Bear in mind I did not have a Dr. tell me I had Lyme when I was first infected in '85. After a year of nightmares medically, I was given the Fibromyalgia "syndrome" diagnosis. Informed by a dfs social worker I would have to be wheel chair bound to qualify for disability (which I honest to God never heard of, it was my Mom's idea), I didn't try. I kept working for friends when I was able, and then became self employed.
By '92-or '93 when I did get tested and told it was false positives, I kept doing self employment. No one told me I could, or should, pay into my Social Security taxes, so by '95 when I finally got a disability attorney and filed, I had to apply for what they call SSI, because I had no longer been paying in after 1981 when I initially quit to have a baby. SSI is a bugger to deal with, they are super skeptical of everyone.
I was denied. I went through all the appeals and then had to apply again and was denied. Two hearing denials went by and I had given up until I really started breaking down and a social worker not only suggested I try again, she sent someone out to fill the forms out for me. This time I decided to do it without an attorney. They still were not accepting "severe Fibromyalgia" as a disability, but I finally had medical proof and a name to an eye condition that made me borderline blind in that eye.
After 9 years and 3 judicial hearings I finally was awarded SSI disability by a Judge from California sitting in here in Missouri. Helped out by a vocational advocate the court had sent in since I wasn't represented by an attorney. The final straw for them was my eye. Not all the pain and everything else I'd been suffering for all those years. It was a twitchy eye muscle.
My suggestion is, because I don't know that Social Security even yet will award for Fibro OR Lyme, especially not Lyme, is that concentrate on your individual limitations, take whatever medical documentation you can get to attest to your symptoms (not sure about
what to do if you're told it's Psychosomatic) and don't hesitate to fill any of the medications suggested even if you don't take them all, all of the time.
And try not to get too discouraged and take it personal. It's not an easy process for anyone.
Now I need to go back and read what everyone else wrote, lol.
ETA: I wasn't filing just on the Fibro diagnosis. I had medical listings of osteoarthritis, chronic fatique, high blood pressure, and a few other things I'd have to dig the paper work out to remember. I'd also had to have my gall bladder out just prior to my last hearing too.
Post Edited (julymorning) : 9/20/2016 10:26:08 PM (GMT-6)