No, I'm not an advocate. I've simply put the time in to learn how the system works over the years, which has included learning from other posters here and elsewhere, and by digging in and reading actual SS policy.

New medications and treatments are constantly being developed. If you wish to develop your own treatment plan that is your business, but SS will not consider it acceptable in terms of qualifying for SSD, IMO.

So you had a bad experience with one neurologist. Find another.

"What do your employment records state regarding why you left?

***I don't remember. I think due to health reasons.

In other words, what is the school district's version of your employment in the year prior to your Alleged Onset Date?

^^^^I was on FMLA. . . until the end of the school year. So, I imagine their version is for health reasons since that is what FMLA is usually used for. They knew mine was for medical reasons. They had a note from my shrink.

Did you ever request special accommodations due to your PN before quitting, for example?

^^^^With my mind 'gone' and my feet about the same . . . no special accommodations were requested. Keep in mind I had preexisting mental health conditions that were made worse by my SFN. And, divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure. In three months during the school year, I had lived in three different places. And, my EX set it up for MAX hurt to me for some reason. I was tossed out of my own house unexpectedly. I have no police record. I have never abused my kids or my wife . . . I have NEVER and neither have my friends . . . heard of a person just being tossed out of their own home without warning . . . So . . .my world was (and still is) falling apart . . . Regarding how my EX started the whole drama..."

SS is going to look at your medical records and your employment records, and the adjudicator/ALJ will question if you stopped working due to your physical impairment, your mental impairment, or both. IMO, there is a lack of sufficient treatment for someone with potentially career ending impairments, to the extent needed for SS to approve an SSDI claim in most instances--sometimes approvals happen that are outside the norm.

Your personal issues with regards to your impending divorce, bankruptcy and foreclosure are significant, even without the preexisting issue of BP. As you say, these things exacerbated your Neuropathy. Well, then SS will want to see that you're in therapy to help you deal with those issues, which will hopefully decrease some of your limitations. And perhaps that won't happen, but until you put in the effort, you won't know, and SS won't know the effects a therapist will have on your ability to function. --Had you requested accommodations for your Neuropathy PRIOR to your life imploding, then you would have had documented evidence that your physical impairment was beginning to effect your ability to work.

It is impossible to know how much effort your attorney will put into your case. It's not uncommon for attorneys to wait until shortly before your ALJ hearing to review your file. By that time, it's often too late to get sufficient medical documentation for an approval.

And can I say, even if you weren't applying for SSDI, it would still be appropriate for you to find a new neurologist and a therapist to help you deal with all of these major life stressors that have hit you all at once? If you have to go to multiple providers until you find one that works for you, that's what you have to do.