ShrekTheTank

So I am not totally familiar with this but this might be an area which this would be rated under. Also it could be covered under another skin condition. I am rated for a skin condition that needs constant therapy. Ie. Topical ointment and pain killers. If I were you I would look at the skin portion of va disability and see which one it better fits with. I found the hard way unless you specifically show them they will throw any random code they think matches. I am at 10% shooting for 60%

Bronco is right. The VA has doctors who fight for them. I got luck three at my VA as they have Doctors who rotate in for specialty medicine. I got Fibro, Dercum's disease and sleep apnea both given as a diagnosis. I got two from the same doctor and he told me the VA does not like them to give out a diagnosis. He said it was his job to give out proper diagnoses and he would not change for them. The sad truth is not all doctors are like this and they like to have their own. I have also gotten IMO and it has worked out great. Make sure if you are doing any secondary to get their opinion on how they are linked to your service connected disabilities.

Welcome to the VA. I think they do try to get it close, but remember these can change at anytime. Mine I thought would be done in February then it went back to GOE and sent the date out to sometime this fall. Once they got their info it came back to march to may. The truth is no one know when they will get done. I will say I think they are faster now than they were 5 years ago. Yes they are not talking to each other but think it more like 10 hands not talking.

From what I understand it does not speed it up as it would only affect the first 30 days. I gives a feel good feeling to hit that button and to think it speeds it up. It could still go back to gathering of info and then back again. So it is anyone’s guess how long. Just check back once a week to see if there is any movement.

It has helped on a couple other issues. Just remember to take it to Barney level.

found my answer

I had the same reaction when I saw this, but this probably is the more accurate time table to complete. I am almost a year into mine and I thought this was a punch in the gut. From what I have read on here that this is a better representation of the time it will take to set up and appointment and then look at the new evidence. I also stayed in the legacy system, and I have not see any better news coming from the RAMP lane. It looks like they just added another few steps to slow it down some more. I wanted to stay with the BVA for this as they will look at all of my information I sent to them and not forget about it. Like it was said to me check in less often, and just know the back pay will come!

Vetquest is right don't get mad as this is what they want you to do! Get it to the BVA so they will review everything. I know it is a tough road especially when you do all of this work to show how it is linked. Then they turn a blind eye to it as if it never even happened. The VJ can take years to get seen. I know when the DRO saw me it took almost a year.

What is funny is at the remand stage they are waiting on a few pieces of paper to make a decision. It just boggles my mind.

So I just wanted to VENT! I know the VA is updating to the new VA.gov, and since my appeal has been moved there it has stated 7-17 months is the typical waiting time to have this completed. I check today and it is updated with 16-29 months. I am glad they are getting closer to an actual time frame, but it is very aggravating!

So I am in the same boat as you at the denial/appeal stage. I have done quite a bit of research on citations and there are 3 major things they are looking for. 1. A diagnosis of OSA requiring a CPAP. 2. An IMO of a doctor showing favor to the veteran 3. Letters from the veteran or spouse showing how it impacts their daily lives. it looks like to me you have the first 2 nailed down. What stage of this are you at? Appeal? DRO? BVA? As for the rater they are only there to do the DBQ and some do ask for a physical exam and some do not. Another sleep study would not hurt to help support your claim. I sounds like the RO is not connecting the dots and typically at this stage they will not and you will have to appeal.

Hi Amy, Broncovet is correct as you are the one who knows where you fit into the descriptions above. The best advice I can see is to make sure you are making those C&P as the VA is very quick to show you did not care to show up even though that is not the case. What phase is your claim currently at? BVA or the appeals court? depending on where you are at currently there will be a window and that could be any time prior to the decision, but have your information ready to send in by certified mail! Also make sure you are not just submitting 700 pages of doctor notes or reports, get the parts that apply to your conditions. I like to highlight the relevant areas kinda like connect the dots. This really does help the rater as they don't have to dig through crap to get to what is important and it makes it much harder for them to deny and say there is not relevant information to link. Not sure if you have filed for TDUI, but that might be something to do for now. As for getting back to normal we here want to help everyone we can get back to a new normal. I myself will never be same as i was before the military, but I have found a much more peaceful place. Just keep at this with the VA, do the research as there is tons of information to help on this site and to just get someone to answer questions is an amazing help! keep up the fight and remember someone before you already help beat a path to help you!

I did not try to link them as secondary. I am now wondering if they are trying to, but they are both service connected seperatly. I checked VA.gov and it was at the gathering of evidence without a third request and now today I look and it is at pending decision approval with the third one being closed. Or could the VA be doing a spot check on my conditions? Guess we will see how it all unfolds lol. Request 3 Exam Request - Request for Clarification No longer needed Request 2 Exam Request - Processing No longer needed Additional evidence File: ClaimDecisionRequest.pdf Type: 5103 Notice Acknowledgement SubmittedDec. 21, 2018 Additional evidence File: Citation_Nr_1648003.pdf Type: Correspondence SubmittedDec. 20, 2018 Additional evidence File: Sleep apnea lay statement.pdf Type: VA 21-4138 Statement In Support of Claim SubmittedDec. 20, 2018 Request 1 Exam Request - Processing No longer needed

I have a claim in for headaches and I was called by LHI today to schedule for a fibro DBQ for the only open claim I have is headaches and sleep apnea. I am very confused why they would be sending me in for this as I am already rated at 40% for fibro. Also I have already had my migraine DBQ Anyone know what crap they are trying to pull?

Hey doc It is interesting to me they are denning your claim and it is in your files and it is found after you are in service. I guess the reason this is interesting is back when I was doing my PTSD 3rd party doctor. The doctor said we needed to go back to my childhood and how I grew up. This was something I never even thought about, but she stated the Military signed you into a contract and basically bought you the way you were. Meaning in-service or prior because it aggravated the current condition matters. I know this is not an exact match, just something to think about when fighting the VA.

So since it looks like your claim is at the regional office still, this could be good news for you. You could be looking at months instead of years. I am currently going onto my first year of waiting to get an appeal applied to my %. I know for all of my previous approvals at the local it was applied within 6 months or less. I think they have two piles one for local claims where they pass them from on desk to another to see who will finally take care of it. The other they take that months appeals and place them into a box and go out back to bury them until they are ready for them. Kind of like a time capsule. But bronco and vet are both correct. It is the final hurry up and wait!

From what I have seen through my appeal from 2013 if it is and initial rating for a disability and it is approved this will happen in a timely manner(for the VA). For me it what just over a year. As for the appeal, this has taken the longest, and I can understand why. I did not give them the 5 star evidence they needed to award me the correct dyability. I now have a good process to stop this wait, but it has now come at the cost of 6 years+. Another piece I did not realize was if you condition is not laid out straight forward for them to award, this makes it 10 times harder to rate. I have also heard depending on the amount of money about to be awarded, this will take even more time as multiple people must approve it. As for the VA updating, sometimes you can believe Ebenefits or va.gov, but the truth is they just want to put a carrot out so we have something to look at.

Max87 1) All Vets are being weened off narcotics (controlled substances). From my experience in the past year they are being very cautious about how they are giving meds to VETS. I asked my doctor about this and they stated there is a more proactive look at these pills and who really needs them. As the VA has found there are doctors who are over prescribing the hell out of some drugs and there are some VETS who are gaming the system to get these drugs. They are also trying to find out who is addicted to these drugs. 2) VA Drs psychiatrist are forbidden from prescribing Benozdiapines. The VA doctors are just like a normal doctor and they have the full authority to prescribe what they feel will best meet the needs of the patient. So if you doctor is telling you this, you may want a new doctor. 3) The above is by order of FDA and VA policy. I have no idea on this, but I do remember an article about how over prescribed vets are and how the VA was just keeping them at bay by giving them far too many drugs. 4) The above policy can be found in the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference). Again I can't find it.

KC3, The response you get from Peggy will just be an update on the current status, it will not resolve what you are looking for. I would say file the complaint, you might get something from that request.

Hey Mikey33T, It sounds like it is moving, but no one can guess how long this part will take. Could be next week could be months. My advice is check weekly as there is no way to speed them up.

Good luck to you and I hope it is the amount you thought you were getting!

Welcome to the Remand boat. My BVA award for scarring at 30% has been awarded and has passed the 120 day window as my VSO told me and said it has been with the RO since October. I have heard every excuse on why they have not done it and I have sent the Fast Letter and I am almost sure they just laugh at it. We are both at the 7 of 17 month wait for the remand to get started and completed. As of right now with this change I am pretty sure it will come with the Remand. You know the awesome thing about my remand is all they want is and update from my offsite therapist and a new physical exam of Dercum's disease. I already got the update for the therapist and sent the release in. As for the disease it is a progressive disease and will only get worse, and they have access to my medical records and can see my 3-4 surgeries a year. So now a 1+ year wait for someone to fax my updated therapist records and 20 minutes with a doctor to see I have hundreds of lumps under my skin and have had 130+ removed. Sorry for the rant, just got to keep bugging everyone and maybe get lucky while still facing the reality it will be a year or 2. I will update if there is any change. Keep up the good fight!

When I filed I did it linked to my PTSD-IBS-Dercums disease. After looking at what you posted I do think you are correct, the rater is not looking what can aggravate Fibro. So our jobs as much as it sucks is to show them how it is aggravated by these other conditions. They ultimately put it to PTSD. You have to think of the RO as a 5 year old and break it down to Barney level! I go through and page number the evidence and I will bold certain words and then Highlight it so they will not miss what point I am making. I used to submit 40 or 50 pages of evidence and that will sink your ship like no other and they can bury it. From my recent appeal I have found fewer pages and Barney level makes it very hard to miss anything.

Nope it was secondary

have you submitted a Lay statement from yourself and someone who knows you to support how your Fibro is aggravated by your service connected disabilities? I know this sounds like ah they won't look at those, but I got diagnosed with Fibro with no in-service evidence, some medical opinions and my own statements. It was one of the fastest to be rated for me. Hope this helps