to separate out the effects of your back pain from the stabbing, but don't bring it into the equation until you have to do it. I, too, had some NSC conditions that sort of were intertwined with my SC condition around chronic pain. I had to get an independent medical opinion to convince the VA that my NSC pain conditions were not the cause of my mental health issues at that time. Sometimes the less you say about NSC issues the better.

The VA will combine chronic pain disorder with the depression and adjustment disorder. They consider chronic pain disorder a mental disorder. I am service connected for it and they just lump it in with my other problems. No doubt chronic pain will make depression worse.

I got TDIU with no Chapter 35. I appealed and within one year had P&T. I got another medical report to repeat the fact that my condition was unlikely to improve. The VA did not hear me the first time. The VA saves money by acting dumb regarding conditions that are static. They figure that many vets will just accept the denial of Chapter 35, so they deny it. It is just the VA trying to save a buck at your expense.

If you go inside as a mental health patient go on weekday. Also, the VA has a way of taking you off all your drugs when you go inside if they are not VA drugs. For instance, if you get pain meds from outside doctor the VA will just let you go into withdrawl while you are behind the green door. I don't see any reason to go as an in-patient unless you are psychotic or suicidal. Just make sure somebody on the outside has your POA and can get you out of the institution. You want to be careful of what you sign as voluntary admission. It can be difficult to get out once you get inside the locked door. I know from experience.

Now if for some reason you had a heart condition that was possibly SC I would file for that even if I had a 200% rating. You want to file on conditions that might be fatal or so disabling that you will be incapacitated and need help doing basic activites of living. I was already TDIU when I filed for DMII related to AO exposure. This is the kind of disease you want to service connect since it has so many potentially fatal secondary conditions.

The VA is probably going to claim that your depression is due to the attack and not your back. You will need a good medical report that explains why it is your back and not the stabbing that has made you depressed. The VA denied me TDIU because of a minor NSC issue. You have a major NSC issue. The VA is going to try and blame all your problems on this attack that happened when you were out of the service. I am telling how I think they think.

I think after Vietnam the powers that be were worried vets would take up arms to help overthrow Nixon's fascist state. How things change. This could be result of the development of our Professional Military. Not a good idea since they get pumped full of right wing ideas by born again leaders who think they are crusaders. However it is the government fears veterans. They feared them after Vietnam and now they fear those coming back from the middle east. They should fear them since the economy has nothing to offer vets except unemployment benefits. I wish vets would take up arms but not to support right wing nut jobs.

I have deep suspicion of political critters actually doing anything for vets. Maybe Spector is different since he wants to curry favor after jumping ship from one party to another. Usually these guys are useless.

Can they be that dumb on purpose?

The VA are idiots. They cannot add 2+2. I bet they did not even read your evidence in your file. They just went with the mental health C&P as if that was the only evidence or issue you had. It is pitiful that a guy with a rating of 90% has to get a lawyer to get IU. Did you put in for SSD?

I think percentage wise there will be enough to get TDIU. The VA is still trying to use the boderline personality thing to qualify Yoggie's overall mental health. Moderate impairment due to PTSD should get at least 30% and with the 40% for the back that is 70%. The doctor seemed to waffle on his ability to work due soley to his SC disorders. Yoggie has to wait until he gets the rating decision and then if they deny TDIU for some absurd reason go back and get the IMO to rebut there reasoning for denying it. I remember I got 70% and the VA denied TDIU because of NSC condition I had which was a minor condition compared the the SC condition. How can a person like Yoggie have just a moderate impairment if he has Major Depression and PTSD plus chronic pain from his back. Often it is two steps forward and one step back with the VA. I know I had to fight for every benefit I ever got from them. However, every step forward brings you closer to your goal and Yoggie's report does bring him closer because they admit PTSD. That opens all doors and means that TDIU is inevitable given the circumstances. Not giving a GAF score I don't understand. I see this exam as a step forward.

Are you taking any medications for depression? The VA always wants to know if you are on medications.

Navy I think the VA is considering a claim for inferred TDIU. That is good since you must have met the percentage requirements. Are you working? If you did not request TDIU and the VA sent you the paperwork they must have a reason for sending you this stuff. If you are not working then this is a good sign in my opinion. It means you are getting a higher rating that puts you in the TDIU ballpark.