Let me start with a little background info I guess... I am AD Air Force Security Forces. I've been in for just over 4 years, I was a 6 year wonder, on my first enlistment.
I returned from a deployment in Aug of 09 and found that I was extremely tired all day every day so I ended up going to the doc to see what was up. The doc told me to get on a regular schedule and remove all distractions from my room and all that nonsense. I think she could sense that I wasn't happy with her answer because she offered a referral to see a civilian sleep specialist which I took of course. She assured me that the specialist would look at me and see a healthy 24 year old male that just needs better sleep habits. I average from 6-8 hours of sleep each night… Long story short, the specialist had me do a sleep study. He had me do an overnight study and the sleep latency (?) test where you stay for the day and try to take naps. When I got the results he told me that every time the lights were shut off I was out in 1.15 minutes to 3 minutes and I went into REM sleep every time. I actually got sent home early from the nap test because I was told they had enough information/data. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy and was prescribed Nuvigil, 250mg, but it doesn't really help out. I met with my PEBLO but she informed me that she was 3 months new to the job, yikes. Now I'm just waiting for my commander to write his letter but he's already broken his suspense date because he feels as though ORI prep is more important than my situation. So it looks like I might be waiting until March for my letter?
I've been trying to find out as much as I can to see what I can prepare myself for and I haven’t really been able to find much with anybody who is dealing with narcolepsy by itself. Originally I thought, sweet, now I can try to push for a retrain but after talking to my wife we're now leaning more towards pushing for separation. I know I'm in the wrong career field for my personality and I don’t know if whatever else they put me in would be any better so the chances that I stay in for 20 years for retirement is slim. Based on that, we would rather just cut our losses and start pursuing a life outside the military sooner rather later.
A few questions that I have... What determines the VA rating? I know it’s under epilepsy and a diagnosis by itself is supposed to be 10% but then it starts to talk about episodes and severity of episodes and I get lost. I just want to know what I fall under so I can fight for that and not end up reaching for something that I have no claim to. Is an episode for me supposed to be how often I fall asleep unexpectedly? I’ve fallen asleep a few times since diagnosis but not really around people to document it. Once at church, twice at the movies, once at work when everybody else was out of the office and numerous times watching TV at home. How am I supposed to document that? Am I supposed to get a note from my wife saying that she saw me fall asleep? And what about when I wake up and nobody else has noticed that I've fallen asleep? If I get separated do I still qualify for the Housing Assistance Program? We bought because our base didn’t have housing until 2 years after we'd been here. We've lost over 70k from when we bought at market value to what our size condo is selling for now. If I get separated we'd be going back home and I'd rather not foreclose if I don’t have to. I've been told by others that I should write my commanders letter for him and get him to sign it but others say it's not my responsibility so I shouldn’t. Another person in the unit is going through her retirement board and that’s what she did.
Any of you that take the time to read this whole thing I applaud your perseverance.
) Sorry for the long post... I just haven’t been able to talk to anybody who has offered any useful answers or advice. My PEBLO just told me that I should plan on getting separated and that’s about it. Help?
I returned from a deployment in Aug of 09 and found that I was extremely tired all day every day so I ended up going to the doc to see what was up. The doc told me to get on a regular schedule and remove all distractions from my room and all that nonsense. I think she could sense that I wasn't happy with her answer because she offered a referral to see a civilian sleep specialist which I took of course. She assured me that the specialist would look at me and see a healthy 24 year old male that just needs better sleep habits. I average from 6-8 hours of sleep each night… Long story short, the specialist had me do a sleep study. He had me do an overnight study and the sleep latency (?) test where you stay for the day and try to take naps. When I got the results he told me that every time the lights were shut off I was out in 1.15 minutes to 3 minutes and I went into REM sleep every time. I actually got sent home early from the nap test because I was told they had enough information/data. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy and was prescribed Nuvigil, 250mg, but it doesn't really help out. I met with my PEBLO but she informed me that she was 3 months new to the job, yikes. Now I'm just waiting for my commander to write his letter but he's already broken his suspense date because he feels as though ORI prep is more important than my situation. So it looks like I might be waiting until March for my letter?
I've been trying to find out as much as I can to see what I can prepare myself for and I haven’t really been able to find much with anybody who is dealing with narcolepsy by itself. Originally I thought, sweet, now I can try to push for a retrain but after talking to my wife we're now leaning more towards pushing for separation. I know I'm in the wrong career field for my personality and I don’t know if whatever else they put me in would be any better so the chances that I stay in for 20 years for retirement is slim. Based on that, we would rather just cut our losses and start pursuing a life outside the military sooner rather later.
A few questions that I have... What determines the VA rating? I know it’s under epilepsy and a diagnosis by itself is supposed to be 10% but then it starts to talk about episodes and severity of episodes and I get lost. I just want to know what I fall under so I can fight for that and not end up reaching for something that I have no claim to. Is an episode for me supposed to be how often I fall asleep unexpectedly? I’ve fallen asleep a few times since diagnosis but not really around people to document it. Once at church, twice at the movies, once at work when everybody else was out of the office and numerous times watching TV at home. How am I supposed to document that? Am I supposed to get a note from my wife saying that she saw me fall asleep? And what about when I wake up and nobody else has noticed that I've fallen asleep? If I get separated do I still qualify for the Housing Assistance Program? We bought because our base didn’t have housing until 2 years after we'd been here. We've lost over 70k from when we bought at market value to what our size condo is selling for now. If I get separated we'd be going back home and I'd rather not foreclose if I don’t have to. I've been told by others that I should write my commanders letter for him and get him to sign it but others say it's not my responsibility so I shouldn’t. Another person in the unit is going through her retirement board and that’s what she did.
Any of you that take the time to read this whole thing I applaud your perseverance.
) Sorry for the long post... I just haven’t been able to talk to anybody who has offered any useful answers or advice. My PEBLO just told me that I should plan on getting separated and that’s about it. Help?
