vetquest

So if you do not mind my asking what is your rating for and why were you worried that it might decrease? Conditions usually get worse as time goes on and we can also add secondary's if treatment of your disability causes other issues. Vets are scared to ask for a increase as they have been sold the don't rock the boat line. Once a decision has been made you can appeal the decision if you are not sure it is fair and they are not supposed to reduce you when you appeal.

I would recommend you visit the prosthetics office to speak to them about a chair. They have monies to help veterans to buy items that are used to accomplish daily life. If they are not the one's to speak to they should be able to tell you who you need to speak to. Good luck.

As for how long it takes, it is a crapshoot. I had a ED fully developed claim under the AMA that took 13 months. It depends on the complexity, RO, work que, and how the rater is feeling on a given day. If it is a BVA remand they are most likely holding up backpay until the remand is done, they are not supposed to but they get away with it so they do. The VA is not your friend and cares only about their appearances. Yes, if you can find a congressman interested it might help but not always.

Sounds like you win the prize for C&P's. Did they figure out what they were looking at? Sounds like it might have been their first time all right.

I have had mixed luck with the Whitehouse hotline. Mostly the VA was supposed to reply to me and did not, while marking it as if they did. I have been keeping up on this and they will respond if I call and say that I have not heard anything. IRIS is useless for me as they have an "open" complaint on my record and have never closed it.

I have to go with awgv001's advice to get a hobby. You will drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what the VA will do in a given instance. Most rating doctors are honest about what they are going to recommend. Even the doctor that tried to mess up my health record was honest that he was going to try and mess me over. Only time will tell which way the VA rater is going to go on your doctor's recommendation. Some people's claims go very smoothly and others seem to take an act of congress. Good luck and try not to obsess on your claim.

@JessacaAs stated earlier the mental disabilities are rated only once. I have PTSD and depression but have one rating. That is the way the VA plays. Yes, the VA will most likely low ball your rating on the first time out unless it is TBI. Once you have your rating you are allowed to file an HLR without additional evidence or a supplemental with more evidence. If you lose there you can go to the BVA for relief but I am getting ahead of myself. Wait until you have your decision and you can redact it and post it here and advice will be given.

You will most likely not see it in ebennies/VA.gov until it is uploaded. I will not say never because the VA constantly comes up with new ways to amaze us. I cannot say how long a Fully developed claim takes, mine took ten months from the time it was posted until it was done. I have heard of others being done in a few weeks. With the VA we can never tell what they will do and how quickly. Sorry I cannot be more specific.

If you refile and are denied try appealing, it preserves your filing date and sometimes goes faster than a new claim. Try filing for an HLR to see if they approve. Look at why you are denied and word your HLR to rebut why you are denied. If you are denied again take it to the BVA. Here you may or may not need a IMO/IME, and these are expensive. You also have the option of hiring a lawyer to take your case at the BVA level if you are not confident of doing the case yourself. Many options following a denial and we have all been there. The VA does not give up care and benefits easily.

With what GB mentioned and what you have already done I know of no other avenue to correct or speed this up other than a request to your congressman or senator. Hang in there, it may seem like an eternity but a month is a pittance to the VA. NOD's under the old system are out two years right now.

@Mantana, do not be discouraged about this website. I have been here a little while and have seen excellent advice from some of the old hands and the younger ones too. As you have noticed sometimes a person will of off on a tangent. We are all human and make mistakes. Overall this is the best website for winning your claim. Keep up the fight and never surrender.

I would make a claim for TDIU, in case they do not give you 100% scheduler. That is something that they do not like to do.

I once was speaking to a high level VA official who stated that the VA does not award persistence. In other words appealing is not a way to win your claim. This was after the VA dug up a civil war law and made it illegal for a veteran to pay more than $100 to a lawyer when they are defending a veteran against the VA shenanigans. That was overturned and we have the right to appeal with a lawyer and many of the things that the VA used to hide behind are now not available to them. About that time the VA was broken, it has improved as far as the veteran's appellate rights. The military teaches you to not quit and then the VA tries to break us when we are broken. Never quit, never surrender.

Congratulations. Good things seem to happen at the BVA.

If you are unable to work, have you requested TDIU? Depending on what evidence you have this might be easy or very difficult but I would at least try to file for it. How long have you been out and under treatment? I fail to understand how the disorder is viewed as temporary if you have been in treatment for six months or longer you meet the criteria for chronic.

Let's not be too hard on this gentleman. He is seeking disability for a condition that he believes is related to service and it is the VA's job to decide if he deserves it or not. After reading what all his doctor said I believe that GBArmy might be right about the doctor self medicating. He seems to be a confused individual. We will advise to the best of our abilities and it is not ours to judge a veteran. We will leave that to another site that is all too willing to trash vets seeking advice about service connected conditions. I learned a long time ago that there are veterans out there that are gaming the system but that is between them and their maker. @Mantana, I would follow Buck52's advice and seek another C&P if this one is unfavorable. I have had doctors treat me great and thank me for my service and then twist the knife in their evaluation. I have also had doctors that were meah but did great evaluations in my favor.

@blahsaysme2u, I know that IMO's can get really expensive. I would take Oceanbound's advice and see if you can have a sleep study done outside the VA and have them write a DBQ, nexus. You will need all of your records so they can say that they have read your records and then the nexus needs to have specific language. Call around and see if there is a OSA doctor local that will write this for you after a sleep study. Just make sure that you give them all the information they need up front. Some doctors will not write a DBQ for the VA in that they do not want to get involved. Another idea might be to call NOVA and see if they have any lawyers that will front load an IMO for you and take the cost of the IMO off of the back end, it will be difficult but there might be someone out there that will. As for getting the cost of an IMO together the bump from 90% to 100% makes it worth it to save your pennies and see if you can afford one. I spent $3500 for IMO's but it was well worth it. Do I believe that you should have to spend this money for an IMO, never. It is outrageous that they force us to do this but it is better when I started and you could only pay a lawyer $100 to have them represent you. Other veterans before us have made many of the paths we choose available to us. Good luck.

You still may have only one POA. I would request an appeal for the claims that the lawyer is not handling, as others said, before your one year runs out. Please post your denial and we can help you out. I am not understanding why your lawyer will not work with you on your other claims but Hamslice might be right about them only wanting the easy one. You can still win without him/her.

As others have said you can pursue your PTSD rating if you wish but it will most likely not change your rating. They use the same criteria for rating PTSD as they do for anxiety. I do not know if there is any benefit other than the title and that is a stigma for some people. You are not required to tell anyone what your disability is, especially if it is an emotional disability unless it effects your work and then it might come up. I very rarely discuss my disability with anyone but my therapist and psychiatrist when I am not on these boards. I just tell people I am retired from the USMC when asked.

Under the current AMA cases are farmed out to different offices across the country to be decided. If you are under the legacy system I cannot say for sure if the Sioux Falls office is deciding your claim, I also have a legacy appeal in process and have no idea where it is being decided. I would still update my address and phone. Sorry I cannot be more specific than that.

Do not know where heard that about veterans giving up but it is true in some aspects. They can increase their numbers and give a lot of 10% ratings at what a single 100% rating costs. As for the NP's exam being most recent, that is bunk. If you have two exams and one is more favorable than the other the win goes to the veteran. One of my appeals the BVA likened it to sandlot baseball, the tie goes to the runner when administering the benefit of doubt. Finally, if you have a lawyer accept your case they think they can win, I am of the same opinion. If they lose they do not get paid and they do not want to spend a lot of hours and effort in a losing case.

@Indy_CV62_OS, If this is a remand and the RO grants your appeal you can stop there. If they do not grant your appeal or if you are not satisfied with the results of the grant you can send your case back to the BVA and have them take another look at it. You keep your original place in line if you do this so it does not take as much time as a normal BVA appeal. I once had a lawyer once end my appeal after the remand and I was not happy with the results, the lawyer had already been paid and said I was taking up other vets' time at the board. I fired the lawyer and sent my case back to the BVA and received further relief.

This sounds like a not good idea because the VA might schedule you for a C&P at your address of record. Not likely for an NOD to process but the rating reviewer could make the decision to send you to a C&P after he is done reviewing your claim. A C&P missed leads to a denial. I personally would update my record so the VA has your current address and phone number.

Just to add, when I filed my claim through a VSO they faxed it immediately. It took three months to update on the system. This is not excusable but it is sometimes the way it happens. As Broncovet stated check with your VSO and see if they will check VBMS for you.

@Miken2c74, wins the prize. GBArmy is also correct. Save that money because the VA will come looking for it.