Social Security Disability for Lupus & Fibromyalgia in Detroit

Lupus and fibromyalgia are the kinds of medical condition that change over time. Physical and mental symptoms might unpredictably wax and wane.

That’s difficult to explain to disability claims examiners.

Your medical records also might be complicated if you went to many different doctors searching for an explanation for your symptoms.

Fibromyalgia, in particular, doesn’t often come with clearly observable, objective medical evidence to prove it is afflicting your body and affecting your ability to work. A diagnosis relies on your reports of how you’re feeling.

That’s a tough hurdle for a Social Security Disability claim.

Social Security requires that a “medically determinable impairment” come with appropriate medical findings.

When your case reaches the level of a hearing with a Social Security administrative law judge, you might find the judge using this lack of objective diagnosis as a way to deny your disability claim for fibromyalgia.

But in 2012, the Social Security Administration (SSA) took a step toward making it easier to qualify for benefits with lupus and fibromyalgia.

It issued a ruling that fibromyalgia may be a medically determinable impairment when it’s established by appropriate medical evidence. The ruling laid out three guidelines:

1. Your “appropriate medical evidence” must include a diagnosis by a licensed physician.
2. Your diagnosis must be consistent with your existing medical records.
3. Your diagnosis must meet the requirements of either the 2010 American College of Rheumatology Preliminary Diagnostic Criteria or the 1990 American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the Classification of Fibromyalgia.

This ruling applies to any adult or child for whom fibromyalgia is an alleged impairment.

The ruling is particularly useful in a disability claim for both lupus and fibromyalgia because it allows an attorney to argue that fibromyalgia is a debilitating impairment along with lupus.

If you’re wondering what your chances are for a successful disability claim, you can get lupus and fibromyalgia disability attorneys to provide an evaluation of your claim without any cost to you.

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FIBROMYALGIA

In a disability claim, your medical records can show you have debilitating forms of fibromyalgia symptoms like these:

• Fatigue
• Pain throughout your body, including multiple tender points
• Problems sleeping
• Problems with blood circulation
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Migraines
• Trouble focusing (sometimes called “fibro fog”)
• Memory problems
• Irritable bowl syndrome
• Interstitial cystitis
• Evidence ruling out that other disorders could be causing your symptoms

LUPUS

For lupus, some of the symptoms you can document for your disability claim overlap with fibromyalgia, and some are more specific to lupus:

• Problems breathing
• Pain in your chest
• Extremities showing skin discoloration
• Fatigue, such as you also get with fibromyalgia
• Fever
• Losing hair
• Headaches, as with fibromyalgia
• Losing weight in an uncontrolled way
• Pain in your joints
• Mental confusion, as with fibromyalgia
• Difficulty focusing and finishing tasks
• Trouble with social interaction
• Sores in your mouth
• Sores in your nose
• Rashes and other skin problems
• Seizures
• Swelling
• Sensitivity to sun

If you’re seeking disability benefits as a result of lupus and fibromyalgia, it’s essential that you see your doctor on a regular basis, so you get a diagnosis that meets the appropriate criteria.

Ongoing medical treatment produces medical records and documentation that are crucial to your claim. Getting consistent care is also a signal to Social Security that your medical conditions are serious, and you are taking them seriously by continuing to seek help.

Your doctor can also complete functional evaluations—showing how your impairments limit your daily activity—from your attorney.

Armed with the proper diagnosis, documented impairments, functional capacity evaluations and Social Security’s 2012 ruling, you have a better chance of success getting disability benefits for lupus and fibromyalgia.

Levine Benjamin fibromyalgia and lupus disability lawyers know how to build this case for you.

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Experienced fibromyalgia disability lawyers can apply the 2012 ruling and all other rules and regulations for Social Security Disability to support your claim.

Your lupus disability attorney knows how to present to Social Security medical problems that get better or worse from day to day—and explain how they prevent you from working (which is the key to qualifying for disability benefits).

An attorney for fibromyalgia disability claims also knows how to provide evidence and confirmation for symptoms that you know you suffer from, but other people can’t easily see or understand.

Fibromyalgia disability claims can be challenging to build on your own. And when you’re already struggling with debilitating health problems and limited energy, applying by yourself is a heavy burden.

Don’t take any chances with this opportunity to get financial support and move on to the next chapter of your life as you cope with lupus and fibromyalgia.

At Levine Benjamin Law Firm, in addition to providing an initial evaluation of your case for free, we won’t charge a fee unless you win Social Security Disability benefits.

We’ve helped more than 80,000 people win benefits since 1964 in Toledo, Traverse City and across Michigan and Ohio.
Let us help you.

From applying to appealing, we help you every step of the way.

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Source: Levine Benjamin Attorney and Partner Gary Bimberg