Gridsmasher11

Great news...am so happy for you....grid

JMO, this looks like at least 70%...It is a very similair write up to mine and I had a GAF score of 45 and was awarded 70%(last month).....Watch for the big envelope and hopefully it shouldn't be much longer in coming....wishing you the best of luck and a quick resolution......grid

It's official, I got the VA letter on Friday.....I just want to say thanks for everyone here and all the great advice on this site.....I did this without the help of the DAV..I took a lot of what I had learned here and filed under the FULLY DEVELPOED CLAIM program and in less than 3 months I am rated at 70%....Once again , THANK YOU..............................Grid

Update.....I still don't have the official VA notification letter but the RETRO hit the bank this morning...It was very close to what I had figured and a nice sum...Now I can pay some bills!!!! Grid

Hey folks, am filling the form 21-686c Declaration of Dependents form....My question is WHAT IF YOU DON"T KNOW YOUR EX-WIFES Social Security number....I don't know it and do not know if she will provide the info if I can get in touch with her(divorced for over 16 years)......Can I just put UNKNOWN in the space provided......Also why do I have to provide info on my 18yo son who is in the Army and does not live with me..........Any help here will be appreciated....Thanks, Grid

Thanks to everyone here.....I am still employed so I do not think that I will get TDUI at this time...I am just grateful that they finally granted my PTSD claim.....Am also thankful for this wonderful site.I couldn't have done this without you folks out there and the great help and guidance that you provide........grid

I used the Fully developed claim program for my latest PTSD claim...The RO recieved my paperwork on 4 Feb , I had a C&P in late March ...I recieved a letter from the DAV on 18 April stating that I had been rated at 70% for PTSD with MDD...Haven't recieved the official VA notification yet........So, in less than 3 months I filed and was approved using this program..............grid

Got home today and there was a letter from the DAV in the mail.....They said I had been awarded 70% for my PTSD with MDD...Backdated to June 2008.......HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!Haven't recieved the official letter from VA yet.....They also sent the form for TDUI and the form for my dependents............Do I have a chance for TDUI as I am working even though it is a struggle??????I am just relieved right now to have some closure and a rating....They said VA does not consider it static and I will be reexamined in 2014...............Grid

Larry, great advice....I just sent my packet in under this program last week...Naturally I sent it certified with a return reciept..Wouldn't want it to get lost.....Included in the packet is nearly a years worth of treatment notes (copies) from my VA phsychiatrist and my primary care doc all with the diagnosis of PTSD on them and highlighted by me...Now I am just waiting to see what happens.........Grid

GREAT NEWS CARLIE......Way to go....It just gives those of us still fighting hope........Grid

CONGRATULATIONS....What wonderful news...Enjoy!!!!! Grid

This sounds like the C&P results I recieved last year...They stated that 'While I had the symptoms of PTSD that I didn't have PTSD and that while I was also diagnosed with MDD that there was no record of depression in my Service records.......It's almost laughable....The rating side of the house is denying my PTSD and MDD while at the same time I am being treated for PTSD and MDD from a VA psychiatrist with counseling and a handful of meds that I wasn't taking previously......I haven't given up though..Am submitting a clain under the Fully Develpoed Claim program with a years worth of treatment notes from my VA psych.....Hang in there and keep trying........................Grid

You may be referring to the Gamma Globulin shots they gave us....At Fort Bragg it was a mandatory shot if you were deploying........It was supposed to help boost our immune systems.............Grid

Congratulations, this is good...Waco seems to be one of the harder RO's...I have been in a constant battle with them off and on for over 10 years....Enjoy the retro and hopefully they will grant your other claims...grid

Congratulations, maybe the will highball you....Grid

Since I have been Diagnosed as having Diabetes I was wondering if my time on the Army Overweight Program can be connected for service connection....While on active duty I had to continously watch my weight and fought and struggled with being on the Army Overweight Program...In my medical records are numerous exams and paperwork showing enrollment in the program...Including where the Army sent me to a Dietician....Since fighting obesity can lead to Diabetes I was wondering can I use this for a service-connection..Any answers would help....Thanks, Grid

Berta or some of the oldtimers, am I reading and understanding this right...I didn't include the complete list from 3.309 just as far as Diabetes Mellitus which is the one concerned about.......The way I am comprehending this is that if this chronic disease (diabetes) appears within established time limit after service or as established by VA..........In my case I have been diagnosed with diabetes, am a Gulf War vet and according to what I am understanding here my diabetes is considered a presumptive disease if it manifests at 10% or more....... Thanks for all helpfull input ahead of time....Grid Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1116(a)(4)) (ii) The diseases listed at §3.309(e) shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more at any time after service, except that chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy shall have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service. § 3.309 Disease subject to presumptive service connection. a) Chronic diseases. The following diseases shall be granted service connection although not otherwise established as incurred in or aggravated by service if manifested to a compensable degree within the applicable time limits under §3.307 following service in a period of war or following peacetime service on or after January 1, 1947, provided the rebuttable presumption provisions of §3.307 are also satisfied. Anemia, primary. Arteriosclerosis. Arthritis. Atrophy, progressive muscular. Brain hemorrhage. Brain thrombosis. Bronchiectasis. Calculi of the kidney, bladder, or gallbladder. Cardiovascular-renal disease, including hypertension. (This term applies to combination involvement of the type of arteriosclerosis, nephritis, and organic heart disease, and since hypertension is an early symptom long preceding the development of those diseases in their more obvious forms, a disabling hypertension within the 1-year period will be given the same benefit of service connection as any of the chronic diseases listed.) Cirrhosis of the liver. Coccidioidomycosis. Diabetes mellitus

John, she prescribed it to help control pain...I have constant pain in my knee's and wrists...Also have bouts of pain where all my joints hurt...These have got to the point that when they happen I am not going to make it to work......Over the last 3 months I have missed a lot of work as a result of the joint pain, my insomnia or the inability to function from the mirtizapine...Have used up all my vacation and sick days...........I am going to see if I can get a second eval about this from a civie doc.....Thanks for the input...grid

Berta, the drugs in question are Mirtizapine and Venlafaxine ..My Psyche from VA increased my Venlafaxine to the max prescribable while giving me Mirtizapine to help with my sleep and depression.......I had read that this combinition causes very bad munchies.....In my case it was extreme dry mouth and a never ending thirst...I went from 1 soda every month or so to 3 or 4 every day plus a LOT of water.......The research I have done says that both of them can cause weight gain and mirtazapine has been linked with Sudden Onset Diabetes........................On the other hand my Psyche has not admitted that the drugs could have caused this......I am also taking Prazosin for nightmares and Tramadol as needed and Gabapentin ... This all came about in about a 3 month period...I had gained some weight this summer and then I lost over 40 lbs in 2 months without trying...But the increased dry mouth and thirst started when the Venlafaxine was maxed out in conbinaton with the Mirtizapine...................This is all new to me..The diagnosis of Diabetes only came last Friday, The fasting Blood Glucose was 300 compared to 96 in May of this year......................Thanks, Grid

Haven't been around in a while..Still lurk sometimes.......In May of this year my blood glucose was around 96 (normal)...Then my VA Psyche raised some of my meds and I started eating more carbs.....Last week she noticed I had lost a lot of weight quickly so while doing a blood test to see about adding on a med she did a fasting Glucose....My sugar is totally out of whack....I am diagnosed now by the VA as a Diabetic...............Can I claim this since the meds caused it???? Does Diabetes tie into Gulf War illness or my pending claim for PTSD...Any responses will be appreciated...

Thanks pete for the link... Grid

I also want to wish other Gulf 1 vets happy anniversary...I got there 23 August 1990 left end of March 1991.. XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery 3Bn 27th Field Artillery Regiment Charlie Battery C-11 MLRS Launcher Section Chief Supported 24th Mech during the ground war and advance into Iraq and the Euphrates River Valley toward Balad ,providing fire support and counter battery artillery fire.. Gridsmasher11

OK, Folks..Been out for a few days....I did not start this as an argument about the new regs....First of all..I DO HAVE A VALID DX OF PTSD FROM A VA PSYCHIATRIST........VA HAS CONCEDED MY STRESSOR.......BUT, THE PERSON doing my rating is either not checking my treatment records or is completely ignoring them...At the end of March they denied my clain once again stating that I had PTSD but in the next sentence denying it........SO< WHATS THE PROBLEM?????I DO NOT KNOW...IF I KNEW I WULDN"T HAVE A PROBLEM .....I will continue to get all my stuff together to keep fighting this....GRID

I just returned from an appointment with my VA psychiatrist....She just seems to want to keep increasing my meds but doesn't really want to help with my claim.....I asked her to specifically write me a nexus letter or to put into my treatment notes that my PTSD 'is more likely than not caused by my time in the Gulf"....She says that she has already stated that it is service connected and that she wants me to be service connected for this but will not write this as I have asked....Are they instructed to not write it plainly so we can support our claims????? She said it would be a conflict of interest.????I asked her how it would be a conflict of interest, wasn't she my treating Phsychiatrist (she said yes) but she just wants to him and haww........GRRRRRRRRR...VA causes us more stress and just wants to dope us up and hope we forget...............................................Did find out some things that may help my claim......The doctor that did my PTSD C&P back in March is only an MD.....According to VA regs it should have been a Psychiatrist or Phsycologist...So I have a point there....Still gathering the stuff to keep fighting my claim.............................GRID

I Know what you are going through...I worry about them firing me all the time...I am still fighting with VA over my PTSD but am 10% for another factor.....But I miss a lot of work.Between appointments and being not able to function my sick leave stays low......Last week I had to leave on Thursday at lunch because I felt horrible, missed Friday and again on Monday.......This was all caused by things I am trying to get rated for or as a result of side effects from the medication that the VA psych has prescribed to treat my Major Depression and PTSD that she has diagnosed me with that the claims side keeps ignoring................I have decide not to worry about it...If I am terminated then I will file for TDUI and workmans comp...Plus being fired may help my PTSD claim....So now I take it ONE DAY at a time..If I am hurting so bad I can't function oe so groggy from my meds that it is dangerous for me to drive I will stay at home and let things fall where they may........Like someone else on here told me...We are broke, don't try to be hardcore strack trooper anymore....Make the VA see that it is effecting you and your ability to function normally...