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Disability for Sleep Apnea
Is it possible to receive disability benefits for Sleep Apnea patients?
I'm 23 years old and I was just recenetly diagnosed with a very severe form of sleep apnea. My doctors were so surprised I went almost 2 years having these severe symptoms. I didn't know at first back in 2007 that my constant tiredness and snoring were symptoms of a sleep disorder. In 2008, I was working at a security company and I used to work irregular hours a lot and sometimes I would force myself to go a couple of days at a time without sleep. I actually got a few write ups and finally terminaion from that company because a few times I had nodded off for a brief moment and got caught doing it. I still didn't know I had a sleep disorder. In August of 2008, I tried going to school on line and I just couldn't stay awake long enough to listen to the lectures and complete my assignments becuase within a few minutes I was out like a light bulb. I started to think it was some kind of narcolepsy. When I began working for another security company, this job had steady hours and didn't involve hardly any real security work, more like that of a desk clerk. I began noticing that some days even if I got 7-8 hours of sleep that I would still get those sleep spells. It was strange because I would get up out of my chair and walk around my desk to keep active and sometimes I would fall asleep while I was walking. I would feel my knees collapse underneath me and I would wake up because of the falling sensation, or I would even be talking to someone and fall asleep right in front of them. I even fell asleep trying to look someone up on the computer while the person was standing in front of me, it was so embarrassing. I knew for sure this time that it must be some king of sleeping disorder. I spoke with my employer about this in April of 2008 and I explained to him that I was researching a Sleep institute here in San Antonio and that it would take about 2 months until my first appointment. I saw my regular care physician and he told me that my sleep disorder was severe but I would have to have a sleep study in order to know for sure what type of sleep abnea it was and how severe. By this time I was already getting swollen ankles and legs, dark spots all over my lower legs and feet, high blood pressure, and I was waking up 5-12 times in the middle of the night. I would even fall asleep while eating. 6 months after speaking with a Pulmologist, I had a sleep study done, and it was then determined within the first 10 minutes of my sleep that my sleep apnea was bad, so bad in fact that I was getting less that 30% oxygen to my brain as I slept.
Views: 84
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
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Okay so your sleep study was done in 2008, correct?
What have you done to help your sleep apnea?
Have you had an MSLT done? This is where they do further testing for narcolepsy.
Have you tried using a cpap? If not why?
From what you have told us so far, it would be very difficult to say if you might qualify for disability. Do you have other health problems? If you are only 23, I would suspect there is more going on than just plain old sleep apnea.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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Lailoni, I agree with sleepycarol, sounds like there are other health problems going on with you. Have you seen your regular doctor for the edema in your ankes and legs, and the spots? Are you using your cpap and if so, is it helping? Are you able to work now?
If you have short term disability on your job you may be able to get that while you sort your health problems out. If you want Social Security Disability you need to apply and see what happens. It's about impossible to predict if you would qualify.
Good luck, keep us posted and please try to answer the questions sleepycarol asked you. It will make it much easier fot the more knowledgeable people on the forum to help you.
Mary Z.
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Permalink Reply by Lailoni Jimenez on
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In 2008, I was instructed by my physician to lose weight or undergo surgery to have the tissue removed from my esophagus that is causing the snoring. I gained quite a bit of weight since 2007 which when relaxed caused my airway to become very narrow.
Weight wise, I went from 190 lbs to 278 lbs. Losing weight has been a real challenge for me. Other than that I've always been extremely healthy. After the diagnosis my doctor gave me a prescription for a CPAP which I have been using since December of 2008. Since then I was promoted at work to Project Manager for our contract security company and then hired to work for the city in their water/wastewater security department. I have been here for over two years now and I have seen such a dramatic change using the CPAP, changing my eating habits and exercising. Even though I still need to use the CPAP I am able to live a normal life without the fear of falling asleep while driving or wondering if I will fall asleep at work and cost myself another great job.
Right I am doing great and would rather see others with greater needs benefit from Social Security Disability financial assistance.
Thanks for the reply!
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Permalink Reply by ZolliStar on
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This is a wonderful success story, Lailoni. Thank you for coming back to tell us what happened to you.
About weight: For a different health condition, my alternative doctor put me on a diet that required that I eat LOTS of vegetables -- all I wanted -- plenty of salads (dressed with olive oil and lemon juice) and good quality meats like organic chicken, beef, lamb, etc. not hot dogs. I also had to limit my sugar intake so almost no fruits and certainly nothing that broke down into sugars like pasta, pizza, breads, etc., etc.
I lost weight -- at one point too much weight (I had to put it back on) -- and also ended up feeling wonderful.
The best part? Because I could eat all the vegetables I wanted (dressed with olive oil), I was never, ever hungry. Not even for a mini-second.
Even now, years later, whenever I start feeling "blah", I go back on that diet. Within 10 days or so I feel much better.
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