Happy Narcolepsy Day 2024

Oh, I should have remembered that. You mentioned living in Canada in the past

Yep still living here. Not sure why.

I had sleep studies done about a month ago. Narcolepsy has been ruled out. Possibly, I suffer from idiopathic hypersomnia, but it has not been confirmed yet.
Today, I spent almost 15 hours in bed, over three periods: night and morning in one stretch, very fragmented, with many arousals, and then two naps in the afternoon.

if there is not treatment, I will be applying for disability coverage.

You sound like me. All the tests I've done, they said I was 8 seconds out of N2. So inbetween IH and N2. I applied for disability recognition here in Ontario and they denied me. Apparently taxes only go to immigrants these days. I don't see how having a sleep disorder is not destructive enough upon the patient's ability to remain functional.

Did you use an attorney? I have an attorney who will help me. I was on SSDI in the past, for a short period, for bipolar, and this attorney filed the documents. I got it super quickly. I would try this process on my own.

No. I'm not into hiring lawyers for this stuff in Canada. If it's the current avoidance I can spend loads of money on this stuff and I'm trying to start a company. Fighting the Canadian government is very costly and they will not turn over, as it's a case against them which represents more cases and a fault in thier system, which costs them hundreds of millions. I have no problem filling out forms.

In the US, such an attorney doesn't cost a lot of money.

Well, I live here, dealing with our backwards nation.

I am just asking whether you are sure that hiring an attorney would be costly? In the US, the government pays a portion of your back payment to your attorney up to a ceiling. The attorney cannot get more than that. The out-of-pocket upfront expense for the claimant is zero. I am asking if you are certain that Canada doesn't have a similar system.

Oh nothing like that. Canadian government is horribly corrupt and the only way a lawyer would get involved is for a large payout from me. I've been in court before, didn't go to trial, cost me $170,000 on false accusations. The Canadian government is sending billions around the world for USAID type of stuff. So no, I'm not interested in screwing my life over more than it is already.

It is not clear to me that there is a ceiling on how much a long-term disability attorney can charge in Canada, but it is clear that you do not pay unless and until you win. So the out-of-pocket outlay is zero. See, e.g., this link

In other words, in Canada, as in the US, such lawyers represent clients on a contingency basis and there is nothing to lose for engaging them. There is much more than just filing the forms correctly when you are seeking disability insurance.

Well, given that I am 8 seconds out of N2 diagnosis, I don't have anything. I've been through the tests, all of them. My sleep doctor was laughing that I should go through them again. That's what it's like here. Oh and I've had my CPAP machine for 7 years now and has done nothing. And the normal recommendation is to get onto the food pyramid, which exacerbates my sleep apnea. There is no answer and it just gets worse and more expensive. And even then I'm seconds out of getting recognized legally. Then it's the Canadian legal system and I really have no more time for this. Nothing to lose? You mean like the last 20 years of bloodwork and multiple doctors appointments and useless drugs that made my conditions worse? Oh and if I ever make a small profit, any so-called support on any level, goes away. And I lose my ability to drive as well. Not really sure why you would fight for that, when immigrants get close to $4k per month for free, for no reason at all.

By saying that you would lose nothing in hiring an attorney, I meant no monetary cost.

I am unclear how the food pyramid is connected with sleep apnea and how one can even "get onto the food pyramid." Also, hasn't the concept of food pyramid been discarded already? Don't we have the plate concept instead now?

Oh. They want you eating what the government wants you to eat. Coupled with my other ailments, they want you to behave accordingly, otherwise things are not valid. The food pyramid is a corporate-designed scheme that pays doctors to steer people towards certain foods. They in turn are not the best and make things seriously worse for my sleep apnea. And no, my CPAP machine doesn't work for me. And no, buying $8000 worth of masks to test them won't work. The machine simply keeps me awake. Plate concept? I'm a biochemist, and I get dieticians fired because how absolutely incompetent they are.