Filing for Social Security Disability with Hyperglycemia
If you are suffering from hyperglycemia to an extent where it limits your ability to function and to engage in meaningful work, then you may qualify for benefits from Social Security.
To qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, you must first have suffered from the disease or a condition that limited their functionality for a period of twelve months, or it should be determined that you will continue to suffer from that disease or condition for a period of twelve months.
Hyperglycemia can lead to various complications in your internal organs, and these complications can leave you unable to sustain meaningful activity to earn a living. Before qualifying for disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will verify that you suffer from any or all of the complications to the extent that you can no longer work.
Therefore, to apply, you would have to provide medical evidence showing that you suffer from hyperglycemia and that it affects you to such an extent that you cannot engage in meaningful activity. Complications due to hyperglycemia may include:
- Retinopathy
- Nephropathy
- Neuropathy
- Hypertension
- Depression
If you have these complications, as listed by the Social Security Administration in the Blue Book, then you may qualify to get benefits.
If the Social Security Administration determines that you indeed suffer the condition, but your complications and symptoms are not included in their list of impairments, then they will carry out a residual functional capacity assessment. This assessment can show that your condition has limited your functioning capacity so much that you cannot engage in the work you used to do, or in any other work that is relevant to your skills and abilities.
Hyperglycemia –Condition and Symptoms
Hyperglycemia is a condition where an individual has excessive amounts of glucose circulating in the blood. Although everyone occasionally experiences high glucose levels in the blood, only when the level is extremely high is the condition considered as hyperglycemia.
Hyperglycemia is caused by diabetes, which results from the body being unable to produce enough insulin or unable to use the insulin it produces properly. Hyperglycemia can also be the result of inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatic cancer, and hyperthyroidism (whereby the thyroid gland is overactive), elevated blood cortisol levels, and tumors that secrete hormones.
Various signs and symptoms occur as a result of hyperglycemia, such as:
- Glucose in the urine
- Increased thirst and frequent need to urinate
- Headaches
- Tiredness
- Blurred vision
- Hunger and concentration problems
Treatment for hyperglycemia varies, depending on the cause. Mild hyperglycemia may not really require medical treatment, but rather a change in lifestyle or a change in diet. Insulin, whether oral or injected, is another method of treatment used for more serious hyperglycemia. The insulin works to stabilize the patient’s blood glucose level.
If hyperglycemia is due to a medical condition, then it is treated by addressing the medical condition that is causing the increase of glucose levels in the blood. Insulin may also be used to control the amount of glucose in the blood during this treatment.
Your Hyperglycemia Disability Case
Most people with hyperglycemia might not be able to get Social Security benefits, because their conditions will usually not be among the list of impairments developed by the Social Security Administration. If you have hyperglycemia and you are seeking disability benefits, it is often necessary to have a disability attorney help you.
A disability attorney will help you prove to the Social Security Administration that you cannot work and will help show that you indeed have reduced productivity and functional capacity. A disability attorney could also help you during an appeal hearing, by showing the effects of your conditions and the various impairments that arise as a result of it, to prove that you deserve to get your disability claim based on hyperglycemia.
A disability attorney can help prove your impairment exists, help show you cannot engage in any work and help you to get what you deserve by law. If you’d like to speak to a disability attorney about your hyperglycemia case, fill out the Free Disability Evaluation form.
