Social Security Disability for Crohn’s Disease

If you have been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and your condition is so severe you are unable to work, you may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. To receive Social Security disability benefits for Crohn's disease, your condition must meet the SSA's Blue Book listing for IBD.

An autoimmune disease of the gastrointestinal tract, it is one form of Inflammatory Bowel Disorders (IBD). While so people can effectively treat their case of Crohn’s, if your case is debilitating and you have obvious symptoms despite taking prescribed medications, you may meet the eligibility requirements for monthly disability benefits.

Crohn’s sufferers may experience a few or multiple symptoms and their severity can vary significantly. Chronic diarrhea, severe pain, fever, bowel obstructions, fatigue, weight loss, inflammation, vitamin deficiencies, and anemia can significantly impact your day to day activities as well your ability to work. If therapies and medications cannot keep the symptoms under control, your ability to go out in public and handle your daily activities may be severely limited let alone your ability to work.

Yes, the SSA considers severe Crohn's illness to be a critical disability which will anticipate an individual from performing significant work. Within the posting of disabilities distributed by the Social Security Administration, Social Security assesses Crohn's illness beneath inflammatory bowel malady (IBD).

Impacting Your Ability to Work

Crohn’s disease with severe symptoms can be very limiting on your life. You may not be able to stand or sit one position long without having to reposition because of the terrible pain experienced in the abdominal area. Because people with Crohn’s are more likely to get blood clots or DVTs, frequent repositioning is a necessity. The fatigue and fever can make you so tired and unable to concentrate that you are left unable to focus. The weight loss, pain, and anemia can make bending over to lift or reaching above to grasp impossible.

Frequent bathroom visits because of chronic diarrhea make staying in one location long impossible. Because of the diarrhea, you may suffer intense hunger that causes you to be shaky and weak. Inflammation makes the severe pain even worse, which in turn makes moving around as one would normally almost impossible. The intense pain, fatigue, inflammation, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies can make one be at the point of needing to spend much of their time in bed resting.

Limitations for Specific Jobs

You have numerous limitations when it comes to job duties as a sufferer of Crohn’s disease. Because of the chronic diarrhea, you can’t operate heavy equipment, any kind of machinery, be a commercial truck driver, drive a bus, or be a mail carrier or delivery driver because of the necessity to have access to a bathroom quickly.

Medication used to treat Crohn’s, such as painkillers and antibiotics can intensify some symptoms and make you even weaker and tired resulting in the inability to handle manual labor such as construction work or perform rigorous duties of a first responder such as fireman, policeman, or paramedic.

Because of the weakness caused from the unintended weight loss, you can’t work in a manufacturing environment, lift heavy items in a warehouse, or handle big packages in shipping and receiving at a retail store. The chronic diarrhea can impact your ability to do sedentary work because of the frequent restroom trips.

Severe pain, fatigue, fevers, and inflammation can make your mental state attain the point of limited functioning so the confusion can make filing paperwork or maintaining payroll or financial records almost impossible. The severity of the fevers and fatigue can also make you fall asleep quickly and unexpectedly, which means sedentary work is impossible.

Filing a Claim for Social Security Disability Benefits

You have several ways to approach Social Security disability benefits. You can either schedule an appointment to go to your nearest Social Security Administration and start the process in person, or you can call 1-800-772-1213 to start your application over the phone. You can also visit the website, and start the disability benefits process there.

The key to proving your claim and receiving benefits is providing detailed medical records that include test results, past treatment approaches and the results, and physician notes and documentation that show how your restrictions and limitations impact your daily life as well as your ability to work. Because the claims process is complicated and involves multiple steps, you should consult with a disability attorney. While the average claim takes five months for approval and most claims are denied on the first consideration, those who have an attorney are much more likely to be approved for monthly benefits.