An Attorney Helped Me Finally Get on Disability

Not Just A Woman's Disease: Hiring A Disability/Social Security Lawyer For Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia: A Complicated Diagnosis

Fibromyalgia is a relatively new disease and widely misunderstood. Its symptoms can mimic other diseases, making diagnosis especially difficult. Doctors are less likely to take female patients at their word. Given that it is primarily diagnosed in women, fibromyalgia patients have struggled to have this devastating illness taken seriously. 

When a patient is diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it can be a relief to finally have a name for the pain and fatigue. But if the disease impacts the life of the patient to the point that they need to be on disability, fibromyalgia can make the patient feel doubly cursed. Fibromyalgia is one of the hardest diseases to receive disability for.

The Burden of Proof

Fibromyalgia comes with a host of symptoms and it shares markers with many other illnesses. There is no lab test that can confirm the presence of the disease; diagnosis is up to the discretion of the doctor. Fibromyalgia can have non-specific and overlapping symptoms such as depression, fatigue, brain fog, pain and tenderness in joints, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, and restless leg syndrome. While the disease may be especially hard to pinpoint because of these factors, there is specific diagnostic criteria, such as passing a pressure point test, where the patient must experience pain in 11 of 18 pressure points on the body.

Because fibromyalgia is so difficult to diagnose and also to prove, a disability claim is usually denied the first time it is filed.

Hiring a Disability/Social Security Lawyer

Hiring a disability lawyer before an initial claim is filed can make all of the difference in whether a claim will be accepted or denied. Disability lawyers can save a patient hours of headaches and may be able to get the patient back payments for social security. A disability lawyer will know exactly what steps to take to get a disability claim approved so that the patient can focus on recovery rather than worrying about living expenses.

Working with a Lawyer

A lawyer can guide the patient through the correct disability process, and also through proper information gathering. A lawyer may also give helpful advice such as what type of records or journals of symptoms should be kept, and also the exact type of doctor or specialist the patient should be seeing to get a proper and irrefutable diagnosis. A lawyer will eliminate all of the guesswork as the patient get ready to file their claim and go to court if necessary.

For more information, contact a business such as Gordon & Pont.