sleep apnea
 

So I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2015 while in the military. In 2017 they had me reevaluated and said it was just snoring. A second opinion concurred that is was snoring. I applied and received a class 1 submitting this documentation back in December. I have since applied for VA disability and submitted the sleep apnea studies.

I am looking at getting on at a regional. As of hiring and my next medical I will not have my disability claim from the VA. My concern is while my last 2 visits say it's snoring. What is the correct route if the VA awards sleep apnea. Seems like a catch-22 bind. Do I let airline know while in training? MedExpress asks if you have a disability. I don't want to fly "with a known medical condition" and lose license/job over it. However, the diagnosis is snoring....I know I can get a special issuance, but won't that ground med for a few months.... I use CPAP once in a while but not at required VA rates.

Thoughts.

Pretty Dangerous.

The VA will likely try to be "helpful" and maximize your rating, which may well cross the threshold to a diagnosis. If that gets put on paper, good luck sorting it out.

I would try to avoid a sleep apnea like the plague. Airline pay is a lot better than VA disability.

Or just roll with sleep apnea and accept that there will be FAA hoops. But be very careful trying to have your cake and eat it too. If there's any grey area at all, note it on your FAA medical form in writing. That would at least prevent any fraud issues.

The DoD/VA are pretty loosey-goosey with medical stuff like this. The FAA will go hard-over on you.

Be honest. It will come out. 5 ahi is the sleep apnea limit. Tell the faa, they will give you 90 days to get treated (if required).

First off, ask your AME.

Sleep apnea will require you to use a CPAP/Auto/Bi/PAP machine the vast majority of the time while sleeping. You'll have to get the data in your machine read once a year by your pulmonoligist and he'll just have to sign a form saying you are compliant. Really no big deal once you get used to sleeping with it (and hauling it around with you).

Assuming the diagnosis is correct, which it may well not be.

Applying for the VA disability was an incredibly unwise thing to do, however, because you have now claimed - officially - that the diagnosis IS true, and will now have to deal with the consequences. You cannot tell the federal government - even the VA - that you have a disability while telling the federal government - the FAA - that you DON'T have a disability.
That's just too easy for the lawyers.


But given that you now have to report it, this is where you are going:

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org...%20request.pdf

A sleep apnea diagnosis is far worse. A short course of antibiotics will cure the plague, and the FAA won't even care.

Giving someone a statement of demonstrated ability for a diagnosis of sleep apnea requires some high level civil service doc in the federal air surgeon's office to stick his/her professional neck out for a person with a diagnosis whose criteria includes daytime sleepiness, unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, insomnia, or unintentional sleep episodes during wakefulness. Him/her doing that, IF THE VA HAS ALREADY ACCEPTED THE CLAIM AND AWARDED DISABILITY, raises the ante even higher.

I further looked into this and found this

https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets...m?newsId=18156


Looks like if I get it (I did submit my last two sleep apnea tests that said I didn’t have it to the va) I have to inform faa and have 90 days to show treatment works. That doesn’t seem so bad. I’ve done 4 tests over the years for the military where they gave me the okAy to Fly. Initial. The second said I was on edge of even needing coal and let two, again saying I didn’t have.

I think it was more of a weight issue as I lost weight and that’s when they said I was good. This is what docs said also. Another point I’ve made while being treated is I get up at night at times to give my special needs kid meds, etc as a possible reason for tiredness which the docs also agreed. I’ve since worked out his daily routine to allow a full night sleep.

I talked to many faa ame’s about this and they all just said I’d be fine and worse case get a special issuance.

if apnea hypopnea index
5< Means: Normal/no sleep apnea.
5 – 14 Means: Mild sleep apnea.
15 – 29 Means: Moderate sleep apnea.
30 and above Means: Severe sleep apnea.

Fellow flier,

I am not saying this is true; but after the whole "Folks flying while on VA 'disability' while flying 121 Goat Rodeo." I'd imagine they are looking to nail a few more to the wall before they let this go.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone in OKC went rooting for some easy snags, saw your claim and figured you were one of those guys claiming you aren't disabled to the FAA to get an easy class 1, while claiming you ARE disabled to the Military to get some $$$ from Uncle Sam. Long shot......yes, but no way I'd risk a career on it. Look at what they did to the poor Ba$tard they caught at Delta. Never mind it's Depression, from what I've seen, a lie is a lie in OKC's eyes.

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/delta...to-keep-flying

Be Carefull, you are on thin ice now my friend.

Keep the oily side down!

and.......Ad astra!

RadialGal

Anything you told the va needs to be told to the faa. They must match up. Do the right thing.