tinnitus Thinking I'm Gonna Ask My Doc To Put Me Out Of Work Tomorow.

[sawgunner]

Ok.

I work as a police officer.

The other day I had an incident at work where I had a melt down in public, in front of the Chief.

A bunch of stuff that was not my fault led up to it and the Chief does not seem to blame me but other on the department do. Now, I don't really care to get into that right now except to say that I had to work 2 extra shifts and had to provide traffic control for several hours on my days off and the pain along with all the other crap just got to me. if I we're not in pain and on alot of meds, I may have been able to handel it differently.

I have never had any dealing with Social Security.

Let me tell you all my issues and then let me know what you think my chances are.

First off....

I'm 33 years old, soon to be 34.

I have the following.

DDD of the lumber spine. (service connected)

DDD ceverical spine. (service connected)

GERD. (service connected)

Snapping Hip Syndrome. (service connected)

Incomplete paralysis/reduced refelxes, arms & legs. (service connected)

8 total ratings of 10% each for a total of 60%.

I am also diagnosed with the following which are being heard by VA now, or soon will be.

Chronic Pain Syndrome with depression.

Insomina caused by Anxiety. ( gonna try to get the doc to link all that to the chronic pain claim)

Mild hearing loss.

Tinnitus.

Neuralgia/Tingling in my hands and fingers and my legs fall asleep.

E.D.

I am diagnosed with...

Mild positional Sleep Apnea. (Not sure if I can claim that with VA)

I am pretty sure I will soon be or can diagnosed with the following.

IBS.

Arthritis. (left wrist and shoulder)

The pain from my hip and back, along with my insomina and all other conditions are making it hard to work. i don't do well witht he public anymore and work night shifts, alone... By choice.

I have not been on the road now for several years and bassicaly have a light duty type of jjob that alot of retired cops do part time.

Based on my age....

What are my chances of getting social security at this point?

And from there... If I can get my chronic pain claim rating fairly... to the 60% or above level, what are my chances of 100% IU?

I seriousley doubt that I can last another year at my job and if I lose it, I"ll also lose my retirement and long term disability insurance.

That's another matter.. The long term disability insurance at work.

Ok guys..

What are my chances???

I"m at my witts end at this point.

Also....

When I file for SSD, do i file on everything I am diagnosed with or just pick the most serious conditon.

I dont know much about SSD and this is some scary sh**.

How much will my 60% rating help with SSD?

I know I"m rambeling but I'm kinda freaked out.

Edited June 26, 2011 by sawgunner

[Hoppy]

The qualifying quarters would be 20 in the last ten years not 40 as I previously posted. I would try to get something in writing that shows the percentage of contibutation paid into social security.

I have gotten a lot of bad information from phone calls and people working a counter, including bad information from employees of Social Security. Check your paycheck stubs to see what percentage they contributed to Social Security. Social Security is supposed to send you information every three years explaining your benefits. The form they send should tell you the benefit amount if you were to become disabled.

[Pete53]

My opinion is that insomina is a red flag that you also suffer from Depression or and Anxiety Disorder. If your shrink can diagnose a Disorder to your already service connected ratings you will win with VA and in all likely hood Social Security.

Your claim at 33 really depends on how strong the Docs are in your favor. One other thing that you have not mentioned and that is can you work at any thing else or have you reached the point where you know in your heart it is time to hang it up.

Don't forget that Social Security and the VA will help you rehab to find work that you can do if you want to go that route.

Good Luck

You basically need to accept that your injuries have made it impossible to work and when you talk about it to the Docs and specialists that you will have to go to its best that you have a clear view that you just can't work. SS requires a Doc to say you can't work for more than a year but better to say can't work period.

[Hambone11B]

Sawgunner, first thing I want to say is I am 31 and recently won SSDI and TDIU. OK, that being said, I have pretty much the same problems as you as far as getting work ie: bad back, bad legs, bad neck, no sleep and bad attitude. You're best bet to getting awarded these things is to open up a claim for PTSD. I think its fair to say that you might qualify based on the recent episode you had at work. I advise opening this claim up as none of your other limitations really warrant TDIU or SSDI at this time. PTSD is real and can stop you dead in your tracks. I would really appreciate if we could continue further in a more private forum. Send me a PM on here or email at gi.hambone28ATyahoo. I'm not a lawyer or a bot or anything if all the members read this and throw up red flags. Look at my content and I'm just a veteran in you're same situation and I have recently won my claims. I just don't feel like going thru the situation in public. I do want to say one thing and thats after readiing this site for 2 years I feel like I really could help you and I would love nothing more than to pay it forward to someone in your case. CC the PM and the replies or w/e I don't care. These people educated me and I'm ready to pay it back.

I've actually rambled on 6 different versions of this reply since I saw your post last night lol. Screw it I'm posting it

[Teac]

Gunner,

SSDI- trick is, if you're making over $900 a month when you file, you'll be automatically denied.

Where did you get this piece of miss information? Sure SSDI is hard to get, but how much you make has nothing to do with it. Further, if you are working you are automatically denied for SSDI.

[Teac]

Sawgunner,

Sorry to hear your having these problems. First you should know that SSD will not be awarded if you are employed. Also unlike VA disability, age is a consideration when it comes to SSDI. Education, and your ability to speak English are also considered.

SS will consider all of your disabilities, and all of the statements from your doctors, all the medical evidence, and your work history or the ability to change jobs. At 33 years old, I think it will be very hard for you to get SSDI, but I have seen others younger than you get SSDI.

As to VA disability, At this point it doesn't matter if you were low-balled. You should concentrate on getting a copy of all your treatment records, and doctor statements. It doesn't matter if your trying to get TDIU or an increase in disability you still need to do the same things. You should review the rating schedule for the problems you have and decide if based on your medical records if you qualify for more disability, if you think so then apply.

I would not however, walk into any doctors office and tell then you feel bad about carring a gun. That kind of act could cause you to lose your job, and any security clearance you have or might want in the future.. Just tell the doctors the truth, they will decide based on your records if you should be a cop or not, and if you should work or not.

Keep in mind... being so disabled that you cannot work SUCKS. You really need to be sure that you can 't work any longer.. once TDIU is awarded....most people never return to work and life becomes the same thing day in and day out...... If you think your depressed now, it can get a lot worse.....

What ever you do best of luck....

[stillhere]

I am 100%+ with the VA and SSDI in 4 months after filing. I was forced to retire from my sales job by my employer in 2010. I then tried 3 other companies to work for and finally realized it was just time to give up. But I am 62 and my SSDI will only be paid for like 5 more years and then regular SSA kicks in.

In filing out my SSDI papers to file I found that they SS really does mean they will ONLY give you disability IF they conclude you can not work at anything! Trust me they mean it.

A horror story from a friend she broke her wrist during a fall down some steps. Wrist never healed properly and her husband was a real jerk about it and tried to force her to work (secretary) she had to type! Anyhow the office carried her for a while but finally put her on short term disability. She tried to get the doc to comply with a long term disability but he would not. They tried to sue and lost. Meanwhile they had gone through their savings and credit cards late on mortgage and anyhow you get the story they were almost destroyed. She filed for SSDI and was finally given a DX by a doctor of some kind of pain disease that was like she virtually could not hardly do anything without pain. After all that she was still denied all the way up to the judge and finally won! It took close to 5 years! She was 42 years old!

There are many factors the SSA people look at your age, education, and of course what you have experience at, And as other have said whether you would be a candidate for re-hab.

All that being said and looking over your SC conditions and your rates I would surmise like the others you need to ask for a review and put in that your conditions have gotten worse. This alone can take a while maybe a year maybe less who knows. I wish you luck if this is what you want to pursue but I want you to know it will not be easy and 33 years old!