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1. What if a claimant has Chron’s Disease, IBS, and/or Colitis? What are the legal or medical considerations that a treating physician should document to help the patient’s case?

The important patient’s symptoms in these areas are described as chronic diarrhea, Malaise, bloody diarrhea, fatigue, anxiety, mucus in stool, kidney problems, loss of appetite, fever, ineffective straining at stool (rectal tenesmus), fatigue, eye problems, weight loss, pain, loss of appetite, dizziness,  bowel obstruction, fatigue, vomiting, weight loss, abdominal distention, embarrassment, fistulas, abdominal pain and cramping, anal fissures, and peripheral arthritis. The clinical findings and objective signs should be identified by your physician who can also properly described the patient to have pain or episodic symptomotology, characterized by the nature, location, frequency, precipitating factors, and severity of patient’s pain as described by the patient. Aspects of such a patient’s impairment are episodic, and can be appropriately described in the nature, precipitating factors, inclusive of taste, smell food, drink severity, frequency and duration of the episodic and/or aspects of symptomotology  by a physician.

Your doctor can also describe the treatment and response including any side effects of medication that may have implications for working, e.g., drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, etc.

Emotional factors can also contribute to the severity of the patient’s symptoms and functional limitations. A doctor can also identify depression, anxiety, somatoform disorder, personality disorder, and other factors, as psychological conditions affected the patient’s physical condition.  A physician can also describe in his/ her report of response forms an opinion as to how during a typical workday the patient would be expected to experience of pain including intestinal pain, discomfort and urge to use the bathroom or other symptoms which would be severe enough to interfere with attention and concentration needed to perform even simple tasks, a very important consideration for your judge in determining how many jobs such a person could do out there in the national economy.

2. Are “environmental restrictions” important to a disability case?

Yes.  If a doctor feels that the patient should avoid exposure to:  extreme cold, extreme heat, wetness, humidity, noise, fumes, odors, dusts, gases, poor ventilation, and hazards (machinery, heights, etc.), it will be important to your case since it limits the places where you may be able to work.