Question....
According to a post by Jason on the boards a 40% decrease in FeV1 is grounds for a 30% finding at a PEB.
FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70
percent, or; daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy,
or; inhalational anti-inflammatory medication............................................. 30
Mine dropped 40% and I'm on Xopenex right now as an emergency inhaler. I have to be honest and say that after experiencing what I did in the test, I realized that I've had more asthma attacks than I ever thought I have. I knew I've experienced them after rigorous exercise, that's what started this whole thing rolling, but I thought my other boughts with breathing issues were from years of smoking and not actual asthma attacks.
I realized that what I thought was just poor breathing from smoking were actually asthma attacks when my symptoms started worsening after the 3rd dose during the PFT.
Now I realize that the use of daily steroids goes a long way towards a 30% rating, but I was never prescribed a daily because I didn't realize that the problems I was experiencing were asthma issues, so I never mentioned my almost daily episodes with shortness of breath with my PCM. I fully intend to describe what I've been going through over the last couple years with him at my follow up. If he prescribes a daily inhaler to help control the problem, I assume that will be taken into consideration by the MEB and PEB boards?
A few of the replies to my thread have indicated that the MEB simply came back with a "fit for duty" determination and moved on. If the above excerpt is correct, how can they do that? Seems to me that in a case where FeV1 drops by 40% from expected, they would be required to refer it to a iPEB? Do commander letters have that much impact on the MEB findings?
Additionally, I have been on profiles for almost a year for an issue with my neck... I have two bulging discs that are pinching nerves and causing me numbness in my left arm and extreme pain after moderate exercise. My PCM was intending to begin a MEB on this issue in January if the last cortizone injection didn't benefit me. Now it looks like a MEB will be initiated due to the failure of the PFT. Can these issues be included in the MEB as well?
Personally, I have no intentions of re-enlisting when my two years are up. Now that this is presenting itself, I want to be sure that everything is taken into consideration when the MEB is initiated and that I get as much out of this as is possible. If they are going to seperate me, I want to be sure I get the 30%. May sound selfish, but I've learned in the last 11 years that you have to look out for yourself cause the military isn't going to do it. They would gladly tell me to exit stage left with nothing. Knowing that I am looking for an unfit and 30% going in, what steps should I take to prepare for achieving that end? Should I have letters from supervisors and items like that for the MEB or are those more appropriate for the PEB?