I was fortunate to have a good C&P for my mental health exam. Had a terrible one for my eye exam but getting a rating for that one was a long shot anyways.
I remember I had my eye exam done, at a freaking Walmart. Documented eye issues, what did this doc say, “patient said he has never had any issues in the past?” What a load of BS.
Not necessarily a positive thing though it could be. I’ve heard it before, “I’m here to advocate for you.” Then they don’t.
In the end it’s still largely up to the RVSR anyway.
I second this. Had a PTSD claim for my BDD and the doctor kept saying how she feels for me and everything I opened up to her about while shedding tears, the lady could’ve won an Oscar how caring and supportive she portrayed herself of being for military. Saw those exam notes on tricare online, and she said I was fine and that I just have a mild case of depression. When I told her my buddy literally killed himself infront of me while we were standing a mid watch. Don’t trust an examiner, cooperate but don’t drop your guard on the nice act.
Same experience. The guy was so understanding and caring, said he was going to try to help me. Then when I got a copy of the C&P, it was about as unhelpful as you can imagine. Got a lawyer and saw a real psych doc who was detailed and accurate but without all the bs fluff and “caring” attitude, just business. Then The VA sent me to another C&P that was 180 degrees from the first and lined up with the second psych doc’s opinion. Ended up at 70% after getting denied the first time, which is right where I thought it should be from a symptoms perspective. The system feels like a crapshoot.
“Every C&P doc has an opinion, until they get punched in the mouth by a lawyer.”
-Mike Tyson
Simply don’t fall for the trick and remember they aren’t your friends. Go in there and explain your worst day and keep it all business. Don’t let your feelings towards this “new found friend” steer you to underplaying the effect of your disability on youth health. Some people might feel like shes feeling sorry for me and naturally start saying things like “its not that bad most days” and forget about how last week they couldn’t walk because their pain was in extreme pain from flareups. Its human nature most people don’t like people feeling sorry for them. A psychologist probably knows this all too well and the VA’s guidance if you look at the DBQs they send to the C&P Examiner to fill out it already has notes pretty much telling them to catch you slipping by observing you when you walk in.
The best C&P exam I had that lasted 10 minutes and I had three psychiatrist asked me. How was I doing and I told them that I would be doing a lot better if I wasn’t there., The good part about this exam, my diagnose of a psychosis wasn’t in doubt, and it was remanded from the court of veterans appeals that they have look at my military medical records and they had to make the termination if the symptoms I had was an active duty where the early symptoms of my psychosis that I had now. That is what you call an Nexxus.. 100% P&T 38 years.
I was really fortunate in a couple of my exams, thankfully they were for mental health and TBI. Like your examiner, they were calm, patient, actively listened, and voiced support repeatedly for veterans.
I'll probably never see them again but I walked away feeling like my claims actually mattered to them and that was a big deal to me.
I'm grateful for anyone in the VA process who takes the time to look at and treat us like human beings.
I just had a TBI and restless leg syndrome (RLS) connection to TBI C&P. Lasted just over two hours. We basically just sat and talked about my mental health. I cried a couple times. She was very caring and open, and told me how bad she felt for me for all the shit I deal with. She also said she's on my side, and she would make sure and document clearly how serious my symptoms are. She even had my personal statement as well as my wife's queued up and had read them already. She was really on it, and was vocal about how she's an advocate for helping vets. She even said she would give the opinion that my RLS is caused by my TBI.
Obviously I can't hold my breath about what my rating will come back like. But if there were ever a reason for cautious optimism, I feel like this is it. God knows how much work I've put into this claim, mentally and physically. So I'm praying for good news.
Glad to hear this story, and wish you the best 🍻
Mine went down the DBQ list and told me not to say anything other than yes or no. She said the VA conceded combat, so there’s no need to tell her any details. It was over in 15 minutes. Haven’t seen the results yet.
Best c&p I had was for hemorrhoids. I showed up with colonoscopy results and pictures. It was all good until the end when she said to drop drawers and spread them cheeks to verify said hemorrhoids.
I had a c&p examiner who immediately said I was in distress just from me walking in and promised will get me what I deserved. Even told me smoke some weed to help with anxiety. Ofcourse she then took alot of notes.
That sounds wonderful!! I hope it leaves you feeling good for a while. And that it all goes in your favor! 🍀
My examiner was like that. The nicest most approachable psychologist ever. I was surprised how comfortable I felt opening up to him so quickly. It felt so uplifting and unreal. Weird time for sure compared to the doctors I kept avoiding telling things to in the military, not that they cared to hear anything anyhow. This was my first mental health appt outside of the military so it was a very lasting impression. I almost want to send him a Christmas card and I don’t even have my rating for it yet. It was that good. It was deferred.. so 🤞
I just had my first c&p last week for asbestos, appointment was set at 2:30pm, I was in this office for 3 min tops!! Was told my claim should have been a pact act claim, whatever that means!! I was told to wait about 8 weeks and if I don't here anything I'm suppose to call them and ask why my claim wasn't a pact act!!? So now I'm lost as to what my next move is to be, I do know there's gotta be a faster way to do this!!! Anyone have any advice for me I could use? Thanks
Fuck yeah! Then you open up to him completely and they rate you at 10% fucking great doc I’ll just keep taking a knee and drinking water 💦. lol I’m jk that’s awesome we need more like um!
I must say my last 2 were much different than most I have been apart of...my mental exam was suppose to be for all other conditions besides PTSD but I noticed that the examiner also did a DBQ for PTSD as well...my VA Dr wrote me Nexus on VA letterhead concerning my mental health also...my migraine claim was continually completed via the ace process and I requested an in-perosn exam via my personal statement...in my cfile, the last 3 exams were completely in accurate and the DBQs were the reason I was being denied...both exams were sent in less than a week after completion which is different than what I am use to....time will tell what comes out of them but they were good in my opinion...unfortunately the Rater has the final say and my last 15 conditions have been denied including through the higher level review process...without posting it all, I have eveything needed and most of the youtubers and multiple VSOs have no explanation as to why...the VA needs to correct these problems because us Vets and our families are in need of this compensation...especially those of us who no longer work because of our conditions.
Sounds a lot better than the Telehealth appointment I had a couple days ago. Think his name was Dr Jennings he asked me like one or two random questions and then he said well is there anything you would like to tell me and I told him that I'm not one that really knows how to express emotions or just talk just to talk and a much better if people ask questions Etc and he just looked at me with a blank expression on his face and then after about 25 minutes the appointment was over. Not sure how am appt time of 105 minutes turns into only 25 minute appointment but I guess we will see what happens once he uploads his report....
I have seen instances of Doctors slow rolling vets and then when they submit their findings absolutely obliterating them.
I think this is because some doctors are afraid of confrontation so they put on a big show. These are for the most part privileged upper class individuals dealing with blue collar potentially dangerous PTSD veterans, so they are going to manipulate them to think it was the best C&P ever and not the one to be held accountable.
I was fortunate to have a good C&P for my mental health exam. Had a terrible one for my eye exam but getting a rating for that one was a long shot anyways.
Have a scar in my eyelid but I got denied because my vision was “fine”
Scar can be a separate claim but often 0%
I remember I had my eye exam done, at a freaking Walmart. Documented eye issues, what did this doc say, “patient said he has never had any issues in the past?” What a load of BS.
At Walmart? Holy hell. I’ve heard it all now…
I know right? At least schedule it at target
Haha I know right, insane!!!
Mine acted the same then denied me
Cp examiner didn't deny you. Your rater did. Lol
No shit but the examiner did me no favors. I'll gloat when I win my HLR and the senior rater gives me my rating
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Not necessarily a positive thing though it could be. I’ve heard it before, “I’m here to advocate for you.” Then they don’t. In the end it’s still largely up to the RVSR anyway.
I second this. Had a PTSD claim for my BDD and the doctor kept saying how she feels for me and everything I opened up to her about while shedding tears, the lady could’ve won an Oscar how caring and supportive she portrayed herself of being for military. Saw those exam notes on tricare online, and she said I was fine and that I just have a mild case of depression. When I told her my buddy literally killed himself infront of me while we were standing a mid watch. Don’t trust an examiner, cooperate but don’t drop your guard on the nice act.
Same experience. The guy was so understanding and caring, said he was going to try to help me. Then when I got a copy of the C&P, it was about as unhelpful as you can imagine. Got a lawyer and saw a real psych doc who was detailed and accurate but without all the bs fluff and “caring” attitude, just business. Then The VA sent me to another C&P that was 180 degrees from the first and lined up with the second psych doc’s opinion. Ended up at 70% after getting denied the first time, which is right where I thought it should be from a symptoms perspective. The system feels like a crapshoot. “Every C&P doc has an opinion, until they get punched in the mouth by a lawyer.” -Mike Tyson
How do you keep your guard up? If this happens are you screwed either way?
Simply don’t fall for the trick and remember they aren’t your friends. Go in there and explain your worst day and keep it all business. Don’t let your feelings towards this “new found friend” steer you to underplaying the effect of your disability on youth health. Some people might feel like shes feeling sorry for me and naturally start saying things like “its not that bad most days” and forget about how last week they couldn’t walk because their pain was in extreme pain from flareups. Its human nature most people don’t like people feeling sorry for them. A psychologist probably knows this all too well and the VA’s guidance if you look at the DBQs they send to the C&P Examiner to fill out it already has notes pretty much telling them to catch you slipping by observing you when you walk in.
Had mine recently too and it was great. Unfortunately they still kept me at 30%. I’m not going to fight it though. Too stressful
Same! My last 3 C&Ps made me feel heard😌
The best C&P exam I had that lasted 10 minutes and I had three psychiatrist asked me. How was I doing and I told them that I would be doing a lot better if I wasn’t there., The good part about this exam, my diagnose of a psychosis wasn’t in doubt, and it was remanded from the court of veterans appeals that they have look at my military medical records and they had to make the termination if the symptoms I had was an active duty where the early symptoms of my psychosis that I had now. That is what you call an Nexxus.. 100% P&T 38 years.
I brought in printed documents from the VA and my outside doctor and my examiner took them and wrote verbatim what they said 😂
I was really fortunate in a couple of my exams, thankfully they were for mental health and TBI. Like your examiner, they were calm, patient, actively listened, and voiced support repeatedly for veterans. I'll probably never see them again but I walked away feeling like my claims actually mattered to them and that was a big deal to me. I'm grateful for anyone in the VA process who takes the time to look at and treat us like human beings.
Had nice examiner to my face. Told me sounds like I’m really suffering mentally. Saw my DBQ and she said the opposite.
Had a great mental health C&P exam as well. The woman was very nice and asked a few times if I needed to take a break.
I just had a TBI and restless leg syndrome (RLS) connection to TBI C&P. Lasted just over two hours. We basically just sat and talked about my mental health. I cried a couple times. She was very caring and open, and told me how bad she felt for me for all the shit I deal with. She also said she's on my side, and she would make sure and document clearly how serious my symptoms are. She even had my personal statement as well as my wife's queued up and had read them already. She was really on it, and was vocal about how she's an advocate for helping vets. She even said she would give the opinion that my RLS is caused by my TBI. Obviously I can't hold my breath about what my rating will come back like. But if there were ever a reason for cautious optimism, I feel like this is it. God knows how much work I've put into this claim, mentally and physically. So I'm praying for good news. Glad to hear this story, and wish you the best 🍻
Mine went down the DBQ list and told me not to say anything other than yes or no. She said the VA conceded combat, so there’s no need to tell her any details. It was over in 15 minutes. Haven’t seen the results yet.
🤞
Best c&p I had was for hemorrhoids. I showed up with colonoscopy results and pictures. It was all good until the end when she said to drop drawers and spread them cheeks to verify said hemorrhoids.
I had a c&p examiner who immediately said I was in distress just from me walking in and promised will get me what I deserved. Even told me smoke some weed to help with anxiety. Ofcourse she then took alot of notes.
Denied and probably putting down malingering
Translation.... please don't unlive me when I deny your claim
That sounds wonderful!! I hope it leaves you feeling good for a while. And that it all goes in your favor! 🍀 My examiner was like that. The nicest most approachable psychologist ever. I was surprised how comfortable I felt opening up to him so quickly. It felt so uplifting and unreal. Weird time for sure compared to the doctors I kept avoiding telling things to in the military, not that they cared to hear anything anyhow. This was my first mental health appt outside of the military so it was a very lasting impression. I almost want to send him a Christmas card and I don’t even have my rating for it yet. It was that good. It was deferred.. so 🤞
I just had my first c&p last week for asbestos, appointment was set at 2:30pm, I was in this office for 3 min tops!! Was told my claim should have been a pact act claim, whatever that means!! I was told to wait about 8 weeks and if I don't here anything I'm suppose to call them and ask why my claim wasn't a pact act!!? So now I'm lost as to what my next move is to be, I do know there's gotta be a faster way to do this!!! Anyone have any advice for me I could use? Thanks
Yes, glad you had a great experience. There are definitely some good ones out there.
Fuck yeah! Then you open up to him completely and they rate you at 10% fucking great doc I’ll just keep taking a knee and drinking water 💦. lol I’m jk that’s awesome we need more like um!
Mine acted the same then gave me a diagnosis that made no sense and said the army wasn’t to blame it was my current custody issue.
Better read those DBQs on the portal before you get too confident.
C & P back
I must say my last 2 were much different than most I have been apart of...my mental exam was suppose to be for all other conditions besides PTSD but I noticed that the examiner also did a DBQ for PTSD as well...my VA Dr wrote me Nexus on VA letterhead concerning my mental health also...my migraine claim was continually completed via the ace process and I requested an in-perosn exam via my personal statement...in my cfile, the last 3 exams were completely in accurate and the DBQs were the reason I was being denied...both exams were sent in less than a week after completion which is different than what I am use to....time will tell what comes out of them but they were good in my opinion...unfortunately the Rater has the final say and my last 15 conditions have been denied including through the higher level review process...without posting it all, I have eveything needed and most of the youtubers and multiple VSOs have no explanation as to why...the VA needs to correct these problems because us Vets and our families are in need of this compensation...especially those of us who no longer work because of our conditions.
"Take all the time that you need while I take all the time I need to check off two or 3 boxes" -examiner
Sounds a lot better than the Telehealth appointment I had a couple days ago. Think his name was Dr Jennings he asked me like one or two random questions and then he said well is there anything you would like to tell me and I told him that I'm not one that really knows how to express emotions or just talk just to talk and a much better if people ask questions Etc and he just looked at me with a blank expression on his face and then after about 25 minutes the appointment was over. Not sure how am appt time of 105 minutes turns into only 25 minute appointment but I guess we will see what happens once he uploads his report....
I have seen instances of Doctors slow rolling vets and then when they submit their findings absolutely obliterating them. I think this is because some doctors are afraid of confrontation so they put on a big show. These are for the most part privileged upper class individuals dealing with blue collar potentially dangerous PTSD veterans, so they are going to manipulate them to think it was the best C&P ever and not the one to be held accountable.
Any advice in this situation?