ptsd Citation For Secondarycondition?

[NJ_Devil_Dog]

Hey all,

Just a quick question about which Citation I should use for sleep apnea secondary to PTSD (50%)...

The closest thing I could find was 38CFR3.310 "Proximate Results, Secondary Conditions", is this the regulation I should cite with my claim?

Thanks,

Gerald

[Berta]

It is good to use a citation if you have it but most important is a medical statement from a doctor (VA or otherwise) that it is secondary to a service connected condition.

[john999]

M21 says that certain diseases are so firmly established as secondary to DMII that you don't even have to have a doctor make a nexus statement. Arterioscelorisis is one of these conditions. I filed a claim today for this as secondary to DMII and quoted the M21 citation. This came from the VBM. I will bet the VA still askes me for a nexus to prove the relationship. This is on page 176 of the 2005 VBM.

[NJ_Devil_Dog]

I'm assuming that the sleep apnea is secondary to the PTSD, from the little research I've done on it (I was just recently diagnosed) it would appear that way. Plus it was the VA that recommended the sleep study to find out if I did have sleep apnea because none of the fistful of medications I was taking for sleep were working.

[Guest rickb54]

Sleep apnea can be caused by a number of medical problems.. to include but not limited to being over weight, obeasty, asthma, and COPD. I think what you need to do is have a sleep study done prior to filing a claim. Having a sleep study requires a one night stay at your local va or sleep center clinic. A sleep study is the only way to verify that you have sleep apnea and it is the only way to prove it to the VA. Of course you will still need a statement from a doctor stating that sleep apnea is secondary to PTSD, or any other medical problem that you think may be causing it. ..... Remember A diagnose of sleep study is not valid unless you have had a sleep study.

[NJ_Devil_Dog]

Thanks Rick,

I did have a sleep study done that was paid for by the VA. It was my therapist that recommended the sleep study be done because so many of the meds that he prescribed were losing their efficacy after a short period of time. At on point I was taking 5 seperate meds a night and was still haviing difficulty sleeping/ falling asleep.

The sleep study results were a diagnosis of moderate sleep apnea with a severe REM component; I did't have any REM sleep until 2/3rds of the study was done. I forget how many episodes of apnea I had, but they were numerous. I'm not overweight, I don't drink or smoke. I do have an appointment next week with the VA physician to go over the results of the study (the sleep center recommended CPAP therapy) and I'll ask him to give me a statement saying that it's related to PTSD.

My question still is this, is the citation from 38CFR3.310 "Proximate Results, Secondary Conditions" the correct one to use when filinf the claim?