Fibromyalgia Support Group
You're not alone in your pain. Fibromyalgia is a condition that can be difficult to diagnose and manage. If you're trying to cope with pain throughout your body, sleep problems, general fatigue, or other common fibromyalgia symptoms, you're in the right place. The community is here for you to talk about therapies and share your challenges.
Please help....
Fibromyolgia suffers are not lazy!
We worked hard all our lives & now the government continues to deny us the insurance coverage we & our employers were forced to pay into.
It maybe to late for me, but maybe thus will help others to be treated fairly.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/recognize-fibromyalgia-disability-and-create-funding-research-and-study/j2P4vnDb
Fibromyolgia suffers are not lazy!
We worked hard all our lives & now the government continues to deny us the insurance coverage we & our employers were forced to pay into.
It maybe to late for me, but maybe thus will help others to be treated fairly.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/recognize-fibromyalgia-disability-and-create-funding-research-and-study/j2P4vnDb
Sadly, 65.4% of all applicants are initially denied. Which put literally means that out of 100 applications, 54 people are denied. I used to work in worker's compensation reviewing payment determinations, so I had a bit of insight into the world of fighting for your health rights. I knew a lawyer was absolutely necessary. They have done this a thousand times and know EXACTLY what to do to get your claim approved.
It's not just Fibro, I also have Lupus and I was denied on my first request. After that I called a lawyer and was approved a year later after a hearing. I don't regret calling a lawyer one bit. After signing the first few documents I didn't have to do ONE THING to get my disability information to the government. They did all of it. I didn't pay them a dime until my claim was approved and I got my lump sum of back pay. Nothing - nada. If you aren't approved you don't pay anything. When I got my lump sum, which was around 20k. (They start paying you from the day you first file), they took 2k out of it and paid my lawyer.. so all in all you don't miss that money.
The lawyer was so efficient that all I did was show up to my hearing. It was in an adjunct facility and the only people in the room were the judge, the stenographer, my lawyer, and myself. 15 minutes, then I could go home.
I believe that if I had never gotten a lawyer I wouldn't have pursued them to the hearing level and thus never gotten approved. I have been told that the first denial isn't actually anything personal. It weeds out people who don't really need it. If you don't need it then you aren't willing to fight for it. Those of us that do need it are most definitely willing to fight for it!
I filed when I was 28 and approved a year and a half later. It is a long process. It also depends on the state you live in.
I have CTD and fibro and am waiting for a hearing. Did they accept your date of disability? I would like to get on Medicare early, since I don't think I'm getting the best health care with Medicaid. Did you get Medicare right away or do you have to wait?
Waiting this year is hell. Right now I'm wondering if I'm going have to sleep in my car until I receive early social security in January. My birthday is in November, but of course I will have to wait two months for my first check. I think they may just want to kill me.
I do have a pro-bono lawyer. I think he only takes expenses.
Oh about living in your car, my house was foreclosed the month before I got my lump sum. I was a month too late. When we bought the house I was well, not sick at all. I had a great job and so did my husband. I got too sick to work in a matter of 2 years. We had held on to that house for SOO long and my husband worked his butt off in order for us to pay when we could, but we were just too late in the end. They said we had 2 months to get out. So on a whim, my husband applied for a transfer to Florida and somehow he got it. We moved to Florida in one month. They sold our house the day we moved. It was so sad, but we had my lump sum and his new job to start fresh. I'd always wanted to live by the beach and now we do. In the end, I said screw that house. Those walls reminded me of so much pain, struggle, and heartache that it was a blessing in disguise. We just had to ACT FAST. lol I still can't believe we did it. It's actually much cheaper to live here than where we came from.
The info Peace was referring to is at the link below.
Evaluation of Fibromyalgia-
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/rulings/di/01/SSR2012-02-di-01.html