How Do You Justify A Sleep Apnea Claim To Vietnam Service

Being a veteran tin can mean all kinds of problems with sleep. Some of those sleep bug might qualify for VA disability.

Practise y'all find that, no matter how much coffee you drink, you just tin't stay awake during the twenty-four hours? Do you lie awake at night wishing you could fall asleep or terrified to close your eyes because you lot have such terrible nightmares? Do yous find yourself dozing off at random intervals, including at work or while driving?

If any of this sounds familiar, you may be living with a slumber disorder. Read on to larn how to go the right VA disability rating for sleep disturbances and start getting the bounty you deserve.

In This Article Nearly VA Ratings for Sleep Disorders:

Sleep Disorders the VA Covers
Sleep Apnea
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Service-Connected Sleep Disabilities
Secondary Service Connections
Presumptive Service Connections
How VA Disability Ratings Work
VA Ratings for Slumber Apnea
Ratings for Insomnia
Ratings for Narcolepsy
Total Disability for Sleep Disorders
How to Qualify for VA Inability
Getting a Diagnosis
Accessing Your Military Records
Get Your VA Disability Rating for Sleep Disturbances

Slumber Disorders the VA Covers

There are three basic classes of sleep disorders the VA covers for disability compensation: sleep apnea, indisposition, and narcolepsy. We'll talk more than in-depth virtually each of these conditions in a moment. Simply it is important to note that a wide variety of more specific conditions can fall nether these three categories.

Yous can become 3 different kinds of service connections for sleep disorders. These include direct service connections, secondary service connections, and presumptive service conditions. Which kind you get will determine how much evidence y'all demand to provide for your disability claim.

The title is Sleep Disorder VA disabilities with a picture of sleep apnea: a man sleeping on his back with his dog. In the middle is a woman in a bed representing insomnia with her eyes wide open. On the right 3rd is a man yawning representing narcolepsy.

Slumber Apnea

Sleep apnea is a condition in which your soft palate falls downward and blocks your airways while you slumber. This tin cause snoring, also as choked animate or long pauses in breathing altogether. More problematically, when your soft palate closes off your airways, you wake up to get breathing again.

Over fourth dimension, slumber apnea can cause astringent sleep deprivation. You may always feel tired, and you may even autumn comatose while driving or any other time yous sit down downward. You might also find that yous're more irritable, that you accept difficulty focusing during the day, or that y'all have a headache or dry mouth in the morn.

Insomnia

Insomnia refers to whatsoever time you can't get to sleep at night. At that place are a number of things that tin can fall under that umbrella, starting with only being unable to get to sleep at night. Nightmares or slumber terrors tin can also cause insomnia, as tin can a diverseness of other factors.

Long-term sleep deprivation tin have a serious impact on your daily life. Y'all may have trouble keeping upward at your job or in school, and you may feel severe mood swings. Driving may become more than dangerous, and you may be at college risk for mental disorders like depression and anxiety.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes you to be extremely drowsy during the day and sometimes accept sudden slumber attacks. Narcolepsy can also cause you to lose muscle strength during periods of stiff emotion. No ane is sure what causes narcolepsy, just genetics can play a factor in the condition.

If you lot have narcolepsy, you may take difficulty staying awake during the 24-hour interval. Yous might nod off during work or even conversations, and you may have problem focusing fifty-fifty when you are awake. You may also experience sleep paralysis or even hallucinations when you've falling comatose or waking up.

Service-Continued Sleep Disabilities

Your service connectedness shows that your sleep disorder is connected to your military service. Many times, y'all may need to actually be able to indicate to a specific incident in your service that caused your condition. Your diagnosing doctor should exist able to provide a medical nexus saying that your condition was at least every bit likely every bit not caused by your service.

In this video, one of our certified VA disability lawyers discusses how sleep disorders can be connected to military service:

The offset kind of service connectedness you tin can get for sleep disorders is a straight connection. This connectedness indicates that your sleep disorder began while you were in the service. You'll need records from your military service showing that you sought treatment for your disorder.

Secondary Service Connections

You may qualify for a secondary service connection if you already have a service-connected condition. A secondary condition says that your sleep disorder is the outcome of a separate condition you already have a rating for. You tin apply for a rating for a secondary condition at the aforementioned time as your initial application. The VA volition decide on both of them at the same fourth dimension.

At that place are a number of conditions that tin get you lot a secondary service connection for a sleep disorder. PTSD, feet, and depression can all cause insomnia, nightmares, sleep terrors, and other slumber disturbances. Parkinson'southward Disease and many other conditions tin also crusade slumber apnea and other slumber disorders.

Presumptive Service Connections

You may also exist able to get a presumptive service connection for your sleep disorder. A presumptive condition means you don't accept to testify a specific service connection to your disorder. If y'all served in a specific area during a given time or under certain weather, the VA may automatically assume your condition is connected to your military service.

If you served in the Gulf War whatsoever time later on August 2, 1990, you lot may exist able to get a presumptive service connexion for your slumber disorder. A number of Gulf War veterans take come abode with strange weather condition doctors tin can't diagnose. If you have a medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom affliction or some other undiagnosed illness that you've spoken to a md about, you could get a Gulf War presumption.

How VA Disability Ratings Work

Before nosotros swoop into the ratings for different sleep disorders, let'southward talk some about how these ratings work. The VA rates each condition between ten and 100 percent, with ratings being rounded to the nearest ten percent. This rating reflects how much your rating impacts your power to live a normal, healthy life.

Your VA disability rating is as well the primary affair that determines how much coin you'll receive from the VA each month. The VA volition evaluate how severe your inability is and which symptoms on a certain scale you display. They will give you a rating based on your symptoms; if you take multiple conditions, those will be combined to give you an overall rating.

Apply our VA inability reckoner to judge your
combined VA rating and monthly payment

VA Ratings for Sleep Apnea

There are four different tiers on which the VA rates sleep apnea. The everyman of these is a 0 percent rating, in which you have a diagnosis of sleep apnea, merely no symptoms. If this is your merely rated status, yous volition not receive any monthly compensation from the VA.

If you have chronic daytime sleepiness due to your sleep apnea, the VA will requite you a base of operations rating of thirty percent. If y'all have to use a CPAP machine to manage your slumber apnea, you volition receive a rating of 50 percent. If yous have chronic respiratory failure or have to have a tracheostomy due to your sleep apnea, you'll get a rating of 100 percentage.

Hither one of our VA disability lawyers talks about sleep apnea VA disability ratings.

Ratings for Indisposition

The VA commonly rates indisposition on the same calibration equally mental disorders since the two are often linked. In many cases, indisposition gets rated as a secondary service connection. Even if your insomnia is due to a concrete status, rather than a mental one, it may notwithstanding be rated on the mental disorders scale.

You may receive a rating of 0 percent, x percent, 30 percent, 50 percent, 70 percent, or 100 percent for your insomnia. If you accept mild symptoms or symptoms that only disturb you occasionally, you may become a 10 or 30 percent rating. If your insomnia is so severe that you cannot part normally in your life, you may get a lxx percentage or even 100 percentage rating.

Ratings for Narcolepsy

The VA recognizes that narcolepsy severely impacts your ability to live a normal life. For this reason, they rate information technology on the same scale every bit a small-scale seizure disorder. Both can incapacitate you for a short menstruation of fourth dimension and tin touch on your ability to drive or work, but depending on your state of affairs, y'all may nonetheless be able to keep a job.

In general, narcolepsy gets a base rating of 80 percent from the VA. This rating is high plenty that in add-on to your rating, the VA will consider whether you have family members depending on y'all when determining your bounty amount. If y'all have especially severe symptoms, y'all may also be able to become a 100 percent disability rating for narcolepsy.

Total Disability for Slumber Disorders

Depending on how severe your condition is, you lot may exist able to become a total disability based on individual unemployability rating from the VA. In essence, this rating declares that your slumber disturbance is so severe that you cannot work at all. A TDIU rating is the equivalent of a 100 percent disability rating.

In improver to up to $3,332.06 per month from the VA, depending on how many dependents you lot have, a 100 percent rating can get you a number of other benefits. You may exist able to go a housing grant, an motorcar assart, or a clothing allowance to help you embrace your expenses. You may also exist able to get space available travel benefits and a free laissez passer to all national parks.

Here one of our VA disability lawyers goes over the questions Woods and Woods, The Veteran's Business firm, is often asked about veterans' disability claims and appeals.

How to Authorize for VA Disability

In club to qualify for VA disability compensation, y'all must meet three bones criteria. Showtime, you must have an official diagnosis from your condition. This may come up from any VA-approved doctor, including a armed services physician or just your family doctor or primary care physician.

As we've mentioned, you lot must also be able to prove a connection between your condition and your military machine service. Except in the case of presumptive weather, you lot must be able to betoken a specific incident or gear up of circumstances in your military service that caused your condition. Your doctor will be able to provide a medical nexus saying your condition was at least every bit probable as non the upshot of your service incident.

Talk to The states About Your Claim: (866) 232-5777

Getting a Diagnosis

If you believe you may have a sleep disorder, schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor. It's a good idea to write down a list of your symptoms and how ofttimes they occur if possible. If you have a partner, enquire them to make some notes about any sleep disturbances they find, including snoring or breathing cessation while yous sleep.

Your doctor may enquire you to undergo a sleep written report to determine exactly what'south happening with your slumber disturbances. You may need to go to a sleep eye and spend the night in that location while technicians monitor your breathing and other vital signs. In that location may also be some additional tests your dr. may need to run to provide y'all with a diagnosis.

Hither are some tips on your C&P examination from one of our VA disability lawyers.

Accessing Your Military Records

During your VA disability application, yous'll need to get easily-on several of your military records. You'll need your service record at the to the lowest degree to testify your service connection or that you meet qualifications for a presumptive condition. You may also need to get your war machine medical records to prove that your condition started while you were in the military.

The beginning identify to first retrieving your military machine documents is through your eBenefits account. Many of these documents tin exist accessed through the records portal in this business relationship. If y'all tin can't get the records you need in that location, you tin always visit your local VA office for help.

Get Your VA Disability Rating for Sleep Disturbances

Sleep disturbances can have a serious bear on on every surface area of your life, from your relationships to your career. Getting the right VA disability rating for sleep disabilities can help get you the compensation you deserve. Talk to your dr. about getting a diagnosis and showtime the process of applying for VA disability.

If y'all'd like help submitting or appealing a VA disability merits, arrive touch with us at Woods and Wood, The Veteran's Firm. We fight for veterans every twenty-four hour period, and you don't pay unless we win. Contact united states of america today to start getting the compensation you deserve.

Can I become VA disability for sleep apnea AND insomnia?

Those two conditions practice have different rating codes, so while technically possible, your VA dr. will probably only give you lot a rating on i. There are other conditions that may exist secondary to either of those, though, so your symptoms might alsoget ratings in addition to your sleep problems.

If my PTSD and my Insomnia are both a problem, how do I know which is a direct-connection and which is secondary for my VA disability rating?

Those ii conditions could both exist direct-connected. Just because you have more than one condition doesn't hateful one has to be direct and the other a secondary connexion. Let'due south talk and sort out the best way to nowadays your case to the VA.