First time posting here but have been a frequent lurker for the past 4 months. I first want to start off with a bit of background for some context on my conditions. While serving as a GEOINT Imagery Analyst in South Korea I underwent oral surgery to remove a tooth from my lower right jaw. The operation lasted 3 hours and I was able not given a few shots of novocaine so I was awake the whole time. The first dentist had to call a 2nd dentist over for help after a bit as he felt uncomfortable continuing. It was a lot of pulling and cracking and put a ton of strain on my jaw and neck. 5 days later I had a sever panic attack and went to the emergency room as I thought I was dying. 2 weeks later I was called back to the dentist as they missed one of the tooth roots and I spent another hour being operated on to remove that piece. At the time this all happened I was preparing to go to a tier 1 special mission unit assessment and selection. So I was in peak physical condition and was exercising heavily. I scored 300s on my APFTs several years running and was scoring very high on the new ACFT. I could run and ruck long distance no problem. I am a former infantryman and was also in the Marines as an artillery man so physical fitness has always been a big deal for me. Moving on, after the oral surgeries I began to have a ton of issues. I had serious inflammation throughout my back and neck and was having a lot of difficulty sleeping due to this. Whenever I exercised I would have anxiety and panic attacks. My through felt like it had a big lump in it and it was being squeezed. I had brain fog, dizziness, headaches, and serious fatigue. Sometimes after exercising it would take over a weak for my muscles to recover. My anxiety became so sever that I could hardly do anything, even grocery shopping was too much. I had to tell people I couldn’t come over cuz just the thought of leaving my home, my safe place, caused a lot of anxiety. I was in and out of the doctors office running all kinds of labs and tests to try and figure out what was wrong. Almost everything kept coming back negative. I saw a psychologist numerous times and was prescribed Lexapro which helped but didn’t completely get rid of my anxiety. All of this started in February 2020, over 2 years ago. I still have many of the symptoms, especially after exercising. I am now in the U.S., have been here for over a year now. My PCM referred me to 2 different Rheumatologists and they both concluded I have Fibromyalgia. He therefore initiated my MEB on February 8th of this year. I just completed my C&P exams. I claimed 15 things but the main one is the Fibromyalgia that has deemed me unfit and in need of going through the MEB process. On Friday, 6 May, I saw the DBQ results for my General Exam final got posted to Tricare online. All other DBQs from the dentist, Audiologist, and Psychologist were posted within a few days of seeing them. Those DBQs were good and filled out well. For my General Exam I went to an actual QTC facility. It seemed like the Doctor was a bit overwhelmed and not in the best mood. She quickly went over everything with me and I provided her with my completely filled out questionnaire the VA had sent to me. While examining me another nurse knocked on the door and handed her some paperwork and asked if she could look at it, she was pretty annoyed and snapped at her that she had too much going on and will get to it another time. She told me thank you for your service several times and acted like she cared about what I had going on so I felt all was well. When I saw my DBQ results from her though I was overwhelmed! It seems to me like she rushed through it and put very little info compared to my other DBQs. She added very little from what I provided her in the questionnaire and a lot of what she stated contradicted what I gave her. She basically stated I have no functional loss, only some pain and small reduction in ROM, and that there wasn’t any findings to be able to provide a diagnosis! Another issue I have is on my profile and what they are looking at for me being unfit for duty on the VA forms it states Polyarthropathy of the neck, shoulders, neck, and back. It does not say anything about Fibromyalgia anywhere. Polyarthropathy makes it seem like my issues are solely pain related whereas Fibro consists of a multitude of symptoms such as pain, anxiety, panic, dizziness, brain fog, etc. It is hard to diagnose as there is not a set diagnosis for it, they just have to rule everything else out first and then diagnose you with it. So long story short, I am seeking advice and help on what I should and can do. I fear that with what my DBQ states I will be looking at 0% or return to duty. I know I am not fit to remain in the military. The other day I did a light 30 minute workout and felt horrible for 3 days afterwards. My family and I have already been preparing for getting out. I have been reaching out to places back home for work and have applied for a VA home loan and have been preapproved already. This has already been a long road, over 2 years! I don’t really have money to pay a private attorney. I am therefore reaching out to my fellow service members for any help and guidance you can provide. Thank you in advance!
DBQ Results, Need Help!
- Thread starter RedCurrahee
- Start date
-
- Tags
- anxiety dbq fibro fibromyalgia meb
I forgot to attach the files of what my DBQ says. She stated I have no flare ups when I put that I do on the questionnaire. Under my symptoms she just put neck pain when I stated constant pain, dizziness, anxiety, brain fog, constant fatigue, and headaches. She also did not list anything on how it affects my ability to perform normal functions when I provided her with how it affects me. Check the attached files of what she wrote, she barely put any information on the DBQ. I also forgot to mention above that I went from being very physically fit and crushing my PT tests to hardly being able to exercises now without issues. I only do light exercise such as riding a bike or a slow 1 mile run to keep my health up. This has obviously impacted me a lot and I just want them to realize that and give me a proper diagnosis.
Attachments
You don't have to wait to get this fixed. You can fill out VA Form 21-4138 explaining everything and include a copy of the questionnaire that they had you bring in with the exam. You can also include a letter from your PCM stating the same thing as the questionnaire to bolster your claim. A poorly written DBQ isn't the end all be all. Just challenge it now so you don't have to do a VARR later. Login to VA.gov and upload this evidence and it will be reviewed in addition to the DBQ. If everything states one thing and the DBQ is wrong they will ignore the incorrect information on the DBQ.
Thank you Provis! Very much appreciated! I will do that. I really appreciate your help!
Have you consulted the free soldiers counsel attorney on post?
I just got off the phone with the legal office. I am stationed at MacDill AFB but in the Army so my PEBLO and legal office I go through are at Fort Stuart, GA. The paralegal lady told me that they can’t do anything until I receive the NARSUM from my PEBLO which she said should be within the next week or two. Once I get the NARSUM I need to call legal right away so they can look at it. I’m just blown away at how inaccurate my General Exam DBQ is and it covers the most important thing, my Fibromyalgia, that I’m being looked at for unfit for continued service. I emailed my PEBLO and told him what happened and that I strongly contest the findings of the doctor on my General Exam. Still waiting to hear back from him.
I understand how a DBQ can be way off. I had a VA psychiatrist contractor conduct a routine future exam for my PTSD and he basically ignored my medical notes from another psychiatrist that was from a week earlier. You can always call QTC (or who ever the contract company was) and complain to them that their person was not fully attentive to your exam and that you want another one (and for the record that you called them). Depending on what state you are in, you can record an exam without having to tell the provider. I have recorded all my DBQ appointment (when the conditions allow). You cannot record anything in a VA building, they specifically have a policy to not allow you. I got tired of being screwed over so I started recording my appointments and sending the transcripts in as evidence with my supplemental claims.
Here is an article about one party consent:
Sorry for the rant.
I did this for the Soldier's Council attorney: I wrote a document with all the errors that are in the DBQ and NARSUM and had my medical records marked or pages taken out where the medical notes are to support your claimed conditions. It makes the attorney's job easier because they have multiple cases and will not have time to go through each page of your medical records. They will write up your rebuttal in legal language, so you just have to give them what to write about.
Here is an article about one party consent:
Sorry for the rant.
I did this for the Soldier's Council attorney: I wrote a document with all the errors that are in the DBQ and NARSUM and had my medical records marked or pages taken out where the medical notes are to support your claimed conditions. It makes the attorney's job easier because they have multiple cases and will not have time to go through each page of your medical records. They will write up your rebuttal in legal language, so you just have to give them what to write about.
I appreciate your input. I have heard a lot of bad stories about the QTC exams but it doesn’t really hit you until it happens to you. Thanks for sharing how you prepared your medical documents to help the legal team with your case. I will have to get on that soon. I suspect I will be making an appeal once my NARSUM comes in depending on what it states. I just don’t see it being in my favor with what was put on the DBQ. I compared the other DBQs side by side with my General Exam DBQs and it’s a big difference and obvious little time was put into the General Exam DBQ. It is just wrong that they do this and force veterans to have to go out of their way to get help when it is already a stressful process.
NARSUM is based more on your medical appointments. The DBQ is more for VA ratings. You should be fine especially if you take my previous advice.
Also, remember NARSUM is short for Narrative Summary. its a summary of your conditions which means its a summary of your medical conditions. The DBQ has very little bearing on it. DBQ is an issue for VA ratings but that can be countered and fixed. When you get and read your NARSUM you want to see if they paint a correct condition of your health issues. They will list each condition and state if they believe if they cause you to be medically unfit. They will also state if your condition was due to combat or not. Those 2 findings tend to then be copied by the informal PEB and are important that they are correct.
Thank you for clearing this up for me. I greatly appreciate your input. My PEBLO had me complete the VA Form 21-4138 and send it to him and my VA MSC so they can add it to my MEB. I also sent them my completed questionnaires from the C&P exams to provide further support. My PEBLO stated he would be more than happy to add the 21-4138 to my MEB. Thank you for the advice and help. I am very grateful for this forum and for all the veterans on here helping each other out and looking out for one another.
Will do! Thanks!