Originally Posted by LIT LOVE

The only legal way to qualify for SS work credits is by employment or self employment. I don't see how your paying for an annuity has allowed you to continue to pay into SS? SS looks at your whole work history and would have caught this problem. You only have 5 years of eligibility to SSDI after you stop working. Maybe you could confirm your DLI with your attorney? I think it's fine that your DLI is in 2011, but it's important to keep track of these dates.

Does the amended Alleged Onset Date match when you started seeing the psychiatrist? That would make sense. You have medical documentation from 2009. I just couldn't figure out why your attorney chose that date.

Please trust me when I tell you that you need to just relax at the hearing and answer everything to the best of your ability. It might take 5 minutes or it might take 5 hours. I think you do a really good job of hiding your memory problems by just ignoring questions or focusing your attention on something else. It sure seems like you have a reasonable ALJ this time. There's no reason to shut down at the hearing or to not want to answer her questions.

It took an ALJ seeing in person that what I claimed, my doctors claimed, my mother claimed, was true. I can function at a high level but only for short periods of time unfortunately. While I was testifying brain fog hit me and I zoned out. So, while no one at SS ever directly questioned whether I was exaggerating my claim, it took the ALJ seeing the physical effects of my condition (RSD) and the side effects of the meds I'm on to accept my credibility. There was no way I could have planned that and had he spent 5 minutes with me, he wouldn't have seen it.