Post-polio sequelae (also called post polio syndrome, or PPS) are often disabling symptoms that occur in many polio survivors later in life, about 35 years after the initial poliovirus episode. The symptoms may include overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, chronic muscle and joint pain, sleep disorders, as well as difficulty swallowing and breathing.
Post polio sequelae constitute a medically determinable impairment, and certainly can provide the basis for a finding of Social Security disability. See Social Security Ruling 03-1p.
Very serious PPS symptoms may meet medical listing 11.11 at step 3 of Social Security’s sequential evaluation. More often however, the cumulative effects of all of the individual’s impairments, including PPS symptoms, will be assessed in determining that applicant’s residual functional capacity for steps 4 and 5 of the sequential evaluation.
These are unusual disability cases. It is worth seeking out a disability lawyer familiar with post polio syndrome and the way that Social Security evaluates disability claims based upon PPS.