Abyss

Hello, apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I'm P&T TDIU and will be marrying a foreign woman in the near future, in Sweden specifically. We will marry in Sweden and then upon my return to the US I will file for her to be permitted to permanently immigrate here as my spouse. I looked at the application to add a dependent to my benefits (not going to submit until after the actual wedding) and I saw it requires her social security number. She does not have one as she has not been to the US yet, although she will obtain one in the future whenever she is entitled to it per our immigration laws. Will this prevent me from adding her as a dependent for the pay increase on my benefits, and/or slow down her eligibility for CHAMPVA once she does arrive here? Thank for any help you can provide.

I am rated 70% for PTSD but am paid at 100% for TDIU and am P&T. There are additional claims I could put in for, especially for things like sleep apnea which I have been diagnosed with that could be considered secondary to PTSD. My concern is that my file is P&T so it will never be opened again. Is it safe for me to put in for new claims, or is there any chance that my P&T could be reviewed? There is no new evidence that contradicts my rating but I guess when it comes to the VA I've learned to play it safe. My hope would be to get a schedular 100% if the VA saw fit so that I could try to work without being at risk of dropping down to 70% with no additional income if the job didn't work out which would mean I'd be unable to pay my bills. Thanks for any assistance.

Hello, sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I am 70% PTSD, TDIU P&T. My roommate (unrelated to me) is an older Army veteran and receives both social security and $1100 in non-service connected pension a month. We plan on applying for him to be my VA caretaker. I am wondering if the stipend money counts as income against his pension? One other question - would he be able to qualify as my caretaker and me as his under aid and attendance? Thank you for any help you can provide.

Thank you for the reply. I have not received any proposal letter saying they wanted to reduce my benefits so I remain cautiously optimistic.

I'm currently 70% for PTSD with TDIU. Award has been effective since mid 2014, and a claim was filed on my behalf on July 31 for RFE - which I believe means a review. I've been checking the status on ebenefits and it just moved to Preparation for Decision... I have not had a C&P. Is this favorable? If they checked the VA records they would see my multiple (about 10) psychiatric hospitalizations since my award, and I even was conserved for 3 months due to my mental state. I don't think they would lower me without a C&P would they? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Thank you again for the reply. It's a combination of secondary to both the condition itself as well as the medication. I was hospitalized for almost a month a couple years ago and there was absolutely no apnea present. Then I start on medication and immediately I develop apnea where a roommate had to tell me to go get a sleep study because my fits at night were freaking him out. Correlation does not imply causation but really if my meds did not prompt the apnea (ones which are known for doing so) then what did? The nexus might be an issue since apparently doctors don't automatically consider nexus when they see you during C&P exams or even during the diagnosis? Do you recommend I just wait until the decision is made and at that point go try to collect nexus letters and submit them with my appeal for conditions which were not considered service connected?

Thank you for the reply. How often do you see SA claims being awarded secondary to PTSD and/or the medication prescribed for PTSD? Yes I am currently 70% S/C for PTSD. I filed for IBS, esophageal, nausea, migraines, chronic fatigue, and sleep apnea, all secondary to PTSD.

After the Ebenefits maintenance last night my claim jumped from Gathering of Information to Preparation for Decision. Am rather nervous. I had a C&P with the same doctor for like 6 different things. I pulled the results from release of information. For the most part I agree with what the doctor said (although him saying I don't have chronic fatigue is ludicrous, when he mentions chronic fatigue on other sections of the C&P) however I have a concern. All these conditions are claimed secondary to PTSD. During the exam the doctor said that my conditions are most likely due to stress (yeah I agree) but in the write-ups it does not appear he has said anything regarding service connection? Even on the apnea one, all it says is that he verified that I have apnea w/ prescribed CPAP by reading my VA notes from when I had a sleep study but it doesn't look like he says anything about whether in his medical opinion there is a nexus. Being denied apnea in particular would really upset me because I have never even seen a sleep doctor to discuss the nexus even with having a sleep study and this being my second claim of apnea secondary to a MH condition. I don't want a rater to deny based on lack of evidence when it's really not due to lack of trying unless I need to hire a private doctor out of pocket for all these conditions to specifically write a nexus letter. Thanks for any help.