posted on October 14, 2000 03:49:18 PM new
I know you asked for your last thread to be locked, but I just wanted to suggest Chiropractic. It worked miracles with my headaches. AND a disability attorney. Ok, that's all.
posted on October 14, 2000 04:03:32 PM new
A friend of mine was suffering from horrible migraines for about 5 years. She went through all kinds of tests, MRI's, CAT scans, allergy tests, blood tests, you name it, she had it. Nothing helped. She tried medications, bio-feedback, chiropratic, acupunture, again, nothing helped. She was in daily constant pain, lost weight, she felt horrible.
When visiting a family member, they asked how she had been doing. The uncle was a dentist, and he asked her if she had ever seen a dentist about her headaches. To make a long story shorter, he made her some kind of a mouth piece she wears at night. Her headaches have lessened by 95%, with almost immediate improvement. The first day after using the mouth piece her headache was gone. It had something to do with her teeth and jaw alignment.
Now, I too have a "hidden" neurological disorder. And I realize hearing "one more tale" about someone who was helped by some treatment, can drive you right up the wall. But, I had to mention my friends experience since it worked out so well for her.
And, if you don't already steer clear of nutrisweet, pitch everything you have with that poison in it.
posted on October 14, 2000 05:04:30 PM new
Actually, I've tried chiropractic, was treated surgically for TMJ (that's the "teeth and jaw alignment", AND wore one of those mouthpieces for a couple years
posted on October 14, 2000 06:08:19 PM new
HCQ...Sorry to hear bout your rejection, as it were...Really stinks (read stronger word) that a legitimate claim is denied, when there are scammers getting benefits they don't deserve!....
If I may make one suggestion to you...In the last thread you commented I look "fine" because I have some self-respect and I don't end every sentence with a sigh of self-pity. While your self respect is to be commended, that may be part of the problem. Since the jury's still out on what causes FMS. the judges are left with only what they see, and your strong impression may be misleading them to deny your claim....Next time around why don't you let them see your pain?....I'm not advocating putting on an act just show them how the pain effects you when your are alone & fed up with it....Your self respect is admirable, but this is money you're entitled to that is on the line....JMO
posted on October 14, 2000 07:01:56 PM new
Well, fortunately (or otherwise), the day of my hearing I was literally staggering from a migraine. I couldn't keep my head up unsupported and although there was a sofa in the hearing room (they do this in hotel conference rooms), they insisted I sit in your average hotel dining chair, which is nearly an impossibility. After an hour of this I was almost writhing in pain and so confused I could hardly finish a sentence.
Not good enough.
One of the funniest parts of the judge's decision was his description of how I related that I spend my day. I'd told him that I had a buzzcut because I can't raise my arms above my head to style or blow-dry my hair (heck, I can't even stand in the shower to shampoo!). How'd that get interpreted by him? "Spends much of her day fixing her hair." Uh-huh.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Oct 14, 2000 07:02 PM ]
posted on October 14, 2000 08:35:38 PM new
HCQ, I'm sorry you wanted your thread closed because you thought it might look like self pity. But can I tell you something funny that happened with my SSD? Sorry, but I will anyway. LOL
I was denied and sent back to work and that's a long story but I got sicker. So when I went in for another medical I was so sick I didn't know what I was doing. You know that question "who is the president?" Well I always thought that was a joke. But, guess what? I couldn't for the life of me remember who the president was. I thought and thought and told the doctor of course I know I just can't think of it right now. I started crying because I was so frustrated. So I was finally approved but I think I got it on a mental not a physical. Ha! I have been in bed all week with Fibro and CFS so I know what you're talking about(also have migraines.) Hang in there!
posted on October 14, 2000 09:02:14 PM new
HCQ,Everyone gets turned downed the first time,And if you can show 3 disorders by the time you go through the S/S hearing you have a better chance of being approved.They no longer go back to the first fileing,They go back 11 months,For the first big check.You have to turn your-self inside out for those clowns.At the hearing will be a job placement
specialist who will look in a book and find a job, that you will qualify for in your condition.Thats why it is very important to get everything on paper by a Doctor.Its easier to get a Fedral loan or grant for your
Disability then being approved by S/S.Good luck to you,And be armed.
posted on October 14, 2000 09:39:51 PM new
Completely missed your hearing post.If when you where at the hearing,And nothing was mentioned about being able to work somewhere at some small task job,You have a good chance
Of winning your case.From what I understand they have to say what you can physically do at the hearing.Letters from friends and relatives who know your situation is an added
plus.
I'm sorry you're in pain so much. I don't know much of anything about the SS Administration, but I know some about Doctors, I had to go to 5 different Doctors before the problem I had when I was 16 was diagnosed. A couple of them actually told me my pain was all in my mind.
An exploritory operation and a years worth of medication and some other stuff later and I was healed.
I don't know what is the cause of the headaches for you, and I won't bore you with what was wrong with me, but my point is that if you went thru Doctors in the same sort of practice and you still havent found relief, maybe it is time to go to some alternative sources. Like acupuncture, or there are people who treat people from the most basic level......they ask you to take away all meat for a time, then all items with preservatives, all caffiene, all of these things one by one, because its not necesarily an allergy but rather an intolerance or a reaction to something that can cause problems not recognized by the AMA
posted on October 14, 2000 10:46:45 PM newHCQ:
It took me five years of fighting with the government, but I outlasted them. The rounds of hearings and denials can seem endless at times.
Then just this year, after being considered disabled by them for over 18 years they pulled the plug. It took another round over 6 months to make them believe that I wasn't suddenly cured of the incurable.
My thoughts and wishes are with you. I know you'll make it.
posted on October 14, 2000 10:55:12 PM new
Muriel,
I'm glad you started this again. Thanks!
HCQ,
Have you been to a headache clinic. There is a very good one in Chicago. They explore everything. The reason I know about it is that a friend of mine's daughter was totally disabled with what her Doctor thought were Migranes. She was sent there and found that it wasn't all migranes, that the Drs. had given her medicine that actually exerbated the headaches, etc. I'm sure you know the drill.
This girl was in such bad shape that she literally didn't recognize her husband, children or mother.
Anyway if you are interested I could find out the name of the clinic and let you know.
If you are interested in a new lawyer, email me and I can give you the name of one I think you will be very pleased with.
posted on October 15, 2000 08:13:10 AM new
I think I need to make a few things clear.
My laywer is doing everything necessary for my case. She obtained additional tests and deposition testimony. She's given lectures to the local FMS groups about the SSDI process. Not only does she know my situation from what's on paper; I used to work at this firm right across the hall from her, so she personally knows how sick I am, and since I know her strenghts and shortcomings, I can badger her into action if she was slacking (which she isn't).
There's no disagreement on what's wrong with me. There's never been any question of that. Even SSI doesn't dispute that what they say I have, I actually DO have, and that SSI considers it a disability. I've been diagnosed and treated by four GPs, three rheumatologists, a chiropractor, and a neurologist.
I've had every test and every treatment imaginable. Yes, I did acupuncture and diets and physical therapy of every possible permutation. One of my treating physicians is a nationally known specialist in FMS. I subscribe to a number of physician-only mailing lists. My ex's brother is an internet researcher for Bristol Myers-Squibb, so I've got access to the most recent study data. You all are familiar enough with me, I think, to know that I don't take a brushoff from anybody (particularly anybody I'm PAYING for service/treatment).
I know - and I very much do appreciate - that you're all acting from a position of being concerned. But the issue isn't with what I have or whether I'm receiving adequate or appropriate treatment. It's with the judge's completely unfounded and utterly off-the-wall interpretation of the evidence presented. Even his own vocational expert said I was incapable of working, but he disagreed.
An SSI judge is not permitted to make diagnoses. He is supposed to read the evidence - which is to be taken at face value, i.e., MUST be considered as true. The only determine he is required or permitted to make is whether, given the evidence regarding the appplicant's condition, ANY applicant would be considered disabled. And he didn't do that.
posted on October 15, 2000 08:26:43 AM new
So how does one become an SSI Judge? Are they elected? Are they appointed? By whom are they appointed? Are they from the medical field? Obvioously yours must have been to overstep his bounds to declare you too healthy for benefits. That makes me so mad. Do you have any recourse? If you have another appeal, is it before the same Judge?
posted on October 15, 2000 09:27:03 AM new
HCQ of course I knew from your posts that you wouldn't be sitting on your hands crying poor me. The system sucks and that's why people get so mad when they hear stories like yours and want to lend support. I've even heard that people with terminal cancer or HIV get denied. People have died waiting for SSD and SSI.
posted on October 15, 2000 11:15:22 AM new
SSi administrative law judges ("ALJ" ) are, I believe, from the basic fed judge pool. To keep the system as impartial as possible, the judge assigned to a case is NOT from the same geographic area as the petitioner. They do NOT have medical backgrounds because they're not supposed to involve themselves in diagnoses; they're simply supposed to review the evidence and make a ruling of disabled/not disabled based strictly on SSDI guidelines.
The SSDI system basically works like this:
File an application for SSDI. If denied:
File an appeal, which goes to hearing before an ALJ. If denied:
File an appeal (basically a law brief in the form of a letter) to the Appeals Council, who can turn the case over to a new ALJ, make a judgment on its own, or refuse to review the appeal. If denied:
File an appeal in Federal court.
I think I may have missed one step before the Federal court appeal.
We used to do appeals letters all the time, and about half of them overturned the ALJ's decision without any additional hearing.
The encouraging part about appealing this case is that the judge actually misstated my testimony and that of my physicians, which is pretty easy to prove just by providing the hearing transcript. IOW, we're arguing issues of fact, not issues of law.
As to people with life-threatening illnesses being denied SSDI: The idea is not that you're dying, but whether you can still work. Of course, the odds of a terminally ill person being able to work more than a year after he was first disabled (it takes about a year from application denial to hearing) are pretty slim...assuming he's even alive when it goes to appeal.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Oct 15, 2000 11:18 AM ]
posted on October 15, 2000 11:47:42 AM new
So you were denied benefits, basically, because "I say so". At least it sounds as though you'll have an appeal to his ruling that will prove favorable. Good luck. Oh, and by the way, I'm glad you went to the hearing simply to state the medical facts in your case and not to win an Oscar.
posted on October 15, 2000 01:10:45 PM new
I've heard of so many terminal cases being denied, its really bad. Say about 5-10 years ago, if one was to apply for SSDI, they usually got it. Now. no. At least not on the first or on an appeal.
When a person going into the room with the ALJ, there usually is a 'career' counselor type person, I believe 2 court appointed doctors and your lawyer. I think. (In this state there was anyway)
And this career person in there usually throws all these jobs out there that they say the person can do, and most of the time cannot do.
Its ridiculus how the process works now.
I gotta go watch this game, so the Mariners can just get it over with.
Good luck HCQ, and you've got a great SO on your side.
posted on October 15, 2000 03:07:38 PM new
The bizarre part is that SSDI's own vocational expert - that's whom you're referring to, Shelly - at my hearing actually SAID I couldn't do any work! Geesh.
Actually, when I was first disabled an attorney friend asked me to draft summaries of his personal injury cases and related demand letters. Mind you, I used to manage 250 cases; now I couldn't make it through one file and remember what I was supposed to be doing or what the client's injuries were. What a mess! Completely scrambled brains, particularly under the slightest bit of stress or deadlines. Quilting's much safer.
posted on October 15, 2000 05:30:24 PM new
I figured somebody'd bring that up
That "feat" took me a couple hours online a day, all from my bed. The information was so easy to find - and the holes so gaping - that it took almost no work at all. I'm not joking. Of course, it helped that I've got a background in art history Remember too that I was under no deadline to produce anything and could do literally nothing else with the remainder of my day - no dressing, cooking, cleaning, bills, visiting, traveling. Nada. (Yeah, I know: No life.)
What you don't see in my posts is the incredible struggle to convey a single thought, or how even if I can type something, many days I can't SAY it. Forget phone conversations; ordering a pizza exhausts me.
What I'm working with is a perpetual "background noise" of pain and what's known as "fibrofog". Think of trying to do your taxes, in Russian, with a bad case of the flu while six kids are screaming "MommymommymommyMOMMYYYYYY!" and there's two Jehovah's Witnesses at the door and the toaster's on fire. Life's always like that in my head. And that's on a good day, when I've actually made it from the bedroom into the shower, my vision isn't acting up, my intestines aren't twisted into a pretzel and I don't need a migraine shot.
This is embarrassing. I'm not used to talking so much about myself.
posted on October 15, 2000 05:47:16 PM new
Good grief. You have my sympathy. ONE kid screaming Mommyyyy is more than I can bear. It's amazing you can accomplish as much as you do...
posted on October 15, 2000 06:04:37 PM new
HCQ, I really do feel for your brain fog problems. I hear every conversation going on around me when sitting in a restaurant, and I know how exhausting it is. We don't go out as often as we would like because of it. Any type of background noise, air conditioner fan, ticking sound, squeaking wheel on a stroller or shopping cart, you name it, I hear it and can't tune it out. Just a normal 20 minute trip to the grocery means an hour nap when I get home. Two people talking at the same time? Forget it, I miss both comments or questions. When I watch Star Trek, and they talk about how the Borg hear all the other Borg's, I figure this is what it must be like.
This type of problem might sound like no big deal, but those of us who live with it day to day know how huge a deal it is. I can't even properly articulate it, because I've been up since 8 a.m., it is now 9 p.m., and my brain is fried.
posted on October 15, 2000 07:22:35 PM new
HCQ I laughed so hard when I read your description of what we deal with everyday. I would love to use it when people ask me what Fibro is like, but of course I won't remember it! LOL
posted on October 16, 2000 12:13:45 AM new
HCQ, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. I love reading your posts. You're my favorite poster at AW and it's sad to read that you are going through this. It's insult to injury. On the plus side, when your SSI kicks in retroactive, you will probably be a millionaire. Steve
I was in awe of your abilities investigating the pseudo Van Gogh...