Tips on increasing your chances of winning your Social Security Disability claim

1. Keep a diary of symptoms. Have your family keep a diary too in order to show the Social Security Disability Judge how your condition has impacted your life. A form for this diary can be found here.

2. If you are on medications that affect your concentration...prove it. How? By showing documentation from the bank if you bounced checks (remove personal identifying information on the checking statement) or if you left the water running and your water bill was very high one month, save the bills. If you forgot to turn off the stove and burned a pan... save the pan.

3. Keep your doctor's appointments. Doctors get upset if you don’t show or are late and may refuse to treat you. This can make it appear as though you are not cooperating. If you can't make the appointment because you can't afford it, call ahead AND send a letter to the doctor so he understands why.

4. Treat for your condition. Even if you don’t have funds to pay for a doctor, contact the local health department. It may require multiple phone calls to secure the appointment but without medical documentation of treatment it’s very difficult to prevail.

5. Don’t exaggerate. If you admit to the doctor you can perform certain functions then he or she is more likely to believe you if you indicate you can’t perform another activity.

6. Fill out a functional capacities evaluation form (available upon request from our firm) and ask your doctor to complete one.

7. Check out the side effects of the combinations of your own medications (We do that for our clients) by logging on to epcrates.com

8. If you find that the combination of medications causes additional disabilities, print the document from the website and take it to your doctor.

9. Tell your doctor about all your symptoms. If you are too shy or embarrassed, bring along a family member to help.

10. Take notes when you meet with your doctor. This is helpful if you have problems concentrating or are depressed (which can cause concentration problems).