Difficult Case

[reinstone]

Okay to make a long story short I have been recieving treatment fromt he VA for sometime now. I have been getting Xanex and other pills plus asthma medicine. Inhalors etc. They prescribe them.

So I am having really bad allergy problems and the VA refers me to an outside doctor(allergist) who tells me I am really allergic to mold and have bad asthma. He did all the tests and they said I had asthma. So he tells me to seek va compensation. So I go and they act like there is nothing wrong with me and say my lungs are 90%- which is okay......but I wasnt having an attack at the time. My docs records say different and if I didn't have asthma why would they give me all these drugs.

I also have letters I sent from Iraq telling my mom to send me an inhalor etc etc. Not sure what to do I have been out since 03 and had these probs since then-actually developed the anxiety shortly after returning from Iraq and started to have breathing probs after a bout of pnuemonia in boot camp.

Thanks

[Berta]

You need to get copies of your SMRs to show the service nexus to your asthma.

Would the outside allergist be willing to give you an independent medical opinion linking the asthma to your service -even possibly to the pneumonia? I am no doc but there might be a medical link.

This doc would want to see your inservice medical records as well as all VA med recs and even any denial letters from VA quoting their medical 'expert'.

There is a topic here under search called Getting an Independent Medical opinion to show how a doc must cover the bases in this type of letter to support a claim.

Have you formally claimed your anxiety due to Iraq?

I assume since they prescribed the Xanex that a formal diagnosis for anxiety was made but did the doctor also say this was possibly PTSD?

Do you have copies of your VA med recs?

[Berta]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/...20225085130.htm

This is the first hit I got when I googled pnuemonia causes asthma

- apparently there is a basis for medical linkage of the two.

I am sure there would be some abstracts or more medical text info that would help you raise the pneumonia as one possible way you developed the asthma.

I would even think that asthma can cause panic attacks as well as even vice versa-that any anxiety disorder could aggravate the asthma.

But I am not a doc and this is what the VA would need -proof to either directly sc your anxiety and asthma or to directly SC one of these disabilities and then secondarily service connect the other one.

What meds do you take for the asthma?

I am allergic to molds. Were there any molds in Iraq?

I would think the sand alone would make any respiratory problem gets worse and even cause it.

[Berta]

http://anxietypanichealth.com/tag/asthma/

Apparently asthma had been linked to anxiety and PTSD and vice versa.

It would not hurt to get an independent medical opinion for this claim- and have the doc consider the best medical studies you can find to mention in the IMO.IMOs however can be costly but maybe your treating allergy doc would do one for free or for low cost.

VA cannot connect the dots on related medical issues.

Thier C & P docs overllok often the SMRs and other evidence that would support service connection.A good independent opinion would cover all the basis.

[reinstone]

Thanks.....and an interesting article. I called my doctor and got the nurse-he should call back.

I just really think that it is funny that the VA has been perscribing me meds for both asthma and anxiety but now all of the sudden they act like there is no problem. I think that the fact that they have given me these prescribed meds and would not have let me in the corps with these problems would be enough. I have also proven that i requested inhalors while overseas and had bad pnuemonia. The anxiety came on a little after the service but has a direct correlation. I guess that I bottled it up then exploded.

This sucks having to deal with this anxiety crap....it isn't like asthma.

I'm an accountant who is around the accountant types all day long. They wouldn't understand..........so I have to hide it. I had to have a co-worker take me to the ER a few days ago and have used all of my time off work for the year being sick-already. Now I have to worry about getting fired if he talks. It sucks. Its almost like just talking about it makes me worse.

The Psychologist i talked to at the VA for my exam seemed to act like I was a baby or created these problems. Now I am even worse than when I went in there because he strirred up things that I didn't want to think about.

I have people try to talk to me during an attack and i am scared to move or maybe even talk............then again sometimes I have to get up and walk.

The psychologist asked me if my childhood was perfect..........I said not perfect.

He spent more time wanting to know about that than my experiences in iraq etc. And I consider my childhood very good.

When they reject this what do I do.

I had my coworker write about the experience and what he remembered about my attack the other day. I didn't even read it-but I will send it.

I guess that its hard to explain to the VA how this effects your work.

1. peoples perception of you-especially if they have had to deal with you when you had a panic attack.

2. Missed days-asthma

3. missed sleep- anxiety.

4. constant fear- worry so much about loosing job-that you cant do your job

5. the drugs i have to take that effect my abilty to think

6. What my family has to deal with-I's not ever violent but withdrawn.

7. The amount of $ I spend try to get this right.

8. Having a headache and you are sure its a stroke a tumor and that you will die

9. and always wondering when you will have to deal with the horror of another attack.

I hope they get it right-I was 100% honest

I hope they are.

thanks

[reinstone]

for asthma they have given me singular-current, asthmanex-twice daily, abuterol-as needed, used to be twice daily, xazal, baclophen-a Muscular sclorisis drug prescribed by my doc.

something else for my feet-becasuse my toenails grow in crooked and grow into my skin.

The VA has also given me paxil and citrolopram hydrobromide-neither worked and both have caused problems with my stomach-which has caused me to take acidophillus every meal and that is when the baclophen is for.

I also had an incident in the military where I had to get put on a machine and get a bunch of drugs intravenous because I had a bad allergic reaction on the ship from something. Of course- I am not too sure if these are in my MR-which are always in a locked holder when i transport them at the VA.

[Vync]

Hey Reinstone,

Definitely stick with the VA claim. The first time I filed, they flat out denied everything, which seems to be SOP for the VA. I am also SC for asthma and allergic rhinitis (i.e. allergies) and take a lot of similar medication as you.

Part of my second C&P exam involved a PFT (pulmonary function tests, i.e. blowing into the little tube to see how much air you can push with a deep breath), hooked me up to a treadmill and had me breathe into a hose, and some allergy skin tests. Check with your doctor about being tested while on and off your medication. In my case, being tested while doing my best to control my asthma without medication helped. During the C&P exam, they administered some medication to me and my breathing significantly improved. Definitely check with your doctor first instead of trying this on your own, because you obviously are in critical need of your medication. The allergy tests on my forearms were a classic too. I swelled up so bad that it spread up my arm, shoulders, torso, and even my neck. If you go for allergy tests, get yourself a generic tube of benadryl cream or something to apply as you are leaving the building. You will be glad that you were prepared.

Best of luck!