Does sleep apnea patients qualify for Disability

jwongy wrote:Forgive the bluntness, my situation looks bleak. I have multiple medical conditions all which may be fatal.

To list them a) I had an aortic dissection type B which is growing larger b) pacemaker implanted c) cpap machine for sleep apnea. Once and for all if I have been using cpap machine for over a year now and my sleep apnea is still there (logic, if one is still using cpap machine that means one has sleep apnea) isn't that a disability? As in social security disability. How about the sum total of it all?

Disability is less about what is wrong with us, but rather how those things affect our ability perform. And yes, the sum total comes into play. I have several health conditions, and how they interact made me qualify for disability when either one alone would have not. Just for an example, my daytime sleepiness is only a factor if the number of sleep attacks per day hinder my job performance. My sleepless nights matter only if the number of times I miss work pass their threshold. My edema wouldn't keep me from performing computer work, but my legs need to be propped up every time I'm sitting and that can be hard to accomodate with a desk job. Allowing my legs to swell can have a cascading effect with my diagnosis of enlarged heart and at worst cause another event of fluid accumulating in my chest and ending up in the hospital. And I can't sit long in a regular chair due to my back, so I need a recliner if sitting for any length of time. But I can't do a standing job because of the disk issues at several levels and arthritis along with knee issues. My periodic limb movement disorder wouldn't make me disabled, but the damaged knees from the wild flailing matter. My lung disease doesn't keep me from working, but prevents me from doing duties that require much physical activity. Sitting through the hearing before a judge gave me new insight as to how they determine disabiity. The criteria is very specific as to what hours and days of compromised function qualify one to meet disability criteria. A skilled attorney could coach one how to most favorably answer questions. My attorney told me to just answer the questions and it would turn out ok. And it didn't hurt that I fell asleep during the hearing.

jwongy wrote:Once and for all if I have been using cpap machine for over a year now and my sleep apnea is still there (logic, if one is still using cpap machine that means one has sleep apnea) isn't that a disability?
As in social security disability.

No more than the fact that I'm still using medication to control my depression and hypothyroidism constitutes a disability. These conditions are still there (as is my sleep apnea), but they are *treatable* and in no way inhibit my ability to work.

How about the sum total of it all?

I know gainfully employed people with pacemakers. It is my (albeit limited) understanding that the vast majority of Type B dissections are not fatal and are, again, treatable.

Granted, there are of course cases of each that are significant enough to limit an individual's ability to function, and multiple comorbid conditions may complicate matters, but something tells me that's not the case with you. I get the distinct impression you're looking for sympathy and/or someone to tell you not to bother continuing with CPAP.

RicaLynn wrote:

jwongy wrote:Once and for all if I have been using cpap machine for over a year now and my sleep apnea is still there (logic, if one is still using cpap machine that means one has sleep apnea) isn't that a disability?
As in social security disability.

No more than the fact that I'm still using medication to control my depression and hypothyroidism constitutes a disability. These conditions are still there (as is my sleep apnea), but they are *treatable* and in no way inhibit my ability to work.

How about the sum total of it all?

I know gainfully employed people with pacemakers. It is my (albeit limited) understanding that the vast majority of Type B dissections are not fatal and are, again, treatable.

Granted, there are of course cases of each that are significant enough to limit an individual's ability to function, and multiple comorbid conditions may complicate matters, but something tells me that's not the case with you. I get the distinct impression you're looking for sympathy and/or someone to tell you not to bother continuing with CPAP.

They aren't looking for Sympathy, they are looking to climb up on the Government Sow, for a Free Ride and Drink!
The Sow is drying up to the tune of 17 trillion dollars in debt, Due to Debt, Crooked Politicians, and Corp Greed, and people too lazy to pull their own weight, looking for a Free Ride.

You don't require a Government handout for a hangnail or being too lazy to wear your XPAP and make the Air work for you. Jim

xxyzx wrote:

Goofproof wrote:

RicaLynn wrote:

jwongy wrote:Once and for all if I have been using cpap machine for over a year now and my sleep apnea is still there (logic, if one is still using cpap machine that means one has sleep apnea) isn't that a disability?
As in social security disability.

No more than the fact that I'm still using medication to control my depression and hypothyroidism constitutes a disability. These conditions are still there (as is my sleep apnea), but they are *treatable* and in no way inhibit my ability to work.

How about the sum total of it all?

I know gainfully employed people with pacemakers. It is my (albeit limited) understanding that the vast majority of Type B dissections are not fatal and are, again, treatable.

Granted, there are of course cases of each that are significant enough to limit an individual's ability to function, and multiple comorbid conditions may complicate matters, but something tells me that's not the case with you. I get the distinct impression you're looking for sympathy and/or someone to tell you not to bother continuing with CPAP.

They aren't looking for Sympathy, they are looking to climb up on the Government Sow, for a Free Ride and Drink!
The Sow is drying up to the tune of 17 trillion dollars in debt, Due to Debt, Crooked Politicians, and Corp Greed, and people too lazy to pull their own weight, looking for a Free Ride.

You don't require a Government handout for a hangnail or being too lazy to wear your XPAP and make the Air work for you. Jim

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can you say death spiral

when some get freebies the rest want freebies

there is no end to more freebies
freebies will never stop
until the economy collapses completely

It's already collapsed, 1963 hamburgers $ 0.15, 2017 hamburgers $6.00! Now the real inflation rate 15 to 20 % per year, Government Spun inflation rate 1 to2 %! SS payment cost of living, _______ Flatline! Jim

American with their heads in the sand, don't have a clue, and they are living on Credit. week to week, thinking life is good. They have drank the Government Cool-aid.

You better sign up quick while there are still schmucks like me working, and running businesses so half of the population can collect a check of some sort.

I have been told by three of my doctors, (Cardiologist, Ortho, GP) that I should file for disability for years now due to serious problems with my back/neck, heart issues, and neurological damage from chemical exposure. I can still function, and I keep forcing myself to do it because I have something called pride left in me. I also realize that if I simply quit and sit around on my duff all day and night that I will be dead fairly quickly.

I have worked since I was 16, and have run my own business for the last 25 years. I started investing in my mid twenties so that I could retire one day without even figuring SS into the mix of income. I paid my house off eight years ago, and have zero debt other than regular monthly living expenses. I run my life responsibly so that I can help support those that do not.

Enjoy it while you can,....the money is gonna run out one of these days real soon.

xxyzx wrote: the stock market is worse than a ponzi scheme
only a few early exiters will get anything from that scam

I suppose it's a ponzi scheme if you don't have a clue. Meanwhile, those that did/do have a clue are now living off the dividends, and quite nicely.

Lucyhere wrote:

xxyzx wrote: the stock market is worse than a ponzi scheme
only a few early exiters will get anything from that scam

I suppose it's a ponzi scheme if you don't have a clue. Meanwhile, those that did/do have a clue are now living off the dividends, and quite nicely.

They wouldn't be except for the government bailouts, in a attempt to keep the bubble from bursting from rot! Jim

xxyzx wrote:

Lucyhere wrote:

xxyzx wrote: the stock market is worse than a ponzi scheme
only a few early exiters will get anything from that scam

I suppose it's a ponzi scheme if you don't have a clue. Meanwhile, those that did/do have a clue are now living off the dividends, and quite nicely.

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and only the rich are living off the dividends

NOT true. There is a middle ground.

My son made enough money in the stock market over the last 10 years to put a substantial down payment on a house. No ponzi scheme -- wise investments.

xxyzx wrote:
markets crash
they dont just keep going up up up and away

dividends will end when the crash comes

If one is smart enough to have made wise investments in the stock market, you have to be (should be) smart enough to understand that the market will inevitably come down, and have planned for it, or you shouldn't be in the market.

My money is safe, I only invest in unicorn horns, I grind them up into aphrodisiac powders to sell in hard times..... Jim

Will sell it to the sex starved public officials and Hollywood.

SSA has a pretty good description of what is meant by disability and who qualifies:

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dqualify4.html

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dqualify5.html

And they do refer to sleep apnea as a considered diagnosis:

https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professi ... -Adult.htm

Not everyone uses the same definitions and criteria as SSA, but they are a good place to start.

The bottom line as I see it is that sleep apnea may cause a person to be disabled but that most patients with sleep apnea are not disabled as a result of that condition. I would guess that the vast majority of people with sleep apnea are able to work. But not everyone.