[Tart Cherry Jam]

I am cross-posting this. I think a post in two forums is allowed and I posted in the Insurance and Finances forum.

I applied for SSDI in late 2017 and was approved immediately (I had an attorney but he did not in any way participate: the decision was instant).

My diagnosis is Bipolar I with Psychotic features. I have had 3 sui attempts in history. The latest was in early 2017.

In 2018 I went on Zyprexa and it worked for me for a while and I was able to work.

In 2019 my SSDI ended.

Zyprexa later caused unbearable side effects and I had to go off of it. I am now on Latuda and Thorazine and Gabapentin. They work, but I still feel depressed, am unable to work, am on an approved leave of absence from work. My condition is exacerbated by sleep apnea which I developed after I went off of SSDI. I am now reading online that sleep apnea is not considered a disability by the social security administration. The thing is, I need exorbitant amount of sleep to feel functional and I cannot report to work on time. I once overslept and was late to a meeting with all of my reports where I was supposed to deliver a presentation. They started texting me. I was not hugely late, but enough for them to text me. And it was a ZOOM meeting at 9AM, from home, but I did not hear alarms. The time when before the pandemic I was at work, in the office, at 9, having gotten up at, say, 7, seems to be so distant as if it were from a book of fiction.

In addition to being depressed, I now have high anxiety.

I am writing to see if anybody has been in this situation: first, approved for SSDI, then off of it and thinking you would never need it, but then a relapse and maybe an added diagnosis. Is it possible to get back on SSDI after a period of working?

Thank you!

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I don't know the answer to your question. Sorry.

I just wanted to ask if you've tried provigil or nuvigil? When I was working they saved me. I'd set an alarm to get up and take it, go back to sleep for an hour and then when it started working I got up.]

this is my untrained opinion, but it seems like they'd take a prior round of SSDI that you got off of as a sign you've tried and need back on. But that's just me.

[Tart Cherry Jam]

I am "resistant to Provigil" according to the pdoc, but we are now going to raise the dose from 100 mg (which does nothing) to 200 mg. If that does not work, he will apply for a prior auth for Nuvigil. Nuvigil comes in several dosages, so there would be some period of trying to find what works.

I will try Provigil your way, take it and immediately go back to sleep.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

If you have sleep apnea that may qualify you for patient assistance for nuvigil. It did me several years ago.

[Soupe du jour]

I would think that you could get back on SSDI again, if you qualify. However, if you've been working full time off of it for a while, the application may need to be from scratch. Your chances again certainly depend on your condition, and maybe other factors.

I don't know for sure, but I would think having a severe history of illness (and former disability) would help rather than harm for a new application. For example, a history of work instability and/or multiple hospitalizations would be a stronger factor, than say being "freshly bipolar" with no such history.

[*Beth*]

Yes, I agree with what Soupe posted. I'll add that being in current (as in, this very month) treatment, both for psychiatric medicine and in psychotherapy will (in my experience) increase your chances greatly.

[Tart Cherry Jam]

Yes, I am in treatment, Beth. This even includes specialized sleep psychology treatment CBT-I, which does not resolve thr issues, unfortunately. I will be sure to keep the sleep psychology appointments, though, to retain the record of being seen and trying. Thank you for this reminder.