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Hi Curious! Welcome to Friends!


I've had 3 different exams by government-appointed doctors in the past year for my Social Security Disability (SSDI) application. One was by a physical medicine specialist, one was by a general practitioner, and one was by a psychologist.


I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome without pain, so my situation is somewhat different from yours. I can tell you that I walked in there expecting complicated testing, long exams, hair-raising meetings, etc., and I was wrong on all accounts. In each case, the appointments lasted maybe 20-40 minutes (I think). I live in a city, so there are a lot of people applying for SSDI. I found that the places I was sent to were not like regular doctor's offices - they were like SSDI mills. All these doctors do all day is examine SSDI applicants.


In my case, and I think, in most cases (from what I've gathered), the government doctors were relatively incompetent. They asked me a bunch of questions about my symptoms and disability. Then they did very basic testing - for example, the GP checked my reflexes, the psychologist read me a little list I was supposed to remember over time, and the specialist asked me to bend forward, backwards, and side-to-side if I could (I had been sent to the specialist for an old back injury that has nothing to do with my disability...go figure). They're definitely not what I'd call "comprehensive". But, they do their thing and we're required to go. It was all pretty mellow in my case.


Above all, I got the sense that it's important that:


1) your own, personal doctors have good documentation on your disability and that they support your claim in the medical records.


2) you're polite and nice to the government doctors. I brought my partner with me to act as a witness and help me stay calm - being nervous is not helpful, and I tend to get really nervous in those situations.


3) review everything you've written for SSDI in the past before going in to these appointments. It's important that your description of your disability be consistent (even if you're saying, "I can never predict how bad my pain will be, but it's usually like ---- ..." I focused on my disabling symptoms. Always be honest.


4) don't be too much of an optimist when you talk to these people. (I have a tendency to try to paint a rosy picture for people, and I had to remind myself of this before the exams...just tell it like it is.)


Good luck with this! Please let us know how it goes! It's a total headache. Don't expect great medical discoveries or information from these people, but don't expect a nightmare in the exam room, either.