john999

I was enrolled in a private group therapy for many years. That is where I got better. I have no idea what VA group therapy is like, but I don't really want to find out since it is a long drive. I was there in ear shot one day of a PTSD group and the cops had to come and drag one of the guys away for screaming. There is a vet center group not too far from my house but it is for PTSD only. I want to talk about my life today, and not relive something 37 years ago. My private group died because the psychologist could not get people who could pay to attend. For people with depression and anxiety group is great. We even had people who were psychotic and they benefited. I did get accused of flying over a person's house and dropping bad Karma on them, but I would live with being the focus of a delusion.

Chris The military and VA are responsible for your addiction. You were a compliant patient and now they have to fix you. You know I went to the VA and asked for Vioxx for my back and they prescribe morphine instead. They said Vioxx was too expensive. Then they tell me I have a problem!! I do not believe for one second your physical addiction is of your making. Mine was not either after I got hurt and started using the VA pain clinic. I have taken many drug tests and I never abused the drugs I got from VA. They are good at shifting blame. Also, pain clinics at the VA will blame you if you don't respond the way they want you to respond. You become a problem because you don't get better. If you complain then they want to get rid of you. Remember that every blood or urine test you take at VA is a drug screen, so don't have anything in your system you should not have, or not have something you should have. They get you both ways. The VA assumes you are a drug addict, and that if given a chance you will sell your drugs for cash.

Chris I don't know how the VA treats addiction if their meds are responsible for it. You know there were thousands of Civil War vets who became morphine addicts. That is one reason they invented heroin. Then to cure heroin addiction they invented methadone which now kills people. If you had gotten addicted on your own using illegal drugs they would throw you out as unfit and a personality disorder. You would get nothing for that in way of compensation. I have a feeling that they will try and blame you for your addiction. I was put on the same stuff as you but it made me itch. I think they will just consider the addiction as part of the chronic pain disorder. I don't think you will get a rating for addiction. This is my guess. Stay with this topic and keep asking about it. I got in trouble with the VA pain clinic because I complained about side effects of methadone and morphine. Many can't tolerate the side effects of these drugs such as terminal constipation and living in daze.

You don't have to tell me about the way the military and VA handle Pain management. I was on oxycodone and morphine for two years and in one half hour a nurse decided I did not need it anymore and cut me off. I did not punch her in the face, but just left and went to a private pain clinic. Now after all those years on opiates I also have a habit and still have chronic pain. Never trust the VA with your pain meds. Never go into a in-patient pain program at the VA because you have to be opiate free. Never get locked up in the mental health ward because you will be going cold turkey. They put you on drugs that will surely addict you and then decide to cut you off because you are addicted or because they believe the opiates are aggravating your depression. Yes, that happened to me. They drive you to start addict behavior like seeking backup sorces of drugs from other doctors. What else can you do if they are going to cut you off on a whim? I got addicted in Vietnam and stayed clean for 25 years until my injuries started to interfer with my job. Then I started taking pain killers at doctors advice and with prescriptions. Now where am I? There are guys that have been addicted since Vietnam. Your problem in not uncommon. My pain doctors at the VA won't prescribe oxycontin because they say it is bad, but morphine and methadone is good.

Forget to shave for about two weeks and have some B.O. with your shirt hanging out always helps. A belt about ten sizes too large, high water pants, and greasy, uncombed hair and bad breath is a plus. Maybe eat an onion before you go or some garlic. Get someone else to drive you to the exam like a wife or GF. No eye contact if possible as Rock says. Alex said to sleep in your clothes for about three days before the exam. You may be divorced after this but you might be a decent rating.

These mental C&P exams should make any vet nervous. Just do your best to do your worst. One way to go is to stay up all night before the exam and drink about ten cups of coffee. You should be sweating and shaking pretty good by then which always helps. You will probably be seen by an intern or resisdent. Don't hold back tears or try to be stoic. Just remember that you were OK before the military and that it was the military that made you crazy. You had a happy home life, loved your parents, got along well in school and after military life it all went to hell. No drinking or drugs before the military or arrests unless they can prove otherwise.

Berta That is really amazing. My wife told me her EX got service connection for eye problems due to AO, and he did not have DMII. I told her I think she was mistaken and he was just BSing her. Now I see I could be wrong. He was half blind and spent much time at the VA in the detox unit and nuthouse, but not SC'ed for these things. He had a motorcycle accident after he was out which crippled him. No problem he did not work anyway. I look good compared to him, heh, heh. At least I had a steady job when I met her, and a nice car. Love is blind, but not stupid.

EED= Earlier Effective Date. When you go back to try and change a decision that has become final the only way to get a higher rating, or SC that would go back to that original date is to show CUE. That is my understanding of it. You can reopen a old claim but your effective date for a new or higher benefit would be the date you reopen, and not the original date. You should have seen my original rating decision....two pages, no appeal rights, no reasons and basis, no nothing except a diagnosis and a rating of 10%. They completely ignored my doctor's report that said my condition was much worse. They did not even list or refer to it, but they had it.

My thoughts are that if the VA creates enough discomfort for the veteran he/she will just stop using the VA. This may be their goal. It is their goal as far as the pain clinic in Tampa. However, for the sake only of your claim I would just bite the bullet and explain everything all over again each time they do this to you. Don't let them chase you off by this tactic. I am paranoid and yet most of what the VA does is due to incompetence and cheapness. They are not really smart enough to engineer a plot except in general terms by being so cheap and inconsistent that the vet just stops dealing with them. They would love to just treat OIF/OEF vets and forget the rest of us. I have had many psychiatrists and PCP's in the last ten years. I get my real care from private doctors, but I use the VA system for pills and to document my disabilites. It is not a place to get real help with emotional problems. That is for professionals and not medical students.

The only way to go after EED for final unappealed decisions is CUE if you can prove it. Otherwise go after the VSO. I don't know how hard that is since they probably have a very low standard to meet to say they represented you to the best of their ability. It is like suing a union when they do a crummy or sellout job on a grievance. I know how you feel since VFW once appealed my claim stating I should get more compensation because I was a personality disorder. No one told me about appeals or NOD's back in 1971 when I first got SC'ed.

That is one claim I hope I never have to make, but it would be devestating to a spouse and I am glad the VA is taking responsibility. This is based on statistical data? If the VA used statistical data for AO in an honest manner the presumptive list would be as long as your arm. Dioxin is one of the deadliest chemicals in the world. I remember the guy who drank it to prove it was harmless. I believe he died of stomach cancer.

What do your SMR's say bi-polar or PTSD? If you are going to try and make a case years after discharge without a SMR reference then PTSD is probably easier. However, it you have a psychiatric diagnosis in your SMR's stick with that since you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You need a verifiable stressor for PTSD as you know I am sure.

That MF'er should be hanged. See if he can live on a 2.5% COLA. Based on that we are going backwards.

I wonder with this kind of evidence you could challange the nature of your discharge even after all these years. Your victory is so complete. I don't know if you would benefit in any way from having a medical discharge as opposed to the General under Honorable you got, but it was an injustice since they just wanted to get rid of you. They did the same thing to me, but I filed for compensation within one year of discharge and got SC'ed for 10% which was a low ball joke. I had been in the nuthouse three times while in service and yet they claimed I was just unsuitable after Vietnam.

Stretch The VA believes in reincarnation. They believe that claims are born, go to the BVA, are reborn and sent to the AMC and then get reincarnated back to the VARO for another cycle. This can go on for the vet's lifetime or two.

Hurryup Doctors often give anti-depressives to people with chronic pain. If you are taking narcotics that may block the effects of everything else you take. Chronic back pain is a syndrome all it's own and may have psycholgical and physical components to it. I have chronic back problems and foot pain and it makes me nervous about doing certain things. I used to love to travel and now the pain has activated my old panic disorder that I thought I had put behind me. It frustrates the hell out of me. I think it is weird that the doctor would resist giving you anti-depressants. I think you should agree to take the meds even if you flush them down the toilet. I am thinking like the VA and being a compliant patient. They don't look for that in your urine or blood but they do look for narcotics and the drugs like valium and clonazepam.

The thing is that if you have a opening in the tissue you could get an infection and really be up "shit's creek" so to say. I would keep trying to find someone who has an alternative.

Betty Now that you are rich could I please borrow 100,000 bucks to help bail out those poor Wall Street bankers. I just feel they need the help. I can just live on air and water so I don't need it for myself, heh, heh.

Because they are stupid and don't read your charts, or they got you mixed up with another vet. You know your Primary has about 10 minutes with each patient and some have 20-30 meds. Do you think they check all these drugs to see the interactions? Your widow could sue them, of course. Mabye they were trying to kill you!!!! These doctors at the VA are dangerous, and some of the private ones are not so keen either. That is the main thing they are supposed to do is check for side effects and interactions of drugs they prescribe to you.

1994 You have more going on than just a back injury. You have MST. I know some here are much more informed on this than me, but sometimes these things manifest themselves in physical ways like back pain. Any record at all about the MST. Changes of behavior, drinking, drugging, awol etc. This is a kind of evidence of MST. You were mind ^%$%^% by the military. John

Betty The federal reserve needs 700 billion dollars. Do you think you could loan it to them at 15% interest. All I ask is a small finders fee.

1994 You do have a record of a back injury in your SMR's. That is key. Showing that you have been in treatment on some kind of regular basis is a problem if there are no records. However, I think you have chance. Did the military give you a diagnosis at the time of your injury? Injuries often lead to other problems years later or make you prone to complications at a later date. When you got the PD discharge was it for something that might have been due to chronic pain like drinking or drugging to self medicate?

If there is anything in your SMR's saying you had a back injury then I think you have a chance on appeal. I think you will probably be denied at first. Don't give up and file a NOD. I got thrown out on a personality disorder but now get my TDIU. It took time but these things can be overcome. Betty did it in spades 44 years worth. How long have you been out? I had a C&P recently from a PA and it was a joke. I will be appealing the certain denial, but they may have actually expanded my disability by denying one thing, and sustaining a new disorder that is also a secondary condition of DMII.

A new administration is the only thing that will help us. You see how these guys in congress respond when big banks are in trouble. 25 million vets are treated like trash. They send cash for trash for the banks but we don't rate that high. We are lower than whale shit to congress and the administration. This has been going on for 40 years. I use the DAV mail system to write my senators and congresswoman constantly about vet issues. I get canned letters back.

If you don't win this thing hire a lawyer. I bet there is significant retro involved. I hope the VARO does what they are supposed to do. Time is your enemy.