Sleep Apnea denied 😢
My sleep apnea claim got denied because the VA said they couldn’t prove it was service connected, and honestly I don’t understand how.
While I was deployed, I was basically on call 24/7 for months straight as comm troop troubleshooting network outages and mission systems on base. There were times during high ops tempo where I got moved to night shift too, so my sleep schedule was completely destroyed for about 6–8 months. I barely slept the entire deployment.
When I got home, my wife started telling me I snore insanely loud and stop breathing in my sleep. That’s what finally pushed me to get tested. The sleep study came back moderate to severe sleep apnea.
The reason I never went to medical while I was in is because, honestly, the culture was just “keep working.” We were undermanned, always busy, and I thought being exhausted all the time was normal from deployments and shift work.
Now I barely sleep. Sometimes I wake up gasping for air and it honestly gives me anxiety about falling asleep.
Has anyone else dealt with getting denied for sleep apnea even with deployments, shift work, and documented diagnosis after service? What did you use for your nexus/service connection?
What can I do to appeal this?