Myofascial Pain Syndrome Disability

You may have fatigue or brain fog, your doctor may have diagnosed you as having a condition known as fibromyalgia or Myofascial pain syndrome. If you have been diagnosed with having fibromyalgia you should immediately apply for Social Security Disability benefits. If your fibromyalgia Social Security Disability claim has been denied, don’t give up, you should appeal the decision and any denial of the Request for Reconsideration.

Don’t be discouraged, it is, unfortunately, very common for fibromyalgia Social Security Disability claims to be denied benefits at the initial and request for reconsideration stage. Many fibromyalgia Social Security Disability claims are won at the Administrative Law Judge level.

The Social Security Administration uses a five step sequential evaluation to evaluate every Social Security Disability claim. At step three of the five step sequential evaluation, Social Security Disability will determine whether or not your medical condition is covered by the “listing of impairments” or blue book manual.

The listing of impairments does not have a listing for fibromyalgia but the Social Security Administration does recognize it as a legitimate and valid medical condition.

More often than not, a fibromyalgia Social Security Disability claim is evaluated at steps four and five of the five step sequential evaluation process. At step four, the Social Security Administration asks whether or not you can return to the lightest job that you have held in the last 15 years. It’s very important that your physicians diagnosis be supported by either laboratory tests or, more commonly, physical examination findings. As part of the support for the diagnosis, your physician will rely on your complaints including pain, fatigue and brain fog. In evaluating whether or not you are capable of returning to the lightest job that you have held in the last 15 years, the Social Security Administration is going to order and review your medical records. If there isn’t any medical support in the records for your symptoms, the Social Security Administration is going to find it very difficult to determine whether or not you are capable of engaging in the lightest job that you have held in the fifteen years. If the support isn’t there, the Social Security Administration is simply going to make a default denial.

If you establish that you can’t return to the lightest job that you have held in the last did fifteen years, the Social Security Administration has the burden at step five of the five step sequential evaluation to determine whether there is a job that exists in the mythical national economy based on your age, education and transferable skills that you might be capable of performing.

Once again, it’s important to develop all the symptoms that you have with fibromyalgia including:

1. Whether you have good days or bad days.
2. The frequency of those good days and bad days.
3. Cognitive problems that you are having including the need to make lists of things that you need to do.
4. Limited stamina and inability to complete a task physically because of your fatigue.
5. Inability to stay on task because you get confused forgetful or just lose your way.

At Cavey and Barrett, we represent Social Security Disability applicants who have fibromyalgia. We routinely submit fibromyalgia residual disability forms to treating physicians in support of Social Security Disability claims and we help develop the medical and vocational evidence that will improve your chances of getting Social Security Disability benefits. It’s helpful to understand how the disability process works and how it is important that your medical records fully support your claim. Give us a call today 727-477-3263.