Getting Denuked for Sleep Condition

dizzypunch · Sep 14, 2013, 08:35

So, I made it through A-School and Power School with decent grades and was a week into NPTU when I was told a sleep condition I have that definitely needs treated will cause me to be denuked. Some backstory...

I've always had trouble with sleepiness or inexplicable fatigue. It showed somewhat in bootcamp but only started to really show in September or so of 2012, during T-Track, right before starting Power School. I spent all of Power School standing up at podiums just to get through the day, even though I was typically getting about six hours of sleep - not great, admittedly, but more than I'll get on boat. Even then, I was constantly falling asleep standing up. Still, I figured it was a lack of willpower, and I got through it.

About two months ago I got into a car accident driving to NPTU. I fell asleep while driving despite having seven hours of sleep the night before and my car was nearly totaled, though thankfully, no one else was involved. My chief recommended I do a sleep study for narcolepsy, and when all was said and done, I was diagnosed with a respiratory arousal disorder similar to sleep apnea, and the doctor suggested I might have some form of idiopathic hypersomnia, though he thankfully didn't put it in his diagnosis. But I was fine, right? Neither was disqualifying, and I was going to be put on a pill called Modafinil to help me stay awake better. I proceeded onward in the mindset that I would finish out my nuke career, short or long as it might be.

Turns out that Modafinil is a stimulant and I technically can't be a nuke if I'm taking it. I could technically not take it at all, as the doctors can't FORCE me to take it, but the Lt I talked to said my issues were enough to make that decision put others at risk, especially on a boat where we'll likely be getting four hours of sleep a night (I'm a sub vol). He said that if I chose to not take the pill he'd likely recommend that I should be denuked just because of my condition anyways, despite it not usually being disqualifying.

So now I'm waiting for the results of a couple blood and urine tests to see if it might be metabolic or something, though I seriously doubt it. If not, I'm being denuked very, very shortly. This is me asking what I should do in terms of being re-rated, and whether or not this could wind up being a discharge in the future, because that would be crappy.

tl;dr - I'm being denuked because of a sleep disorder and being put on stimulants, and I'd like to know exactly how that limits my career opportunities in the Navy and what you guys would recommend I shoot for. Thanks in advance.

HydroDave63 · Sep 14, 2013, 08:52

Check your PMs

MGH · Sep 15, 2013, 08:22

Career and Navy in the same sentence? Where do I start? Take the pill. Wrecked your car? Take the pill. You can't do much if you can't stay awake. Take the pill. If you can't stay in the Navy, then celebrate. Take care of the sleep thing first. If the Navy doesn't like it then that's terrible. Darn. Life is way more than a Navy cot and long deployments.

DSO · Sep 16, 2013, 01:02

Yes---take the pill ---your health is most important...I had a hyper problem when I was in and they said the same thing...you cant take anything that will HELP you or you will be disqualed...makes a lot of sense right? So.....my Dad mailed a good OCD med of his (Anafranil) through the mail and I took it with success and being on a fast attack sub 7 more years....retired from Navy now and able to help myself with the required meds without getting booted....maybe they would have liked me drinking constantly to calm myself....friggin idiots

SpaceJustice · Sep 16, 2013, 01:15

Quote from: DSO on Sep 16, 2013, 01:02
Yes---take the pill ---your health is most important...I had a hyper problem when I was in and they said the same thing...you cant take anything that will HELP you or you will be disqualed...makes a lot of sense right? So.....my Dad mailed a good OCD med of his (Anafranil) through the mail and I took it with success and being on a fast attack sub 7 more years....retired from Navy now and able to help myself with the required meds without getting booted....maybe they would have liked me drinking constantly to calm myself....friggin idiots

I just want to point out that with the drug testing currently going on, if you get caught using medication not prescribed to you you will be in a world of hurt.

modex · Mar 31, 2014, 04:22

DoD doesn't test for modafinil (but they do give it to pilots).
With that said, if somebody finds out you are taking "go-pills," you're screwed.

dizzypunch · Aug 19, 2014, 11:13

Hey guys, back again. I did wind up getting discharged, Honorably of course (thankfully), so I still have my GI bill. Considering getting my Associates degree with the college credits earned from completing A-School and Power School - would that be something I could find out more about through VA? Or would I be better off checking individual colleges? Thanks all.

spekkio · Aug 19, 2014, 03:45

Questions about GI Bill benefits and how to use them - VA
Questions about getting college credit for service schools - the college/university you wish to attend.

DSO · Aug 19, 2014, 11:17

Quote from: SpaceJustice on Sep 16, 2013, 01:15
I just want to point out that with the drug testing currently going on, if you get caught using medication not prescribed to you you will be in a world of hurt.

Uh No--Modafinil is not tested as are many many drugs that the Navy would like you to believe that they do. Steroids aren't tested either. Neither is Anafranil or many other depressants. Navy wouldn't help me with hyperactivity so I got some Anafranil through the mail by my supplier (Father) and all was good. The Navy seems to disqual people for taking drugs which could make them better sailors rather than worse...
Don't let big brother scare you...

GLW · Aug 20, 2014, 06:51

Quote from: SpaceJustice on Sep 16, 2013, 01:15
I just want to point out that with the drug testing currently going on, if you get caught using medication not prescribed to you you will be in a world of hurt.

Quote from: DSO on Aug 19, 2014, 11:17
Uh No--Modafinil is not tested as are many many drugs that the Navy would like you to believe that they do. Steroids aren't tested either. Neither is Anafranil or many other depressants. Navy wouldn't help me with hyperactivity so I got some Anafranil through the mail by my supplier (Father) and all was good. The Navy seems to disqual people for taking drugs which could make them better sailors rather than worse...
Don't let big brother scare you...

Sorry DSO, I cannot abide by advising persons that there are no consequences to the use of drugs not prescribed to the user,...

after all, this is a nuclear forum and security clearances are the bread and butter of many if not most of the users and posters,...

using prescribed drugs not prescribed to you can get you booted off your clearance, whatever branch of service or civilian endeavour you may be engaged with,...

what is tested for or not tested for on a routine basis is not a good metric for whether the poster should abide by or not abide by the law,...

and to advise otherwise on a public forum where members of the general public gauge the integrity of nukeworkers by what those nukeworkers type and espouse is very bad form,...

I do understand DSO that you are not a nukeworker as I last recall, and ergo, these expectations of integrity may not apply in your employment scenario,...

they do apply for many if not most of us posting here,...

the industry expectation is that nukeworkers do not intentionally (or even negligently) consume prescription drugs not prescribed to them by an authorized prescriber,...

...No controlled substance in schedule II, which is a prescription drug as determined under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), may be dispensed without the written prescription of a practitioner.

one can argue the merits of Scedule I versus Schedule II et al and all day,...

to the OP, the expectation does exist as described above,...

gzeiger · Nov 15, 2014, 12:28

To be clear, the drug in question was prescribed to the original poster by a Navy doctor.

spekkio · Nov 17, 2014, 01:21

Quote from: DSO on Aug 19, 2014, 11:17The Navy seems to disqual people for taking drugs which could make them better sailors rather than worse...
Don't let big brother scare you...

Uh huh. Did you ever stop to think why they might do that?

Imagine Sailor X with mental disorder Y runs out of pills 2 months into a 100 day mission. At best he becomes a useless body that is relegated to cleaning bilges and his rack because he can't reliably function like a normal human being on watch. At worst he slips into psychotic episodes that puts the well-being of his shipmates at risk.

There are no doctors on submarines U/W. Yea, everyone calls the corpsman 'doc,' but he's basically an experienced EMT/nurse.

Are you really that short-sighted that you can't see the obvious reasons that the military doesn't allow people with certain mental health conditions to serve in some billets?