Will my waiver go through?

[Ah54]

First off, this is not a "should I lie about a medical condition" question. I have made my decision that I am going to be honest.
I want to join the Navy and have been talking to an OSO. I have a high GPA and if I were to take the PT test right this moment I would have a perfect score. I have no run-ins with the law.
HOWEVER when I was younger, about 5 years ago, I was having trouble focusing. On my medical records It says that I might have ADHD or test anxiety.
I have not taken any medication/seen a doctor about this in over 3 years. I am in a very difficult major in which tests are hard, intense, and timed. I have not had any problems finishing on time or achieving high scores.
I think I was part of the over-diagnosing trend that psychiatrists have been known to follow, and all that was wrong with me was that I was not disciplined or motivated.

The bottom line is that in my medical records I have (test) anxiety and ADHD and was prescribed medication for them. My doctor has said I have neither of these anymore.


Please don't give me a "if civilian life gave you anxiety then the navy will drive you insane" answer. I simply want to know if these are waiverable, and if you have any knowledge of someone that has had these waived or denied.


*EDIT* I just went did research and found out that by being off medication/treatment/symptoms for such a long time this CAN BE waived, so I guess all I really am looking for is opinion on what my chances are. Even better, if you know of a similar situation, I would really appreciate if you told me the outcome.




thank you in advance, this is really important to me

 

[Renegade One]

It's a good question…I hope you get the answer you're looking for, because there is far too much of THIS going on:

I think I was part of the over-diagnosing trend that psychiatrists have been known to follow, and all that was wrong with me was that I was not disciplined or motivated.

The answer for my oldest son was to pull him straight out of the public elementary school we'd tried, and re-inserting him back into parochial education. Say what you might, nuns know how to discipline and motivate…no pills required.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

The only one that can give you the yes or no on this answer is the doc who will review your record at N3M, of course this will more than likely be after a psych eval or two, but I would give it a shot.

 

[DIVO]

make sure your med docs say you no longer require medication - or get your doc to write a memo. Also provide grades to prove your grades did not decrease when taken off medication and write a handwritten statement outlining this. The more info you are able to provide at MEPS ahead of time will help eliminate the questions the doc might have.

 

[Ah54]

make sure your med docs say you no longer require medication - or get your doc to write a memo. Also provide grades to prove your grades did not decrease when taken off medication and write a handwritten statement outlining this. The more info you are able to provide at MEPS ahead of time will help eliminate the questions the doc might have.

Thanks Divo. Did you mean to say prove my grades DID or did NOT increase?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

go off meds and grades decrease = bad
go off meds and grades maintain or increase = good

 

[BusyBee604]

Thanks Divo. Did you mean to say prove my grades DID or did NOT increase?

...DID NOT DECREASE...!

Reread it, it's not ambiguous.
BzB

 

[feddoc]

make sure your med docs say you no longer require medication - or get your doc to write a memo. Also provide grades to prove your grades did not decrease when taken off medication and write a handwritten statement outlining this. The more info you are able to provide at MEPS ahead of time will help eliminate the questions the doc might have.

Good info here.

 

[nick2014]

Hi Ah54,

I can tell you from first hand experience you are going to have problems. I'm a college graduate, I scored an overall 77 on my ASVAB (Navy will take anybody with a score of 30 or above), and am currently back in school working towards a BA in IT. I'm 26. I work out 4-5 times a week and I'm in better health now then when I was in high school. So there's a little bit of my educational and physical background. Anyway, I was on anxiety meds 5 yrs ago for roughly 6 months. My first choice was to try to enlist in the ANG. In the initial interview I too decided to be honest and say 'yes' to the question of 'have you ever been on anti depressants or anxiety meds. The recruiter said there shouldn't be an issue because it was over a year ago. I was ok'd to go to MEPS and take the ASVAB in Feb of 2013. About a week after MEPS the requests for documentation of my meds began. First it was just a note from my doctor stating I no longer required anxiety meds etc. Then it was I needed to provide them with a list of Dr. visits and be sure to make notation of which ones pertained to my being on medication. The last request was finally for all my medical forms relating back to when I started meds to now. 11 months later after numerous attempts to get a response from my recruiter I get a brief email that says my waiver was denied. No other details. So I called the office and it turned out my recruiter had been transferred months prior so somebody else had to look into getting me details. Turns out the note on my records said I was denied because I had a long previous history of anxiety medication. Ah what? 6 months is a long history? Needless to say I was not happy. I decided to press on and try the Navy Reserves.

2 weeks ago I met with a recruiter and told him my previous experience. He was shocked the ANG has no real details to pass onto me or even advise me of any other options I might have had. I must admit I felt pretty confident leaving that office. I thought I might actually stand a chance. Anyway, this past Monday he called and said the Navy denied my waiver as well. I asked for specifics and he too could not offer anything other then "I did not meet physical standards." That to me sounds like I have one leg shorter than the other but I digress. Again, another punch in the gut. All I wanted was to know what verbiage in my medical records was possibly causing the denial. Yes, I get it, most of you will say its simply because of the medication. Ok then when my initial paperwork was sent up to MEPS for pre-approval why wasn't I automatically dq'd on the spot? That would have been the sensible thing to do. Would it not? Since this is very important to me I'm not giving up. I'm not doing it for college money. I'm doing it because I want to serve. Period. Tuesday I called and spoke with a Sr. Chief and he is at least going to try and see if he can get me some details. All I want to know is can I provide additional paperwork that may clear things up? Can I appeal? If not can I try to enlist again in 6months? What are my options, if any? But not knowing the specifics is making it difficult to combat it. I can tell you recruiters are not going to be of any assistance. They don't have to be now a days. Processing your type of paperwork takes to much leg work and they have to many qualified candidates that they can process with their eyes closed. If you really want this you are going to have to fight really hard to get it. Don't let them blow you off. Exhaust all your options. At least in the end if they still say no, you know you gave every effort.

I look back and I %100 regret telling them the truth. The whole idea that the military wants honorable recruits blah blah blah is a bunch of horse poop. They want the brand new car off the lot. Not the used one with a few dents and scratches. Doesn't matter how smart or how good of shape you're in. And like I said earlier, they have that choice now thanks to budget cuts and military troop reductions. Most of these kids lie about their medical history and most will likely get away with it. That's the real chap in the a$$. Liars and cheats get ahead while those who tell the truth get left behind. Bottom line, if you don't put it out there they won't find it. If you do, you have to live with the consequences. Maybe you will get lucky and your waiver will be accepted. You never know. I do wish you the best.

 

[LFCFan]

I look back and I %100 regret telling them the truth. The whole idea that the military wants honorable recruits blah blah blah is a bunch of horse poop. They want the brand new car off the lot. Not the used one with a few dents and scratches. Doesn't matter how smart or how good of shape you're in. And like I said earlier, they have that choice now thanks to budget cuts and military troop reductions. Most of these kids lie about their medical history and most will likely get away with it. That's the real chap in the a$$. Liars and cheats get ahead while those who tell the truth get left behind. Bottom line, if you don't put it out there they won't find it. If you do, you have to live with the consequences. Maybe you will get lucky and your waiver will be accepted. You never know. I do wish you the best.

Here is the problem, dude. In addition to medical, you have to talk about anything psych related on your security clearance other than counseling for PTSD or things similar to that. So he will have to talk about ADHD stuff there. Putting down something VERY different on your SF-86 than your medical forms is a quick way to get your ass busted if someone notices that. OR if he lies on both and years from now is being looked at for a program or a post-navy job requiring a polygraph, there will likely be questions about falsifying documents and things of that nature.

You were on anxiety meds, not ADHD meds. Those are a different ball of wax. Further, there could have been other red flags in your records or diagnoses/symptoms that led to your NPQ. Also, it is easier to say "my parents made me do it" than "I, as an adult, went and did it" - I could go on all day about how your situation is different from his.

I know how frustrating it is, that the liars and cheats get ahead. I could have lied about stuff, and I didn't. And it wasn't worth it, because anthros killed my chances of flying in the end. Had I just lied about stuff and then got NPQed anyway, I'd feel really stupid because I would be living with lies that weren't worth telling anyway.

 

[nick2014]

To LFCfan,

Listen "dude" I'm not looking to start a fight. I'm simply offering up some information that may or may not pertain to his situation. The initial post does mention anxiety. And as far as my medical records go, I'm trying to find out what those potential other red flags are. There's no crime in that.

 

[LFCFan]

Listen "dude" I'm not looking to start a fight.

If you come on here and tell people that lying is a good idea, you will get jumped on for it. It sounds like ah54 may have already told his recruiter, but keep in mind that future applicants will see your post and go "hmm...I guess maybe I shouldn't be honest" which is why I replied.

The initial post does mention anxiety.

Test anxiety isn't quite the same thing though. And the idea is that ADHD meds are supposed to help your academic performance and thus the anxiety, vice taking anti-anxiety meds, hence my initial comparison to why his situation might be easier to deal with than yours.

And as far as my medical records go, I'm trying to find out what those potential other red flags are. There's no crime in that.

Right. I'd suggest finding the various waiver guides, most of which should be on here as pdfs. However, it sounds like you are trying to enlist, and in my limited time in the Navy or just doing research beforehand, officers and enlisted are held to different standards. So what might be ok for one might not be for the other. The docs and recruiters on here can explain this in more depth.

 

[reFLYluwasch]

keep in mind that future applicants will see your post and go "hmm...I guess maybe I shouldn't be honest" which is why I replied.

Word. If your gut feeling is to tell the truth, be happy to be part of the rare few in this day and age. I wish you all the best in your journey.

 

[mich313]

My situation was neither anxiety or ADHD related, but I was NPQ after MEPS because of a medication allergy and because I had some issues in high school which resulted in me cutting (about 10 years ago).

I had to provide a lot of information to the Navy, including pictures of myself to show no scarring, a psych eval that I had to pay for out of pocket, character references that covered the timespan of high school to present day, plus more. It took 3 1/2 months, but I received word yesterday that my waivers went through and I am officially PQ.

Every situation is different, but the Navy does provide waivers. I'm incredibly thankful that mine was granted and I can continue my journey to OCS!

Wish you all the best!!