New conditions caused by service related conditions

[nancygail]

Hello!

My daughter and I are working hard on my husband's disability to get it increased as his condition has deteriorated to a point he cannot function normally.  As we're getting different information depending on who we speak to I wondered if I could get some clarification.

He has several conditions that manifested themselves years after his original Medical discharge. A major one being sleep apnea so severe his doctor felt he could have a heart attack anytime. 

For those wanting specifics my husband is 50% service disabled  and was given a medical discharge for conversion disorder in 1988.  he is  also currently being treated for PTSD which is tied to his conversion disorder. His sleep apnea is caused by PTSD symptoms.

Could I get some advice on how we  can get sleep apnea attached to his disability? 

Thank you so much,

Nancy

 

[ShrekTheTank]

So you need an IMO linking the condition one to another!  It sounds like you might have a doctor who will doe this.

As for the rating and how much he has been going down hill you need to ask for an increase and open the Sleep apnea secondary to the PTSD.  

You need to open this claim on Ebenefits or at your VSO before the end of the month or you will miss another month of benefits.  You will have 1 year to complete.

You need to add any other conditions which can be linked secondary to the PTSD.  

If you would share everything SC and what conditions he has now we can help lead you in a good direction.

[Oceanbound]

Others have said that a private sleep clinic test for sleep apnea is in the range of 150+. 

[Buck52]

File a Sleep Apnea claim secondary to his PTSD  You need a qualified Dr to nexus the two.

A diagnoses for sleep apnea and the medical necessitate to use a C-PAP OR BI-PAP MACHINE PRESCRIBE BY THE VA.

[broncovet]

As always, evidence wins claims.  For service connection related to an already sc conditons (secondary service connection) you need 2 things:  (Caluza elements)

1.  Current diagnosis of the claimed condition.

2.  Doc opinion that your current condition is "at least as likely as not" related to your sc condition.  

Get those 2 things documented in your file, and you should eventually get SC for your secondary conditions.  

Is he able to work?  If he is "unable to work due to sc conditions" you should be able to get tdiu.  You can file for unemployability at the same time as your increase.  

[nancygail]

Thank you so much for the info. Sorry for the delay in getting back. Dealing with health issues myself and its slowing me down... my daughter, however, has been diligently working on this. I have more questions which I will add as soon as I get an update from her on where we are at. 

His service connected disability is Conversion Disorder not PTSD. We had no idea what that even was way back then. But his symptoms for PTSD are now life altering. PTSD is only recently listed in his records from his VA therapist. But its a classic case. 

He's not been able to work a normal job since pretty much leaving the AF in 1988. He now has difficulty driving. 

When he was discharged from the military in 88 he was passing out 2 to 3 times a week for almost a decade caused by the incidences in the military... head injury, attacks on base... etc. But we were young and ill informed. We had to fight for the 50% way back when. He also has the severe sleep apnea  documented. He has nightmares, can't sleep, uncontrollable shaking...  and he has severe tinnitus which is logged in his military records which has to be connected as it never was an issue before his injuries. 

Some details on his apnea:

He’s at 80% which is severe. At least 15 times an hour he stops breathing. Three of those times his brain literally does not even send him a signal to breathe.  The doctor said he could have a heart attack at any time. They could not give him any type of meds yet as the psychiatrist had to talk with the sleep doctor first because due to the severity of his type of apnea is the drugs they would normally give him could make it worse.

Side note: His eyes were badly damaged while in the military also however this was not involved in his disability.  He had chemicals spilled in his eyes TWICE. They had to do the full wash thing and take him to the military ER. He had perfect vision till then. Since that time he had to soon get glasses and has had never ending eye problems through the years... tearing... redness... swelling. Just horrible. Not sure if thats something that can be added in or not or if it matters.

 

My husband is a man of honesty and integrity. His military record shows that. Just a good guy that would take a bullet for a stranger. He's always tried to make a living and take care of his family himself. Due to what occured in the military our lives and our children's lives were severely altered as we struggled to survive for so many years and worried if he would even live at times. I have severe anxiety and PTSD from the effects of his condition. We have kids with the same. Long sad story, as many have. But now we're trying to at the very least keep a roof over our heads. We own a house we are in fear of losing as he can not work at all...  we don't need much to live. 

We are gathering buddy letters, records, etc and organizing them into binders. We started his case at the DAV in january. They said all they will do is submit the papers once we gather them. Been trying to find better help with no luck. 

I'll be back with more questions soon. Thank you again for your help. 

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by nancygail

[nancygail]

On 7/24/2019 at 4:07 AM, Buck52 said:

File a Sleep Apnea claim secondary to his PTSD  You need a qualified Dr to nexus the two.

A diagnoses for sleep apnea and the medical necessitate to use a C-PAP OR BI-PAP MACHINE PRESCRIBE BY THE VA.

Some details on his apnea:

He’s at 80% which is severe. At least 15 times an hour he stops breathing. Three of those times his brain literally does not even send him a signal to breathe.  The doctor said he could have a heart attack at any time. They could not give him any type of meds yet as the psychiatrist had to talk with the sleep doctor first because due to the severity of his type of apnea is the drugs they would normally give him could make it worse.