Hi,

Many have expressed their frustration in trying to get family, friends and doctors to understand your Fibromyalgia.  This course will help you better  communicate your condition but most importantly help convince Social Security you can not work because of Fibro and qualify for disability income,

The root of the communication challenge with Fibromyalgia is most fibro look appear to be  physically ok.  However on the inside are in absolute agony.... :(  suffering from flu like symptoms 24 hour a day 7 days a week with pain that prevents sitting and standing for only minutes at a time ....

To sum it up Fibromyalgia can really control your life and because of the lack of physical evidence others don't understand it and you you going to learn some priceless tips to help you prove it.... 

Despite the fact that Fibromyalgia is now recognized as a debilitating condition by Social Security the misunderstanding still looms large and the experts say that presenting your Social Security disability claim based exclusively or in part can't work at all because of Fibromyalgia has had limited success of being awarded,  

     This is exactly why I have put together this Disability and Fibromyalgia course and if you not convinced that it works just read/listen to some of those that applied the principles on the right side of this page, 
                            
     
To maximized the chances of winning your disability income the first steps are to understand how the medical community and Social Security view Fibromyalgia and then how to present your diagnosis based on the current guidelines,

Yes it is, The American College of Rheumatology recognizes Fibromyalgia as a real medical condition that can be diagnosed and proven to be debilitating based on specific criteria. 

Fibromyalgia often occurs along with other medical conditions such as Lupus, Arthritis, or many member this web site believe there fibro was the result of a major physical injury ..

The Medical community views it to be distinct from from other medical conditions thus treating or curing the symptoms of Lupus or Arthritis in most instances does not guarantee a cure Fibromyalgia.

According to the American College of Rheumatology you may have Fibromyalgia if... 

The diagnostic criteria for Fibromyalgia, according to the American College of Rheumatology, is:
 1.) You have a history of widespread pain that has been present for at least three months. 

Pain is considered to be "widespread" when all of the following are present: pain in both sides of the body, pain above and below the waist,

2.) "axial" skeletal pain (pain of the cervical spine, anterior chest, thoracic spine, or low back), and 3.) pain present in 11 of 18 "tender point sites", identified by the physician’s palpation (light pressing with the hands).

If you meet the above American College of Rheumatology criteria you should be able to get diagnosed with Fibromyalgia..

Although the Social Security is complex there's
just two way they evaluate disability cases:
 
1. Comparing your medical condition to a medical condition described in the Social Security Medical Listing of Impairments (see link below), 

2. There's a common sense way of evaluating the overall effect of your symptoms and your ability to work.
 
Because Social Security currently does not have a "medical listing" for Fibromyalgia, disability claims are based on Fibromyalgia be successfully presenting a case that proves you can not do any job in the United States economic system on a regular and continuous basis" due to your Fibromyalgia related impairments.

Social Security defines "work" as an eight hour a day, five-day week endeavor. As in most Social Security disability claims, the judge's (referred to as “ALJs”) decision really boils down to whether or not he or she believes that you can perform the basic functions of work (sitting, standing, walking, lifting, concentrating, interacting appropriately with people encountered in the workplace, etc.). 

The fact that a you can only perform these basic functions sporadically, but not consistently, is the key ingredient for the large majority of successful Social Security disability claims. 

An example or what this all boils down to is you need to communicate how the Fibromyalgia  impacts many area's of your life inflicting severe pain and flu like symptoms 24 hours a day 7 days a week dictating one's life. 

And as a result you would not be able to meet the basic demands of even nonphysical, low stress jobs.

Another way to think about disability. Imagine the easiest job that exists. Perhaps...

• a ticket taker a movie theatre

• a hand packer

• a surveillance system monitor

• a textile inspector on an assembly line

• a parking lot attendant

• greeter at Wal-Mart

Each of these jobs can be performed sitting down most of the time, in non-pressured surroundings.

Would you be able to perform this job 5 days a week, eight hours a day? It doesn't matter that you have never done this type of work before. It doesn't matter that this type of job would bore you. Nor does it matter that you cannot drive and could not get to a work site.

Despite the fact that you may be saying to you self I qualify a word of caution is that Fibromyalgia cases are sometimes difficult because some Drs and many Social Security judges  don't understand the severity of Fibro.

To Win your claim it critical to build a strong case by documenting your impairments as thoroughly as possible. The goal is to convince even a skeptic
that your impairments prevent you from doing any job in the United States economic system, 

Of course there are no guarantee of victory and your chances of success at the appeals level are better when the medical condition has been thoroughly presented.

The challenge in presenting Fibromyalgia cases is the fact that the diagnosis has, become general and in the opinion of many miss-used. 

Specifically, it seems though "Fibromyalgia" sometimes becomes the diagnosis when doctors have not been able to pin point the source of a patients complaints of pain, thus getting the reputation of of a "catch-all" diagnosis.

This "catch-all" reputation has fueled allot of the skepticism that Social Security disability claims based on Fibromyalgia are sometimes met with.  

The encouraging news is a well documented and presented case to the ALJ in such a way to prove you can not work it is going to maximize your chances for winning. 

1. Communicating your Conditions,

Most seeking Social Security disability make the critical mistake of describing their condition exclusively in terms of how terrible they feel and 
the pain they are in....This is a BIG mistake that will get your application denied... 

Its not that pain and how you feel is an a non issue but people but these complaints of pain must be described specifically in how they limit your ability to do any job, 

For example most with Fibromyalgia

• are not able to sit for more than 20 minutes,

• are not able to stand for more than 30 minutes,

• experience flu like symptoms 24/7

• takes extended period of time to do simple tasks IE:hand preparing dinner, washing dishes, for a dinner, climbing stairs 

• poor sleep patterns,  wake un rested,

Often other medical problems are present with the chronic pain. To prepare your case its crucial that these additional symptoms and complaints be described in detail.

It is suggested you don't try to commit this to memory and document and describe all your symptoms in a daily a pain Journal.  

American College of Rheumatology created awareness of the multiple symptom syndrome in a
study that showed 100% of people with Fibromyalgia also complained of muscle pain.

In addition to this, a large percentage of these in the study described numerous other medical symptoms in addition to pain like. 

• fatigue (96%),

• difficulty sleeping (86%),

• pain in the joints (72%),

• headaches (60%),

• restless legs (56%),

• numbness & tingling in the extremities (52%),

• impaired memory (46%),

• leg cramps (42%),

• decreased concentration (41%),

• nervousness (32%), 

• major" depression (20%)

It's crucial that you describe in detail any symptoms you have in addition to your pain. You will be asked to describe your major symptoms in the SSDI application. 

If you have to go in front of a judge at at hearing   you'll be asked questions designed explain all of your severe medical symptoms. 

It may be that you've become accustom to dealing with symptoms like fatigue, headaches, and  depression and think of them as normal. When  these symptoms could be connected with your Fibromyalgia.

2. It is possible to win your claim with only the  diagnosis of Fibromyalgia from your PCP, but your case is much stronger and stands a better chance if your treated by a specialist in addition to senior primary care doctor . 

So the tip here is get the best treatment possible, and for treating Fibromyalgia a Rheumatologist is appropriate and this treatment is more likely to have a positive impact on your case than treatment from your primary care doctor.

    (For a List of Good Fibro Dr's see link below)

If you are uninsured and need to pay out of pocket
with limited financial resources then inquire with your local Center for Independent Living (CIL) to learn if there are free treatment programs or clinic in your area that you can take advantage of.   Consistent treatment of any kind is better than no treatment. 

(To learn about Free treatment options see CIL link below) 

Depression and Anxiety are some of the many problems a person with Fibromyalgia will often experience after all who is going to be happy about not feeling well and being out of work ....   .
 
If this is you or (you think it may be you) it's  important that these condition be appropriately 
diagnosed and treatment by a mental-health professional such as a counselor, therapist, or psychiatrist because it can strengthen your case,  

My goal in researching fibro and disability and 
providing you this mini course is to give you the confidence that Social Security disability claims for  Fibromyalgia can be won and that you will see the value in completing this course to learn all about how to build a strong case to maximize your chances of winning,

Thanks so very much for putting your faith in me, I won't let you down!

Sincerely, 

Brian Therrien
PS:  To Learn If a Representative Can Help You Win Your Claim Click Here

PSS: Previous Lessons and Audio's Click Here