Rheumatoid Arthritis due to burn pits

[Mideis]

Is r/a now a presumptive condition for se Asia. I’m an OIF vet and was finally diagnosed with r/a 2 years ago. I complained about stiff joints for 8 or 9 years.  Finally they had an answer R/A.  My r/a civilian doc says r/a was caused by burn pits and silica. She says she will write a nexus and fill out a dbq. She already knew about the connection of burn pits being associated with cancer and autoimmune disorders. I’m on humira which helps somewhat. But it’s still bad on my fingers, toes, hips, and shoulders.  She also said she’d complete a fibro packet as well. Is this worth pursuing? Or will they shoot it down?

 

[Guest]

I did not see this on there, but I do know there can be many it can be secondary too.   I would look into making it secondary as my doctor told me I would get it some day and that it would make other conditions worse and vise versa.

[brokensoldier244th]

Joint pain and fibro are pretty common MUCMIS (medically unexplained chronic multisystem illness) under CFR 3.317.

Scroll down to section 'baby b' (lower case b) there is the list of MUCMIs that apply to SW Asia/Gulf

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-3/subpart-A/subject-group-ECFR39056aee4e9ff13/section-3.317

Also,

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/medically-unexplained-illness.asp

[Mideis]

I didn’t know if it would fall under the chronic system illness where I was finally diagnosed with R/A. The dr seemed pretty confident in the burn pits, I’ll ask her about the ptsd and see what she says 

[Rattler]

I think you are going the right direction. I don't know what state you are in I uesd to have Humira it wsn't bad insurance. I switched to Viva. It's only aviabe in AL.

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Mideis said:

I didn’t know if it would fall under the chronic system illness where I was finally diagnosed with R/A. The dr seemed pretty confident in the burn pits, I’ll ask her about the ptsd and see what she says 

I have it in my records of the burn pits causeing Fibro and then leading to RA.  That is a good path to attack this from, but I would let figure out how it is connected.  You can for sure guide it a bit, but I have seen them go to left feild when I thought they should go right and I still got the service connection.

[broncovet]

For me, pretty much, if I think the VA will approve it as a no brainer, they deny it.  On the other hand, it seems like if I think there is almost no chance and apply, it gets approved.  

Therefore, my advice:  When in doubt, apply.  Nobody can accurately predict "what someone else will do".  This goes for VA rating representatives, too.