Making A Case

[panamared1951]

I was diagnoised with severe sleep apnea a few months ago and placed on a c-pap machine. Until that time I had never heard of sleep apnea. I have nothing in my active duty medical records to prove this was a problem from my early years in service. All I was ever told when I asked doctors about the extremely loud and constant snoring my wife complained about was to sleep on my side, raise the head of the bed, or try using multiple pillows.

What if any statements could my family provide that may be considered and accepted by the VA, or is it too late to try and have this problem considered. I have been refered to a Psychiatrist and placed on medication to try and help me over the anxiety attacks I have using the mask or nasal cannula . The sleep disorder physician added another medication to help stop me acting out the dreams I have. This dream acting has resulted in myself and my living companion to take seperate bedrooms. I was frequently hitting, kicking, or due to the snoring keeping her up all hours of the night. It was impossible for her to get any quality rest and she has a very stressful and demanding job.

Any views will be appreciated and feel free to mail me direct please.

Thanks in advance to anyone that gets in touch reference this issue. I live in Savannah GA and if any board members are close to here I would be glad to meet sometime.

Ron Riley

panamared1951@yahoo.com

[Scottyp65]

Ron,

Having gone through a somewhat similar situation I can say that it can be done. I would try to get in touch with your Dr, if possible, and talk about how you asked for advise on your snoring. I also would look back and see if you ever were counseled on being sleepy/sleeping on the job, if it happened. Perhaps there is a rating report which speaks to your being tired? Did you ever deploy or room with someone who complained about your snoring and they asked to be reassigned to another room? Then contact that person and have them write a short and to the point letter saying just that.

On the medical front, do you have high blood pressure? How about acid reflux or orther issues attributed to OSA? Then find a few references in your military medical record (MMR) for eveidence. Then if you can have your Dr make a statement on how the symptoms of OSA were present while you were Active this will help greatly. As I understand it if you can have a Dr say it is at least as likely you had it as not then you are so much more there.

I would also see if your sleep Dr can make a statement on the severity of your OSA and that it took a period of time, such as to be inclusive of your Active duty period, to get to the point you are at today.

This should be a start.

[panamared1951]

Thanks for the reply. I have 30% for heart, stable angina/coronary artery disease they call it, 10 for sinuses, spent 7 years working in altitude chambers, 10 for bilateral tinnitus, 10 for L foot due to 3 surgeries and tendonitis, 10 for lower back, 10 for left shoulder it has a tear and a cyst.

My problem is often I sought medical assistance and nothing was logged in my records. I was in the medical field and so much of the time esp if you worked ER and or flew medical missions like I did ,you just hit the doc on duty with your problems. He took a look and or wrote a script and nothing went in your records. I am sure it is not done that way now at all but back then it happened all the time. I have my complete medical records from induction to retirement physical and everything since then as well. I will surely look for any mention of sleep problems that might be in them.

I have been on meds for acid reflux for years. I had the bends and so many bad sinus attacks and problem clearing my ears in the altitude chamber that I started having anxiety attacks. There is a lot of pressure required at 43,000 feet and it is easy to inhale but hard to exhale. These anxiety attacks had not been a problem until I received the c-pap machine and tried to deal with the constant pressure being forced in you and the force required to exhale. I tried a nasal canula but it is the air being forced in me that triggers the negative reaction I have as bad as the necessary forceful exhaling that is required. The Psy doc put me on some meds to try and help. One medication is supposed to help with the anxiety problem which it does nothing, even after the dosage has been increased 2 times. I take another med and do go to sleep but wake up during the night and have to throw that mask off. It is to the point I have to take the meds to get to sleep and then feel like hell for hours after I wake up.

I have an ultrasound and a Nuclear Medicine procedure for he thyroid that is on the blink again. Medicationw as required in 1987 for it but I was able to discontinue them. My THS level are usually below normal and for the past couple of months all test have beeen real low. That is the reason for the 2 mentioned procedures next week.

I been able to find out if there is a sure way to tell how long a person has had sleep apnea. I stated I had sleep problem and nightmares on my retirement physical but of course the VA found nothing wrong with me in that reagrd.

Thanks again and I will go at this in a slow and steady fashion. My right shoulder is going the same way as the left so says the recent MRI. This shoulder was found to have service connected problems at my initial claims review with no % awarded. With this new info I have I need to request a re-look on this as well I suppose.

Thanks again and be safe.

Ron

[Scottyp65]

Ron,

Correct me if I am wrong, et al, but did you say you mentioned the problems with sleeping at your retirement physical and the Dr/Med folkes found no problems? Did you write this down or did the Dr write it in your MMR? Did they perform any test's and if so what ones? Did you mention it to the VA examiner at your C&P appt?

IF you can show you mentioned it to the Dr's or at teh C&P, if that was a seperate appt, then you have a case for a CUE I would think.

So really scour your records for the retirement issues and the C&P exam. You are allowed to do a Request for you Medical Recordes at the VA and this will include the statements from the examiner.

Edited January 3, 2008 by Scottyp65

[panamared1951]

I was diagnoised with severe sleep apnea a few months ago and placed on a c-pap machine. Until that time I had never heard of sleep apnea. I have nothing in my active duty medical records to prove this was a problem from my early years in service. All I was ever told when I asked doctors about the extremely loud and constant snoring my wife complained about was to sleep on my side, raise the head of the bed, or try using multiple pillows.

What if any statements could my family provide that may be considered and accepted by the VA, or is it too late to try and have this problem considered. I have been refered to a Psychiatrist and placed on medication to try and help me over the anxiety attacks I have using the mask or nasal cannula . The sleep disorder physician added another medication to help stop me acting out the dreams I have. This dream acting has resulted in myself and my living companion to take seperate bedrooms. I was frequently hitting, kicking, or due to the snoring keeping her up all hours of the night. It was impossible for her to get any quality rest and she has a very stressful and demanding job.

Any views will be appreciated and feel free to mail me direct please.

Thanks in advance to anyone that gets in touch reference this issue. I live in Savannah GA and if any board members are close to here I would be glad to meet sometime.

Ron Riley

panamared1951@yahoo.com

[panamared1951]

I was diagnoised with severe sleep apnea a few months ago and placed on a c-pap machine. Until that time I had never heard of sleep apnea. I have nothing in my active duty medical records to prove this was a problem from my early years in service. All I was ever told when I asked doctors about the extremely loud and constant snoring my wife complained about was to sleep on my side, raise the head of the bed, or try using multiple pillows.

What if any statements could my family provide that may be considered and accepted by the VA, or is it too late to try and have this problem considered. I have been refered to a Psychiatrist and placed on medication to try and help me over the anxiety attacks I have using the mask or nasal cannula . The sleep disorder physician added another medication to help stop me acting out the dreams I have. This dream acting has resulted in myself and my living companion to take seperate bedrooms. I was frequently hitting, kicking, or due to the snoring keeping her up all hours of the night. It was impossible for her to get any quality rest and she has a very stressful and demanding job.

Any views will be appreciated and feel free to mail me direct please.

Thanks in advance to anyone that gets in touch reference this issue. I live in Savannah GA and if any board members are close to here I would be glad to meet sometime.

Ron Riley

panamared1951@yahoo.com

[panamared1951]

Hello Scotty:

I do have a copy of the VA Form 2507 where I was seen and evaluated by the VA Psy DR(really a resident) in June 1995. It took from when I retired in March to then to get called in on my claim of sleep disorders and nightmares. It does show I stated I had nightmares, insomnia, anxiety attacks, and fatigue issue for years. I told him I had never been to Mental Health with these issue due to the negative way it was perceived back in those days for anyone in a leadership position to need that kind of help.

The report also shows I did talk to a Mental Health DR in 1991 and he pretty much ruled all my sleep issues on a divorce I had 4 months prior which was not the case at all. All-in-all the report did not do me any justice. I ended up with a GAF score of 75. The resident that interviewed me in closing stated my problem was categorized as a parasomnia disorder presently.

I was able to contact the person I roomed with in the advanced course in 1983 and he said he did remember the constant and loud snoring and the fact that I fell asleep often when he was talking to me. He will write a statement to that affect and a suprise for me the X said she would write one as well. I have not had any dialog with her except for have to issues when the kids were younger.

So that is where it stands and I don't think it looks good on my behalf. It is a wait and see thing .

Good to hear from you again.

Take care

Ron

Correct me if I am wrong, et al, but did you say you mentioned the problems with sleeping at your retirement physical and the Dr/Med folkes found no problems? Did you write this down or did the Dr write it in your MMR? Did they perform any test's and if so what ones? Did you mention it to the VA examiner at your C&P appt?

IF you can show you mentioned it to the Dr's or at teh C&P, if that was a seperate appt, then you have a case for a CUE I would think.

So really scour your records for the retirement issues and the C&P exam. You are allowed to do a Request for you Medical Recordes at the VA and this will include the statements from the examiner.

By the way I would put in a claim for the anxiety issues you mentioned below. I did and it was 10%.