Why You Should Have Your Own Providers Complete VA DBQ Forms Prior to a TDRL Exam

If you have been placed on the TDRL at the end of your PEB case, then it is imperative that you keep up with your medical care until you have achieved a satisfactory result upon review.  For psychiatric conditions, this means attending therapy at least twice per month and medication management on at least a quarterly basis. For physical conditions, you should see specialty providers on at least a quarterly basis.  In addition, you should have your providers complete VA DBQ forms regarding these conditions prior to your TDRL exam.  Why is this important?  Well, sometimes bad things do happen and you could be seen by the TDRL examiner from Hell who downplays your symptoms. At such times, having prior opinions form your own providers using the same assessment criteria can help you to effectively offset a bad TDRL exam.  However, for their input to be credible, it should be completed prior to the TDRL exam so that it does not appear that you are simply trying to offset a bad exam.