Wise Guy

@pacmanx1 Current ratings are: Right hip impingement 10% Lumbosacral strain 10% Left tennis elbow 10% Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Insomnia 70% Right knee strain 10% Bilateral Plantar Fasciitis with flat foot 50% Total 90%

I’m currently at 90%. Part of it is 70% for Insomnia and PTSD. I was originally at 30% for Insomnia and then filled for PTSD which total is 70%. Now I have sleep apnea pending with the use of a CPAP. If it gets approved, do you think it’ll raise my 90% to 100% or will it lower or even stay the same since insomnia and sleep apnea is in the same category? Current ratings are: Right hip impingement 10% Lumbosacral strain 10% Left tennis elbow 10% Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Insomnia 70% Right knee strain 10% Bilateral Plantar Fasciitis with flat foot 50% Total 90%

What are the easiest claims to claim for besides Erectile Dysfunction thats also hard to prove for SMC? Asking for a friend.

@GBArmyOk thank you. Now because I have my kid added under my records, will I get even more compensation or just the $110.31?

@brokensoldier244thI'm just trying to see how I could claim it if it came about. So far it's just ED secondary to Anxiety.

@brokensoldier244thIt also reads that deformity can be internal of the penis too. How can I prove that? And also, will I have to do a C&P Exam?

@brokensoldier244th I read that for ED, you'll get 0%, 20%, or 30%

I just filed my Erectile Dysfunction claim as secondary to my service connected Anxiety. Through the VA I was prescribed Viagra which didn't work at all. Then I told my sex therapist that with viagra, it doesn't work, masturbation doesn't work, nocturnal erections never happen, and sexual intercourse is a complete fail because of this. The next day I had an appointment with my Urologist and I said the same thing. My doctors notes from them were pretty good. They said it's due to my anxiety medication. I printed off my notes to include in my file for evidence. I also included a buddy statement from my dad explaining what I had told him. Lastly, I submitted a personal statement telling the VA exactly what I'm claiming and whats in my file so no one screws it up. Will I have to do a C&P exam? Will I just get the 0% rating with SMC-K? Or will I get the 20% rating with SMC-K? I read that for ED, you'll get 0%, 20%, or 30%

I have a C&P Exam on Wednesday and I'm afraid I'll get denied. Flat feet was denied before along with Plantar Fasciitis because it's not service connected. I went back to my physician outside the VA and he typed my nexus as follows: "Bilateral flatfoot acquired possibly during time in military. When not congenital as a cause, pes planus (flatfoot) is caused due to ill fitting shoe-gear without subtalar range of motion support, which could have been a result to time in service, 51% probability.Patient presents today with bilateral heel pain, worse right foot. Patient states that the pain is 2 out of 10. Patient denies any injury. Patient states he is having pain to the plantar aspect of his right heel that has been going on for several months. Patient denies being diabetic. Patient states he received custom orthotics as a week ago and has notes slight improvement. Patient denies taking any anti-inflammatories. Patient states that he has noticed his achilles feeling tight during athletic activity. *****Physical exam: Decreased ankle dorsiflexion noted bilateral. Mild tenderness to palpation to the plantar medial aspect of the right calcaneus. No pain with lateral compression of bilateral calcaneus. No pain along posterior tibial tendon bilateral. Increased pronation to patient's mis and rear foot bilateral. (The X-rays show as normal)" It got denied due to not being service connected, so I went back and got the below nexus typed and signed. "After reviewing ******** service record at my medical opinion is his pronounced bilateral pes planus or flat feet are connected to his time in service with the Marine Corps. Plus, his flat feet are due to high impact physical activity for military training such as marching drills, drills at Corporals Course, Sergeant course, Intermediate Administration Specialist Course, and the wearing of combat boots. These have caused strain on his posterior tibial tendon resulting in painful flat feet. The diagnosis of pronounced bilateral flat feet is severe with fitted soles. He still has symptoms with a pain level ranging to 8 out of 10. Recall treatment options have been discussed but will be deferred at this time." This is good but I don't know if it will connect come to think about it. From my recollection, I only went to medical once for plantar fasciitis and it's not shown as chronic. My flat feet was marked as normal upon entry of the Marine Corps and wasn't marked at all for my final physical. There's no check in any of the boxes indicating if my feet were normal or not. The ball was lazily dropped. I did just get a service connection for my hip injury. Should I go back to this doctor again and have him add a sentence that says, "Also, it is more likely than not that his pronounced bilateral flat feet worsened following the injury to his right hip with compensating for the pain"? Or does the VA Compensation even contact the doctor to check to see if they generated it or edited it? I have 1 full day to figure this out ands submit to add to my claim for Wednesday.

One of my friends been out the military for 6 years. However, he needs to file for MST. He doesn't have any evidence in his records (No police records, investigations, statements, or anything) of MST but to my knowledge, a bill was passed that says we no longer need evidence. I could be wrong so please correct me if I am. Here are my questions below: 1. Does he need buddy statements from friends he served with to get it connected to service? 2. Does he need to provide a name of the person that sexually assaulted him? 3. Does he need a phycologist nexus outside the VA of all his symptoms with the verbiage, "It is in my professional opinion that, his PTSD was caused by Military Sexual Trauma. Additionally, it is more likely than not that his PTSD, severe is connected to his time in service." or "After reviewing patients buddy statements and having 2 sessions with him, it is in my professional opinion that, it is more likely than not that his PTSD, severe was caused by Military Sexual Trauma. Additionally, it is in my professional opinion that, it is more likely than not that his PTSD, severe is connected to his time in service"? If he does need a nexus, which verbiage above sounds better than the other or what sounds better in general? I want him to get this right the first time.

@pacmanx1 I had an appointment with my sleep apnea doctor today just to see how my CPAP machine was coming along. In the appointment, I asked him if sleep apnea is caused by PTSD (so he can state that in my record) and he said absolutely not and explained why. He then stated to me for compensation I'm good because in his very first sentence he typed in my record, it states that "Patient has had Sleep Apnea x 5 years". He said this would put it back to 2015 since the time I was in so all I had to do was file and I was good. Some VA doctors are cool I'm glad he helped out

@Buck52 Ugh right after I couldn't answer the anxiety question right, she asked me if I ever had a panic attack and I said no

I already had it but thank you. The exam took about an hour. She first asked how was I and I replied, "Better then I was on Sunday." Later she asked what I meant when I said that and I told her I forgot to take my meds so my nightmares came back. She began the whole thing asking me about my parents and childhood to see if I had anything that could have led to the PTSD. All of the answers I gave her to me indicated that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me before the military. I told her about an incident during service involving suicide that I felt like I could have prevented and told her when my PTSD symptoms started. I told her of the medications I'm taking to keep my symptoms controlled. I got stuck when she asked me what happens when I have anxiety. I forgot what I told the VA mental health guy so I had to think about it for a second before I answered. The answer was kind of vague because I couldn't remember what I had said before. At the end she asked me about my Insomnia and the underlining factors of it such as memory loss. I explained to her that I still have memory problems to where sometimes I cant remember the specifics of things so hopefully that helped when I forgot about the specifics about the anxiety.

I have a current claim for several injuries to include PTSD. I did some research and found out the best way of getting a rating for migraines is to have a diary through the VA of the migraines. For my PTSD which I got diagnosed through the VA in February, I'm taking Doxazosin (Nightmares), Hydroxyzine (Anxiety), and Sertraline (Mental Health). All of the medication causes headaches. However, the Sertraline only causes headaches within the first 2 weeks. I was going to wait until the claim was complete before filing for Migraines because I wanted to already have the rating for PTSD first so I can claim the migraines as secondary. But is there a way to still file for it now to still say it's because of the medication for the PTSD? Which route should I go or is there a better one? And should I talk to my VA counselor/medication doctor to get him to state that my migraines are caused by my PTSD and medications? I heard every time you file for a new claim, then everything gets re evaluated so it would be ideal if there was a way to get everything done now. Also, I did get diagnosed through the VA for Sleep Apnea back in February,. So, can I say that the migraines was also caused by the Sleep Apnea?

I currently have pending disability claims for several things to include PTSD and Sleep Apnea. I filed for my PTSD starting in December of 2019 and the Sleep Apnea starting around the same time due to the PTSD. I was tested positive for sleep apnea. This month, I just found out through the VA Biopsy that I have Sarcoidosis which now I'm on steroids for 2 months and other meds for 6. I learned through research that sleep apnea can be caused by sarcoidosis since sarcoidosis causes shortness of breath. If I file for Sarcoidosis and try to change things up by saying the sleep apnea was caused by the sarcoidosis, then the sarcoidosis may get denied seeing how I have nothing from service to relate which will deny the sleep apnea too. So, should I just file it by itself? If so, should I get an attorney to help me get it service connected? How can I get it service connected? I was going to wait until the current claim was done before filing. However, I just heard that whenever you file for something new, everything gets reevaluated so that's why I'm trying to do it now.