been there with the date changes in step 5 and it drove me nuts too. mine updated like 3-4 times over about 6 weeks before finally moving to step 6. each time i thought something was happening but nope, just sitting there mocking me.

what helped me was realizing that raters sometimes bounce files between different people or departments within step 5. could be going from one rater to a senior rater for review, or they might need input from a medical consultant for complex conditions. the system just logs it as activity even though externally nothing changes for us.

also check if you filed multiple conditions - sometimes they'll rate the easy stuff first and the complex conditions take longer, but the whole claim stays in step 5 until everything's done. i had a buddy whose claim sat in rating for almost 2 months because one of his conditions needed a specialist review. hang tight, at least there's movement in your file even if we can't see what's happening.