Service connected asthma(30%) submitting claim for severe sleep apnea

[Organized_Chaos]

What's up Fellow Vets,

I am new to this site and I wanted to explain my case and get advise.

I was medically discharged from the Army in 2004 due to a diagnosis of asthma (30% disability).  I never had any kind of respiratory problems until I arrived in Germany in 2003.  I started experiencing difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, excessive snoring, dry mouth, fatigue, ect.  After several trips to the doctor and several tests, the Army doctors diagnosed me with having asthma.  I never had asthma so all the symptoms i was experiencing were new to me.  

Fast forward to 2017, I was having trouble with the hormones in my body.  I was experiencing ecessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, memory problems and loud snoring (ask my wife).   After several tests and appointments, it was requested by my doctor that I have a sleep study performed.  I didnt know why I would need this test but reluctantly, I agreed and took the test.  After the test, I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea  with an AHI 77.5.  Moderate is 5 and severe is 10+.  So it turns out that the symptoms i was experiencing while in the army were of both asthma and severe OSA.  The doctors in the Army never even mentioned or tested me for sleep apnea.  I had a DBQ done at the VA Hospital in which i am being treated.  In the DBQ, the Dr states:

a. Describe the history (including onset and course) of the Veteran's sleep disorder condition (brief summary):
Veteran reports excessive daytime fatigue and sleepiness, unrefreshing
sleep ,snoring and frequent awakening. He had a sleep study at Northport VAMC on 8/11/2017
whihc showed severe obstructive sleep apnea with AHI 77.5 events per hour. He had a CPAP titration study on 8/23/2017 which showed
improvement to AHI of 12.9 events per hour.  He just got his CPAP machine yesterday. As of now, he gets about 4
hours of sleep per night. He does not restorative sleep. He does find himself falling asleep during the day.

Does the Veteran's sleep apnea impact his or her ability to work?
[X] Yes [ ] No
If yes, describe impact of the Veteran's sleep apnea, providing one
or
more examples:
he is tired throughout the day. His poor sleep has led to foggy
thinking and poor short term memory.

 

I just went on ebenefits and submitted a claim for sleep apnea and Unemployability.  Do you think i have a valid claim?

[Berta]

There is some medical association of asthma causing sleep apnea:

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20150113/asthma-tied-to-higher-risk-of-sleep-apnea

In this BVA case ,the BVA found that the veteran’s steroid treatments for service connected asthma, had caused the sleep apnea:

ORDER

 

Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to service connected asthma is granted.

https://www.va.gov/vetapp17/files4/1724056.txt

and

"ORDER

Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, as secondary to service-connected asthma, is granted."

https://www.va.gov/vetapp17/files3/1717887.txt

But there are many BVA claims for the same thing that were denied, such as:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp17/files1/1704552.txt

Did the DBQ doctor provide any nexus statement as to the OSA being secondary to the SC asthma?

I think if you get an IME that gives a full medical rationale for the OSA, being tied into the Asthma,as cause, this would be a very valid claim.

But IMEs can be costly and  you might get a C & P examiner who certainly would understand the link, such as in the asthma treatment of steroid situation above, but I think you would need much more evidence of unemployability due to SC to succeed in the TDIU claim. 

If you are treated for the asthma with steroids, any abstracts or medical info from a good internet site might bolster the claim without any IME.

The BVA decision site has many claims for OSA ,some as related to  SC Asthma.Under searches there you might find what evidence you would need, if a C & P doc does not link the OSA as a seondary condition.

Did you specifically claim the OSA as a secondary condition due to the asthma?

It is not impossible to go from 30% to TDIU or 100% , I was able to do that regarding my husband's PTSD rating, 

but the medical evidence I had was quite significant and compelling.

https://www.index.va.gov/search/va/bva.jsp

There are many OSA claims there some , that can be searched as OSA secondary to asthma.

The initial BVA case reveals that steroids had caused a weight gain in the veteran which VA will sometimes blame on the veteran ,so they can deny the OSA that way...due to weight gain...

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Berta
typo