pacmanx1

Not really sure what is going on with this but you need to try to get a copy of the C & P exam. I make sure every time I have a C & P exam, I ask the doctor why am I having the exam and I make sure I request a copy of the C & P exam before I leave the VA MC.

I agree with pr, I also know that it is very hard to trust the VA but I think you should try to get treated or continue to be treated by a psychiatrist. Having current medical or mental health treatments will go a long way. It could balance or overcome any C & P examiner's opinion. Keep in mind that VA does this to a lot of veterans, just get the evidence you need that will support your claim for TDIU and submit it. If VA denies you make sure you appeal. Hope the best

For those who can not pull up the full article: VANCOUVER -- Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) almost universally suffer sleep problems -- with more cases of sleep apnea than might otherwise be expected -- U.S. Army researchers found. In a group of 135 young, otherwise healthy combat veterans with PTSD, 98.5% reported sleep complaints, Nick Orr, MD, and colleagues at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., reported here at the annual international scientific meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST). Despite their relatively young age (around 35) and slightly overweight physique, 54% of the PTSD patients who underwent polysomnography at Walter Reed were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) -- whereas, in the general population, the rate of OSA is only 20%. It can be all too easy to dismiss daytime sleepiness and other symptoms as part of depression and PTSD, Orr explained. But these results argue for screening all military PTSD patients for sleep apnea, Orr said in an interview. "You'll be darned if you just keep treating it with medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, and all the other modalities you use for PTSD, when you haven't addressed possible sleep apnea, which could get restorative sleep and kind of break the cycle for the PTSD symptoms," he told MedPage Today. Session co-moderator Andreea L. Antonescu-Turcu, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin and chief of pulmonology at the Zablocki VA Medical Center, both located in Milwaukee, agreed that the study results should justify the importance of screening for sleep problems in military patients with PTSD -- even when they don't fit the classical profile for OSA. "As the data are coming out it probably should be part of their routine evaluations to screen for sleep disordered breathing," she told MedPage Today. "Maybe this is part of their disorder that we have to address early on in patients with PTSD." The reason for the well-recognized sleep problems in PTSD isn't clear, but recent reports have argued that these symptoms should be considered a central feature of the disorder and not just a consequence of it, Orr noted. His group retrospectively analyzed electronic medical records for all 135 service members (91.9% men, average age 35.3) with combat-related PTSD seen at the Walter Reed sleep clinic from March 2006 through April 2010. Orr noted that these returning soldiers were assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigades, which were asked to refer PTSD cases with with traumatic brain injury to the sleep clinic. Not surprisingly, the majority of veterans in the current study had been injured (80 of the 135) and about 70% were traumatic brain injuries, primarily mild concussions from blast incidents. The average body mass index (BMI) was 28.91 -- putting most of the patients in the overweight but not obese category. Comorbid psychiatric illness was nearly universal with PTSD in the study patients; 88.9% suffered from depression and 44.4% were diagnosed with anxiety. Sleep complaints among the study patients included excessive daytime somnolence in 88.2% -- confirmed by an average Epworth Sleepiness Scale score in the "sleepy" range (10.7) -- as well as sleep fragmentation in 67.4% and difficulty falling asleep in 55.6%. Polysomnography done in 80.7% of the study patients diagnosed insomnia in 55% and OSA in 54%. Those patients with OSA were generally older, had a higher BMI, and were less likely to have suffered trauma or a traumatic brain injury compared with those who did not have sleep apnea (all P≤0.001). Orr's group cautioned that they were unable to determine how many of the service members in the study had OSA before being deployed -- but the researchers assumed that it was largely preexistent. High medication use, including painkillers and sedatives, might have contributed to the sleep characteristics of these populations, the investigators noted. But Orr pointed out that comorbid depression and use of medication were similar in PTSD patients with and without OSA. Also, "the injured population had less obstructive sleep apnea, so if the narcotics were causing central apneas then why was it the opposite?" he asked. The study was limited to service members returning from combat situations. But in terms of generalizability, Orr noted that sleep disordered breathing was almost universal in a prior study of female sexual assault victims and in another study conducted among crime victims with sleep problems -- most of whom also had PTSD. One problem with finding sleep apnea in this fairly young PTSD population was that compliance with treatment -- continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) -- is a problem, cautioned co-author Jacob Collen, MD, also of Walter Reed. Whether CPAP -- if adhered to -- can actually reverse some of the symptoms of PTSD still remains to be seen, he said in an interview with MedPage Today.

It is not the C & P doctors' responsibility to say that you are 30%, 40% or any percent. It is the C & P doctors' responsibility to examine you and write the findings in your records and give their opinion, if it is related or aggravated by your service connected disability or your military service. You can go to Kinko's or FED EX and they can help you or some print office to post your exam. There are quite a few people here on hadit that can read and understand C & P exam.

Is there any way you can post the C & P exam? Make sure you cover all personal information; name, SSN, address.

The rest of this article can be found on; http://www.medpageto....cfm?tbid=23074 MedPage Today Action Points Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Explain to interested patients that almost all combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (98%) have a sleep disorder -- with more cases of sleep apnea than might otherwise be expected. Note that just more than half (54%) of these military PTSD patients were diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea.

I believe this is the correct site but I can not fully access it.

I am just trying to find out, how can a veteran prove his or her student loan was discharge? I called the Department of Education and I was informed that my loans were discharge but I have never gotten a letter in the mail to prove it. Is there a letter or not?

IU is for people who can't work due to their service connected disabilities and not for people that can't find work. You would need a doctor statement saying that it is impossible for you to maintain employment due to your service connected disabilities.

It sounds to me like you need to hand carry this information into the VA and get a date stamp that proves they have received it. You could also send it in certified signature receipt or express mail receipt to make sure you get a signature of VA receiving it. VA often claims that they did not receive evidence and fail to review the entire record. The only thing you can do is resubmit the evidence. If it is within one year of your rating, then file for a reconsideration. If it is close to the end of that one year then file a NOD.

Congratulations!! :biggrin:

It is my understanding, if you had a QTC, C &P exam then you would have to get a copy of the exam from the VARO and they do not like to give copies of the exam. The VARO will give you a copy but it will take some time before they release it to you. It is a lot easier and faster if you could get it from the VAMC hospital.

You can go to the VAMC hospital in a week or so and get a copy of your C & P exam.

Have you had a bone scan of your condition? My spine was hurting for years even though I proved to VA that I fell on my spine while in the military but they still denied my claim. After having a bone scan and several X-Rays, VA granted my claim for service connected spine injury.

How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps). Found; http://www.census.go...ds/measure.html

Unfortunately, I am still waiting on my DRO decision.

Make sure that your VSO and the VARO gets this evidence. Yes, your VOC Rehab Counselor and your VSO should make sure this evidence gets connected to your claim as soon as possible but they may not and you want all the evidence in-front of the DRO when he or she reviews your file. Hope the best

Found on; http://www.veteranst...2%80%99s-story/ Not sure if this has been posted For TCE only, the Air Force identified 1,400 military sites contaminated with this toxic chemical. Half of the sites were Air Force. Exposure to TCE and other organic solvents has been linked to a number of serious medical conditions by the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Federal agency responsible for performing public health assessments of military Superfund sites.

The clothing allowance is processed through the prosthetics department ant the VAMC Hospital. I believe the correct form is 21-8678. If I am wrong others will chime in. http://www.vba.va.go...rms/21-8678.pdf

I would strongly suggest that you try to get a PCP (primary care provider) at your local VA hospital. Yes, I know it is 80 miles away but I think that is normal for most veterans. I think I live about the same distance and it takes me three days to recover from one VA hospital trip. I hate going but that was the only way to get treated and get the documentation I needed to win my claims. I have canceled a lot of appointments because I could not make it there and back. A lot of times dealing with injuries to the back is very hard to diagnose and treat. It took the VA about ten years before they service connected my back injury but I have been treated for it by the VA hospital for more than ten years. Evidence and treated documentation wins claims so when you are having pain and problems, you need to be seen and treated for.

Did you get your chiropractor to write a medical opinion of your condition and submit that to VA? Do you see a doctor on regular bases? Do you have any other conditions that could be service related or service connected? Hope the best

NSA, This is the correct form that Berta is talking about. After I got out of the military, I found out that I had several awards missing from my DD form 214 and I filled this form out and sent it in. I received my DD form 215 with my additional awards listed. http://www.dtic.mil/...orms/dd0149.pdf

Unfortunately what is done is done, so the only thing you can do now is wait. I know that this is not what you want to hear but you have to give VA a chance to go through everything. I agree with John, do not let the one year mark pass. If you do not get an answer on your request for reconsideration, make sure you file a NOD but keep it short and only focus on the claims that were denied.

Found on; http://www.veteranst...earance-option/ If you're facing a financial hardship due to a death or injury of a service member on active duty, you may be eligible for a special military forbearance option.