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10 Things You Should Know About Chronic Migraines and Applying for Social Security Disability
February 15th, 2011 - Posted by Diana Lee1. Focus on how your health issues prevent you from working. Social Security does not care how sick you are; rather, they need to know why and how you are prevented from working. Further, you must be unable to perform any work, not just the work you have been doing or have been educated or trained to perform.
2. Kill them with details.
3. Get your doctors on board. One of the biggest obstacles people face in the application process is care providers who do not respond to Social Security Administration inquiries. It is very important that your doctors cooperate with the process. I recommend talking to them early on in the application process to tell them you are applying and find out what you can do to make it easier for them to fulfill their role.
4. Make copies of everything and keep all relevant documents in a file in case you need them later. It’s not uncommon for things to get lost in the process.
5. Start collecting information. You should gather:
- Names, addresses and phone numbers of all doctors who have treated your medical condition.
- Chart numbers and insurance numbers.
- Dates you were seen by your doctors and dates you were treated.
- Names of medications you are taking, the reason you are taking them and the doctor who prescribed them. (Your pharmacy can help you gather this information.)
- Information about medical tests you have had. You will need to know where you were tested, the date of the test and who ordered the test.
- Medical records.
- The jobs you worked in the 15 years before you became disabled, the dates you started and ended your employment in those jobs and the tasks you performed in the positions.
6. Brainstorm your answers to the questions listed on the forms before you start filling them out. It’s just like writing an essay for school: Think about what you want to say before you start trying to write your answer. Make notes to yourself about anything you can think of that seems to relate to the question. Spending some time on your application can greatly improve the quality of details you’ll be able to provide over sitting down and writing whatever comes to mind in that one moment.
7. Ask people who know you well to review your answers and make suggestions of things you might have overlooked.
8. Comply with all deadlines. It can be hard when you’re sick enough to be applying for disability benefits, but it’s a vital part of the application process.
9. Realize the wait time you can expect depends on where you live. It’s not fair, but the backlog of applications varies by location. People in some places may wait many months or even years, while people in other places might wait just a couple of months for a decision on their applications.
10. Consider hiring a lawyer. It is possible to apply for and receive benefits without a lawyer’s assistance, but having help from someone who knows the process well is valuable.
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"I had my first migraine when I was 12. I thought I was going blind, the spots in my vision all grouped together and everything went black. The pain was intense and felt like my head would crack open above my right eye." 
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[...] 10 Things You Should Know About Chronic Migraines and Applying for Social Security Disability [...]
My migraines are getting worse and my headaches are daily. I seem to miss more days than I get to have. I think my doctor has given up on treatment options. We’ve tried Botox nerve blocks hospitalization. What chance do I have at getting disability?
[...] is some great information about applying for social security for chronic migraines: 10 Things You Should Know About Chronic Migraines and Applying for Social Security Disability Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. from → Uncategorized [...]
Without knowing the ins and outs of your situation it’s hard to say whether you’d be eligible for unemployment or disability. However, I would recommend you look into FMLA leave. You can learn more about that here: http://migraine.com/blog/what-are-some-financial-options-for-people-with-migraines-who-are-unable-to-work/
I hope this helps!
Hello, My migraines come at least twice a month. I have been placed on warning because of my absences due to migraines. I have to go 2 more months without any absences or I go to the next level warning. I am wondering what happens if I get fired due to my migraines. Will I be able to get unemployment? Does having the migraines twice a month qualify me for disability? It doesn’t seem so to me. I am thinking if I get fired, I will have to explain this to my next perspective employer, and I don’t think anyone will want to hire me because of this.
Thoughts?
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my note.
-Joe
Hello! Thanks for your questions & comments. Filing for Social Security Disability is unfortunately very inexact. Anything that makes it more difficult for you to hold any kind of job is the kind of thing likely to help your case. So while something like diabetes (hey I’m a diabetic, too!) isn’t thought to interfere much with your ability to hold a job, something like depression can be a very different story.
The important thing is to disclose all conditions and be very specific in describing the ways they limit your ability to hold a job of any kind.
It didn’t take me nearly that long to get approved. Honestly, it probably only took 3-4 months for me to get my answer that I’d been approved. But I was very, very lucky and I live in a state with a low population and low backlog of SSDI cases.
Wishing you lots of luck!
Thanks for the information. I just had my medical exam for Soc Sec Dis. last Sunday and came across your article today. I hope I gave them all the info they needed [wish I had read your article first]. Did you say it took you two years to get it approved? I’m 61 now and I will start pulling my early SS this coming October. Will that interfere with my Disability application? Also when I applied for disability I also included by cardio vascular disease (four stents over the last five years), severe sleep apnea, some back problems (stemming from an auto accident in high school), diabetes and some deepening depression. Do you think those additional issues will increase my chances of being approved? My current migraine situation is 24/7 and I’m on fentynal, percoset and loratabs for the pain. I’ve been under the care of a headache specialist (neurologist) for about three years now and he’s run out of potential interventions-except Botox (which I will be trying later this month). I can’t take any preventive medicines due to my heart issues. Do you think those additional issues will increase my chances of being approved? Suggestions?