lcurle

I was told by my PCP and a PA in the ER that, "The body wants to heal itself and you should let it do that." This was after I went in because I had swelling around my spine where the bulk of the "Degenerative Arthritis" is. Asked for an MRI and got told, "We don't do MRI's." Asked for an xray to see if there was any acute injuries, "We are here to treat your current pain symptom and not your back." I told them I did not want any narcotics. I just want help to get my back feeling better so I can move without being hunched over. It seems like IME/IMO's are starting to be counterproductive and tells the VA , "Screw you and your doctors." but they are needed when we go past their first line of defense, the C&P examiners, and into the BVA. "Never give up, never surrender. Until the day I die."

They told me they do not do MRIs at my va.....wtf I keep reporting ankle pain and twisting my ankle which should be a sc based on SMR. When I asked my pcp about it he keeps sending me for X-rays. X-rays do not show the ligament and tendon damage like and MRI. Now with my back getting jacked up more and more I wonder if he will do anything. Do I need to talk to patient advocate at the va?? Email mr. McDonald?? The rhetoric is now starting to take a told on my personal health and now my family financial situation since I cannot work. Ok I think I get it now. Let's see if my pcp will play ball and make an attempt at fixing me.

Dammit, my wife noticed some fairly bad swelling and bruising around my spine where the pain has been recently....I have an appt on the 29th with my PCP, should I send them a secure message about the swelling/bruising so it can be documented later if I need the evidence?

My physical therapist in her notes said that the damage "would only get better with daily astym treatment." she also noted the scar tissue that was present during the astym treatment returned to the pre-treatment state after 3 weeks of non therapy.

Ok, I am trying to get my duck in a row but hard to get things done. I am not working right now, so getting an IME and paying out of pocket is not feasible. The only medical care I can get is at the va and it would seem like they try to discredit everything all the time. Today I had to go to the Er for my back and was told I needed to stretch more and that would help. Excellent, glad to know that stretching is going to help. I am lucky that I can take pain mess but I do not take them unless my wife, who is a nurse, tells me to take something. I have two thing in appeals right now, one for a increase in ptsd backed with an IME from a psychiatrist who think that my social and occupational impairment warrants a higher rating. Secondly, when they denied my right ankle claim and called it tendonitis I appealed with my SMR where I had numerous phase 3 ankle sprains during my time in service. i have my good days and bad days with my back and ptsd. When I talk to my pcp about it he tells me to lose weight, which I have lost 50# before my back got worse. They have been fairly helpful on certain things but disregard other conditions. My pcp likes to ask, " what do you want me to do." I don't know, you are the doctor. Seems hopeless at times. Then once they find out I was a combat mos, 11 series, they think that it is all in my head and I need to figure things out. I have yet to lose my temper and start yelling at the Drs and nurses, maybe I need to to get my point across, then I fear they will kick me out and take my benefits I have currently. Anyways, thanks for reading, your input is appreciated as usual.

Hey all, I just put in a claim. Since I was denied Tendonitis for my R ankle and due to the chronic nature of it, I filed for Tendonosis. In addition to that I filed a secondary "Chronic Back Pain" to my lower lumbar degeneration as well as IU due to said conditions. Since I am in now unable to move very well, 32 years old btw, I am debating about going to the VAMC ER since the muscle relaxers and naproxin that was prescribed to me does nothing. The only thin that touches my pain and allows me to move freely is cannabis. Unsure what to do, this morning I was unable to move until my wife helped me out of bed. Debating about going to the VA today....any advice is appreciated. If this is what my life is going to be like unsure if I can handle it.

Hmm I figured telling them you use weed would get all your benefits revoked and then a knock on the door from the DEA.

Great new for you! Gets me more depressed knowing I will never see that as I lay in bed.

About to send a shit storm through the RO down there, I think 10 years is long enough for a decision.

Yeah I had them in writing say that until my PTSD gets better I would not advance in the company. That's when the fun started and was basically forced to quit for my sanity.

I noticed on my claim that they have sent out some form to my previous employers. One filled it out and gave ti to me to submit, which I did. The other employer which I left on bad terms with is also knowledgeable about the VA process and have stated before in person the last time they got the form that they were going to fill it out to get me denied. Any way to have the VA not send them a form to fill out? Kind of concerned that they will do anything to screw me over since I won a EOE suit against them for purposefully not promoting veterans with disabilities.

After i read her report I was waiting in the parking lot of the VA at 3 am waiting for her to show up the next day when the VA Police told me to leave. The called my wife to find out what I was doing...that is when the fun stated and I was escorted back to my house.

I have also been leary of telling the C&P examiner of my extracurricular activities as well thinking they might just revoke all benefits.

interesting, I feel that an IME is the only way the VA would consider it in my area. The VAMC MH examiner here is a doorknob. I am already using cannibis as treatment, although not legally, and is about the only way my family can see the real me. Unsure since I don't get much of their perspective since my daily way of life is kind of like walking around with medicine head dreamy state. They have not even tried to Rx me meds to help with it, NEVER offered anything except a good luck and a BS C&P exam.

Unsure, it seems like all the articles point towards childhood captivity and do not dwell on other areas.

Has anyone ever looked into having Dissociative Identity Disorder or Schizophrenia as a side effect from PTSD for so long? I have recently hit 10 years with my moderate to sever PTSD and I am in appeals right now to get an increase. I was denied last year with the examiner saying I was "getting better" although my IME said the opposite and feared that I was getting worse showing signs of the 70-90% descriptors. Lately I have had my wife state that I may be bi polar since I can change personalities from day to day for no reason. Currently have a claim in for TDIU for my PTSD(50%), Back(20%) and ankle (new claim) and my inability to sit, stand, walk for more than a few minutes before my back tightens up or I want to throw some civi through a window. Currently self medicating with not so legal items.

Front what I can gather, it would sound as though you would stay there since there, but, I am in the same battle with the VA.

"less likely than not" means there is a less than 50% chance the disability or condition is service connected. Good luck, sounds like it will be denied.

It developed a few years after I got out, nothing documented about it after deployment in my SMR. So no chance in that getting SC'ed

Since I had no SC or anything in my SMR in regards to sleep apnea it was denied, I have my PTSD tied up in appeals right now. I will wait to claim SA against once I delve more into the cause of it. From what I gather, the onset was after the burn pits in Afghanistan. Also waiting on my Gulf War Registry and Burn Pit Registry exam.

The study of a series of patients at Madigan Army Medical Center here, has led doctors to discover a new unique sleep-related condition impacting combat Soldiers called Trauma-associated Sleep Disorder. “Redeployed military personnel have reported for the last 13 years complex nighttime behaviors ranging from sleepwalking, tossing and turning, thrashing, screaming, and even hitting their bed partners,” said Col. (Dr.) Vincent Mysliwiec, principal investigator and lead author, and U.S. Army Medicine sleep medicine specialist. “While these disruptive nocturnal behaviors are frequently reported, they are rarely documented in laboratory settings.” Although previous authors recognized some of the unique sleep disturbances seen in combat survivors, the constellation of findings of disruptive nocturnal behaviors, nightmares and rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep without atonia had never been linked together. There was no current diagnosis which encompassed all these trauma engendered sleep disturbances. Atonia is also known as sleep paralysis, which occurs when a person suddenly finds himself or herself unable to move for a few minutes, most often upon falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis is due to an irregularity in passing between the stages of sleep and wakefulness. “Up until this time, it was unknown what military personnel and trauma survivors had in terms of a clinical disorder,” said Mysliwiec. “In many cases they were diagnosed with nightmare disorder, which does not have movements associated with this diagnosis, or REM Behavior Disorder, which occurs in middle-aged to elderly males and has a characteristic clinical presentation. This case series highlights the unique findings of TSD (Trauma-associated Sleep Disorder).” The case series included four Soldiers who had been evaluated, diagnosed and treated at Madigan. Each Soldier underwent a clinical evaluation in the hospital’s sleep medicine clinic and was given an attended, overnight polysomnogram (sleep study). The polysomnogram recorded body functions, such as heart rate, brain waves, movements and any sounds they made during sleep. According to published results, all of the young men developed disruptive nighttime behaviors and nightmares after suffering a traumatic experience. Some reported screaming and combative movements, while others experienced night sweats and crying episodes throughout the night. “Normally individuals in REM sleep are paralyzed and do not move, thus they are unable to act out their dreams. Patients with TSD appear to have dream enactment, with purposeful movements that can occur in REM sleep,” said Mysliwiec. “This case series is a major step forward in not only diagnosis and treatment of military personnel with sleep disturbances, but also sleep safety for families.” In addition to providing trauma survivors with the understanding that they have a clinical diagnosis, this case study also helps facilitate future research in the sleep disturbances that develop after trauma. “Better characterization of the clinical findings is required, especially in regards to the onset of TSD and how much REM without atonia is present,” said Mysliwiec. “Prospective studies are required to evaluate treatment regimens, as many service members and veterans have findings of TSD.” This case series appears online and in print this month in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/new-sleep-disorder-discovered-impacting-combat-soldiers-60940/#ixzz3I6uGhuHI

Got a SC rating of 20% for my lower back condition. That should help facilitate my knee and ankle injuries that are thoroughly documented. Even though I got a 20% rating my overall rating will stay at 60% (64% actual). 32 years old with sever arthritis and scoliosis. Just remember your SOP for the VA, "I'm up, they see me, I'm down!"

File for incontinence with that statement lol

Any connection to the burn pits regarding this?

The date is a random date they generate to keep us all guessing. The computer spits out a letter to be mailed and some fat body has to fold it then spin around in his chair and hand it to another fat body who puts it in an envelope who hands it off to another fat body for a stamp and seal, then into the mailing box.