I am not familiar with your diagnosis but the effects appear to prohibit your your ability to work. I suggest your file a paper application, on-line and phone interviews really have theri downsides. In a paper application your are better able to present your case submit medical and non-medical data including affadvits from people who know you. You can also write a powerful personal statement int he last section.
This is n article I wrote about completing the 2010 application:
"In 2010 the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented a new application which makes it much more difficult for claimants to be approved for benefits. The most dramatic change is that the claimant (you) is not given the opportunity to explain how the limitations of their disability affects their ability to work. The SSA has completely eliminated the questions that gave you an opportunity to explain how your symptoms and conditions affect your working and daily life.

In the 2010 application, the focus and majority of the content is objective facts without any subjective or interpretative opinions from the claimant. You are given five lines to list your “Medical Conditions” and a page of information about “Medical Treatment” for each treating physician with one line to describe what medical conditions were treated and one to line to record what treatment you received. The page also contains a list of tests (like EKG and breathing tests) where you list the date of the test. There are enough pages for five doctors.

The remainder of the application is pretty much the same as the 2006 application. There are 11 sections on the 2010 application including: Section 1 – Information About Disabled Person, Section 2 – Contact who knows about your condition, Section 3 - Medical Conditions, Section 4 – Work Activity, Section 5 - Education and Training, Section 6 – Job History, Section 7 – Medications, Section 8 - Medical Treatment, Section 9 – Other Medical Information, Section 10 – Vocational Rehabilitation and Section 11 – Remarks.

As a result of the new approach, the application’s evaluation process relies on your doctor’s medical records. The worst assumptions you can make are to wait for SSA to request medical records from your doctors and assume your doctors will respond to the Social Security’s request. The best approach is to complete a paper application and submit the medical records with the application. If you apply by phone or on-line you always run the risk your records will not be matched up with the application, at best your application will be delayed.

To compensate for the objective perspective the Social Security Administration has written into the application you must ‘fit in’ you subjective comments and opinions of your symptoms and limitations into the questions on the application.

In the 2010 version, Section 3 lists Medical Conditions which is an opportunity to list your illnesses, injuries and conditions and how they limit your ability to work. It’s possible to write extensive answers to this question in an attachment and expand your answer to include the limitations that interfere with your ability to work.

So, in Section 8, Medical Treatment, it’s critical to answer “What medical conditions were treated or evaluated with the illness, injury or condition and most importantly mention how it limits your ability to work. As an example you’re seeing doctor for “severe back pain and muscles spasms that occur multiple times a day which limits your ability to sit in a chair for more than an hour, medication lessens the pain but doesn’t eliminate the pain.” You could have answered the question with a simple “back pain and muscles spasms” but it does not give the caseworker any idea of the severity, duration or frequency of the problem. Severity, duration and frequency are the three characteristics you want to include in your answer. To answer the question in this manner requires doing an attachment since there is insufficient space on the application for long sentences.

When you answer what treatment did you receive for the above conditions you are ‘forbidden’ to list medications. But, your response needs to include symptoms and limitations just like your answers to what medical conditions were treated.

Many medications have negative side effects that limit your mental or physical ability to work. Medications are listed in Section 7 of the new application and I highly recommend doing an attachment that answers the question; name of medication, name of doctor and reason for the medication but adding a fourth item, drug reactions. So in Section 7 you would write “See attachment 7” that lists the side effects.

It’s natural to resist change and those of you completing the new application won’t know the difference anyway. It’s just that you have to work harder to inform SSDI how your limitations affect your ability to work. My personal opinion is that the 2010 form is less friendly to the claimant and is solely based on the doctors you see and what they say in their office notes. If you have not mentioned limitations or they have not written them down then the caseworker has no idea of how your disability affects you. The only way around this is to incorporate your limitations in your answers.
Hope this helps. Respectfully,
Trudi

It is possible to complete a paper disability report instead of an online disability report, but your local office will convert your paper document to an electronic document and then shred your paper document. If you add alot of narrative to the paper document or create an attachment, that is likely to be scanned in to the electronic file as an extra document. The disability analyst should read that document, but the focus will still be on the disability report. It is important that your treating physician information is provided so your medical records can be reviewed because your limitations have to be supported by objective medical evidence.

I do agree that medical records do not always contain evidence of limitations - the doctor just didn't write down everything you said or you think he can see your limitations and writes it down or makes inferences based on what he recalls from your last visit.

It is true that the new version of the disability report does not ask about functional limitations or medication side effects. Don't know why the change.

obviously the change isnt to favor the claimant.