Dr_Dave

Ranger11b, I know this is an old post, but here goes. Go to the nearest VA Hospital, and tell them you are a veteran and need treatment. I know you are going to school, so if you can prove you are in financial hardship you shouldnt have a copay. Tell them you need Mental Health care. Start getting treatment, counseling, etc as often as possible. This will build the paper trail needed to corraborate your claim. If you get a good MH Doc, after teceiving treatment for a few months, see if they will look over your records/cfile and provide an nexus for you, linking your PTSD to the stressors inservice. Good Luck, please keep us updated.

What is bothersome is that you must have a doctor specifically connect the dots between depression and DMII or other disabilities. I get depressed due to service connected pain disorder. I can't do the things I used to do and this is not just age related since I am only 56. I feel like I am 90 years old sometimes.

Berta, you amaze me with your persistence regarding your husband's disabilities. You honor him by fighting for him and his memory. It is hard enough for a vet to fight for his/her own disabilities. The spouses deserve a special thanks and support for this tough fight. Not many spouses are up to the task since they must enter the weird and frustrating world of the VA claims process. They have to get used to being lied to and having people sandbag them. The VA is the worst offender.

That totally sucks, Gunny, and I wish I had some great trick up my sleeve to tell you about. Sadly, your story sounds too much like so many of the stories here with the same substance. The different answers from different people - all just to get you off the phone. The delays with no progress and no apparent reason for it. The obvious injuries that they just can't seem to fathom as being service-connected, and the presumptives that aren't.
All I can tell you is just keep fighting and don't let the bastards get you down. Their goal is to wear you down so you'll just quit. The more they can get to quit, the less work they'll have to do, the less money the government has to pay out, and the fewer complaints that go on the record.

I'm a Gulf War Vet, Marine Corps
So, here's my timeline:
Filed June 6th 2016 (Gastro-intestinal distubances (Alt. diarrhea/constipation, bloating, leakage), sleeplessness,Short term memory issues, bi-lateral shoulder pain, bi-lateral arm pain)
January 2017 - First C&P (lasted about an hour, DBQ, x-ray, hemmoroid check)
Awarded 30% for undiagnosed illness (Gastro-intestinal)
All other items deferred pending further evidence gathering
VSR added stool incontinence to my claim based on C&P results
January 13,2017 - Found out through myhealthevet VA notes that the C&P exam was sent back to doc (VA hospital) as incomplete as he was suppose to conduct a screening of all contentions
January 20, 2017 - VA doc responds to request that "Vet only complained about his stomach and his hemmoroid" "Vet denied any other issues"
Uploaded a letter to my claim disputing his response (He asked if I had any other issues, I said yes and explained all of them to him, he asked if I had hemmoroids, I said "Not that I am aware of"
April 2017 - Request showing request 1 (VA medical facility) (Found out they were awaiting STR's and IANG records from Records Management)
April 2017 - Uploaded complete STR's and IANG records, in my posession, that I FOIA'd back in December 2016
May 2017 - Pushed the "Decide my claim now" button
No movement since. Call Peggy.....decision made, awaiting signature. Call next day, gathering evidence stage & waiting on STR's, IANG records. Has been the same responses.....one person will say done, just waiting on signature, next will say gathering evidence, no decision made.....every call is a different answer...ah, anxiety + Ebenefits = Zoloft
Currently being treated for PTSD via local VAMC (Zoloft, Prazosin, Bupropion + therapy)
My STR's show Gulf War service, med call for lower lumbar injury, no (in country med reports I'm aware of....happens with Corpsmen in theater), no private records from 1990-2007 (Doctor's office threw them all away in 2014 per state law's retention policies).....so, all I have is, DD214's/DD215's, buddy statements and C&P's to prove my issues.
I feel pretty fortunate though....they could have denied me across the board after the C&P docs answer (He was a very nice guy, an 87 year old Iranian General Practioner/Family Medicine doctor at the VA hospital.....probably the memory issue that caused the discrepancy at my C&P)
 
 

Hey Snake Doc,
First, I am not a VSO.  I am, however, an ill Gulf War Veteran (GWV) that has been trapped in the hamster wheel of VA Gulf War claims for years now.  I have some questions and observations:
1)  Are you representing yourself or do you have a Veteran Service Officer (VSO)?
2)  Am I correct that you filed a claim for "Gulf War Illness??  Since there is currently no directly assignable rating for GWI, my guess, based on experience, is that a pure GWI claim will summarily be denied.  This is largely due to the fact that your VBA rater likely does not understand the medical side of GWI and likely does not understand or fully implement the VA regulations for rating illnesses associated with GWI (such as FM, CFS, IBS, etc).
3)  Was your C&P exam done by a typical VA doctor?  Unless this doctor is far outside the norm for VA doctors, it is very likely that the examining doctor had no idea what GWI is, its medical definition, signs and symptoms, tests or potential treatments.  Seeing as the doctor did not address GWI directly, the first thing I would do when appealing is to challenge the exam and the examining doctor.  A doctor who does not know what GWI is, or worse, denies GWI exists, is incapable of providing a thorough and competent C&P exam for GWI.  To my knowledge, there are only a handful of VA doctors across the country who might be able to give you a C&P exam but, unfortunately, those doctors are conducting research and have not been shuffled away to give C&P exams.  Currently, there is also no DBQ for GWI though we might get one in the future if the politicians seem fit to follow through with the bills currently in Congress.  
4)  If you do not have a VSO, I strongly suggest you find one or hire an experienced attorney that handles VA claims.  If you go with a VSO, shop around.  Ask a VSO if they have experince with GWI claims, how many they have done and what sort of success rate do they have?  I have found out the hard way that when a VSO does not understand the ins and outs of a GWI claim they will not correctly file your claims and appeals for you.  I STRONGLY suggest that you insist on reviewing all documents your VSO intends to submit before he or she submits them.  That simple move could sav you a lot of time down the road.  

Just list them all and claim primary for all of them that come to light during active duty or the first year post discharge.  Since you retired you should claim everything, if you sneezed claim it. If you twisted an ankle 18 years ago, claim it.  Things get rated 0 because they dont cause pain yet, and everything that happened during active duty should be primary service connection. Go to the VAMC, get them to put every ache and pain in the medical record because the minimum rating you can get with pain on movement is 10%. When they send you for a C&P, if you didnt document a condition, claim it and amend your claim later. The key is just get it on paper.
Make a note at the end stating that if any of these are not considered primary, that they should be considered secondary to any of the other conditions that are found to be primary.  That way you dont give them an out because you make an additional inferred claim. An "inferred" claim is one not specifically identified by a claimant, but supported by the evidence.
The real key is that if it is documented w/in 1 year of discharge, and you claim it they should give it to you. The part where you spent 20 years and retired means that they have to give you what you can document.  After that 1st year is gone, its much more difficult because then you have the burden of proof of SC to jump through. Right now, before the 1 year expires, you have an open door and should throw in everything, including the kitchen sink, even if it only results in a 0% compensation because in 15 years, that could change.

PlumBob,
Also here are some additional tips to help you out:
Do not turn down medical, dental, or MH examinations when preparing to leave the service.
If you have not already done so, get/request copies of your entire medical and dental records. Sometimes they become lost in part or whole, but you need a backup. Go through them and identify any conditions which were caused or aggravated by service.
There are more to secondary conditions than people realize. If a directly SC disability causes another disability -or- the medication/treatment of a directly SC disability causes another disability, then both can be considered secondary. For example, if you were given psych medications for treatment of PTSD, depression, etc..., and it negatively impacted you in the bedroom...
Familiarize yourself with the VA claims process. VA.gov has some decent info, but this site contains fantastic resources beyond the forums themselves..
Don't expect the VA to get your claims right the first time. Many of us won our claims on appeal, often due to VA human error.
In terms of VA math, 10% + 10% equals 19%, not 20%. Learn about how combined ratings are calculated.
Good luck!

PlumbBob: Do NOT claim "Gulf War Illness" as your disease. You need to claim each issue separately, but say they were connected to the Gulf War, so something like "IBS as a presumptive condition for exposures during my Gulf War service" or something like that. My very best advice is to take the time to do it right the first time, and take a look at the Self-Help Guide on the website for the National Gulf War Resource Center. It is the very best and most updated guide to getting claims done for GWI. You can find it here: http://www.ngwrc.org/guide/ngwrc-guide.html
Best of luck.
Dr. Dave

Absolutely you can apply to the VA for this condition as a presumptive condition from your Gulf War service. Your best bet is to refer to the Self Help Guide on the National Gulf War Resource Center's website at http://www.ngwrc.org/guide/ngwrc-guide.html and look at Chapter IV to see about Fibromyalgia. That should be very helpful for you. I always recommend you find an advocate to help you when you're ready to file your claim - someone from one of the national service organizations (VFW, DAV, AMVETS, American Legion, PVA, VVA), or an advocate from your state or county veterans office. These folks can help you get your forms done correctly, ensure you use the correct wording in your claims, and get the paperwork to the right places in the VA. They can also help track your claim with access to internal VA systems you won't have.
Good luck!