Getting started in the process. Neck and low spine, shoulder, PTSD and MTBI issues

[SSGP]

Hi all, E-6 13 years in the army, 6 combat rotations. Just starting on my MEB, have my P3 profile, with 4 yes checked blocks, the rest checked as no.
I have been in several over pressure events resulting in seeing stars to being KO'ed from the gunners turret. My MOS is communications, but I have been working in a TS/SCI position for the last half decade. My records of back pain have been rather steady since 2008, now on constant NSAID's, muscle relaxers and have running scripts for narcotics as needed.
I have also had some issues with night terrors to the point that the wife has had to call EMS scared I was having a stroke or other issue.
I am just wondering what to expect to have happen with this, I get several treatments from chiropractic, acupuncture, pain management and physical therapy. I also feel that I am able to work with mental health now that I am not as worried about my clearance, would be great to keep it on the way out, but I have a job path that it is of course helpful to have it, but not critical.
Interesting of note, and none of my Dr's have placed it in my military medical files, but from my primary care provider, to my mental health Dr feel that medical marijuana would provide me with the relief that the Oxycontin would with a massive reduction of side effects. The VA's position on it is that they can not write the scripts for it, but they also can not penalize you as long as you have a script.
Sorry this is so long, but I the main thing I am trying to find out is what is going to be the process for this?
Here is block 8 of my profile.

No running, jumping (including airborne operations). No high impact activity jarring to the neck & spine. Low impact PT (walk, bike, swimming as tolerated by shoulder)ok. No APFT swim d/t chronic shoulder pain. Continued Core strengthening and low impact LE & UE weight training recommended on own. SM meets retention criteria for neck and shoulder pain.

For low back pain: SM has been profiled since 2008 for chronic lower back pain and has been unable to do high impact activity, wear gear, evade direct/indirect fire since then.
He has had multiple treatments to include physical therapy, chiropractics, pain mgt (ESI, SI injections), acupuncture, used multiple medications to include voltaren gel, muscle relaxers, PO NSAIDs, tramadol, TCAs, percocet, valium, gabapentin, lidoderm. He has been compliant in all treatment and is at MRDP. IAW AR40-501 ch3-39h recommend MEB for nonradicular lumbosacral pain.

Now that is just to get the ball rolling correct? It is not touching on the GERD, High BP, or mental issues I have from seeing what you see after almost 6 years down range.
Thanks
SSG P

 

[gsfowler]

The profile reads to the effect that they want to board you out for back pain. (the way it is written would be a low rating from the Army however the percentages come from the VA when they do your compensation and pension evaluation.

Get with a Physiatrist to get evaluated from residuals from mTBI (post concussion syndrome).

Medical marijuana will not happen while you still fall under UCMJ, use it and you risk losing any and all benefits.

 

[SSGP]

I know all too well that medical MJ is a no no until I am not under the UCMJ anymore.
I got with the folks @ mental health and have two docs there, a physiologist and Psychiatrist as well as attending the sleep lab. For now I continue to take the narcotics that are prescribed and when needed do ER visits..
I have several issues that have been worked on for quite a while, I am just glad to get the ball rolling on this and for the help that everyone on here seems to be able to contribute.

From my understanding, this is just what gets the ball rolling, I am making sure that I let all of my medical providers, I am going to 6 specialty clinics right now that I am now in the process of a MEB so they can annotate it properly for that.
My understanding is that it is further in the process that they gather up all of the issues and then decide on the rating.
Of course I have my good and bad days, but even on the good days I can not pick up my just turned 3 year old son and that kills me.

The profile reads to the effect that they want to board you out for back pain. (the way it is written would be a low rating from the Army however the percentages come from the VA when they do your compensation and pension evaluation.

Get with a Physiatrist to get evaluated from residuals from mTBI (post concussion syndrome).

Medical marijuana will not happen while you still fall under UCMJ, use it and you risk losing any and all benefits.

 

[Warrior644]

Hi all, E-6 13 years in the army, 6 combat rotations. Just starting on my MEB, have my P3 profile, with 4 yes checked blocks, the rest checked as no.
I have been in several over pressure events resulting in seeing stars to being KO'ed from the gunners turret. My MOS is communications, but I have been working in a TS/SCI position for the last half decade. My records of back pain have been rather steady since 2008, now on constant NSAID's, muscle relaxers and have running scripts for narcotics as needed.
I have also had some issues with night terrors to the point that the wife has had to call EMS scared I was having a stroke or other issue.
I am just wondering what to expect to have happen with this, I get several treatments from chiropractic, acupuncture, pain management and physical therapy. I also feel that I am able to work with mental health now that I am not as worried about my clearance, would be great to keep it on the way out, but I have a job path that it is of course helpful to have it, but not critical.
Interesting of note, and none of my Dr's have placed it in my military medical files, but from my primary care provider, to my mental health Dr feel that medical marijuana would provide me with the relief that the Oxycontin would with a massive reduction of side effects. The VA's position on it is that they can not write the scripts for it, but they also can not penalize you as long as you have a script.
Sorry this is so long, but I the main thing I am trying to find out is what is going to be the process for this?
Here is block 8 of my profile.

No running, jumping (including airborne operations). No high impact activity jarring to the neck & spine. Low impact PT (walk, bike, swimming as tolerated by shoulder)ok. No APFT swim d/t chronic shoulder pain. Continued Core strengthening and low impact LE & UE weight training recommended on own. SM meets retention criteria for neck and shoulder pain.

For low back pain: SM has been profiled since 2008 for chronic lower back pain and has been unable to do high impact activity, wear gear, evade direct/indirect fire since then.
He has had multiple treatments to include physical therapy, chiropractics, pain mgt (ESI, SI injections), acupuncture, used multiple medications to include voltaren gel, muscle relaxers, PO NSAIDs, tramadol, TCAs, percocet, valium, gabapentin, lidoderm. He has been compliant in all treatment and is at MRDP. IAW AR40-501 ch3-39h recommend MEB for nonradicular lumbosacral pain.

Now that is just to get the ball rolling correct? It is not touching on the GERD, High BP, or mental issues I have from seeing what you see after almost 6 years down range.
Thanks
SSG P

I know all too well that medical MJ is a no no until I am not under the UCMJ anymore.
I got with the folks @ mental health and have two docs there, a physiologist and Psychiatrist as well as attending the sleep lab. For now I continue to take the narcotics that are prescribed and when needed do ER visits..
I have several issues that have been worked on for quite a while, I am just glad to get the ball rolling on this and for the help that everyone on here seems to be able to contribute.

From my understanding, this is just what gets the ball rolling, I am making sure that I let all of my medical providers, I am going to 6 specialty clinics right now that I am now in the process of a MEB so they can annotate it properly for that.
My understanding is that it is further in the process that they gather up all of the issues and then decide on the rating.
Of course I have my good and bad days, but even on the good days I can not pick up my just turned 3 year old son and that kills me.

Welcome to the PEB Forum!

From a procedural viewpoint and to aide with building your DoD IDES knowledgebase, the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is explained in detail as follows:

After referral into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process by your military PCM who initiated a permanent physical profile with PULHES of 3 or 4 in any one category, the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) who has approval authority for DoD IDES MEB referrals shall review the originally PCM-initiated permanent physical profile request.

Upon acceptance into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process, during the MEB Phase is when all of your medical conditions are reviewed to determine which are "medically unacceptable" or "medically acceptable" conditions. The MTF will assign a PEBLO to develop the MEB case file for the MEB phase of the DoD IDES process.

To that extent, the MEB Physician is supposed to review all applicable medical condition(s) associated with a PULHES category of 3 or 4 in the AHLTA EMR database system, and then make an informed objective medical evidence determination to either maintain, down select, or upgrade the specific category code in the PULHES.

Upon approval by the DoD IDES MEB Physician(s) at the MTF of the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile referral, the MEB Physician shall either generate a new permanent physical profile with updated PULHES (most favorable course of action in my opinion) or transpose the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile with PULHES as written (least favorable course of action in my opinion).

In continuation of the DoD IDES MEB process, a Narrative Summary (NARSUM) is dictated after receipt of the DoVA C&P Examination results which outlines in detail all medically unacceptable and medically acceptable conditions.

It's unknown what type of C&P Exam clinician you will get on the day(s) of the evaluation. In my opinion, some DoVA C&P Examination clinicians are good-to-go while others seem not to care about the military service member.

With that said, you may receive good or bad results from either of the aforementioned type of DoVA C&P Exam clinicians; there are no guarantees. Depending on the type of C&P Exam, the clinician will just ask a lot of questions and/or perform a physical evaluation.

If the MEB determines that medically unacceptable conditions exist, then the IDES case file is forward to the PEB for a fit for duty or unfit for duty determination. The MEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 100 calendar days for Active Component (AC) military personnel and 140 calendar days for Reserve Component (RC) military personnel.

If the PEB determines any unfit medical conditions, then the IDES case file is forward to the DoVA D-RAS for ratings of all PEB referred unfitting conditions (e.g., DoD disability rating(s)) and all DoVA claimed conditions. It's important to note that DoD must adopt the DoVA D-RAS rating(s) for each PEB-referred unfitting condition(s).

Upon receipt of the IPEB findings inclusive of DoD and DoVA proposed ratings, the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is generated. The PEBLO has a three day maximum limit to inform you of the IPEB findings and your election options once he/she received your IPEB fitness determination and disability ratings. The PEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 120 calendar days for both AC and RC military personnel, but current timelines are well extended due to the backlog of DoVA disability claims.

When the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is finally signed [e.g. after resolution of a PEB appeal/review and/or an one-time VA Rating Reconsideration (VARR) request, if warranted], then it's forwarded to the Transition Point Processing System (TRANSPOC) II.

Moreover, TRANSPOC II performs transition processing functions in which it generates the DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release from Active Duty or Discharge) document, and schedules the generation of retirement/separation orders from US Military.

In conclusion, the DoD officially published timeline for AC military personnel within the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is 295 calendar days, and RC military personnel is 305 calendar days . But, it's potentially delayed beyond the aforementioned durations due to the massive amounts of backlogged DoVA disability claims.

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!

 

[SSGP]

Thank you so much on that, went though 3 regs last night at work trying to figure it all out.
So the second signature is the acceptance into the DoD IDES, so I would be starting into the MEB phase, that is good since I finally have a doctor that I communicate with well, and wants to take care of me, not just get a paycheck. Sorry I have had some bad experiences with other doctors, but this one is awesome, and has been able to get me all requested treatment.
I am also having things looked at that I was scared about due to my clearance level, every time I attempted to get any help it made it harder and harder retain my clearance. It is on record also that I had sought some help for my adjustments from deployments but at Fort Hood they were so backlogged that the next appointment was after I left for my next deployments..
Another question is about getting into the WTU, but that is for another day.
That is yet another question to ask in another part of the forum, or look it up, because what I do here at the Pentagon is easy, but long 12 hour days or nights with appointments makes it hard and I miss half days all of the time anymore.

Welcome to the PEB Forum!

From a procedural viewpoint and to aide with building your DoD IDES knowledgebase, the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is explained in detail as follows:

After referral into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process by your military PCM who initiated a permanent physical profile with PULHES of 3 or 4 in any one category, the Military Treatment Facility (MTF) who has approval authority for DoD IDES MEB referrals shall review the originally PCM-initiated permanent physical profile request.

Upon acceptance into the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process, during the MEB Phase is when all of your medical conditions are reviewed to determine which are "medically unacceptable" or "medically acceptable" conditions. The MTF will assign a PEBLO to develop the MEB case file for the MEB phase of the DoD IDES process.

To that extent, the MEB Physician is supposed to review all applicable medical condition(s) associated with a PULHES category of 3 or 4 in the AHLTA EMR database system, and then make an informed objective medical evidence determination to either maintain, down select, or upgrade the specific category code in the PULHES.

Upon approval by the DoD IDES MEB Physician(s) at the MTF of the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile referral, the MEB Physician shall either generate a new permanent physical profile with updated PULHES (most favorable course of action in my opinion) or transpose the PCM-initiated permanent physical profile with PULHES as written (least favorable course of action in my opinion).

In continuation of the DoD IDES MEB process, a Narrative Summary (NARSUM) is dictated after receipt of the DoVA C&P Examination results which outlines in detail all medically unacceptable and medically acceptable conditions.

It's unknown what type of C&P Exam clinician you will get on the day(s) of the evaluation. In my opinion, some DoVA C&P Examination clinicians are good-to-go while others seem not to care about the military service member.

With that said, you may receive good or bad results from either of the aforementioned type of DoVA C&P Exam clinicians; there are no guarantees. Depending on the type of C&P Exam, the clinician will just ask a lot of questions and/or perform a physical evaluation.

If the MEB determines that medically unacceptable conditions exist, then the IDES case file is forward to the PEB for a fit for duty or unfit for duty determination. The MEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 100 calendar days for Active Component (AC) military personnel and 140 calendar days for Reserve Component (RC) military personnel.

If the PEB determines any unfit medical conditions, then the IDES case file is forward to the DoVA D-RAS for ratings of all PEB referred unfitting conditions (e.g., DoD disability rating(s)) and all DoVA claimed conditions. It's important to note that DoD must adopt the DoVA D-RAS rating(s) for each PEB-referred unfitting condition(s).

Upon receipt of the IPEB findings inclusive of DoD and DoVA proposed ratings, the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is generated. The PEBLO has a three day maximum limit to inform you of the IPEB findings and your election options once he/she received your IPEB fitness determination and disability ratings. The PEB phase has an officially published DoD timeline of 120 calendar days for both AC and RC military personnel, but current timelines are well extended due to the backlog of DoVA disability claims.

When the DA Form 199 (or similar Service specific document) is finally signed [e.g. after resolution of a PEB appeal/review and/or an one-time VA Rating Reconsideration (VARR) request, if warranted], then it's forwarded to the Transition Point Processing System (TRANSPOC) II.

Moreover, TRANSPOC II performs transition processing functions in which it generates the DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release from Active Duty or Discharge) document, and schedules the generation of retirement/separation orders from US Military.

In conclusion, the DoD officially published timeline for AC military personnel within the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process is 295 calendar days, and RC military personnel is 305 calendar days . But, it's potentially delayed beyond the aforementioned durations due to the massive amounts of backlogged DoVA disability claims.

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!

 

[Warrior644]

Thank you so much on that, went though 3 regs last night at work trying to figure it all out.
So the second signature is the acceptance into the DoD IDES, so I would be starting into the MEB phase, that is good since I finally have a doctor that I communicate with well, and wants to take care of me, not just get a paycheck. Sorry I have had some bad experiences with other doctors, but this one is awesome, and has been able to get me all requested treatment.
I am also having things looked at that I was scared about due to my clearance level, every time I attempted to get any help it made it harder and harder retain my clearance. It is on record also that I had sought some help for my adjustments from deployments but at Fort Hood they were so backlogged that the next appointment was after I left for my next deployments..
Another question is about getting into the WTU, but that is for another day.
That is yet another question to ask in another part of the forum, or look it up, because what I do here at the Pentagon is easy, but long 12 hour days or nights with appointments makes it hard and I miss half days all of the time anymore.

You are most welcome; no worries!

Indeed, please perform a PEB Forum search on WTU eligibility; there's a lot of information out there. Take care!

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!