Cpap

[Tower_Rat]

I keep hearing on this board about the cpap and how usually when service connected its 50 percent. Is this true? I have a claim for sleep apnea and I have been using a cpap for quite a long time now and very shortly im supposed to be rated for this being that ive been to the C&P for it. Should I expect 50 percent or less dependent upon the number of my apnea scale. I would think that if you had a 20 on the scale you could get more then 50 percent. Mine is only a 6 which they say is low but, still sleep apnea is evident and been diagnosed and I wear the CPAP at night. The one thing that everyone tells me is not to mess around with it that sleep apnea is a leading cause of problems for people which obviously is true if you stop breathing in your sleep it cant be good. Anybody have any comments about this? and the percentage they usually award and what it is based on?

Thanx

[Vike17]

Tower Rat,

6847 Sleep Apnea Syndromes (Obstructive, Central, Mixed):

Chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention or cor

pulmonale, or; requires tracheostomy.................................................................. 100

Requires use of breathing assistance device such as continuous airway pressure (CPAP)

machine.........................................................................

......................................50

Persistent day-time hypersomnolence ................................................................... 30

Asymptomatic but with documented sleep disorder breathing.................................... 0

Vike 17

[Tower_Rat]

Hey thanx Vike, Ive been wondering what to expect about the C&P because I showed the Dr my diagnosis from the VA for my sleep apnea and he said "oh ok, i see you have sleep apena but, the scale number is fairly low" and then he went into the fact that usually it takes a year to get used to the CPAP and all that stuff. He didnt really act like it was a big deal or anything and then just went on to the next disability after he wrote it all down. Its funny that he would really ask if I was on a CPAP since he had my whole medical file in front of him, I brought my own VA medical file also to clarify or refresh his memory if needed as to what I was being treated for. His C&P's were only for the medical or conditions other then psychological he said. So he looked in my ears nose throat, took my blood pressure, wrote down all my meds and how they effect me. All and all that one only took about 30 minutes. He really didnt do much but, record my meds and told me he would go over my entire medical records after the psychologist got done with them for his C&P so they could see the entire picture of what how the disabilities were effecting me on a daily basis. I guess this was for IU also since I had filed for that at the same time with all my claims. Thankyou again VIKE you know alot about the whole percentage thing and its helping me to understand what I should do if I get low balled. If I could ask where do you find the info for what percentage for different disabilites. I know the GAF scale and what it represents for psychological or mental disabilities but, im definitely a novice when it comes to the physical body impairment percentages such as the high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and esophigitus scales for benefits. I filed all of these secondary to PTSD.

Thanx again

[bubblehead80]

My C&P Examiner sent me to a sleep study, where one month later they gave me my CPAP machine. When I got my rating they didn't service connect me for sleep apnea. When I read why it said my sleep study records never made it there. I am in the process of filing an appeal. The disability ratings is located:

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations

[Tower_Rat]

Thanx for the info, I took a copy of all my med records with me and your right the doc was surprised to see that I had sleep apena record handed to him. Than asked me if I was on cpap or bpap and all the other stuff. He took down the info lets hope it went to the right people to make the decision. Thank you for the electronic listing of codes. It will help quite a bit