Riplip

Back in 2017 I claimed for stress and anxiety as secondary to my hearing loss and vestibular disorder and they denied it and obviously i just went on my merry way. These things are really screwing me up mentally. They are and have changed my life dramatically as well as my families. I don't go to functions as i should for work and family. I try to avoid people so I don't have to try and get through a conversation. I can't even schedule meetings anymore for work because I don't know if I'll have vertigo or be dizzy that day. If I'm in a meeting and I can't hear anything I start get all flustered and red face and hot then I get nausea and need to leave immediately. These two issues are running my life right now and it sucks. While I am going for an increase on my hearing loss should I just put stress and anxiety as secondary on all of it again or am I just doing it all wrong? I will be asking my DAV rep. on Monday but so far i haven't had a ton on confidence in him as of yet. Just would like to know what to do on my own if that is where i'll be. Thank you

I have a rating of 20% right now for hearing loss. Clearly being Profound in my right ear and in need of a CI is worth more than that. My good ear is Severe-severe, right on the edge of profound. I can't have any type of conversation without my aids in. They are actually going to try a stronger receiver in my right ear next week but that won't help with my 16% word recognition. Yes one on one in a quiet room is doable and even then people need to repeat themselves if they talk to fast. Every phone call on speaker and ifs its someone with a long voice forget about it the speakers don't go high enough. Very difficult to get through a work day trying so hard to understand. By the time I get home i am exhausted and its hard to help my kids with home work i just want to go to bed. (I know I sound like a whining baby but its been years of this and it has beaten me up) The only time of peace without the ringing and roaring is when I am a sleep. I'm hoping at my DAV appt. on Monday I will be filed before leaving his office. If not then I'll file everything on my own.

Its worth a try. I have no idea when I am going to see this doctor again. I need to get my audiology reports from the VA and I can compare them. I am waiting for the Mass Eye and Ear people to call me back for the CI implant eval. I think that is the next time I see them. Its really a pain that its 2 hours away sometimes more with traffic and I lose a whole day of work every appt. This hospital is the best on the east coast and appts are usually a couple months out so we'll see. If I have both reports and they are very different then I'll need him to see them first hand a make a report. Regardless after a CI the right side will be deaf without the unit on. Not looking forward to that. Thanks

Thank you. I have the audiology results from my test last week at Mass Eye and Ear. They have the best equip. around.

Thats what i thought. I can work and want to work. People say i work too much but whatever. I understand on the DAV and VSO thing. I'm just starting to try and decipher everything myself because the last DAV person put me behind quite a bit. This one helped me some. I feel i got low-balled on my hearing eval. and he didn't tell me i should put in for stress, anxiety to go along with that and those are pretty rugged issues i've been trying to push through. The vestibular issue and hearing loss really wear me down since its a constant battle every waking minute. Pretty much the only time i'm at peace is when i'm sleeping but sometimes that hard because I can't hear at all when i take my aids out. I have a difficult time sleeping without having concerns of not hearing something in case of an emergency. Weird stuff anyways, sorry for the long winded reply kind of off subject. I will feel the DAV guy out on the 22nd appt. and see if he's really there to help or just get a pay check. Thank you

I can't file IU since I am currently working correct? I am not at 100%. I hear ya on every little bit helps. I have a decent job but thats because i've been here so long. If i lost this job I wouldn't be able to get anything close to it not being able to hear the way i do. The system is confusing to me and hopefully the DAV rep can help out some. If not i just talked to a veteran the other day that said he has a great VSO that goes above and beyond so I may have to meet that person as well. I think the stress and anxiety is just as bad as the hearing loss sometimes. I will do more research to better understand my options. You been a lot of help i appreciate your time Buck52. I'm sure i'll have more questions but what I do know is everything takes forever so i have time lol.

I totally understand and appreciate the concern with CI's. I've been trying as much as possible to stay away from surgery. I am 40 years old with 2 young children and I just keep missing things and I don't want to lose anymore. The VA can not do anymore with a hearing aid on my right ear so they sent me to Mass Eye and Ear for the CI talk with a specialist. Of course he thinks i would benefit from one but just like you said there's no guarantee. With my so called good ear declining as well i need to have some type of hearing going on.

Buck52 I am already SC for my hearing loss at 20% and tinnitus at 10%. I'm looking for an increase on the loss especially if I am going to need a CI which will render that ear deaf. I just didn't know if I should file now or wait until after surgery which hasn't been scheduled yet. With my current eval. last week it shows the loss should grant me more than 20% i believe but the hearing loss matrix is tough to decipher. Thanks

Thank you for the replies. I have an appt. with my DAV rep a week from today and I'll see what he has to say about why he hasn't filed for me yet. I asked him to do so in February and he said there's more to talk about in person. (He's knows I can't use the phone for conversations) After that meeting if he doesn't agree with my thoughts I'll search for another VSO and file on my own. So far I've been able to continue working since I've been with the same company for 19 years they've all kind of adapted with me but if it gets much worst who knows. GBArmy when you say "Modest improvement on hearing" does that mean the person you know said they didn't get much from a CI? The surgeon says it'll help a lot but of course he's bias.

Ok I know the hearing thing has been knocked around a bunch. I have read many posts and still can't figure out my next move. I just had a hearing test yesterday at Mass Eye and Ear (the top dogs around here). All my hearing appts are done down there at the request of the VA because i've been diagnosed with bilateral Menieres. I am SC 20% for bilateral hearing loss. My test shows a word recognition of 16% in my right ear and 54% in my left ear. I have severe hearing loss in my left ear and profound in my right ear. I am going for a Cochlear Implant eval as soon as they make my appointment and then i'll schedule surgery and figure out all those other issues with healing and relearning how to hear in that ear. My question is should i file for an increase now or wait until after surgery? The chart they gave me i really don't know how to read to put in the hearing test calculator. Thanks for any thoughts.

Richard 1954, thanks for the reply. I think i'll only be out of work for a month or maybe 5-6 weeks while the ear is healing before they turn on the processor. It'll be deaf while healing. Not sure if i can do a one ear work thing since my good ear is still pretty bad. I do not think i'll lose my job over this. If everything works hopefully i'll be better at work unlike the last few years where i've been at a stand still since i've had to stop training and pretty much everything that has to do with conversations. Tough when your a safety manager for a construction company. I used to train employees in a classroom environment and life was good then when the hearing got so bad i couldn't understand questions i had to scale back and pretty take less of a role and coast it out kind of. Thanks again

I have the healthy vet account and get all my notes but none of them have all the levels to use the hearing loss calculator. I'll go to the VA and request that thank you.

Is there anywhere I could find my audiogram report on ebenefits? I can't find it in any of my health reports. Thanks

Broncovet thank you for the response. I have a meeting with my rep later this month after my meeting with the specialist this week about surgery. I will be sure to ask him about that. I obviously need that setup before surgery. Thanks again

Hello all I am new here. Been lurking for a while though. I have SC hearing loss (20%), tinnitus(10%) and vestibular disorder(30%). I have been seen outside the VA because they do not have a specialist in NH for my vestibular loss. I go to Mass Eye and Ear. They want to give me a cochlear implant for my right ear because its virtually useless. I can hear noise like a locker door slamming and stuff like that but no word recognition going on. It took me years to even decide to try hearing aids and I still can't grasp having them at 40 years old now. Anyways if I decide to go through surgery that side will be deaf for at least a month while it heals before they can start up the processor. After that there will be many visits to try and dial it in over the next couple months and they say it takes a year or more to get used to. If i can't work for a month or more can i get help through that? Just wondering if anybody has taken this step and what to expect. Its been a real battle to keep my job with my hearing dropping so dramatically. Not sure how much longer my company will keep me in my position so that is a constant monkey on my back. Thanks for any responses