How Are Multipile Issues Rated

[Mike77]

I am new to this whole VA thing but have been watching and learning from you all and this is the best site I have found, so thanks for all of the help so far. I currently have a 10% rating with the VA for dizziness and have filed a NOD on a few other items on Gulf War Illness (GWI). I understand that the VA will not rate you twice for the same thing, but something like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), has multiple issue and I assume the VA makes the decision that these are all part of the CFS. IE sleeping problems, chronic headaches, etc.

So my question is this. Is it better to have all of this issues rated individual, (which in all likely hood would not be rated higher then the 40%, if I'm lucky I would get from the VA) or am I stuck going with the CFS, or can I go with the CFS and treat some of these issue as other issues?

Hope that all makes since if not just let me know and I will try and clarify this some more.

I imagine I am not the first vet to wonder about this but I can not find where it has been asked/ansered before or on the VA website. Now of course I could of just missed it as well.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[broncovet]

This is a good question. Remember the VA rating schedules are based primarily on symptoms not diagnosis. Most

of the time, for example, if X condition is "asymptomatic", you will get, at most, 0% for it. I think some Vets think they get rated for "condtions" but it always boils down to what are the symptoms.

One poster wanted to know the max rating for "feet" problems. I told him that if his feet were so bad as to be unusable requiring a wheel chair to move, he would likely get 100 percent if service connected. But if his "feet hurt" only after a day of working, shoppping, and fishing, then he would be lucky to get 0%. Its about the symptoms, where both of these people may have had "feet that hurt".

If you have symptoms of hearing loss, tinnitus, your back is in pain from a gunshot wound, and your liver is diseased from hep C causing you pain, you should apply for all these symptoms.

I would let the VA worry about whether this symptom was from "Gulf War Ilness", undiagnosed illness, or secondary to your GSW.

The VA, unless you are a medical professional, does not believe you are competent to diagnose your own conditions anyway, and will want confirmation from a medical professional. If you tell them you have hearing loss, they will want to hear from an audiologist how bad your hearing loss is, and whether the audioligist thinks your hearing loss is service connected or not.

It is not necessarily bad that you propose diagnosis for your conditions, but, sometimes, if you are wrong it can result in delays. For example if you think you have "depression" but the doc diagnosis you instead with "Bipolar disorder", it will be difficult to fix this and could result in lost money for you on the effective dates.

Dot all your I's and cross all your T's by looking at your medical records and see how the doc diagnosed you.

Edited March 9, 2011 by broncovet

[john999]

A really good example of a condition with multiple secondary conditions is diabetes. You get a rating for DMII. You also get separate ratings for each and every secondary condition. There are many secondary conditions for DMII. I have a rating of almost 100% just for the secondary conditions. These systemic conditions that affect multiple organ systems should be rated separately.

[carlie]

I currently have a 10% rating with the VA for dizziness

Mike77,

Please call the VA at 1-800-827-1000 and find out what Diagnostic Code (DC)

they have rated you under for your current compensation at 10 percent.

Then come back into this thread and post what DC you are currently rated under.

There is no stand alone DC "for dizziness".

[halos2]

Mike 77 you are saying you receive 10% for vertigo, and have other s/s(signs and symptoms). As others here have posted you need to put in claims for the others symptoms you have, and also if another physician has diagnosed any of these that should be presented too. Back to the claims...read up on Gulf War Syndrome, and see where your symptoms fit in to the ones addressed.

There are multitudes of them, some you may have, and also you may have others not listed within the list. How these symptoms affect your daily life, and impact on your ability to work, cope, and manage your affairs will also need to be addressed. Get versed in the symptoms listed, Google yours, but put in a claim for the actual problems, deficits, disabling conditions, first as you educate yourself with what info you can find here and on the web to help you. Do you have a VSO? A Veterans Service Officer?

I recently helped a family member GW vet with his claim and he was 150% normal math, but 80% VA math, for multiple symptoms related to GW syndrome and other diagnoses of this conflict too. The exposures to the gases, uranium, and other toxic substances can/have destroyed one's immunity/chromosomal/skin integrity/gastrointestinal/mental, and many other effects on one's overall health.

It does not just affect one system of the body. Examine how your life has been impacted from before service to now to see the difference in your status and previous well being, and put in for the disabling conditions...let the physician diagnosis the disease/illiness as you voice the changes/symptoms.

If you have any other physician documentation be sure to send it to validate you claim too.