va claim for sleep apnea

[Kevin]

does anyone know about sleep apnea claims with the va

[dalamar]

I am not exactly sure how it works with the VA, but I would think it would be like any other injury claim...you would have to be able to prove that you developed the condition while on active duty. Here is a link to court documents from a VA case regarding a veterans claim of sleep apnea...

http://www.va.gov/vetapp05/files5/0532127.txt

In the document, if you can get through the legal-ese, they talk about how they were able to approve his claim by going through medical records. That may give you some idea on what info you will need to get your claim through successfully. Good luck!

[snorin747]

If you have sleep apnea, check with your local VA hospital and see if they can get you a CPAP. The waiting list here (American Lake) for the sleep study is about 2 years. I was able to get a CPAP from the VA.

Irregardless of the VA claim, I would contact the local VA medical center and see what they can do for you.

-747

[Hoganflagle]

Kevin;

As stated by the replies, unless you have entries in your med record during your service where you were seen for sleep issues then you are going to have a long road ahead of you convincing the VA that it was "service connected". Highly recommend you Contact the DAV who has representatives that will assist you in your struggle. Not sure what service you were in, but when you transitioned out you should have been seen by a DAV rep to see if you had any issues in your medical record that warranted VA compensation.

What I have learned is that unless a doctor prescribes CPAP as a result of a sleep study then you will not see any immediate compensation from the VA. Example: I had a sleep study done while in and was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. My apnea level was not high enough to warrant CPAP therefore I was awarded a service connection for sleep apnea but rated at 0% disability which is 0 compensation. Should my apnea later on digress where I am prescribed CPAP as a result of my apnea level then I have grounds to request another evaluation from the VA and will likely see an increase in compensation.

As an ironic twist, I was prescribed CPAP by my Pulmonary Dr. due to my severe snoring that somnoplasty and dental devices could not control. This is an unofficial prescription that I cannot use for medical insurance and VA since my current apnea level is not high enough by their standards. The prescription was given to me as a courtesy to stop the snoring that was keeping my wife awake who was keeping me awake.

[sleepingBear]

I've had a very good experience working with the VA, much better than working with private Doc's and all. I had my sleep study done by the private Dr, they said I have moderate OSA, but won't write a script until the results of my second study are in (I'm still waiting they said it would take 4 weeks for the results) I contacted my primary care Dr with the VA and faxed over my first study that shows I have OSA. They walked it to the Sleep clinic in the VA hospital. The next day the VA Dr. called and said that they have written a script for an auto CPAP and will have the DME they work with call me. That was last week and the DME is supposed to be here at 2 today to set me up. My appointment with my private Dr is in March. The VA's RT was very knowledgeable and helpful and she reminded me that if I'm not happy with anything to call her immediately, she said she is my advocate for this and said that she will work with the DME to ensure I'm setup properly. She said it's normal to try several masks and that she wants me to be comfortable. She and i talked about APAP as opposed to CPAP and she felt that my justifications and desires for an APAP were solid and the Dr agreed with me. She was happy that I was learning as much as I could and was reading this forum. (Than you all for all the good information).

To be honest i don't care if they increase my rating as long as they will help me get setup, but that is me. I highly recommend you call the VA.

[Sleepy-eyes]

Kevin,

I'm on CPAP and received my equipment through the VA.

There was never any comment about it being or not being "service related" as with other problems. I was on a waiting list for about 6 months. (Oklahoma City, OK) I did two over-night sleep studies and about 6 weeks later was called in to pick up my machine. No problems.

Where I've had problems is after the issuance of the equipment. No-one at the VA knows anything about it, so they can't answer my questions. My Primary Care Physician even suggested I contact the manufacturer of the equipment when I asked her about how to set the machine to help with my aerophagia. (can you believe that?)

If you suspect you have sleep apnea, just contact them. Tell them you keep falling asleep while driving........................they'll put you on a list real quick!!!!!