VA Compensation for Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a common occurrence among veterans. In fact, veterans are four times more likely than other Americans to develop sleep apnea. Both PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have been found to increase the chances of a veteran developing some type of sleep disorder. Sleep’s great impact on health is well-documented. A sleep disorder can often lead to other health problems in the future, such as heart attacks or strokes. Therefore, it’s important for veterans who regularly have trouble sleeping to file a claim with the VA and receive the benefits they deserve.

Types of Sleep Disorders and Their Symptoms

Sleep disorders can be caused by blunt trauma to the head or psychological and mental disorders. Types of sleep disorders include:

• 
  Insomnia: Sufferers have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep for more than a few hours. This can lead to drowsiness, irritability and a depressed mood.
• 
  Obstructive Sleep Apnea: This condition causes breathing to stop during sleep, either for a few seconds or several minutes. Sleep apnea causes fatigue, slow reflexes and eventually can impact the heart—leading to heart problems such as arrhythmia and cardiac arrest.
• 
  Narcolepsy: Those suffering from this condition are extremely fatigued during daytime hours, no matter how many hours they slept the night before. This disorder causes abrupt daytime unconsciousness and cataplexy, an episodic loss of muscle function ranging from sagging facial muscles to physical collapse.
• 
  Daytime somnolence or excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS): This condition is linked to each of the disorders listed above, but can be diagnosed on its own. Persons with EDS feel very drowsy during the day and often feel compelled to take naps at inappropriate times.