El Train

The deadline for Gulf War claims has been extended for decades. Expiration after expiration dates being extended. Guessing the same will happen with Pact act.

The one that got me, is no ongoing treatment after service. Even though this is not a legitimate excuse to deny. They still use it. Even with support letters and a Dr's IME stating 'more than likely than not' connected to accident in service as the cause. What's crazy is I got TBI connected for same accident and had no ongoing treatment for that. I'm 100% P&T SMC-S or I'd fight the hell out of it and win.

Don't be surprised if it is 100 minutes less than they stated.

Hopefully one of your remands comes back at 100%. Then you are good. If not, it's going to be tough. Personally, I would not want TDIU so I can still earn a decent income (which I do in a sheltered employment environment).

Same here, same rating. Got me SMC-S though.

Once you reach that status, it is tough not to count the years down for protection status. 5 months, 23 days until 5 year status. But who's counting. I'm not filing any claims any time soon.

I had a bad C&P exam (partially my fault for pissing the examiner off in the beginning). I filed a complaint when I got a copy of her exam pointing out her discrepancies, errors and the mountain of evidence in my favor. This triggered several more C&P exams. In the end her exam was disregarded as not making any sense. It did delay my claim approval by a year. In the end I won big.

Go for it. If it is painful or unstable underlying tissue, that get's you a higher rating. Otherwise, it probably won't be much. They go by measurement. BTW, I have 80% for scarring, face, neck, chest and back. So I know a thing or two about the process. My initial rating for all this was 10%. Appealed it with an outside IME and got it upgraded in a big way.

I went this route. It set off several contract VA C&P exams. Complicated claims like PTSD and TBI. They were all good exams except for one. She did not like the fact I rolled into the exam with the outside DBQ and medical opinion. I had to file a complaint against her pointing to the mountain of evidence and 4 favorable C&P exams. They threw her exam out as not making any sense. It was obvious the raters deemed her exam was inaccurate and spiteful. I read this in my C-file. So go into the exam and don't even bring up your outside exam. Let the chips fall where they may. That one bad exam delayed my claims by about a year while they sorted it out.

https://ngwrc.net/ Lots of good info here. It helped me in getting IBS, and Fibromyalgia get approved. Try to get diagnosis' on each ailment you have. You will need these to get approved.

Seems like the C&P examiner just took my word for it when asked what I think caused it. It probably was several things that caused it. I just named the first thing I thought caused it. I sure it was several instances, especially the TBI I suffered. I got 0% for hearing loss at the same time. 10% for tinnitus.

Do you fit in the Presumptive category by chance? Gulf war era. All I needed was a diagnosis. I got one from an outside source putting me in the 30% range. VA approved my claim at 0%. At least it's still approved.

Sounds like someone didn't do their homework before hiring someone. Take that $2500 as a hard lesson learned. Maybe you saved someone else from a 'hard lesson learned'.

I used Dr. Ellis in OKC. He does require an in person examination which only leads to more credibility. I had him do 8 claimed conditions. He does not do DBQ's. His reports are thorough and hits all the VA lingo. I got 5 out of 8 approved which put me at 100% P&T, SMC-S. I could've fought and won the 3 denials, but for what? None of the denials will be the cause of my death. I'm good.

Maybe things have changed in 13/14 years, since that is how old this post is. IDK.

I couldn't remember exact dates. The incidents I was involved in were all recorded and newsworthy events (training deaths, missile attacks). I was able to google them to get the dates. They corroborate these incidents with your military records (dates of deployment, company units, platoon, etc.). If it was an isolated incident that went unreported, then I'm not sure. I filed for PTSD 20+ years after I got out. No in service treatment. Took me that long to finally seek guidance from the VA.

Did you get a separate decision letter for the migraines? Even though you went to a C&P for it, that doesn't mean an auto increase. Could even get decreased in some cases. You could contest the migraine rating if they didn't take evidence into consideration. Taking medication for it should get you at least 10%, for example. 10% for TBI means you did pretty good in all categories of testing. They will rate you on the category you did the worst in. I did poorly in one testing category (probably memory, since I don't remember). I got 70% for TBI. They combined it with my PTSD in which I scored 100% since it was higher. I got 10% for migraines. I was taking medication for them. It should be higher, but I'm maxed out at 100% P&T, SMC-S.

I've had a few MRI's done through the VA. I asked my primary care Dr. and he put the request in. The VA will send the scans to a specialist to read them. A chiropractor more than likely will not have the proficiency to read them correctly. They can assess the report in layman's terms from the specialist. Just like you or I would do.

I just got our done a month ago. Mine is INDEF (never expires, 100% P&T), my wifes expires every 4 years.

I still work in a sheltered environment with 100% ptsd (not tdiu). The VA knows this. I got into with someone on facebook about being a cop with 100% ptsd. Now this pisses me off. There is no way that should happen. Total fraud. I'd get fired from every job if I wasn't in sheltered work environment (family biz).

You can only have one mental health claim. Doesn't matter if it's bi-polar, depression, ptsd, schizophrenia, etc. If she wrote total occupational & social impairment, I would think that would put you at 100% mental health conditions. People get caught up in what they want their rating to say. Example, my ptsd is combat related. My awards letter say ptsd due to non combat. Had me a little peeved at first, but then someone on the forum asked if it changes anything? No. It's not like I'm going to have a shirt made that say's '100% ptsd, non-combat related', and go to the local VFW hall, or vice versa.

Nice! So you have two separate ptsd & tbi claims approved at 100%? That is crazy rare if so. Did they put you through the wringer of c&p exams for the TBI? Did you get SMC-T approved as well? If so, I'd like to know what that entails, if you don't mind sharing.

I had to cut a check to my attorneys for an EED. It might be different for winning claims straight up.

Very common. You should be fine. People frequently think the time the exam took somehow plays into their claim getting denied. It's usually the opposite. Don't be surprised if they lowball your claim amount. My initial award was 50%. I filed a disagreement notice and was bumped up to 100% a year later.

Ah, ok. When you fill out the NOD form, I'd go through the DBQ exam with a fine tooth comb. Point out where you disagree with the examiners assessment. Point to medical evidence you have in on file where they got it wrong. You have up to a year (from when you filed, I believe) to file the NOD. Don't rush in filing because it will start the process and you might not have time to gather additional evidence if they request another C&P exam. I'd take a deep breath and don't rush stuff. It's a marathon, not a race. You don't want to get stuck in the appeals process for years. I avoided this route by disagreeing, gather more evidence, then file the NOD at the last minute if need be. Good luck to you.