Ibs And Diverticulitis

[bergin c/o]

i am a gulf war veteran and recently had a foot of colon remove do to diverticulitis, my question is i had filled a claim for ibs that was denied do to lake of evidence . i had a hard time with my doctors once i told them i had filled a claim with the va . it changed from ibs to you know that most of america has stomach issues we can`t support the claim. anyway .haveing the diverticulitis does that give me enough to reopen the claim

[scscrewed]

Just find a doctor who makes their bread writing IMO's for veterans. They're out there... --and yes that's Kesey speaking.

[sleeper692]

An IMO would certainly help. Telling your VA primary care provider that you still have IBS symptoms will also help.

As far as I know, short of them having someone follow you around for a few days to witness the cramping, bloating and diarrhea, there aren't any tests for IBS. Your doctor should have done blood tests to rule out celiac disease as well as other food allergies, a stool sample colon cancer screening and, if they are really aggressive, a colonoscopy. Assuming all these tests come back negative they have nothing to go on but your statements and any witness statements you can include.

If you look at the Gulf War presumptive list it is astonishing how many of the illnesses listed can only be diagnosed by patient statements alone (along with ruling out other causes, of course). It's no wonder the docs unfamiliar with GWI look at us like we're looney.

My best advice is to just keep complaining to your doctor about the symptoms you are having. Keep a food journal if necessary. Whatever you do, if you want to claim IBS, you will need to get a diagnosis established for it again. You should not have to have any service-connection criteria as this is a presumptive illness. When you file your claim you should always say, "due to my service during the Gulf War" and then cite the appropriate CFR, etc. If you have a VSO that is educated about GWI (another area that needs work!), they should know how to word your GWI claim.

Half the battle is getting the VSOs and raters to understand the law about the GWI presumptives and service connection.

Good luck. I hope you get the compensation and care that you deserve!

Pete

[bergin c/o]

thank you

[logicc3]

I'm a newcomer to the site and to the retired community. I have just retired from the Navy in 2010. I have been troubled with Diverticulitis for about 14 of the 20 yrs . I had surgery which taken a foot of colon, chronic appendicitis so appendix take and jejuna coloenteric fistula, what ever that is but I also have midline incision with about 35 staples. I really thought I would get a certain rating but the VA gave me a 0% rating and I was wondering eventhough the diverticulitis is gone, I now been assessed with IBS and told I had it all alone. I really wanted to know could I place and increase for rating because of the continuing situation.I'm not putting in a claim for the IBS. Thanks for listening

[Pete53]

Welcome to Hadit

[john999]

Logic

Do you have Chron's Disease?