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C & P Exam For Ptsd, On Medications For Ptsd

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Leigh1920

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Hello,

My friend is having his first C & P Exam for PTSD soon. He is on an anti-psychotic, anti-depressant, and several anxiety medications.

He really needs them to function at work AND in the world.

I think he would be rated 50% disability on the medications, but I'm pretty sure he would not be able to function without the medications. Will the examiner take that into account? Or will his medications count against us?

He has recently had a relapse, and we're worried this will get worse and worse and he won't be able to keep his job---that's why we finally decided to reach out to the VA for help after five years of treating this condition on our own through private health insurance.

Some have suggested he should go off his meds a few days prior to the exam so they truly see his condition.

Thoughts?

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Going off meds is not a good idea. As long as C&P knows meds he is taking they are suppose to consider it on their opinion.

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I have to agree with the other posts, he should stay on his meds. I had my PTSD C&P the other day, and the examiner requested to see what meds I was on, I did not have a print off so I brought the actual medication with me to the exam. He looked at the prescriptions and wrote them down to go along with my review. He is on the med's for a reason.

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Thank you so much for your feedback. The exam is tomorrow---he has stayed on his meds as you suggested.

We will be sure to bring a list of what he is on to the exam.

Truly appreciate this website and community. This is so scary and it is so helpful to have this support and information!!!

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Leigh1920,

PTSD is a very unpredictable disorder and as is often the case one day things may seem okay, but the next you are dealing with a totally different person. Understand, there is no "cure" for PTSD as it is a memory-based disorder and no therapy regimen or medication will eradicate memories. The purpose of medicine is to stabilize the secondary conditions of PTSD like depression, anxiety, panic attack, and other disorders related to the PTSD syndrome. I have been, and still on a much more limited basis treated many veterans with PTSD. In my 30+ years of doing so, I have not seen many veterans fair well not being on some form of medication. If PTSD were diabetes, would you stop taking your medications? PTSD is like diabetes in some sense, as without medicine, the symptoms will increase or they will be exacerbated. Inasmuch as many veterans do not trust the VA, before you stop taking any medication, check with your doctor to get an opinion. Abruptly stopping a medication could lead to some very serious side effects.

Patrick428

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