exitflagger

I didn't know how to fire my VSO at the time so I just stopped using him then started lurking and reading places like Hadit (big help). I just read the decision and it looks like the doc and counselor putting their opinions on my employability carried some weight. Two years ain't bad I've seen here but man that learning curve was steep.

No I'm TDIU. This really took much longer than 2 years but I didn't want to get into the pre-IU application story.

It's taken me about two years to get 100% TDIU [PTSD & major depression is the med diagnosis on the award], but last week it came. I started the process not knowing much about VA disability. Unfortunately I had two poor VSO's representing me; one was just too new at the game but a decent guy, the other was just an oxygen thief. I also learned that VSOs from another organization won't speak to you if you take a different organization VSO. I decided to do the whole app for VA disability myself without a VSO. I paid a pretty steep price emotionally and psychologically but after reading some of the experiences here I probably would have as well even with a good VSO I suppose. My psy-doc and counselor at the MHC in Seattle were amazingly supportive [with them for four years]. They wouldn't write a recommendation--I think they're gun-shy probably an admin thing--but each put their opinions on my ability to gain employment in the medical notes. I used those medical notes containing the clear statements on their professional opinions of my employability as part of the evidence for the TDIU app. I also utilized my family in contacting congressmen which was a dead end. Both a dem and repub representative's staff seemed helpful but not hopeful, this wasn't their first rodeo with the VBA process. I used Iris as well. After waiting 12 months I would check in once a month and let them know exactly how many days I'd been waiting ("It's been 345--or whatever the number was that email--days since I sent my initial packet and request for TDIU in..."). I sent in a note to the regional office every month with a reminder of how long I'd been waiting, always nicely phrased with a 'thank you for your efforts on this' included (even when I was fuming). I'm not sure what Iris did if anything but I knew something was up when I'd requested a contact from the office handling my claim--just someone tell me what's going on--and they responded by telling me the office had not yet responded to their request but to wait, which was a first.) I got a call from the regional VBA office telling me of my award two weeks later. Greatest phone call in the last few years. Maybe some of my stuff worked, maybe it would've taken that long anyway. I finally got it last week, back dated to Sept 9, 2009 with a nice chunk of back pay as well. I can't tell you how relieved I am, the stress of finances and of living off of family charity is over and I can maybe even give back now. Frankly I'd have been living under a bridge if it weren't for my family, the VBA process takes so long. In the long run the process does work and doing it myself with no guidance but a lot of research (I lurked here for a couple of years) taught me a few things. Exhausted but vindicated and happy.

In my case not only did they tell me I researched it before taking the drug. A combo with Welbutrin decreases or eliminates that as does your body's acclimatization to the meds which generally takes several weeks, at least in my experience. That's the sort of insight a psy-MD has that a GP/internal medicine MD might not give you. I'm also of the opinion that one should educate themselves as well on their meds, not weird internet sites but places like the Mayo Clinic, WebMD and that sort of thing. One side effect of untreated depression can be a carefully placed bullet through one's own noggin, so there's a trade off of sorts.

I use SSRIs not anti-psychotics. I'm guessing the VA docs are partially using them as mood stabilizers--off label treatment--since a lot of young guys have serious anger issues. A lot of times these drug treatments require a few months of experimenting to find the right drug or combination of them and the proper dose. Everyone is a bit different, some respond well to SSRIs others don't and so docs try the anti-psychotics. My doc in Seattle--a guy I trust--said he's seen success with some veterans using them but its not his first line of treatment. Slightly off topic, I started at the Seattle VA hospital Mental Health Center/PTSD clinic; for four years the treatment and people involved were excellent. I moved to Portland, OR and used their VAMC recently. Primary care is great. I've found their MHC trying like hell to get you to utilize anyone else--Vet Centers, pro-bono Veterans Project counselors--but them. They seem overwhelmed and short-staffed. I found it kind of disconcerting really.