Asthma situation

Hello,
Long story short, I was misdiagnosed with asthma and have had an inhaler prescription filled after age 13. My symptoms were basically mild shortness of breath which I know now is due to seasonal allergies. I have recently been to a doctor and have had multiple tests including a spirometry done which showed that I have absolutely no signs of asthma. Nonetheless, the diagnosis is in my history, which of course is a DQ. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this and can tell me what will happen/ what I should do? I would be completely devastated if this diagnosis that has not hindered my life AT ALL (no asthma attacks, inhaler never helped) ruined my chances of attending an SA.

DS has similar symptoms as you. He never had any acute symptoms that required a trip to the ER and he always had super normal spirometry. He used inhalers when he was sick or had bad seasonal allergies. He gradually grew out of it and is a varsity rower. When we started the remedial process and I collected 6 years of pharmacy records I was surprised how many inhaler prescriptions he had. I drove down to our local pharmacy and asked if his records were correct. She said they were but most of them were automatic refills that he probably never used.
He was eventually DQed and we are starting the waiver process. He has two pulmonologist reports stating that he no longer has asthma and he passed the methacholine challenge test. Growing out of asthma doesn't happen overnight. Some kids take longer than 13 years of age to do this. You may want to apply to as many SA/ROTC's as possible to give yourself the best chance for a waiver.

14T9 said:

Hello,
Long story short, I was misdiagnosed with asthma and have had an inhaler prescription filled after age 13. My symptoms were basically mild shortness of breath which I know now is due to seasonal allergies. I have recently been to a doctor and have had multiple tests including a spirometry done which showed that I have absolutely no signs of asthma. Nonetheless, the diagnosis is in my history, which of course is a DQ. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this and can tell me what will happen/ what I should do? I would be completely devastated if this diagnosis that has not hindered my life AT ALL (no asthma attacks, inhaler never helped) ruined my chances of attending an SA.

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My DD had a very similar situation. One key thing is whether you were actually diagnosed with asthma or were just given a prescription for an inhaler as a precautionary measure. My DD was NOT diagnosed but was given an inhaler to try. Unfortunately, she answered affirmatively on her medical questionnaire for asthma. As a result, she was DQ'd. She then went into the waiver process through the Army. She was given a stress test with spirometry and passed with flying colors and ultimately got the waiver. That's the short story. It took a lot of back and forth with DODMERB, her doctor and the medical facilities performing the tests.

First of all, talk to your doctor and see if there was an actual diagnosis for asthma. If not and you have not answered the questionnaire, answer NO when it comes to the history of asthma. If you have been diagnosed with asthma, start talking to your doctor to see if you can get your own tests done to show that you are symptom free and are not taking any medication to treat asthma. Assuming all comes out good with this, have him/her draft a letter documenting everything starting from the diagnosis (which may have been errant if you were indeed diagnosed), treatment or lack thereof and current status. Also, educate yourself on the tests before they are administered to you. The technicians might not always explain things clearly or fully or you may just misunderstand them as instructions are being given. for example, my DD had an initial spirometry test and all she heard was that she was to breathe out through the device for as long as possible. However, they are measuring a number of things with this test including the volume of air expelled within a second (if I recall properly) so she should have been trying to blow out as fast as possible in addition to as much as possible.

So, the good news is that even if you did have a true asthma diagnosis, if you are symptom free, attack free and are not taking any medications and can show this with medical testing, a waiver after an initial DQ is indeed possible. However, nothing is guaranteed. The hard truth is that the military has a huge pool of well qualified individuals to choose from who are fully medically qualified so they may not grant the waiver in the end. The best way to deal with that is to be a very desirable candidate such that they do want to grant the waiver. As far as the medical tests go, there is only so much you can do but it helps to have your own doctor in your corner and ready to give an endorsement so that's one thing you can work on now to have this ready when/if the time comes. Good luck.

If you have a diagnosis (right or wrong) of Asthma and you have a prescription for an Inhaler after 13 it will most likely be a DQ. However, Keep in mind, that a DQ is not the end of the Journey. My DS was DQ'd for Asthma Variant (allergy induced Asthma), went through a Waiver, was denied the waiver, wrote a letter of appeal with conclusive MCCT (Methocholine Challenge Test) results, a letter of recommendation from his Navy CO at the unit and a detailed non-medical assessment by his Marine Corps commanding officer detailing all that my DS had gone through without any intervention or need of an inhaler and that was what allowed us to be finally be granted the waiver. Most of all, if you did have a diagnosis of Asthma they will see that on the medical history as well as the Inhaler so be careful how you answer the questionnaire. If you are not honest that can be detrimental. I think your case is explainable and an MCCT should prove beyond a doubt whether or not you have Asthma. Good Luck and Be patient.

PantherPride said:

If you have a diagnosis (right or wrong) of Asthma and you have a prescription for an Inhaler after 13 it will most likely be a DQ. However, Keep in mind, that a DQ is not the end of the Journey. My DS was DQ'd for Asthma Variant (allergy induced Asthma), went through a Waiver, was denied the waiver, wrote a letter of appeal with conclusive MCCT (Methocholine Challenge Test) results, a letter of recommendation from his Navy CO at the unit and a detailed non-medical assessment by his Marine Corps commanding officer detailing all that my DS had gone through without any intervention or need of an inhaler and that was what allowed us to be finally be granted the waiver. Most of all, if you did have a diagnosis of Asthma they will see that on the medical history as well as the Inhaler so be careful how you answer the questionnaire. If you are not honest that can be detrimental. I think your case is explainable and an MCCT should prove beyond a doubt whether or not you have Asthma. Good Luck and Be patient.

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Unfortunately I believe I will get a DQ even though my primary doctor and I both believe that asthma was wrongfully diagnosed, and that I haven't ever had an asthma attack, or used my inhaler/refilled the prescription in a while (but still after age 13). When your DS was DQ'd, did you immediately request the MCCT, or did they suggest it after hearing more information from him? I believe that the MCCT will conclusively show I am asthma free so I hope I will be able to take it and prove my case.

You will almost certainly get a DQ from DODMERB based on what you've said. However, a waiver is possible.
DODMERB will always err on the side of caution, and leave it up to the SA to request more info, and approve/deny a waiver. What happens after the DQ is that your record will show "Pending Waiver Notification", which means that it's been sent to the SA and it's up to the SA to request a waiver. It might stay in that status for a long time, and they may never get around to asking for a waiver. You don't say which SA you are applying to, and my info is related to USNA only. I can tell you that USNA will only request a waiver if you are "in line for an appointment". It's not a guarantee, but it's a very good indication that they want you. At that point, they might make a decision based on the info that they have, or they might ask for new info, such as a MCCT.
In the case of my DS, we were proactive and got a MCCT done soon after the DQ, and those results along with a detailed letter from the pulmonoligist were sent to DODMERB. We wanted to put forward the best possible package to make the waiver decision as easy as possible, and he got the waiver. The downside is that you need to pay for the MCCT, and your insurance might not cover it. The upside is that you are ensuring that all possible positive info supporting a waiver will be available to the SA. If you don't do it, there is no guarantee that they will ask for it, and they could simply deny the waiver.
Keep in mind, you could do all of this, and a waiver may still never be requested. But if you do sent new info, it will be available to all the SA as well as ROTC
best of luck!

When my DS was DQ'd and had his Waiver denied, we had nothing to lose so we paid for the MCCT test out of pocket and it paid off because he passed the test. It was my DS's dream to serve and I was willing to pay a few thousand dollars to give him the best possible chance of making that Dream become a reality. We knew based on his history of sports and conditioning that he would pass the MCCT but by paying out of pocket, we saw the results first before sending them in. I agree with comment above that You want to make sure you put together the best story with the most positive information to show you can serve and give yourself the best chance for a waiver. Good Luck