Hi! I received my decision letter from my last review. I spent just over 5 minutes with the psychologist for my exam. I’ve been rated at 100% since 1 Feb 2010. They said my mental health has shown improvement and reduced my rating. I’ve been on the max dose of anti-depressants for 8 years, I tried taking 3 college courses last year and had to drop 2 because it was overwhelming, I am dealing with not only what I was rated for when I retired but have additional diagnoses of gastroparesis, Narcolepsy, pudendal neuralgia, loss of bladder and bowel control and anger issues which are all service connected. I just never bothered creating a new claim as I was already 100%, though not P&T . I deal with almost weekly pelvic floor and pudendal nerve injections, have had 4 surgeries and am facing more with that whole mess, have no social life, suicidal thoughts, and grief over how my career went downhill over the last 5 years ending on a hugely sour note. But, they say I’m improved and reduced the mental health rating from 70% to 50%. My overall rating will be 90% which means I’ll lose my dental benefits too which is a concern with the constant throwing up with gastroparesis. I’ve had several appointments with a mental health counselor for one on one counseling but it takes everything I have to get myself together and drive the 75 minutes to the VA just to talk to someone who doesn’t seem to know how to help me. I don’t understand why they think I’m improved.
We were also counting on the free college tuition offered in our state for daughter who is a junior so still had another year before heading off to college. I’ll lose that benefit as well.
All that to say, do I appeal or request a hearing? I’ve had several reviews over the years but this was the first they have proposed reducing my rating.
Thanks!