ptsd Asking For A Higher Rating

[JohnM]

As you may have read emmak is my sister-in-law and I am trying to help with her husband and son, at this time I am helping her with her son. I have a few questions to ask of all of you

He has a rating for uticaria of 10%, has had the problem since 1982 while in the service, it is chronic and he has been suffering with it ever since. How does on go about asking for a higher rate? He did ask for a higher rate I am not sure what year and I am not sure if they even answered him. I had trouble reading the request myself so I don't know if they responded to it, and I think he did it on his own with out any VA Rep.

With the medical papers that he recieved from his military, I went day to day and typed it all out for him to hand in, ( He has not recieved all of his Medical records ).

Because of chronic uticaria he has many scar's. I feel he should ask for compensation for this would this be secondary to unticaria?

Because of all the medicine that he has been on since military and VA since discharge he has now diterrating bones. Would this be secondary to his medical problems?

He has also developed fibroymalgia, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome. Would this all be secondary to medication? Or can he file seperate for this?

Shortly after discharge in 1985 he went to the VA hospital and found out he had hepatitis B in 2001 they said he has hepatitis C. Would this be secondary to medication? does he file seperatley for each?

I also having him apply for Compensation for inadequate medical care, TDIU, Due to lack of duty to assist,PTSD, and all secondary problems due to medications.

This guy has Not had a normal live since he was 18, and he is fallen deeper and deeper, In reading over his medical records from military what I could understand is that they just seemed to ignor everything at one point they had written down that he had emotional problems, to include anxiety, stress, and depression, and being an alcholic. He had to conitnually face his problems alone because his S.O. did not report it and sent him back on the same ship, He was called names because of his uticaria.

I could go on but at this time I think I wrote enough, Just wondering how we will go about filing all of this .

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions

I believe because of this they should compensate him from the time they had this written down,

[mountain tyme]

Good Morning John,

Do you have a Service organization helping you on this claim? Some medications will cause bone loss or deteriation what you will need to do is research each medication as to there long term side effects...

The uticaria itself is a manifaction by what you said about the young man being traumatized when he would go back to the ship would cause the uticaria itself to develop...the uticaria itself can be a direct cause of the anixety and stress he was under...that in terms if his anixiety was not addressed back in 1982 the anixiety could have develped into PTSD everyone has a theshold and by the sounds of it he exceeded the emotional theshold...

Has he been diagnosised with PTSD by a civilian dr? if not his family doctor can give him a referal to a board cert. physcoligist who can test him and rate his GAF...I would do this before he is given a C and P through the VA...the VA tends not to challenge a cilvian doctor opoion esp. if he has all the credentials...and is good at writing a link between the youngs man current condition to what he was exposed to during his service time.

Has your son been able to obatin buddy letters as to the harrassment he recieved? personal assualt esp. emotional can cause PTSD if it was sexual harrasment esp. on a ship could cause a hostile enviroment and perhaps your son may have felt this life was in danger or his beliefs were compermised...

Stress and your skin

Research shows that 40% of skin disorders are associated with stress. Many doctors believe that it is much higher. Dermatitis and eczema are often the direct result of stress. Other skin disorders, such as psoriasis, urticaria (hives), acne and herpes simplex (cold sores) are exacerbated and often caused, by chronic stress. Unsightly skin conditions often lead to more emotional stress due to the social implications.

Stress and your digestion

The link between stress and ulcers in the stomach or duodenum, is complex. Ulcer development is associated with continual stress and high levels of gastric acid. People with ulcers, on the other hand, are often very susceptible to stress and tend to be anxious. The Helicobacter pylorum infection often associated with ulcers, also indicates an immune system that’s functioning below par. This in turn, is often a result of long-term unrelenting stress. Zinc deficiency, often associated with chronic stress, has been implicated in the gastric mucous membrane sensitivity for high acid levels.

Other digestive problems linked with stress: oesophageal spasm, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome and spastic colon, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease.

Stress and substance abuse

The inability to cope with stress often leads to the increased consumption of alcohol, tranquillizers, drugs to help people sleep, use of recreational drugs and smoking. This is a mistaken effort to try and relieve tiredness, anxiety and life pressure. Alcohol’s initial effect is to mimic the stress reaction! The later effect of alcohol is depression. Alcohol may give a short-term lift which appears to relieve tension, but can, in the long term, turn into a problem of changed behavior and dependency. Tranquillizers and sleeping pills often lead to dependency and a need for increased and stronger dosages to have an effect (tolerance). Smoking may also have a transient calming effect, but nicotine actually mimics the stress response. Smoking can damage virtually any organ of the body.

There appears to be a link between smoking, alcohol abuse, high consumption of coffee – an example of addiction by association, all in a futile attempt to address the high stress levels in a person’s life. The accumulating effect of addiction and poor lifestyle choices considerably weakens the ability to cope with stress and increases the risk for developing various diseases.

as you can see....stress can cause all type's of medical conditions....

THe VA defination of Sexual Harrassment:

the VA states:

" What is Military Sexual Trauma?

Military sexual trauma refers to both sexual harassment and sexual assault that

occurs in military settings. Both men and women can experience military sexual

trauma and the perpetrator can be of the same or of the opposite gender. A

general definition of sexual harassment is unwelcome verbal or physical conduct

of a sexual nature that occurs in the workplace or an academic or training

setting. Sexual harassment includes gender harassment (e.g., put you down

because of your gender), unwanted sexual attention (e.g., made offensive remarks

about your sexual activities or your body) and sexual coercion (e.g., implied

special treatment if you were sexually cooperative). Sexual assault is any sort

of sexual activity between at least two people in which one of the people is

involved against his or her will. Physical force may or may not be used. The

sexual activity involved can include many different experiences including

unwanted touching, grabbing, oral sex, anal sex, sexual penetration with an

object, and/or sexual intercourse.

well John I hope something in this letter helps you...I don't recall whether or not you said the young man was sexual harrassed...but it would not be uncommon...and if so he may not beable to admit it...just a thought...

God Bless you all...and May God keep you and all those you Love safe in his Loving embrace in the difficault times ahead ...

MT

[Berta]

Great info from Mountain Tyme---

one thing---

"Shortly after discharge in 1985 he went to the VA hospital and found out he had hepatitis B in 2001 they said he has hepatitis C"

Did he possible file a claim within a year after service that was denied?

Did he receive any blood trnasfusions in service?

Was he medic or did he help rescue and recovery ops?

He should file a claim on the Hep-

However the VA will deny (sometimes) if the vet has tattoos, and will definitely deny if they find any evidence of IV drug use.

I suggest going to:

http://www.hcvets.com/ excellent help for vets with Hep and also:

http://www.geocities.com/hepvet/index.html and to the BVA to search any Hep decisions.

The VVA won the first airgun to Hep claim some years ago.

In spite of fact the vet had 2 tattooes the VVA (Monte) used a study from England which I have somewhere if needed- that linked Hep to Airguns.

This award was at the VARO level- as I recall Monte Wilson told me---

might be wrong- maybe not----

I sure WISH we could access VARO decisions!

[Vike17]

You stated;

He has a rating for uticaria of 10%, has had the problem since 1982 while in the service, it is chronic and he has been suffering with it ever since. How does on go about asking for a higher rate? He did ask for a higher rate I am not sure what year and I am not sure if they even answered him. I had trouble reading the request myself so I don't know if they responded to it, and I think he did it on his own with out any VA Rep.

With the medical papers that he recieved from his military, I went day to day and typed it all out for him to hand in, ( He has not recieved all of his Medical records)

If he is already service-connected for uticaria, he does not need to send in any additional medical records from the military. He just needs to submit all medical records since his last C&P exam/rating to the RO. An increase in evaluation is based on the current disabling effects of the disability. To file for an increase in evaluation, he just needs to write a letter to the VA stating such with his C-file number on it. If he had submitted a request for an increase, the VA would have sent him another rating decision stating whether his 10% was raised or not. If he submitted the increase (and has proof) and the VA never adjudicated it, then that is still an open claim!

Because of chronic uticaria he has many scar's. I feel he should ask for compensation for this would this be secondary to unticaria

Since this is a dermotology condition, I'm not sure he can be rated for scars as secondary or not. this may be pyriamiding. I'll have to check on that.

Because of all the medicine that he has been on since military and VA since discharge he has now diterrating bones. Would this be secondary to his medical problems?He has also developed fibroymalgia, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome. Would this all be secondary to medication? Or can he file seperate for this

In order to be awarded service-connection for these conditions as secondary to an already service-connected disability, he'll need an IMO from his physician stating this with a strong rational as to why they came to such a conclusion. To make a claim for secondary conditions, he just needs to write a letter stating he is claiming such and such disability as secondary to his service-connected (insert disability here). He'll probably want to add this to his letter for the increase in evaluation.

Shortly after discharge in 1985 he went to the VA hospital and found out he had hepatitis B in 2001 they said he has hepatitis C. Would this be secondary to medication? does he file seperatley for each

Does his medical records show a diagnosis for Hep. B and C while in the sevice? Does his medical records show the anti bodies that cause Hep. B and C?

I also having him apply for Compensation for inadequate medical care, TDIU, Due to lack of duty to assist,PTSD, and all secondary problems due to medications

Do you mean a 1151 claim? What do you mean a lack of duty to assist? If he hasn't submitted a claim of some sort, I don't know what you mean by this? Why is he claiming PTSD? Was he exposed to combat with a life threatening event, or was he assaulted while he was in the service. If so, can he prove his 'stressor?'

I hope this helps!

Vike 17

[JohnM]

Thanks for the replies, Your answers are all good and I will be able to use them.

I'm going to try to keep this short.

PTSD is for sexual assualt and medical problems while in military, he just now started opening up on it. he is getting a buddy letter for the sexual assualt . Not sure what a 1151 is. Lack of duty to assist, and I am not sure how to approach this. At this time it is hard to write everything down, but once you file a claim the VA has a duty to assist you in your claim ( as what I understand ) and in his case no one has helped him from begining till present. I am not sure at this time about the hepititus A & B, I have just seen it it the medical records while I was scanning through the paper work. Berta you mentioned they would deni for IV drug use.

Not sure what you mean. He was put on IV's while in service Medical hospital. as far as PTSD he has had to gaf scores that I seen one was 45 and the other 50 but was never given a rating. as far as inadequate medical care. They new for at least 2 years that he was unstable and emotionally unfit for service, and actually had written it down but the continually sent him back to his ship. they also knew he was drinking a lot and put him on anbuse 3x with writing down that he needed to be supervised. his crew mates made fun of him because of him having uticaria and having a swollen face. and yes he did feel that his life was in danger especailly after the assualt and they still kept him on the same ship with that person. I hope this explains a little more. going through his records and all of his medical records since military his a big problem and in trying to sort out where to begin especially since my sister -in-law and I are new at all of this. Wish we had someone close by to help sort out and tell us where and how to begin. But your respondes are very helpfull and I thank You all so much.

[carlie]

John M,

You may want to study this. Good luck.

carlie

http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/Cova/DADS/99dads/Patton.doc

[JohnM]

G R E A T INfo

Thanks Calie