Going after Sleep Apnea again

[thegat]

Hey guys, another question. I'm going after Sleep Apnea again this time through secondary claim from PTSD. Probably should have done it this way to begin with. Rated at 30% for PTSD but going for an increase on that too. Am I wasting my time?

[broncovet]

I agree with GB Army.  I think many people "file for more disabilitiies" to try to ease their "fear of reduction".  It rarely works.  The Va can still reduce you on 2 or more disabilities, just like they can reduce one.  In fact, the "new" disability (if you file for a new one) is easier to reduce than the old ones, because of protections on 5, 10, and 20 years.  

[brokensoldier244th]

Sleep apnea can kill you, even controlled by CPAP. If its documented its a lot easier to get DIC for your dependents. If you are 100% you have to have been 100% for 10 yrs if you pass from a non-SC disability. If its SC then your dependents don't have to deal with the "10 yrs" part.

 You qualify for DIC 3 ways:

• Service members who died while on active duty, active duty for training or inactive

duty training,

OR

•  Veterans who died as a result of a service-connected injury or disease, OR
• Veterans who did not die as a result of a service-connected injury or disease, but  were totally disabled by a service-connected disability:

o For at least 10 years before death, OR
o Since their release from active duty and for at least five years before death, OR
o For at least one year before death, if they were a former prisoner of war and
died after Sept. 30, 1999.

[Buck52]

brokensolider244th

yes you are correct  this is why I don't file for the S.A. CLAIM

NO MORE $ IN IT FOR ME AND I DO HAVE MY 100% SERVICE CONNECTED CONDITION/TOTAL DISABILITY MORE THAN 10 CONSECUTIVE YEARS.

AND NOT WAIST OTHER VETERANS TIME OR CLOUD UP THE CLAIMS SYSTEM MORE THAN IT IS.

[Buck52]

WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE OP TOPIC AND HELP HIM WITH HIS QUESTIONS.  

My post was to show a veteran with PTSD  file for the OSA AS A SECONDARY CLAIM  TO HIS PTSD, if he has been diagnose with it ,

  it could be proven medically that now that he is taking PTSD Medications   that can be related to or the cause of his sleep apnea  and he can file secondary   especially if he gets an increase on his PTSD,  that may mean more medications and  ASK a Dr to render his/her opinion that his now increase PTSD and the medications prescribe by the VA is likely as not related to or caused by his PTSD /MEDS 

Note the C-pap machine must have a Dr to state it is medically necessary for this Veteran to use the C-pap machine nightly  or for when he sleeps,

to file a secondary claim for OSA /caused by or likely as not related to his PTSD

[USMC_VET]

On 9/5/2020 at 3:32 PM, thegat said:

Hey guys, another question. I'm going after Sleep Apnea again this time through secondary claim from PTSD. Probably should have done it this way to begin with. Rated at 30% for PTSD but going for an increase on that too. Am I wasting my time?

As has been stated there are multiple ways of getting sleep apnea SC'd. Direct and secondary.  It shoudl go without saying on these forum boards, but this is only my personal experience and not a absolute gospel truth on the subject.

How to get OSA SC'd

Direct:

1)If you have a OSA diagnosis in your service medical records it should be a pretty easy to service connect. If you have "sleep issues" or "lethargy" (tired during the day) in your med records with a good IMO you could make a good direct claim.

2) If you were diagnosed with OSA within one year of discharge the VA allows for direct service connection same as though you were diagnosed with it while you were still in uniform.  

Secondary:

If like most vets you were diagnosed after you left service its a harder road to go down to get SC'd, but not impossible.

you can get secondary for one of two reasons caused by or aggravated by.

In the case of OSA in my experience its hard to find a SC'd condition you have that you can prove CAUSED OSA. Its not impossible, im not a doctor and i dont have all the knowledge of VA law/history to make that pronouncement.  You can make a case perhaps relating to obesity if your medication causes weight gain or a mental condition causes binge eating but its a stretch.

The way its most often SC'd secondary is aggravation. now my experience is with PTSD and i see youre SC'd for that as well.  

I made some crappy OSA claims in the past but this spring went about it the right way. I got my sworn statements together, along with my VA medical evidence showing a dx and cpap order and then got a IMO that showed my PTSD nightmares caused an aggravation of my symptoms by inhibiting the effectiveness of my CPAP.  I rip off the mask at night, most of the time unkowingly and my nightmares cause me to have issues with keeping it on tight or on long.  

With all of this evidence I was able to get the trifecta. I had a current diagnosis, i had a SC'd disability and the IMO provided the nexus between them.  I used Dr. Anaise and paid $1500 for it. yes its expensive, but you need to make that decision for yourself whether its worth it.  add up what the backpay + monthly addition will be and see if its worth it to spend the money.  

Remember as well that if you were already denied OSA you can just do a Intent to file now and file later and get the backpay back to the ITF. youll need to file a Notice of Disagreement if your under a year from denial (and then youll get the backpay) and if youre over a year youll need to file a supplemental claim. if its over a year and youre going supplemental claim route youll need to have NEW evidence to submit which the IMO would fit the bill. if you just file a supplemental claim with no new evidence they likely wont consider it.  The pain in the butt, backpay wise with the supplemental claim is that you need to have your evidence together when you send it in and youll only get retro back to the day that the claim was received.

 

Hope that helps

[ShuMan]

1. Have you been receiving treatment for your PTSD?

2. The most common way to link sleep apnea to PTSD is through the PTSD causing obesity, then that obesity causes the sleep apnea. Even with an IMO it is still a difficult claim to win but not impossible. I am service connected sleep apnea secondary to MDD. It take a bit of a battle to get it though.