IF I OWN MY OWN BUSINESS AND HAVE A DISABLING CONDITION THAT PREVENTS ME FROM TECHNICALLY "DOING WORK" WITHIN MY BUSINESS, AM I ELIGIBLE FOR RECEIVING SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS?

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Severe fibromyalgia? Try for Social Security Disability benefits

Posted on Jun 30, 2010

suffer pain, but you may have also had to fight to get a doctor to acknowledge your suffering and name your condition.

If you are unable to work because your fibromyalgia is severe, you may be able to collect Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. The SSA will look at the following things to determine if you are eligible:

You must earn less than $1,000 per month to qualify as non-working.
Your fibromyalgia symptoms must be so severe that you cannot perform the basic activities required by most jobs – even a sedentary desk job. You must also be unable to perform any work you’ve done in the past (if you can, your claim will be denied).
You must meet medical criteria for impairment, which includes widespread pain for at least five months, pain in 11 of 18 tender point sites (defined by the American College of Rheumatology and the Centers for Disease Control), evidence of stiffness in the morning or after sitting, and fatigue.

If you meet the above criteria, the SSA will review your age, employment history, education level, physical condition, and mental status following their medical-vocational rules to determine if you can in fact work. If not – your claim has a good chance of being approved.

These requirements are pretty stringent. If you have fibromyalgia and need help filling out your claim or appealing a claim denial, please contact our New York Social Security Disability attorneys.