[Tips for Sleep Apnea Secondary to PTSD/Mental Disorder Claims]

Can the VA Group OSA to Mental Health Disorder or will this always be secondary to Mental Health? I think the VA is trying to group my Sleep Apnea with my Anxiety, Insomnia, and Somatic Symtpom all as one claim... Thats 4 seperate issues combined..... I go in for a C&P Exam in 2 weeks for another phsyc eval I believe to see if they can tie Sleep apnea to my mental health. 

[Sleep Apnea grouped with Mental disorder???]

53 minutes ago, Buck52 said:

You quoted above

''I did do a seperate claim for Sleep Apnea secondary to my lower back.''

''I did not file Sleep Apnea secondary to my MH conditions ''

which is it?  are you sure its not the secondary conditions to your MH Conditions?

CAN YOU PUT A REDACTED COPY OF THE VA REASON AND BASES OF THEIR DECISION?(BLACK OUT PERSONAL INFO)

  We can only assume you did have a sleep study   private or VA. Other wise you would have been denied on the S.A.

IF WE KNOW WHY THEY RATING YOU TO ''INCLUDE THE SLEEP APNEA CLAIM .... THAT WILL HELP US. HELP YOU.

WE NEED TO KNOW WHY THEY MADE THIS DECISION? TO INCLUDE THE S.A  if you specifically filed a claim  SEPARATE for the S.A  as secondary to an already service connected condition.

Have you tried to call IRIS and ask how or why the included the SLEEP APNEA CLAIM? or the status of this claim.

one more thing? did you or did a VSO file this sleep apnea claim? if a VSO filed this  you need to check with him/her if it was filed seperate.

if it was not  then the VA decision was to include it with your MH Conditions   ''that's how they screw up trying to maximize our ratings''

Thanks Buck, I will get a screen shot of that updated later tonight. When you say IRIS, is this the 1-800 VA#?..

Also I responded about this but the OSA was actually filed secondary to my lower back, and somatic symptom. So im assuming the VA saw this and quickly grouped with the mental health conditions. 

My question now, should I even go through the 3-4 month appeal process or just file a new claim with OSA secondary to my lower back. 

[Sleep Apnea grouped with Mental disorder???]

Alright I followed up with my VSO and we did actually do OSA secondary to my Back AND MH. VA saw that and quickly grouped it with MH conditions. 

 

My sleep study was done by the VA shortly after I separated. I think my best bet based on the comments above would be to file a new OSA Secondary only to my lower back. 

[Sleep Apnea grouped with Mental disorder???]

2 hours ago, brokensoldier244th said:

50% is all you can rate for sleep apnea. GAD would usually be under MH, but if they didn't reduce your rating, what is there to worry about? Did you claim a mental health issue specifically, or do you already have a rating for MH? Insomnia can contribute to anxiety- knowing that you stop breathing in the middle of the night is pretty anxiety causing. I know it was for my wife when she would wake up in the middle of the night to poke me so I would start breathing again. Somatic symptoms is sleep related, too- do you have night terrors? That might be why its grouped with generalized anxiety, too- just a thought. 

I already had the MH disorder service connected. I did a claim for Sleep Apnea secondary to my lower back.. The VA decided to group my Sleep Apnea with the MH issues.. I really dont know why my MH claim was even brought up with this claim..

[Sleep Apnea grouped with Mental disorder???]

30 minutes ago, Buck52 said:

courage 2 quoted

''I filed a new claim for sleep apnea secondary to my lower back which pretty much has not allowed me to continue a consistent workout routine which has led to my obesity and making my sleep apnea severe. My claim for sleep apnea came back and it looks like they grouped Sleep Apnea with the other 3 claims for somatic symptom, generalized anxiety, and insomnia.''

Did you file a separate claim for the secondary SleepApnea ?

You need to file a separate claim for the SECONDARY S.A. CLAIM,  OTHER WISE IF YOU ASK FOR IN AN INCREASE ON THESE OTHERS AND ASK THAT THE S.A. BE AWARDED DUE TO THE SECONDARY CONDITIONS .  THEY WILL LOW BALL YOU EVERY TIME.

Broncovet is correct Appeal the secondary  sleep apnea claim   and file it seperate  file it secondary to your low back condition  you need a Sleep Dr to opinion that your  issues with your service connected Back is related to or the cause of your Sleep apnea  but a qualified Dr needs to opien that.  you get this evidence then submit it...let them figure this out at the R.O.

I did do a seperate claim for Sleep Apnea secondary to my lower back.. I have no idea why they grouped the Sleep Apnea with my Mental Health claim. I even had a Dr sign off on my Nexus and did a DBQ for my Sleep Apnea service connected to my Lower Back.. 

I did not file Sleep Apnea secondary to my MH conditions the VA just decided to group this together.. If I do the appeal, I am sure it will be an uphill battle.... Should I just file another claim for Sleep Apnea Secondary to my lower back? Or should I fight this with an appeal?  I feel they are trying to low ball me but maybe I am missing something.

[High Level Review Closed]

On 11/22/2019 at 7:18 AM, courage2 said:

Thanks all.. They mailed the letter out on 6 November and still nothing in the mail.. I had to wait the 10 business days before I could request another letter. I did that two days ago so we will see if I ever get my decision letter. I ever called to have them fax it to a work fax and still... nothing. kind of typical I imagine. We will see. I will try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for the advice. We will see if this High Level Review is worth all the delay and effort. 

So my claim came back and I'm so confused on how the VA could group sleep apnea with my generalized anxiety, insomnia, and somatic symptom disorder??? Should I appeal this ? 

[Sleep Apnea grouped with Mental disorder???]

I have always been service connected for Generalized Anxiety disorder with Insomnia and Somatic Symptom Disorder. The VA grouped 3 seperate claims as one pretty much. 

 

I filed a new claim for sleep apnea secondary to my lower back which pretty much has not allowed me to continue a consistent workout routine which has led to my obesity and making my sleep apnea severe. My claim for sleep apnea came back and it looks like they grouped Sleep Apnea with the other 3 claims for somatic symptom, generalized anxiety, and insomnia. 

 

 

My question for the group is this something I should appeal? Seems like the VA is trying to group more of my disabilities into one claim this reducing my rating.

 

 

What are your thoughts ? 

[High Level Review Closed]

Thanks all.. They mailed the letter out on 6 November and still nothing in the mail.. I had to wait the 10 business days before I could request another letter. I did that two days ago so we will see if I ever get my decision letter. I ever called to have them fax it to a work fax and still... nothing. kind of typical I imagine. We will see. I will try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for the advice. We will see if this High Level Review is worth all the delay and effort. 

[High Level Review Closed]

On 11/7/2019 at 2:23 PM, Vync said:

Welcome to Hadit!

For open claims, stick with va.gov. I tried to find mine in ebenefits recently and it just referred me to va.gov anyway.

For the VA to admit on their own that an error was found could be either good or bad. It's a sign that you were likely appealing a claim in some way. There's really no solid way to assume what that might mean short of receiving and reading the decision letter. They will explain the error that was found how they came to their decision under the REASONS AND BASES section. If you are already getting VA disability or pension payments, check your bank account every few days to see if an unexpected payment from US Treasury magically appears. If it does, that means you won some retro money. Sometimes the money arrives before you get the letter, but it can be the other way around. 

Even after you get the letter, it is worth it to carefully read the decision and double-check to ensure it is accurate. I advise comparing it with the rating criteria online and any C&P or DBQ exam. Sometimes the person at the regional office doesn't read the C&P or DBQ correctly. I had that happen and had to appeal to get them to correct it and award the proper rating.

Thank you, that was really informative. To answer the previous question, all together it took the VA ~30 Days to give me a phone call on my HLR. The lady that called quickly identified the error (They had my service dates all out of wack probably using another veterans data). Once she realized the mistake, she quickly pushed this to the supplemental lane. About a week later from my phone call I noticed the VA.Gov website stated " The VA corrected an error and made a new decision". Nothing updated on ebene nor do I see any retro pay. I honestly dont see how this claim could get rejected, I have a doctor sign off on my DBQ, Nexus Letter, and Buddy statements. Who knows, we will see what the magic letter says. 

 

[High Level Review Closed]

I have been trying to get my Sleep Apnea service connected for months. I did a high level review from my C&P case and they just updated va.gov with a status of 

VA Identified an error that must be corrected

VA corrected an error and made a new decision

 Current status is the VBA made a decision, read decision letter for more details.

 

It says currently on review is "Compensation Issue".

 

 

Ebenefits shows no change but should I give it another day or two before I decide that they denied my appeal? 



Thanks!