For those of you in the military diagnosed with sleep apnea, the following link will take you to the code of federal regulatons CFR which outlines on how disability ratings are assigned.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/te ... .5&idno=38

Once you pull up the link, do a search on "apnea"

JamesR

my husband has severe sleep apnea and was told by the army that he has to get out. they gave him 0% for it ,when he went to the va they told they cant tell him his %. went to jag and they said that the only thing they can do for him is fight for him to stay in. he was in irag 2xs. i am trying to talk him into staying in. he has 10 yrs in. im i doing the right thing by telling him to stay in?

as far as what the service says the rating % is does not matter, what matters is what the VA says the raying is, is what matters. there have been others that have posted that they have deployed with 2 PAPs and the other supplies. i would fight if he wants to stay in.

pan man, see i have a real problem with the med board and the doctors at the hospital when he went to a specialist in which the doctors sent him to, that doctor wrote he can not drive any more, due to the severe apnea index is 76, the doctor at the hosiptal wrote for the med board he had mix the med board came back with saying he had mild apena.between the doctors at the hospital on post and the med board shouldnt they have read the specialist finding right before making a 0% and have a nice life. he is 88m

Why should anybody expect military disability payments for having sleep apnea? Sleep apnea is not a service caused disability.

Why should anybody expect military disability payments for having sleep apnea? Sleep apnea is not a service caused disability.

causality isn't required if a condition developed while in the military you may be eligible for disability for a "service connected" condition

If the doctors sends a soldier to have him med boarded out due to he cant do his job and the med board comes back saying soldier cant do his job because of his severe sleep apnea. I feel that he should get something for it cause after all the sleep apnea started when he came home the second time from Iraq, (THIS IS HOW I FEEL< NOT THAT IT MATTERS )

As a sleep tech, services connected vet, and sleep apnea sufferrer, I can tell you that there are certain chemical/biological "things" that vets have been exposed to that supposedly cause sleep apnea. As mentioned by one poster, it doesn't matter if military duty caused the problem... it matters if it happened while on active duty, especially if the military med board determines the soldier can no longer perform his duties as a result. I work for a VA sleep lab and have seen people get disability (thru VA) for apnea, while others are fighting for it. I'm no expert, but I have been told that if you can prove service connected sleep apnea, it's 50% disability. Good luck to all and wish me luck as I try to increase my disability due to my sleep apnea.
Carl

Fellow Vets, I have started a new topic specifically for military links and information. Please assist me post any links that you feel can help.

http://www.apneasupport.org/viewtopic.p ... highlight=

Thank you,

Frodo

Bearded One wrote:Why should anybody expect military disability payments for having sleep apnea? Sleep apnea is not a service caused disability.

I beg to differ. In my case I received an indirect hit from a motar. I recieved a concusion and two herinated disks in my lower back. Due to the pain pills, in wich I have to take everyday and the lack of ability to be able to excercise like I want, I now have sleep apnea. I cannot sleep without my machina and i am only 24 y/o. Due to my injury the lack of ecxercise and the pills, I gained almost 40 lbs. So sleep apean for me is service related!

My father had 'service connected' MS. I always understood that the main reason his disease was considered "service Connected" was because the first signs of the disease occurred and were recorded during his time in the Navy. HOWEVER, I have to admit that was all registered in the early 60s and things may have changed since then.

dose anyone really know if you can stay on active duty with sleep apnea

Yes, you can stay on active duty as I have knowledge about several individuals. As an Air National Guardsman myself (fulltime), I have not reported my condition because it seems that the ANG is more restrictive than active duty and I am not yet ready to give up my job. One definite fact that I know of that supports staying on active duty - CENTAF put out a policy in 2007 regarding how individuals with sleep apnea can still deploy and bring their CPAP machine to Southwest Asia. I believe that sleep apnea "technically" makes an individual ineligible for worldwide deployment, but a waiver can be granted to allow the individual to deploy with their machine - IF THEY VOLUNTEER TO DEPLOY. The gist of the policy is that the individual is responsible to bring a pre-determined minimum amount of supplies (filters, extra mask, etc.) and is 100% responsible to maintain required cleanliness.

Staying on active duty depends on the branch, your job, and how severe the apnea, new Army reg states that if you have severe apnea you are to be sent to MEB for them to decide.

sleep apnea is rated at 50 percent for CPAP users.