Marina

Oh, I have the opposite problem, actually. I always severely understate my problems, like "be a big girl and suck it up". I was volunteering for this anti depression meds study one time and they kept having to remind me to actually say have I feel instead of always being like "oh, I'm great" because that's not very helpful for tracking improvements... On that note, they don't comp you for depression, do they? I've also started on medication while in service and still on it, thought in the later years it probably has more to do with grad school. And they never put it on my first claim anyways. But I hear people claim PTSD all the time. I couldn't fake it if I tried though...

@broncovet Thanks for the fast reply! That's really helpful. Also, wow, that's a lot of confusing legal speak. Unfortunately, I'm out of state right now, but I do plan on visiting VSO (is that what they're called?) immediately when I get back. I don't think this process can be started over the phone, can it? I went on some va benefits website and started to apply for increase because I thought that's what it would be, but then I wasn't sure if it would be considered as increase in scoliosis pay, or a completely separate new thing. So at least now there's an intent to file open I guess? And it gives me hope that you say with attorney I could get 7 year back eventually. I'm not in particular hurry at 31. But also, at 31 it's kinda ridiculous to have this condition

I have been searching all over the internet and there seem to be many conflicting claims. Here's what my situation looks like. I have developed lower back pain while enlisted and got 20% disability pay as they claimed it was due to scoliosis. That was 7 years ago. Since then I have not had a single day without constant back pain. I can't focus on schoolwork because I can't get comfortable. It takes me at least an hour to fall asleep because I keep trying to find a good position. I have been going to the VA and trying to find some kind of treatment periodically for the past 7 years, but all they would ever do is take more x-rays, tell me there's nothing wrong with me, and send me to do physical therapy, which never helped. Now, finally, I was able to get MRI done and it turned out that I have advanced degenerative disk disorder. My primary care doctor said that it looks really bad as it has been allowed to progress untreated and she is certain that it is service related. I'm really pissed off now because I've been trying to get to the source of my back pain all these years and the VA was as unhelpful as can be. Now I'm wondering if I could get any back pay on this. Some places I read that you can only get back paid from the point you file a claim, but then there are other cases, such as if I am able to prove that my condition has worsened BEFORE I filed a claim, that I could get retroactive pay from that point. I have certainly visited the VA plenty of times between my discharge and now as my back has been getting progressively worse. I'm not sure if that's something that can be seen directly from x-rays though, but there are plenty of records of me visiting VA for this particular issue. And if MRI shows that the condition is in advanced stages, then obviously it has been getting worse and I feel like maybe I could use that and the fact that I have been seeking out help previously to get at least some retroactive pay. Do you guys have any advice on how to go about this?