Is Fibromyalgia a Disability to Social Security?

Battling Fibromyalgia in Texas and Need Financial Relief?

Fibromyalgia feels like phantom pain haunting your life. Persistent aching, burning or throbbing sensations inexplicably pop up all over your body. It can wear you out—so much that you can no longer do your job.

When health problems keep you from working, Social Security Disability benefits can bring you financial comfort when you need it most.

Securing those benefits, however, is no sure thing. You have to prove to Social Security your condition is severe enough that you can’t work for at least a year. And the government doesn’t just take your word for it.

Social Security only approves about one out of three initial applications in Texas according to recent numbers. Those aren’t good odds.

So is fibromyalgia a disability to Social Security? Fibromyalgia has an extra challenge: Trying to explain a condition when medical experts don’t know the cause.

Social Security does give fibromyalgia sufferers some hope. While it doesn’t include the condition on its list of recognized impairments, it has specific criteria for the fibromyalgia symptoms that can qualify you for benefits.

This is where a skilled Texas disability lawyer can be a real asset. The disability legal team at Morgan Weisbrod can evaluate your case, collect the necessary evidence, and guide you through the application process.

If you’re fighting a Social Security disability denial, we can help you appeal.

We are one of the top disability law firms in Texas when it comes to securing the most benefits for our clients. Let us help relieve some of the burden so you can focus on managing your fibromyalgia.

How to Qualify for Social Security Disability for Fibromyalgia

The symptoms for fibromyalgia are painful and wide-ranging, making it tough to get a diagnosis. The whole process can make you feel even more alone.

The good news is that Social Security made a ruling in 2012 that identifies fibromyalgia as a real medical problem that can qualify you for benefits.

There are two general ways to show you suffer from fibromyalgia and get approved for Social Security Disability:

Testing Tender Points: You must have a history of widespread pain for at least three months, and your doctor must find pain in at least 11 of 18 specific tender points on both sides of your body. These points are on your neck, shoulders, chest, hips, jaw, and lower back.
Compiling Symptoms: You must have the same history of widespread pain AND show repeated signs of six or more other fibromyalgia symptoms. These include:
- Severe fatigue
- Trouble collecting your thoughts, commonly known as “fibro fog”
- Disruptive sleep cycles
- Depression
- Anxiety

Your experience with fibromyalgia must be clearly laid out in your medical history.

Your doctor must also rule out other diseases that could cause your symptoms. Or, if you do have other impairments with significant symptoms, you should include those in your claim, too, or base your claim on them.

The disability attorneys at Morgan Weisbrod are experts in evaluating cases, talking with doctors, and building the strongest arguments to persuade Social Security that your suffering is the real thing.

Don’t go it alone, especially when pain impacts your life every day. It’s OK to ask for help, and our team will even assess your case free of charge.

It costs you nothing to get us on your case unless we win disability benefits for you.

How to Prove Your Fibromyalgia Meets Social Security Disability Eligibility

Trying to get people to understand your fibromyalgia can be frustrating.

Having an experienced disability lawyer to guide you through the Social Security application process can lower your stress and give you a better shot at winning your claim.

The key to any disability case is proving your condition keeps you from working.

Social Security does this by testing your “residual functional capacity,” which is a bureaucratic way to say that they will want to know if there is any work you can still do while living with fibromyalgia.

To show you cannot work, you may need to present medical evidence for some or all of the following:

You have applicable symptoms, and you have kept up with your treatments.
Your doctors have ruled out other, treatable causes for your condition.
Your fibromyalgia frequently disrupts your workday.
Your family and friends have witnessed the impact of your health problems on your quality of life and can provide letters or statements about it.

It’s not easy to jump through all the hoops to get your disability benefits.

You can take some of this worry off your shoulders. If you live in Texas, Morgan and Weisbrod disability lawyers can help ease your mind and the work it takes to get you financial support for a better life.

Talk to Morgan Weisbrod for your free case review.