donnieben03

The judge I referred to was ALJ. I had a lawyer at my hearing representing me. I have never attended AA. I have PTSD with suicidal and homicidal ideations, depression and at one time I did drink beer to self-medicate myself. I have not had any alcohol since I was put on medication over 3 years ago. I will wait until SS appoints a payee for me, (have been waiting 7 weeks for them to decide this) then I will appeal that decision if it is not my wife. I have waited for 3 years and another years wait won't hurt me if I need to wait that long. I was wondering if any other vets were ever in the same situation as me and what is it like having a payee that is not a spouse. Has anyone ever appealed the payee?? Did you win the appeal?? Any ideas or suggestions will help. thanks

thanks for the replies. My spouse filled out an application to be my payee, but unfortunately since alcohol was cited by the judge, according to the ss rules on who can be my payee, my spouse is real low on the list. That means I will have some non-profit or state supported agency and after all the hassels of social security hoop jumping I am pretty fed up with agencies. Funny thing is that I have not had a drink for at least 3 years and do not have an alcohol problem. The judge picked out instances from my VA medical records where someone asked me if I had ever drank alcohol and I said things like 'not for 5 years' or not for 3 years. or what ever I said and half of the time the doctor or nurse treating me wrote down the wrong thing anyways. If I had known how important it was at that time I would have gotten my records corrected but it didn't seem like a big deal until now. Anyways I am just afraid that I will have to make an appointment with my payee every time I need to have a bill paid, or go begging to them for money to take my wife to dinner. My bills are way more than they will pay me each month, plus we have been taking money out of our joint savings for extra expenses and my wife has over $2000 in medical bills and we each have credit card debt. How can I get money from my backpay if the payee puts it in a savings account. When is that money available for me to use, after I turn 65??. It's my money. I am really getting pissed off about this. Any suggestions?? I definately will appeal unless it is my wife that is appointed payee

have been awarded ssdi retro to feb 04 however the ss dept wants to assign a representative payee for me. Anyone else have one and how do they work. In my alj award the judge recommended one because of alcohol and drug episodes. thanks

yes I did have a lawyer at my hearing. Thanks I think I will go have a bowl of ice cream.

The question about my work credits was resolved when SS realized that they had left out two years of income on my social security account (I had W-2's for those years that they accepted and that gave me enough work credits.) But, that was not resolved until after the second turndown. After they gave me the second turndown I appealed for a ALJ hearing and I waited for 14 months for my hearing which was just a few weeks ago. At the hearing the ALJ stated that I did have enough credits so he would be ruling on my PTSD. My case file from ss (that I was able to review prior to my hearing) contains progress notes and medical opinions from several doctors (all of whom have diagnosed PTSD). In addition, they have a copy of my C&P in which the shrink stated that I was dangerous when angry and my prognosis is poor. So, the decision will be adjudicated based on my PTSD. Given these facts has anyone ever been turned down or heard of anyone being turned down for SSDI in a similar situation. Thanks for the replys.

'Just wondering, I'm 100% P&T for PTSD and have been turned down twice for soc sec disability. Both times they said I didn't have enough work credits but I appealed and waited 14 months for hearing before ALJ. Had my hearing two weeks ago and the ALJ said that my work credits problem was resolved in my favor------ so now my question ---- has anyone who is otherwise eligible for ssdi been turned down with a ptsd diagnosis that has been made by several doctors. Has anyone ever heard of anyone not winning award at ALJ for ptsd. My lawyer said we did good at the hearing but my ptsd anxiety won't allow me to relax waiting for the decision. Everyone please answer

still testing things

just trying to reply--welcome to all B)