Filing for disability - 2012

I filed in 2008 online and it was a disaster. I got lost a lot because I couldn't sit and type answers all at once and I would have to save the form and get back into it. I got confused and filled out the forms wrong (for instance, when the question was asked about medicines causing side effects, I thought they meant serious side effects, not something like drowsiness and dizziness, so I put "no side effects" when in fact there were side effects which interfered with my ability to work).

I also got confused and thought that they wanted medical records back the last 15 years; you should have seen the amount of time I spent trying to remember which doctors I had seen over a 15-year time span. And online they don't give you enough room to put everything. I'm also not sure they got all my faxes of the additional stuff they asked for.

So I was denied and got a lawyer, and he didn't think I had a good chance, so we dropped the case. This came about because my FORMER doctor, who I thought was behind me, personally wrote a letter to SS stating that I wasn't sick and was just an overweight depressed woman and could work if I wanted to. I found out through his staff that he doesn't even believe in chronic pain or FM. (even though I am not a frequent poster, some of you might remember me talking about this back in 2009). Also, the lawyer didn't think I was confused enough...he told me I was too "with it" when I was in his office and I wouldn't be approved. Little did he know it took everything in my power to be "with it" and keep it together while I was in his office!

Ever since then I have been second-guessing myself and questioning whether I was "sick enough."

In the meantime, I have been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, DDD in my lower back, they have found a fatty tumor IN my hip which causes pain (they say they can't take it out), sciatica, interstitial cystitis, serious vein problems in both legs that need to be fixed, and I also had a fatty tumor removed in my leg that is causing nerve pain, so I have more than "just" fibromyalgia to file on (I'm not dissing FM, I was just told it's just VERY hard to get SS with only a FM diagnosis if you are under 55--I was 52 at the time).

I have also followed his former PA to another office and got established with my own records at her office. She also has FM and she has treated me for the last 9 years (which is why i don't know why the doctor thought he knew anything about me because he rarely saw me; I think he just had a God complex).

So, fast forward to late 2012. I know I can't file if I wait much longer (I wouldn't be eligible if I waited until the end of 2013 because I wouldn't have enough quarters of work), and I've spent 3 years agonizing over filing again. I have always been independent and capable and it's hard for me to admit that I can't work anymore. Finally I filed for SS in the fall in person at the SS office. I took a letter from the PA written to the SS telling them I needed to file and that I had her full support.

On Jan 15 I got a Pain Questionnaire (one page) and also a Functional Adult form (about 6 pages..don't have it right in front of me). The amount of info they want won't fit in the space they give you. I had my husband type up the questions in Word and then I filled in answers. It took 6 days and 13 pages. (I called and asked and they said to be as complete as possible, so I went from the top to bottom of my body and gave them everything I had going on in each system or body part and I still think I've forgotten something!) I took it to the SS office today and they faxed it for me. Now I expect it to take them several months to reply to the new information.

The last time I filed, SS sent me to see a psychiatrist. I'm thinking it was because they already had the letter from my doctor and they wanted a psychiatrist to evaluate me to see if I was telling the truth. Of course, when I went to see him, I didn't know the idiot doctor had written the letter. Anyway, the psychiatrist said he believed me. I don't know if I will have to see another psychiatrist this time. I saw a neuropsychiatrist and had memory tests a few years ago and that result should be in the record.

And lawyers charge either 25% of your first check or $6000, whichever is less. I believe it says this somewhere on the SS website.

Sorry I wrote a book...

I did see a neuropsychiatrist and he said I had depression and anxiety, but he also made a rather (what I thought) snide remark in the report that I depended on my husband too much and that I needed therapy to get to where I didn't depend on him and he needed therapy to help me get away from being so dependent. Is there anyone here who is married and on disability who is not dependent on someone to some extent?

And he also put another diagnosis in, and I think he used the word psychosomatic. So this doctor, whom I saw for a total of 1 hour for the first interview (he didn't actually administer the testing; his assistant did) and the report, purports that he "knows" it's all in my head? We'll see. I know other people who have lupus and multiple other autoimmune disease who ultimately got disability only because of their psychiatric diagnosis.

I'm sorry you had to go through so much to get your disability. I don't have as much problems with my shoulders, neck, and upper back since I quit working; they do flare up when I over do or reach or hold something heavy.

Thanks for writing. I'll keep you updated on my case.

Post Edited (bwfm) : 2/1/2013 5:09:02 PM (GMT-7)

Thanks, ak angel, for responding. I meant to mention in my original note that I started replying to mandaabe's post about disability! However, my message got so long that I decided to start a new one and then forgot to mention hers. :)

Just love my memory!