Re: Input requested

[Guest guest]

Mareth -

I am not on SSI, but I did read something last night on

fibromyalgiasupport.com regarding it that you might find helpful. I've

pasted a a portion of the article. This might apply to you with your

additional back problems. I know you are not using an attorney, but the

important part of this article is that make sure that they (doctor/ judges)

know you have other medical conditions which won't allow you to work IN

ADDITION TO fibromyalgia. Because unfortunately, there are still doctors and

judges who don't feel fibromyalgia is disabling enough to qualify for SSI.

I personally was told by a doctor at Mayo Clinic in sdale that - " yes

you have fibromyalgia, but it's no big deal and it's not progressive. I had

it for 3 months myself. " At the time the fibro wasn't very bad, so I

believed him. Boy, if I could go back in time and sit with that doctor

again................

" A Social Security judge recently told me that he hates it when a disability

attorney " fails to give me several doors to use if I want to approve a case. "

He believes that using only one door for claim approval is tantamount to the

" attorney driving their client off a cliff. " I totally agree with the judge.

Please don't let this happen to you; you have too much at stake!

What did the judge mean? Simply put, judges like to have several medical

conditions to choose from if they want to approve your claim. For example, if

a judge believes your claim is not strong enough to be approved based only on

your physical diagnosis, they want the option to approve your claim based on

another diagnosis, perhaps psychological.

What prevents the judge from simply approving it based on a psychological

diagnosis? The problem is you never told SSA on any of the forms you

completed that you believed a psychological condition was at least in part

responsible for why you can’t work! Thus, a door that could have used to

approve your claim does not exist; consequently, the judge has no choice but

to deny your claim. This scenario is terribly unfortunate because your claim

was denied when the judge was looking for a way to approve it!

The solution is to tell SSA early, often and consistently that you believe a

psychological diagnosis plays a part in your inability to work. It is fine to

state that it is “secondary to†or “as a result of†dealing with your

chronic physical symptoms and limitations. "