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Unsure About Ptsd Claim

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westcoastlv

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My husbad was in the Persian Gulf. His DD214 shows Combat Action Ribbon and Southwest Asia Service Medal w/bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. We have recently (July 2010) filed a claim for PTSD. We have received the VCAA notice, and a letter stating they are still working on the claim. We have a service rep at the VAC who told us that the next letter to expect is to schedule the C&P Exam.

About 5 years ago my husband was diagnosed with BiPolar Disorder by a private psychiatrist. He has been taking medicine for it ever since. Little did we know at the time that the symptoms for Bi Polar and PTSD are very similar, with the exception of the stressor. The private psych didn't ask about any stressors, and we didn't even think there was a connection to the Gulf War. After some research and long thought, we started to pinpoint when my husbands behavior actually began to change. This 'disorder' began during his shore duty, after his time on the ship. He has just started seeing at VA pysch, and we told her about the PTSD, but also had to mention the bipolar (which we said was a misdiagnosis) so that he could keep on his meds. We obtained a copy of his first and only visit with the VA pysch and she mentioned the PTSD and bipolar, had a GAF of 65, and stated that there were some other mental health issues. This has been requested and received by the VA Comp as well. It did not give a definitive diagnosis of PTSD. We have NOT sent any private pysch clinic notes. I spoke with my husbands previous private pysch, and he agrees that his issues are most likely PTSD, but has no notes to that effect because the stressors were never discussed, and he based his diagnosis on what we told him had been previously diagnosed. We have another VA appt tomorrow, and I am thinking that we should stress the PTSD (at least to get it in her notes).

The VAC service rep said that we would most likely get 70% for the PTSD because of the Combat Action Ribbon, but I am concerned that is may not be such a slam dunk. My husband is in desparate need of a rating because he is unable to work. He has an extremely hard time coping with life, even with the medications.

My questions are: should we request that the VA pysch give him a complete PTSD evaluation tomorrow? How does the civilian diagnosis of BiPolar affect the PTSD claim? Or, will this all be resolved in the C&P exam regardless of previous diagnosis? Should we also go to a private pysch and request the PTSD evaluation?

I have written a letter about how my husband's life has been affected by this, and also a letter from him. Who do I show these to?

We've requested other ratings as well: Tinnitus, Bilateral Hearing Loss, and Elbow.

Any advice or insight would be helpful.

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the spouse and kids won't even be dealt with until after the veterans claim has been approved at a 30% level or higher even if it is submitted at the beginning they will ask for it again somehow they never seem to be able to find it when it's really needed I have got to the point I never trust anything said over the phone rarely believe what I get in writing and really trust them after the money is in the bank

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So, the awesome 800# called me yesterday, however, I missed the call. I called back to see the purpose of the call, and of course, the rep had no idea. She even suggested that the local Regional Office had called but couldn't explain why the national phone number would have showed on my caller id, not the regional area code. Has this happened to anyone else??

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Finally I talked to the VARO. I had to call back through the 800# to send a message for them to call me back. The 800# rep explained to me that the VARO requested the military service records on 8/17 with a 30-day return. If not received, they should have given it a 30-day extension, which would have been 10/16. Well that's since passed. There is no note of the extension request. So, my question became, is this an open-ended request? How long is too long to wait for these records before someone makes the decision to move on without them, and what specifically is in the records that is helpful? The DD-214 shows Gulf War services and a combat action ribbon, which I understood to be a presumptive. Obviously not. So, I posed these questions to the VARO rep and he explained that there is no time limit, that yes, the records request is open-ended and that it could reasonably take up to 1-year to receive. Really? I spoke with the Archives people and they told me that if we requested the records we would get them in about 8 weeks or less. The VARO told me that I should NOT request the records independently, but I did it a week ago.

I can't believe that it could take up to 1-year to transfer records from one agency to another. And they are paper copies at that. Why haven't these docs been digitally scanned? If the VA is hoping to streamline its process, wouldn't that make sense?

Has anyone else had experience in their claim where the personnel records took forever? How long?

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Finally I talked to the VARO. I had to call back through the 800# to send a message for them to call me back. The 800# rep explained to me that the VARO requested the military service records on 8/17 with a 30-day return. If not received, they should have given it a 30-day extension, which would have been 10/16. Well that's since passed. There is no note of the extension request. So, my question became, is this an open-ended request? How long is too long to wait for these records before someone makes the decision to move on without them, and what specifically is in the records that is helpful? The DD-214 shows Gulf War services and a combat action ribbon, which I understood to be a presumptive. Obviously not. So, I posed these questions to the VARO rep and he explained that there is no time limit, that yes, the records request is open-ended and that it could reasonably take up to 1-year to receive. Really? I spoke with the Archives people and they told me that if we requested the records we would get them in about 8 weeks or less. The VARO told me that I should NOT request the records independently, but I did it a week ago.

I can't believe that it could take up to 1-year to transfer records from one agency to another. And they are paper copies at that. Why haven't these docs been digitally scanned? If the VA is hoping to streamline its process, wouldn't that make sense?

Has anyone else had experience in their claim where the personnel records took forever? How long?

I have heard of worse than your story!! Lots of vets have paper work that is lost in the VA maze somewhere. The system the VA uses is broke and everyone including those that work there believe it! Not sure what they are waiting for but I guess they know. If by chance you do get a copy make sure you send them to the RO I keep a copy for yourself.

In 03 I sent away for my records and they only sent me a view that had my orders and medals dd-214 and stuff. All my medical records were still at my RO from a claim they denied back in 83!! Thank God they found them! First thing after that I asked for my free copy and have kept a copy and updated it since.

I wish in hind sight we had all kept our SMR when we were in but who would have thought we would have to battle an agency that was primarily set up supposedly to HELP veterans??

Good luck to you!!

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ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!! I am extremely frustrated, however, I want to share this with anyone who may be going through the Military Service Records Search NIGHTMARE. History: 8/17 VA requested Service Records through PIES to the Archives in St. Louis. 30, 60 almost 90-days go by, and they have not received the records, and have not made a 2nd request. I was told again today that the ETA if the records is open-ended and to just keep waiting. Can't. I then called Archives myself to see if our request for the records has been received and they told me that my request had been forwarded to the Department of the Navy. Why? Because Archives does not have the records, they are with the Department of the Navy because my husband's discharge date is after 1995. It would make sense that a VA Rater would know this especially seeing they do this everyday.

So, I call the Dept of Navy, and was told that I could request the records with a simple fax, and would receive a CD within 2-weeks. Really? Really? This boggles my mind. Had the VA person responsible for gathering this info bothered to know where to look, then they would have had these records, oh say, months ago.

Again, I am just frustrated, but at the same time glad that there are still people out there that take pride in their jobs, and are willing to help a vet. God Bless to all of you that care about Vets.

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