HellRaiser 7

Well, I have the paperwork done, and ready to send out.. In the mean time, i was talking to my VSO relating to other issues, and in the process, i informed her of my NOD. She wants to talk me out of it as she states the average is three years on an appeal. Furthermore she tells me that even though they gave me the 50 for PTSD, and in the next box, anxiety was not service related, they wrap the two into one, according to the DSM IV... Why would it be one, if given a rating for one, and not for the other? Hellraiser 7

Sounds good enough to me! I thought I had fast tracked with my initial claim only taking a year, and was curious if go u ng on my own would allow the VA to not take me seriously and they fiddle around responding. In my appeal, i did address the tinnitus, as it was not filed for but given non service connection. For my knee, i am setting up an appointment with a private doctor to get an eval, so that i have support to my claim, and not just the original examiners eval. I also disputed the claim for my ankle, as they only evaluated my knee, and not even once looked at my ankle, nor addressed it, but gave it a zero. I am afraid a lot of this will have to go outside the VA. Even my own VA assigned doctor is questionable, as I have to wake her up during exams when she falls asleep on me, no joke! This VA world is strange and seems to be set up as a blockade from what we are entitled. I will file on my own, Thank you, Hellraiser 7

Good info! I did get the template provided here, as well as finding the VA form to file an appeal. Another question.. I went through the DAV for my initial filing, should I wing this appeal on my own, or see about using the DAV again. They werent overly fast with my initial claim, but I am concerned going on my own may take even longer with the VA! Advice? Hellraiser 7

I am hoping i can get some direction here! I recently went through the C&P process regarding my claims about hearing, knee, and PTSD. When it was all said and done, I was given a rating of 50% for PTSD, and 0 for the rest. Being that my ompf records are a mess no thanks to my unit before honorable discharge, i kept copies of most of what i had. This helped with showing deployment for OIF 1, and so on. After fighting with the VA, the DAV was not overly helpful, and my state VSO dropped the ball on a lot of things throughout the process, and doesnt have a clue to her job. This being said, I am not overly impressed with the rating I recieved, and want to appeal it before it expires for an appeal. Upon returning from Iraq, and honorably discharging upon the lift of the stop loss, I was not aware I had anything wrong with me. I started a job in Law Enforcement, but it was short lived due to my actions stemming from anxiety, paranoia and hypervigilance. I am very untrusting of people, and cant stand being around them. I went into isolated living for a decade, unemployed, and my symptoms got worse with time. Much to the point that i finally reached out to a private mental health organization that offered free assistance to vets. They diagnosed me with severe PTSD, and prescribed a buffet of meds, all i was paying for out of pocket. Being that my wife was the only income, it was hard. I was pushed to get the VA to pay for the meds, so I filed the C&P. In the process of medical exams, my blood pressure was so high, they prescribed me heart meds for someone that had a heart attack. I believe that this BP issue stems from PTSD, as I am not even 40 and never had these issues before he military and deployment. Along with the rashes, and other physical and psychological drains, i would like to get a stronger rating. What do I do next, and how? Thank you, Hellraiser 7 out.