I am so sorry to hear that you weren't approved. SS does actually approve more people than it turns down. The first level of appeal should not require an attorney. A different person will be assigned to your case to see if he or she reaches a different conclusion. Do file your appeal though. If you think you need an attorney you can still get one later.

What is your health problem? Are you under the care of a doctor? My DH's issues with kidney failure were facilitated with the help of a social worker at the hospital where his doctor was caring for him.

It took me almost 2 years to get approved.
I got denied, and denied, and denied, till I finally went all the way up to getting a hearing with a judge.
Then it took some time after that to get the decision.
Get a good lawyer to do this.
And by law they are only allowed to charge you 25% of your backpay.
You get backpay from the time your disability started to the day you get your first check.

Keep after this. Don't miss any deadlines.

There is a good thread about this over on the Accessible Gardening forum.

Pooh Bear

Here is a link that might be useful: Accessible Gardening forum

Hang in there. I've been denied 3 times. One time I was supposed to see one of their Dr's, but ended up getting a letter in the mail cancelling the appt; followed by a denial. I was last denied after my court case in April- letter came in June / July. I had my attorney put in an appeal, we go back next month. I just got a new letter from my attorney saying she handed the case to my divorse lawyer (she's pregnant). I'm pretty happy to have him representing me. I've never lost a divorse case with him & have a good feeling about this. I meet with him tomorrow to get him up to speed on the case. After 3 years of dealing with this I need a break, hopefully "Stan The Man" will come through for me.

Get yourself an attorney. There's a back forum on another server- email me if you want the link. I'm sure one of the ladies there can recommend someone.

I did get an attorney and he specializes in Social Security disability. He has already filed my appeal through Social Security and SS has contacted me already for additional information (when was my last dr's appt. and am I taking any additional medication is all he asked). The attorney gave me two forms for my doctors to fill out basically about your daily limitations/what you can and can't do. My neurologist filled it out and sent it back to me, stating that he recommended a FCE (functional capacity test) and my orthopedist has never sent the form back to me. I doubt he will fill it out as I have only starting seeing him in September of this year. I called my attorney and spoke to his asst., as I was very discouraged after getting this form back from my doctor. She said that most doctors want their patients to have this FCE test, that it's common for them to write this on any forms they receive from attorneys. I asked my attorney what his win/lose ratio was with SS and he say 100%, so I guess that is good, and he says my age should help me (I'm 55).

I have daily back pain. I am up at 2:00 a.m. because I haven't been able to go to sleep so it's time for a Lorcet when it gets this bad. My "normal" life isn't normal any more and all this changed in the spring when the pain started being almost constant. Ibuprofen helps a lot but it doesn't last and I take Zanaflex for muscle spasms. I have degenerative disc disease and in Sept. was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis. The pain is coming from the DDD. I haven't had an MRI since 1997 and my husband said I needed to go get another one done to see if maybe I have a bulging disc or a bone spur. I am surprised my doctor hasn't recommended this. Who does these FCE tests and what are they? Have anyone ever had to have one done?

Nearly everyone who pursues their claim through the entire appeals process will win

Gandbb, I hope you are so right because you have my hopes up. It will make it much easier on us if I could get what I feel like I have worked for the last 35 years. It may even allow DH to retire a few years earlier when we sell this house and no longer have a house pymt.

Today I tried to vacuum one room and pick up a little in the den. I did about half of it and I was in so much pain, I went to bed. DH wants me to go get another MRI or some other kind of tests to see if I might have a bulged disc, a herniated disc or something else is wrong. My neurologist did my last MRI in 1997. I'm calling him in the morning.

I think that is an excellant idea. Soft tissue injury is tough to diagnose, but if something shows up on the MRI, that would be really helpful.

I received a letter from SS today saying that they would like to settle my case as soon as possible and they will be requesting records from my doctors. They even said in the letter for ME to call my doctors to urge them to get these records out. SS got these records in October and not much has changed since then, except I am now taking Fosamax, so why are they requesting my records again? Is it a normal practice of the SSA to ask for a person's help who is trying to get disability benefits? At least it lets me know they are working on my case.

There is nothing unusual in their asking you to light a fire under the doctor. The case workers are evaluated according to how many and how fast they get their cases out the door. They get a once a week report on how many cases they have pending over 30 days, 60 days, 90 days etc. and the more on the far end the worse it is for the employee.

Did you get your MRI? It sounds like things are progressing nicely for you. I just had my 2nd hearing on Nov. 3rd & I think it went well. Looking at my denial letter from the April hearing, things that were focused on were 1) I do laundry 2) I food shop 3) I drive my daughter to school. When I went back this time I brought with me a page I made in Word, explaining my laundry area showing I have a "dirty clothes" basket on a chair, so that I do not have to bend. I also highlighted the dryer which is set up on a base so that I do not have to bend. On top of the dryer is the clean clothes basket- clothes get folded & go straight into it. To the right of the dryer are hangers, any shirts coming out of the dryer get hung. If you food shop, be sure to note if your food shopping consists of picking up 2 or 3 bags worth of groceries to get you by till someone can go with you. Also note that if you do food shop, how often you go (me- every 10 to 14 days). If you food shop & get employees to load soda or heavy items in your cart, or if they unload your cart into your car for you. At this hearing I also made sure they knew that it was incorrectly noted that I drive my daughter to school & that I drive her to the bus stop which is around the corner.

Your symptoms mimic mine. I've got a computer desk, my monitor is to the left, a wireless keyboard & mouse. If you can picture this, I have 2 chairs in front of the desk, 1 my high back computer chair, the other a fold up chair I keep my feet on. A heating pad is on the computer chair. I get up, turn on the heat, then sit down & put my feet up. My keyboard is on my lap. I'll sit here for close to 2 hours before I'm able to get up & do anything. The heating pad has been a life-saver. Where are your spasms? What are you doing for them? I've found that the heat plus trigger points helped with those. I used to be really bad, so much so that my legs would shake like jello. I keep crutches just in case. We found out by accident after I had a discography (5 needles) that showed no results (Dr did it wrong) I was in worse shape due to him hitting a nerve. My neuro prescribed methylprednisolen dose pak, let me tell you, that was the thing that stopped the bad spasms. It was like this magic pill, after that, going back for trigger points every 4 months or so instead of every month. I'm also taking Zanaflex at night with Skelaxin as needed during the day.

If you want to email me from my member page, let me know where your pain is. If it is lower back, down to the toes like me I've got some great photos I found on the web that I put into a word file detailing my treatment, medications (current & tried) as well as a description of my pain along with the photographs which I edited to show exactly where my pain is. I just uploaded 2 of my edited pics- {{gwi:338095}} & {{gwi:338096}}. I've also got some muscle views, side spine views. If you notice, each pic has different color pain lines- they each mean something different like stabbing, shooting pain, numbness, etc. Took me about a week to find the various pics, it was not easy.

Good luck

Gandbb, I will be calling my dr's office on Monday to encourage them to get my records copied. Roselvr, I haven't had an MRI done yet, basically because I can't afford it right now, as I had a lot of dental work done and still owe my dentist $1,000 (after insurance).

My lawyer gave me two forms to send to my doctors (re. daily work activities). My neurologist whom I have been seeing since 1997 didn't fill out the form (my lawyer and I provided him the answers on a separate sheet of paper), but instead he wrote at the bottom that he would recommend a FCE to determine capabilities and my orthopedic dr. wouldn't fill it out at all (I don't blame him, as I have only been to him one time, this was for my right shoulder pain (bursitis) and this is when I found out I have severe osteoporosis). I called and spoke with my lawyer's secty and she said it didn't matter whether they filled these out or not. Has anyone had any experience with this and is this true? Is this going to hurt my chances? Has anyone been approved without letters/forms from their doctors, and only medical records?

I don't know how to let SS know about my daily activities since my dr. recommended a FCE. Would be okay to ask my neurolgoist to include a letter with my records to SS detailing my disabilities (that I will fax to him) or should I not beg, as I feel like that's what I would be doing. They may have already sent the records. Since I have the fax number to the SS, could I just fax them a letter myself detailing my disabilities, or would not not amount to anything, as they need a dr's opinion?

What I was suggesting is to start preparing for your court case, just because a Dr is suggesting you should apply, the state will deny you with your 1st try. I believe I filed 2 times with the forms before I got my court hearing, this is where you want all of the detailed stuff. The more you can bring, & the better records you keep, the easier it will go. If you brought paperwork that isn't in your file, you can submit it as evidence during your hearing.

I had that problem with my pain management Dr. I'm pissed he won't send them my records, but what am I going to do? If I get denied in court again, that's when the fight will begin with this Dr.

You don't have health insurance?

Same here,But don't you dare give up.I have a great lawyer and since than he has won many cases.Some even I said want win but he has.I am not sure if you could use him since you don't live in Alabama.I will even call and ask him today if he can work in another state,someone here may know.I sure give you his name and he could win it for you.But there are others out there.What they will do is only and I mean only if you win the SS claim than do they get paid.I promise you that is what my lawyer does.Than he gets a 10th of your winnings.You can click on my name and I will be more than glad to help you find a lawyer.We won my case about 10 years ago,and like I said he won many since some that really did not deserve it.Do not give up.catlady

My lawyer told me to keep going to the doctors because this would help my case, but if I am taking medication every month and getting refills, it seems like that would be enough? I don't know why I would keep going back, except that it looks good on paper. Every visit is $250 and I do have insurance, but it doesn't pay 100%. Even adding a $100 medical bill is an extra strain on our budget. I still owe money to the lab from the blood work they did in September and $600 more to my dentist. The bone density test says you need to have this test done every year, so there is no need for frequent visits.

The last two days my problems have been upper back/across the shoulders. It's hard to explain but my back/shoulders feel like a stiff board. It's been so bad that it's hard to get up from a chair or difficult to even get out of bed. I am sure this is the degenerative arthritis, as my doctor said I have degenerative arthritis in my neck as well as my back. When getting out of bed, I use my elbow to help push myself up. If the pain is in my lumbar area and I'm getting out of bed, I have had to literally roll myself out of the bed, sit in the floor awhile and hold onto the nightstand to get up. This is when it's really severe. (I don't think SS understands that people with back problems can have good days and very bad days).

The osteoporosis is also in my lumbar spine area but I don't know if that is playing a role with the pain, but it could be. Most of the time my pain is in the very center of my back (my dr. says its the lower lumbar spine). We do have health insurance and I am still thinking about getting a more current MRI, even with the extra cost. I'll get it pay eventually. My neighbor said if I just paid $10 a month, as long as I'm paying on the bill, they can't do anything (not sure if that is true or not).

DH is getting really impatient and doesn't understand the whole process (neither do I). He works so hard and this would be a God sent blessing if I could get approved and the quicker the better. The best thing I can do is pray about this.