pumibel

My thanks to all of you! Buck52-I am grateful for the help and encouragement that I have received here so far. Brocovet- I have plenty of busy work, so I am able to wait patiently. I am more concerned about having treatment for my problems right now, anyway. I need to feel better physically so I can work more.

Unfortunately, all of my blue button notes have "SA: When she was 12 years old, she OD'd on medications. She was never hospitalized." It gets copied over from my very first visit with the doc. I was answering questions, I think. I really never considered it a serious attempt, but I wanted to be honest so he could treat me properly. No, I did not have a rosy childhood, but I have read that people like me are more likely to suffer from chronic mental and emotional issues after a military traumatic experience. Being in a prolonged fearful situation would exacerbate anything that I had going on upstairs, IMO- in my very unqualified opinion, to be fair. I was examined by a psych in basic training, and she was totally confident in my capacity to continue my enlistment. So they said I was fine when I got in, and they knew I had some bumps in my childhood already.

Well crap, I already screwed that up, but I was totally fine for more than half of my military service. The anxiety and physical problems started when I was in DC, the last leg of my enlistment. I was not afraid to drive anywhere and I did not have the problem with crowds and loud noises until after 2001. My dates for AD are 1992-2004. I have already admitted to my shrink that I had taken a handful of mystery pills when I was 12, but I was never hospitalized or even treated for depression. I just threw up a lot that day and felt miserable. I was too afraid to tell my mom because I knew I would get in trouble for trying to kill myself. I think it was Vivarin that I took. Orange or yellow tablets with "V" imprint, packaged in a blister pack- no box or label, but definitely OTC. So preteen angst and a caffeine overdose may screw me, huh? It is kind of funny in a very dark way. Edit- yes,according to Drugs.com, it was Vivarin. Hey, I was 12, okay! :

Thanks Andyman. Would I even have a C-file yet? I just filed the claim last month, so maybe there is nothing in it yet. I also keep reading that making the request delays the claim. If it is too early to have a C-file, I certainly don't want to delay things needlessly!

Maybe you can become a volunteer for a non-profit organization. You would be able to have productive interactions without violating any of the rules. As a volunteer, you would be able to work when you feel you can. If you can help others with IT issues, you would probably find plenty of folks who need you. Blogging is an option if you are confident in your writing skills. You could treat it like a job, same with volunteer work. Help other vets and disabled people.

Yes, of course I thought of that after filing my FDC, and since I have been reading many posts here at Hadit, I have realized that I will probably have basis for other claims. I went in for severe pain in my hands and feet while I was AD, and was told by the sweet PA in training that my footwear (expensive military shoes and boots, mind you) and desk ergonomics (military as well) were the cause. I have peripheral neuropathy now. I also have severe wrist problems, some sort of cyst on the ulnar side, so my VA PCP prescribed special braces a couple of years ago. I mean, you cannot be a desk jockey for so many years without wearing those joints and tendons down, but I thought I would have more time, you know? I'm only 42! I work as a freelance writer now, so my flareups keep me from working sometimes. My STT software helps, but it picks up all of my household noises too- very frustrating, I am rambling now lol. I claimed several issues that are recorded in my STR (or should be, at least). I requested records from NPRC before I filed my claim, but I only received a receipt letter to verify they got my form. I sent an email this week for an update on that, and they replied that the expected date for competing my request in 30 Dec 2015. After further research, I realized that my records might be in the VAMC at St. Louis, so I mailed the appropriate form to them for copies of everything. I also filled out the form for my local VA because I have found that only my psychiatrist and ophthalmologist use the VA notes in MyHealtheVet. I have ordered blue button reports regularly over the past five years, so I have everything that was annotated in MyHeatheVet the entire period. The PCPs and nurses who have seen me for other conditions never wrote any notes, so I have no idea what my record states for those appointments. I am going to get the copies when I go to Fayetteville next week for my psych appt.

Great letter, jbasser. I have no heart button to "like" your post, so I thought I would let you know that your letter is right on track. I am sure that most of the Enterprise employees are unaware of the founder's history and his reasoning behind choosing the name.

Ah, I see why you need a specialty dog now. I was very lucky to find my girl in the woods six years ago. She needed a mom as much as I needed a friend, and she has turned out to be one of the smartest dogs I have ever known. She basically potty trained herself! I have never been good at training dogs, but Dee was easy, and I think she senses when I am anxious or in distress, much like you describe with PTSD dogs. She will come up and put her nose against my cheek if she thinks I am distressed in any way. I didn't train her to do that, either. A good ESA has the ability and desire to interrupt those bad thought cycles. There has to be a personal human/animal bond, which is not part of any formal training. I do hope that you find a dog to "complete" you!

If you are interested in an emotional support animal (ESA), you can have a household pet certified as long as the animal has at least the most basic obedience training from the owner, if applicable. If you have a dog that is already well behaved, sits and lays down on command, and good on the leash, then that animal can be your ESA as long as you have the official prescribing letter on hand. You can adopt a shelter dog or cat to be your ESA, so no need for charities to pry and deny you. Of course this is not the case if you need a specially trained animal to alert EMS when you have a medical crisis. That is a whole different scenario. The prescribing letter helps most when you need to fly with your animal or have to rent from someone who would not normally allow pets. The airline and landlord will ask for the letter, for sure. A lot of online stores sell patches tags, vests, collars, etc to use to identify a service animal. It is the letter that will make it official. The vests and stuff help too because this discourages people from trying to pet your dog, and that automatically gives you a magic bubble of safety in crowds (usually).

I have a service dog, and in my researches I have come across these handy little cards: Service Dog Info cards. According to the ADA, you cannot be harassed or charged extra fees for a certified service animal. Now, the socialites with the purse puppies can hand these out as well, but the fact remains that your rights, as well as Paris Hilton twinsees' rights, are protected by Federal law. "They" can hate and judge all they want but them's the rules. Anyone can be allergic to anything, and the car rental jerk isn't charging people for eating peanuts in the car or spraying perfume, so how can he use that excuse about dog hair, which can be vacuumed up in a few seconds? I would like to say that we service animal handlers can make things a lot easier by training our animals and cleaning up after them. I am not saying that anyone here does not do that, of course. Also, you can get the vest or tags and other identification bits to make it clear that you have a service animal. Most people don't want to look like a jerk in public, so they will normally leave you alone if your animal is in his or her working gear. I am glad to see that other vets have support animals here. I hope that many more have the opportunity to bond with service animals in the future, too.

Thanks everyone for your advice and kind words, and I am sorry for posting in the wrong section. I am sure that I will find a lot of great info here. Thanks especially for that link, Slick!

Thanks Andyman73! I claimed for PTSD related to 911 (Pentagon) and the subsequent crazy crap that happened in the aftermath, including the Anthrax mail and DC Sniper attacks. I don't want to write a book here, but I had to become way more involved with 911 response than a Finance person should because I was on the base disaster response team. Also, nothing like sitting in traffic for 3 hours every morning wondering if you are about to get sniped by terrorists or crazies. Anthrax made may job hell, too. Maybe I'm just sensitive. My current diagnosis from the VA is for GAD, some other anxiety NOS, depression, Social Phobia and ADHD (I did not try to claim that as SC because I ran in circles as a kid, lol). It was only recently that my P-doc suggested I had PTSD because my level of physical tension and alertness seemed way off for simple anxiety. I have been seeing him for five years, and he only recently asked about my active duty experiences. I still couldn't go into detail with him, however, because it made me start shaking and stuff. His notes say I meet criteria A,B, and C, but the 4 question assessment was not high enough to make a definitive dx. He wrote that the dx was "suggested", and to rule out PTSD. Physically, I have problems with my joints- pain, hypermobility, and I seem to tear tendons a lot. I have been dxed with fibromyalgia, arthritis, and I have a lot of weird neuro issues that seem to have no cause. My blood tests are rarely abnormal enough to make the PCP concerned, so the problems don't get better. I have peripheral neuropathy, but no diabetes (not overweight either). I sleep with my eyes open (this is usually caused by some type of nerve damage), so the VA eye clinic has been treating me for exposure keratitis for a few years. I have the migraines, cluster headaches, and chronic fatigue that seems to affect many veterans as well, all blamed on the fibro, usually. I also have the Reynaud's phenomenon, which is a circulation issue related to neuropathy, I think. I do need to get my STR, and I have sent the forms in for that. I was trying to get them from the wrong place before, but I have now sent a form to St Louis. I had been to sick call over the years for many of the symptoms that are really kicking my butt now, so I believe I can connect them to service, but I have to check those records to be sure. I know I had Lymes Disease dxed back in 93, which may be relevant. Plus, the medical professionals at my first base tried to kill me a couple of times, no joke. Twelve years of records will help for sure. Okay this turned out to be a book anyway, lol. Hope I didn't bore you!

boomer2, It is frustrating, but once the VA eye clinic sees you, it will be better for subsequent appointments. I had an eye emergency a few years ago, and the VAMC ER doc said I was having a panic attack. It turned out that I had uveitis, which was starting to cause high IOP. I had to pay a small fortune to a civilian eye clinic to find this out and avoid going blind. Then I had to wait 6 months to see my PCP for other issues that may or may not be related to the inflammation. She was worried that I still had some eye inflammation at that point, so she had the eye clinic see me as a walk-in that same day. After they were done, they made me some more appointments, got me some nice glasses, and now I get an eye exam every two years like clockwork. Before this walk-in, they could never see me for regular eye checks whenever I tried to make appointments. So the urgent eye issue got me in the door faster. How does this relate to your situation? Well, having sudden blurry vision is an eye emergency, and you may be able to get them to see you right away if you think the symptoms just showed up acutely. I am assuming it is pretty serious if your PCP was concerned about getting you in sooner than November.

Hello fellow Vets, I have been viewing this forum for a while as a guest, but I think it is better to be a member when one is reading so many personal accounts. Otherwise, I'm just a creeper. I am a single mom and caregiver to my own mom. I was on active duty with the USAF for 12 years, separated honorably from Bolling AFB. DC did me in, but when I separated in 2004, I really did not think that I would ever file a claim for anything because I had no faith in doctors and no time machine to realize that my health problems would get so much worse within the decade. Anyway, I would like to say that I am not in the same boat as a lot of traumatically injured members here, but many friends and family members have encouraged me to file for compensation because they have seen my physical and mental capacities decline (I am only 42). Everything started while I was in the military, but the docs would blow me off almost every time I went in for answers. Funny, if I wanted drugs, they were more than helpful, but to press for tests to find out what was wrong- nope. You can't tell them anything, either. I only filed my claim a month ago, and I am already sure I did it wrong or back asswards, so I know I have some time to wait. I look forward to discussions here, and thank you all for your service!