hypertension Chronic Pain Syndrome Or Mood Disorder

[shawn30]

I am 60% combined for loss of a creative organ with SMC, Chronic Kidney Stones and Tinnitus. I lost one testicle and the other does not function except to regulate my hormones. I recently claimed chronic pain syndrome, hypertension and a mood disorder. I am in pain every single day and I am on a daily narcotic and an anti-depressant.

Does anyone have any insight into what I should or should not be doing in order to support my claims when the C&P comes?

Below was my actual claim that I sent to the VA last month:

1. Hypertension - originally denied in 2002;

2. Sleep disorder;

3. Mood Disorder;

4. Urinary frequency;

5. Prostatitis;

6. Voiding dysfunction;

7. Chronic pain syndrome;

8. Chronic adjustment disorder;

9. Erectile dysfunction;

10. Entitlement to additional special monthly compensation for loss of use of a creative organ due to loss of erectile power.

Any help would be appreciated...

thank you in advance.

[john999]

The mood disorder, chronic pain and adjustment disorder will be grouped together and you get one rating for all of them. Are you saying that because of chronic pain you are depressed? Is your chronic pain related to a current disability? See, you have to connect everything you claim with direct service connection or secondary to a SC condition. Your other disorders must either be secondary to the current problems or there must be something in your service medical records about them. You have to have an actual diagnosis in order to get compensation for a condition.

If you have chronic pain disorder I can understand the depression part. I think the C&P doctors will make some sort report about these conditions and state they do or do not believe they are service connected. Then you will have to get more medical evidence if they deny or lowball you. Did you have high blood in the service? I bet chronic pain could cause high blood! You should be able to get the SMC for loss of use. I don't see how one doctor can do a C&P for all these conditions. What are you saying is secondary to what SC condition?

[shawn30]

Yes, my depression is caused by the pain, lack of sleep, and being plagued by several urological problems. All of which are directly related to and caused by my current service connected disabilities. I already have one SMC for the loss of testis so I assumed now that I have loss of erectile power that I would be entitled to a second SMC for that also. I never had high blood pressure until about the last two years. I have had so many surgeries, nerve blocks and pulsed radio frequency ablation procedures but none seem to work for very long. The mental health doc seems to think I may have PTSD to some degree which is related to a stressor which I incurred in service while I was deployed.

[john999]

I don't think you can get a second SMC for loss of creative organ since you have one already. I could be wrong. If you are depressed due to chronic SC related pain the doctor has to say that. If you have PTSD you need a dx of PTSD from the VA. You just have to connect everything to service connected conditions. I think I would hold off on all those ablations, surgeries and such. I had all that and I still hurt. The more I had the worse I got. I will tell you that the more pain meds you take the worse the pain gets. I know that may seem crazy, but I was on morphine, methadone and oxycodone. The more I took the worse I got since it messes with your sleep. I am taking much less now and I hurt less. I am trying to get off all that junk. I do back exercise and that's all. I do use the lidoderm patches and that seems to help.

[shawn30]

I have also stopped taking my meds twice before because I was tired of being on so much stuff all the time. However, I have ended up going back on them again. I don't have any more pain shots or ablation procedures right now. The next step the pain clinic said to try is the actual nerve pain meds instead. What is a dx? I have found that toradol shots work well for me.