Ibs Claim Due To Oif

[manning01]

Has anyone done a successful claim i.e get compensated for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) a presumptive to SW Asia service? I went to OIF twice, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and now I have IBS and wish I didn't this, it is a pain to live with but not even nearly as bad as other things discussed in the forums. I was wondering since this is a presumptive illness according to Gulf War/ OIF guidlines do all I need to do on the VBA 21-4138 is state what I have and I state it as a presumptive to my servcie in SW Asia? There is nothing in my SMR I just attributed my issue before I retired last year to just getting older and being sensitive to certain foods but now it getting worse and I heard it doesn't have to be in my SMR since it's presumptive? I also heard the claim eligibility was extended so once my first claim for tinnitus and my neck fusion due to an injury sustained in Iraq is completed (submitted since Sept 2010) I'd like to submit and hopefully do it right the first time. Any ideas is greatly appreciated in steering this VA greenbeen the right way.

[john999]

Are you a Gulf War vet? I think presumptives for IBS are for Gulf War Vets. If your IBS is presumptive all you have to do is claim it and the VA will set you up for a C&P to determine if you have it and how bad. If I were going to claim a presumptive condition I would send in the claim with some medical documentation that I have IBS and that I am Gulf War vet. Have you had C&P exams for your neck and hearing? I don't know that much about Gulf War presumptives but I know about Agent Orange presumptives and I have claimed them, so I know how presumptive claims go. They are cut and dried if you have the condition.

[manning01]

Are you a Gulf War vet? I think presumptives for IBS are for Gulf War Vets. If your IBS is presumptive all you have to do is claim it and the VA will set you up for a C&P to determine if you have it and how bad. If I were going to claim a presumptive condition I would send in the claim with some medical documentation that I have IBS and that I am Gulf War vet. Have you had C&P exams for your neck and hearing? I don't know that much about Gulf War presumptives but I know about Agent Orange presumptives and I have claimed them, so I know how presumptive claims go. They are cut and dried if you have the condition.

Hi John999

From what I read the presumptives also cover us OIF veterans also here is it pasted from the VA website: For VA benefit purposes, Gulf War service is active military duty in any of the following areas in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations any time during the first Gulf War starting August 2, 1990 through the current conflict in Iraq. This includes Veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2010) and Operation New Dawn (2010 and continuing).

I do have the doctors notes and the endoscopy report with pics that he did on me showing issues that he can't explain why it's there. The labs and biopsies all can back negative for the usual gluten/celiac disease etc but yet a show signs of diffuse atrophic mucosa and nodular mucosa in my upper GI tract. This GI doctor is not a VA doctor and is very well known in the Phoenix area so I feel he has covered most of the bases ore than a VA Dr would. So all I can think of is it's something from my vacinnations (anthrax, small pox, maralia pills etc) or other factors from my deployments to OIF, Northern Watch (ONW), Southern Watch (OSW) and surrounding countries all those years since the GW. I was on active duty during the GW but my unit didn't deploy. I had my C&P's done for my neck and hearing back in Oct 2010 a couple of months after retiring from the USAF. I just don't want to over state my claim but make it short and sweet but solid enough to make their job easier to process it when it comes up to be rated. I don't want to file it right now my C file was transferred from Phoenix to the Cleveland VARO to a tiger team there to decide it on November 1st 2011. It was supposed to be decided on and sent back to the Phoenix VARO by Dec 30th 2011 but I know that was a pipe dream in their system my AMVETS rep looked at.

[Gulfvet45]

This law will cover any one that was in the area from 2 August 1990 until today, even a tomorrow and next week.

Yes your IBS is a presumptive illness to your service, it is one of the Functional gastrointestinal disorders or FGID listed in the CFR 38 Section 3.317 Compensation for certain disabilities due to undiagnosed illnesses.

Do not just say I have diarrhea all the time. You need to state exactly how many times a day you go to the bathroom. “When the diarrhea comes I am running to the stool _ to _ times a day”, you fill it in. You will have to say how it comes on; how long it lasts, any pain or discomfort and whether or not you have constipation afterwards. State if you do take any medication for the diarrhea, whether it's over-the-counter or prescribed, state if it is working or not.

For each of the symptoms, you should be going to the doctor, or at least calling the VA and asking what to do. These calls the VA in most cases are put into your file. There is a presumptive end-date for the symptoms to show, but not to file your claim. That is why you need to always get thing into your medical records.

Look carefully over all the multi-symptom type illnesses in our health-guide book and also the diagnostic criteria that the VA has for some of these illnesses. If you believe you may have an illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome, then talk to your Doctor about it; otherwise continue on with the undiagnosed illness part of the claim.

Read the attached for how to file.

Has anyone done a successful claim i.e get compensated for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) a presumptive to SW Asia service? I went to OIF twice, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and now I have IBS and wish I didn't this, it is a pain to live with but not even nearly as bad as other things discussed in the forums. I was wondering since this is a presumptive illness according to Gulf War/ OIF guidlines do all I need to do on the VBA 21-4138 is state what I have and I state it as a presumptive to my servcie in SW Asia? There is nothing in my SMR I just attributed my issue before I retired last year to just getting older and being sensitive to certain foods but now it getting worse and I heard it doesn't have to be in my SMR since it's presumptive? I also heard the claim eligibility was extended so once my first claim for tinnitus and my neck fusion due to an injury sustained in Iraq is completed (submitted since Sept 2010) I'd like to submit and hopefully do it right the first time. Any ideas is greatly appreciated in steering this VA greenbeen the right way.

Preparing a claim for undiagnosed illness.pdf

[john999]

If these Gulf, OIF presumptives resemble AO the list will grow with time. Are there any presumptives for OEF? I can't believe that in time some sorts off chronic illness won't arise from exposure to environment of Afghanistan. If a soldier eats anything or drinks anything apart from what they get from USA they will get dysentary. It was chronic in Vietnam for soldiers in the field. The AO list has grown over the years and should probably cover all cancers. If there was more research on these presumptives there would be many more listed for all these wars. The VA has vested interest in not knowing. They don't do their own research on presumptives.

[Gulfvet45]

There are some listed in section 3.317 for them too. They was added in Aug. 2010

If these Gulf, OIF presumptives resemble AO the list will grow with time. Are there any presumptives for OEF? I can't believe that in time some sorts off chronic illness won't arise from exposure to environment of Afghanistan. If a soldier eats anything or drinks anything apart from what they get from USA they will get dysentary. It was chronic in Vietnam for soldiers in the field. The AO list has grown over the years and should probably cover all cancers. If there was more research on these presumptives there would be many more listed for all these wars. The VA has vested interest in not knowing. They don't do their own research on presumptives.

[manning01]

This law will cover any one that was in the area from 2 August 1990 until today, even a tomorrow and next week.

Yes your IBS is a presumptive illness to your service, it is one of the Functional gastrointestinal disorders or FGID listed in the CFR 38 Section 3.317 Compensation for certain disabilities due to undiagnosed illnesses.

Do not just say I have diarrhea all the time. You need to state exactly how many times a day you go to the bathroom. "When the diarrhea comes I am running to the stool _ to _ times a day", you fill it in. You will have to say how it comes on; how long it lasts, any pain or discomfort and whether or not you have constipation afterwards. State if you do take any medication for the diarrhea, whether it's over-the-counter or prescribed, state if it is working or not.

For each of the symptoms, you should be going to the doctor, or at least calling the VA and asking what to do. These calls the VA in most cases are put into your file. There is a presumptive end-date for the symptoms to show, but not to file your claim. That is why you need to always get thing into your medical records.

Look carefully over all the multi-symptom type illnesses in our health-guide book and also the diagnostic criteria that the VA has for some of these illnesses. If you believe you may have an illness such as chronic fatigue syndrome, then talk to your Doctor about it; otherwise continue on with the undiagnosed illness part of the claim.

Read the attached for how to file.

Wow this is great information thank you. But I'm not understanding one thing should I just file a claim for undiagnosed Gulf War Illness state my symptoms that are similar to IBS and let them figure it out and not tell them I have IBS? Sounds like I should do that instead of claiming the direct illness especially when I don't have a hard diagnosis of IBS?