2NDMARDIVDOC

Berta, Buck (or anyone else) Here is another question regarding the above conversation. Again, I will provide as much detail as possible. When I first filed my PTSD claim in Feb of 2016 that was denied, I supplied regional with my stressor letter with several claimed stressors. What I DIDN'T know is that regional didn't use any of the stressors I had listed to get me my C&P exam. What they did was....they looked in my service jacket and found a award I received for aid I provided to a service member when we were deployed to Antarctica. Please keep in mind that I did NOT list that incident on my stressor letter. Also please keep in mind that I had absolutely which stressor the regional office verified to get me the exam. So when I went to the exam, I laid out all the details of my claimed stressors. I DID NOT mention the Antarctica incident because I never claimed it as a stressor. Long story short, on my exam report, the examiner stated that my PTSD was not related to service since I didn't mention the Antarctica incident during the exam, which is the specific incident the VA asked his opinion on, and that was the only one regional verified, all the other incidents I claimed and discussed with the examiner were considered "subjective" and therefore did not get awarded the PTSD claim. OK...so I immediately enrolled in mental health service at the VA as well as the civilian psych Doctor that I mentioned earlier. All of them dx'd me with PTSD and anxiety and specifically mentioned the Antarctica incident. I turned in all that evidence when I refilled. My question is this....If the Antarctica incident is the only stressor that the regional office verified, and the original examiner said I didn't have service connected PTSD because I didn't mention it, Should I have used it when I refilled? I figured that since the VA had already verified it, I would just stick with it.....Would it still be a valid stressor if I was already turned down once with it being the verified stressor?

Berta, I'm just concerned that they denied the PTSD claim again. The not knowing is not helping my anxiety problem at all.... I have seen a lot of cases where some of the issues on a claim that a Vet files that get awarded with no C&P and the other issues get deferred to a C&P exam. But while they (the Veteran) wait for the C&P on the other issues, they get compensated for the one(s) that were awarded with no exam. My monthly amount has not changed and all my disabilities remain unchanged on ebenefits. If it gets denied again I don't possibly know what else I could provide to get it approved....I submitted a mountain of evidence and like I said, in the first go-a-round, the VA verified my stressor.

Hello to all and thank you in advance. This is going to be long winded but I want to provide as much detail as possible. Back in Feb of this year I submitted my first claim for non-combat PTSD. I discharged in 2002 and I am a non-combat Vet. Prior to filing for PTSD in Feb of this year I had never been seen for mental health and did NOT have a diagnoses of PTSD. I submitted claim for PTSD as regional verified my stressor and scheduled me for a C&P exam. The "doctor" was a complete xxxxxxx (excuse me) and talked down to me for an hour. When I finally read the report a few days later I saw that he remarked that I did meet all the criteria for PTSD and checked all the boxes that would have gotten me about 70% but then went on to say that because I waited so long to file, in his opinion, my PTSD was less likely than not to be from military service. He also sited a few incidents that I had after discharge that could have been the PTSD stressor.. I was floored when I read the report. I immediately disputed it and the VA denied my claim anyway. The denial letter basically said that they could not grant PTSD without a diagnoses of PTSD. Within a week of the denial letter I made appointments with the mental health clinic at the VA as well as booked an appointment with a civilian psych Dr for an eval. In total I have seen 3 different doctors since the denial and all 3 have confirmed a diagnosis of PTSD RELATED to military service. My civilian psych doctor also filled out a very favorable BDQ for me. He diagnosed me with PTSD and Anxiety related to military service and named specific events inn service including the already verified stressor. So, I refilled a couple months ago via fully developed claim and a bladder condition which also occurred in service. I submitted a mountain of evidence for the mental health claim which was submitted as "mental condition to include PTSD" at the suggestion of my DAV rep. He said that way the VA could accept the DBQ from the civilian doctor since PTSD MUST be initially diagnosed by a VA provider and since he(my civilian psych dr.) diagnosed me with PTSD AND ANXIETY, the VA could accept it on the anxiety alone. Anyway, as we all do, I have been checking ebenefits and it has moved through almost all of the stages and is now sitting at "pending notification" it has been in this stage for over a week now. Here is the strange part...My C&P for the bladder condition isn't until January 4th of 2017. How can they be prepping for notification without having the results from my C&P for the bladder which hasn't occurred yet???? Also, there has been no C&P ordered for the mental evaluation at all. Has anyone experienced anything like this??

I filed 3 claims via FDC a little over a month ago. 2 of the 3 have C&P exams scheduled for January 4th. I'm wondering how a decision could have been made without the exam results? Could they have made a decision on the one issue that was not scheduled for C&P exam? If so, is that good or bad? It was for "mental condition to include PTSD" which I submitted a ton of evidence for.....Anyway, did anyone have a similar experience? If so, what was the outcome?

Thank you! If by "evidence fits into rating criteria" you mean are my documented symptoms in line with the requirements needed to compensate for overactive bladder, than yes. I have compared my service documented symptoms as well as all follow up apt documentation and it falls in line with the 40% rating schedule. I was just confused because in the original denial letter back from 02 the VA admitted that it was dx'd in service, that I was treated and medicated for it yet they claim that the preponderance of evidence was not in my favor. That is whey I filed the CUE. I don't know how at a VERY MIN that it wouldn't fall on the benefit of the doubt law. All evidence submitted showed it was an in-service condition.

Berta, Can I please ask you one final (hopefully) question? Can you please tell me if overactive bladder can be rated as a condition ALL BY ITSELF or does it need to be attached to another service connected condition? I have tried to research this on my own and keep coming up empty handed. I would like to be sure because I am connected for epididymitis at 0% and I need to know if I need to make a case that the bladder is a result of the epididymitis or is I should claim it by itself. I have multiple Dr. reports that dx me with overactive bladder as the primary dx. THANK YOU!!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Berta, my original file date for PTSD was feb of 2016. My original file date for the bladder was early 2002. I was denied the bladder condition. I received the PTSD denial in sept of this year. It wasn't until I started gathering additional evidence for the reopening of my PTSD claim that I found the discharge physical from 02 that mentioned the bladder issue. I decided to reopen the bladder issue on this PTSD claim. I also decided to include a left shoulder issue as a secondary claim for a service connected right shoulder as it currently sits, I have a CP on the 4th of Jan to examine my bladder and shoulder The PTSD claim has not been scheduled for CP exam I'm pretty sure all the evidence I submitted, including a DBQ is holding water hopefully that will clarify things john

Today my ebenefits status changed to "prep for notification" as you know from my recent posts I claimed 3 conditions. Bladder (CUE, reopen) shoulder(new) and mental condition to include PTSD (reopen) I have 2 CP exams scheduled for 1-4-17 for the shoulder and bladder. I submitted a ton of evidence for the PTSD including a completed DBQ. Question is, if I haven't had the CP's yet how can they be at the notification process already? Is it possible they are notifying me of the PTSD decision and rating the other 2 later? Question 2, at what point will my disibities be updated on ebenefits? They haven't changed even with the prep of notification. All 3 still show as open claims.

Today my ebenefits status changed to "prep for notification" as you know from my recent posts I claimed 3 conditions. Bladder (CUE, reopen) shoulder(new) and mental condition to include PTSD (reopen) I have 2 CP exams scheduled for 1-4-17 for the shoulder and bladder. I submitted a ton of evidence for the PTSD including a completed DBQ. Question is, if I haven't had the CP's yet how can they be at the notification process already? Is it possible they are notifying me of the PTSD decision and rating the other 2 later? Question 2, at what point will my disibities be updated on ebenefits? They haven't changed even with the prep of notification. All 3 still show as open claims.

Thank you. My denial states the the "perpounersnce of evidence" was not in my favor. They say that because doctors were not able to render a dx of a primary cause for the overactive bladder. I feel that the bladder condition is a condition of and in itself. Overactive bladder is a medically recognized condition even when it is of unknown ediology. My service records confirm I was dx'd with it and required medication. I still suffer with it and continue medication. Just because doctors couldn't find a cause doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That's how I feel anyway. I don't see how that's different from anyone who's SC for migraines. Migraines are dx'd purely on subjective data and they are service connectable. So how's my bladder condition any different?

Hello. If you carry a SC for overactive bladder PLEASE respond, is like to ask you a few questions to help my claim. Thanks!

Thank you. I'll check it out today. Correct me if I'm wrong but based on what I sent you regarding the language from the original denial letter, they recognized the Facebook the bladder condition started in service, required medication, multiple disgnostic tests were performed etc yet they say that the "Perpondance of evidence" does not support SC..... I just don't understand how the hell they can say that?? It seems that they are saying if they can't tie the bladder to another condition, it's not connectable. That's just not accurate. "Voiding dysfunction" is a rating category all by itself and includes overactive bladder. Am I missing something? It seems pretty clear cut to me.

Berta, im not sure what the law or criteria was regarding bladder conditions was back in 02. And to the best of my knowledge I was never dx'd with anything that my bladder condition could be tied to. It's a condition of and in itself. I DO HAVE A NEXUS from my VA primary care that says, in his medical opinion my bladder condition did occur in service and used my discharge physical as evidence for his opinion. I did not have that nexus at the time I filed back in 02. And yes I did submit it with my most recent claim. I have reviewed the recent rating criteria for bladder conditions and according to them I meet the 40-60% rating. So let's assume for a minute that they do grant me SC this go around and that the requirements are the same now that they were back in 02 when I got denied, would that support a CUE?

Berta, ok. Here is the exact language from my rating decision back in 02 where they denied SC for my bladder condition "Service medical records dated 11-07-01 showed veteran was seen at the department of urology for irritative voiding symptoms the cystosscopy report showed normal urethra no stricture. The prostate was nonobstructive. Assessment was overactive bladder and was treated with a Detrol. It was also stated on this report that a scrotal ultrasound should be completed to rule out varicocele and other pathology. The veteran was released from active duty on 12-14-01with no evidence of this being completed. Seperation examination showed overactive bladder not considered disabling. VA examination from Bay Pines medical center stated the veteran had a complaint of chronic overactive bladder. He was checked by his primary doctor, he was negative for diabetes and was seen by the urologist and there were no problems noted. Diagnostic assessment was history of overactive bladder. No objective findings. The rule regarding benefit of reasonable doubt does not apply because the preponderance of evidence is unfavorable" ok so what exact objective findings were they looking for??? Overactive bladder is rarely secondary to anything, it's usually the primary issue. It was documented in my military medical physical, I was put on meds, I had a bunch of tests, how could they deny me just because they couldn't attach it to something else?? I mean take migraines for example. Vets get SC for them all the time and there is only subjective evidence, there is no diagnostic confirmation. So what makes overactive bladder any different?

Yes. As a matter of fact the first time I filed and was denied, the VA conceded my stressor. Do I do have a confirmed stressor on file.

Berta, ok I will try to clarify. In feb of 2016 I filed for PTSD. At that time I did NOT have a dx of PTSD from anyone. I was sent to a CP exam and the Ahole "dr" said I did have PTSD but not from the military. He said that because of how long I took to file he didn't believe my PTSD was from my service. I immideatly disagreed and booked an apt for mental health at the VA as well as book an appt with a civilian psych dr. Both the VA AND the civilian Dr dx'd me with PTSD AND ANXIETY. My civilian psych dr also filled out a DBQ for me and stated the dx as PTSD and anxiety. I went to my DAV rep with the new evidence. My rep refilled my claim like this "mental condition to include PTSD" he said that way the raters could use my civilian Dr's DBQ since it also dx'd anxiety. I am currently awaiting a decision on this claim which also includes the CUE on my bladder condition as well as the new claim for my shoulder. I am headed to regional shortly to get a copy of my decision letter from back in 02 when they denied connection for my bladder so I can tell you exactly why they denied it.

Berta, if you don't mind could you also peek at the other post I submitted last night? I'd appreciate your thoughts on that as well. Thanks.

Berta, thank you for your time and thoughts. I did not re-file or contest the denial on the bladder condition until last month. I didn't think any evidence existed since the VA said they couldn't find any. I made the mistake of taking them at their word. It wasn't until I registered for ebenefits that I was able to see some of my past records including the discharge physical. As I mentioned, the D.C. Physical clearly states in my problem list that I suffer from overactive bladder and was on medication. The VA had that document st the time of my rating but I believe they overlooked it. That's why I'm filing the CUE. I have absolutely no idea where my original rating award decision from the VA is. That was 15 years ago. I'm hoping I can go to regional and get a copy from the DAV??? That way I can provide you all with the exact denial language. Thank you for all your input.

Hello and thank you. Back in 2001 when I discharged I filed for several conditions and was awarded many of the ones I claimed. One I was turned down for was my overactive bladder which was diagnosed in the service and I was treated with medication. If I remember correctly the reason it was denied is because the VA said no evidence existed regarding that condition. I didn't contest it back then because of all the other stuff that did get granted. Long story short, I located a copy of my discharge physical on ebenefits and behold right there on the front page it said I had overactive bladder. I know the VA had that exam because they used it to grant the other conditions. So the question is, can I file 15 years later for a CUE since they had the evidence and didn't apply it? By the way, I still carry that diagnosis and still take medication provided by the VA so all records are current.

Hello and thank you in advance. I'm pretty confused on what is happinging with my claim. A month ago I filed a FDC for PTSD, a bladder condition and a shoulder condition. I submitted quite a bit of medical evidence for all of them as well as a completed DBQ from my private psych doc for the PTSD clam. Within a week enenefits changed from received to gathering evidence to pending decision approval. At no point did the VA order me any C&P exams yet the claim went through all those phases. Then today I get a call from the VA trying to schedule me for a C&P for the bladder and shoulder. My question is if they could grant my PTSD and start paying me before they get the exams back on the other 2 issues?? I just can't understand why ebenefits would say pending decision approval otherwise. Any knowledgeable info is appreciated.

Well Rick way to go. we are all proud that you did your full 20. Just wondered what would make someone like you say that those of us that came out with disability's dont deserve on base privlages? I cant believe that a real vet would say that " I dont care how disabled they are" maybe I will ask my buddy who is a hospital corpsman 3rd class what his thoughts are on that . It would be an intresting responce since he lost his left leg pulling a marine out of a buring APV under fire. I will ask him at his 23rd birthday party next week. I think given the choice he would rather have his leg than have gotten out. You should be supporting anything positive that someone is doing for vets not splitting hairs on who was in longer so they get the bigger prize. DOC