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Preparing for your Chronic Fatigue VA Claims… Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is described by the CDC as a long-term illness which causes many parts of the body to begin to stop working. This can be shown by fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and the inability to perform normal activities. Symptoms of this can come from dizziness, difficulty concentrating, thinking, and pain.
Gulf War Veterans who develop Chronic Fatigue do not have to prove where this illness first arose. A service-based connection is not needed as long as it emerged while you were serving in Southwest Asia. You must also be at least 10% disability to qualify.
What qualifies as Chronic Fatigue?
Chronic fatigue is known as long term loss of energy. These symptoms last 6+ months and must be severe enough to limit the productivity of daily activities. There are many other conditions which can cause fatigue, so there needs to be extensive testing done before chronic fatigue can be diagnosed.
Finally, you must have at least six of the following symptoms present.
- Fever
- Tender lymph nodes
- Muscle aches or weakness
- Sore throat
- Debilitating fatigue lasting 24 hours or more after exercise
- Headaches (different than before fatigue began)
- Joint aches
- Cognitive problems (bad concentration, forgetfulness, confusion)
Gulf War Fatigue
Gulf War Veterans very frequently suffer from fatigue, combined with a long list of other conditions. These disabilities cannot be rated for two separate disabilities, even if there are multiple symptoms present. This is a challenging disability to diagnose and therefore get compensated for, however, if you got diagnosed while in service you have the best chance at getting it service-connected.
Reach out to us if you believe that you could qualify for this. We are experts at getting your symptoms medically connected!
How do I know if I have Chronic Fatigue?
Since symptoms of this can vary from person to person, make sure to get a medical diagnosis in order to successfully determine if Chronic Fatigue is what you suffer from. The medical professional will ask questions about your family history and your all around symptoms to come up with an accurate claim. Make sure that during this, you talk to your doctor about how the symptoms affect your everyday life. CFS is difficult to diagnose because the cause is not definitively known. The CDC has come out with diagnostic criteria which aid in ruling out other causes.
If you have Chronic Fatigue, you will have trouble completing normal everyday tasks. These can be as simple as preparing dinner or getting up in the morning. CFS can appear through flu-like symptoms with a sore throat, fever, headache, and muscle aches. It will also be accompanied by being overwhelming exhausted, where rest is not helpful. This illness is not only something that can affect your health, it can also put I hindrance on your family and personal life.
For treatment, a medical professional will work with you to make your pain and symptoms more manageable so you are able to carry on from day to day life. The treatment methods could be finding ways to manage the symptoms, coping techniques, acupuncture, yoga, antidepressants and other treatment options. Your healthcare provider can work with you to find the best treatment available.
How do I file or VA Disability with Chronic Fatigue?
First, knowing what your symptoms are and how they relate. Do your research with the Board of Veteran Appeals past cases to find out what has been connected by other veterans.
Second, you need to get medical evidence to prove your service connection. Your symptoms mean nothing if we can’t get that nexus. Our company has an incredible team of medical professionals who know the system and what the VA is looking for.
When you’re ready to get started, check us out here.
What rating will I qualify for with CFS?
These are ratings based on once you have diagnosed that you do have chronic fatigue syndrome.
If it is impossible to perform your daily activities = 100%
If you are not completely unable to perform your daily activities but levels are limited to at least half of what they were before = 60%
If symptoms are fairly constant but you can still perform 50%-75% of the normal activity = 40%
If symptoms are fairly constant but you can perform 75% or more daily activities, or if you have 2-4 weeks within the past year of symptoms = 20%
If symptoms are not constant but you have 1-2 weeks within the past year of symtoms – 10%
What does this mean?
For Gulf War Claims, it is highly likely for your claim to be denied based on a low diagnosis from your medical professional. With this being said, just because your CFS claim is denied, doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to receive compensation for Chronic Fatigue. Contact us and we can help you with your next steps.
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About the Author
About VA Claims Insider
VA Claims Insider is an education-based coaching/consulting company. We’re here for disabled veterans exploring eligibility for increased VA disability benefits and who wish to learn more about that process. We also connect veterans with independent medical professionals in our referral network for medical examinations, disability evaluations, and credible independent medical opinions and nexus statements (medical nexus letters) for a wide range of disability conditions.
