Adderall

I think it's called being a princess.
On the other hand if the roles were reversed, many people would judge the boy to be a true go-getter, nothing will stop him, bound for success in business and sports.
 
Hello,
I was recently perscribed Adderall for ADD symptoms. I talked to my Primary Care Physician and she said that I was never "officially" diagnosed. There is no record of me being diagnosed with ADD on my records. My transcript basically says I am taking Adderall to cope with ADD symptoms for academic benefit. I have no psychological defects and I am backed up by a psychologist, seconding my normal cognitive function. My questions: Are there any loopholes I could get through? ( Such as: since I am not diagnosed, do I have to tell the AME or could I stop taking the Adderall 4 days before my exam, and have a clean drug test?) Technically, I am not diagnosed, just have a prescription for Adderall. Could I get around telling the AME since I am not diagnosed? It would not be lying, considering I don't have ADD, I just take Adderall.

Oh Lord Lord Lord, one more kid screwed by a well meaning but ignorant doctor.

YES YOU ARE DIAGNOSED. Despite whatever she verbally told you. There IS a diagnostic code of some kind implying you suffer from a cognitive deficit. Your PCP put something in the "encounter sheet" the day she gave you that drug. If she told you that you are not "officially" diagnosed, she's playing word games; she means she isn't going to refer you to a specialist for ongoing follow up but when she prescribed that drug she had to put a disorder code and if your insurance covered the prescription you know it for a fact. If she gave it to you without any diagnostic code it would be a serious ethical breach, you don't hand out psychoactive drugs to healthy people, and your pharmacy would have told you that your insurance won't pay for it.

In any case no matter what is or isn't in your records the FAA is going to assume ADD/ADHD now until proven otherwise.

Is that doctor willing to say, "Oh, I made a big boo boo, and wrongly gave this completely healthy person a major drug of abuse on the street no less for no reason as it turns out. My mistake; there never was any reason or cause to give this kid this drug." NO SHE WILL NOT, you can take that to the bank. She's not going to risk her medical license to straighten this out for you.

You can't unring this bell. And you dasn't lie to the FAA. If your record says "cope with ADD symptoms for acedemic benefit", that's a diagnosis. You'll have to find the EXACT code and wording and go from there to sort this out. I'm guessing the best case scenario is some coding for a "temporary situational adjustment disorder" caused by your outer circumstances (full time school workload plus caring for your dying grandmother while also moonlighting at night to pay tuition and granny's medical bills.)

Contact a qualified, specialist AME. Call Bruce Chien ( www.aeromedicaldoc.com ), whose skill and expertise in this field without peer. Be absolutely straight, he can't help you without all the information (and won't, and shouldn't, if information is withheld). He's a great guy, and the best shot.

This times a hundred. With all your records Bruce will be able to tell you what the FAA is likely to require to disprove this false diagnosis. (I'm guessing tests to put you on the spectrum - you'll need to score within an acceptable range.) Can you go to a lesser AME and apply then wait for the denial letter from the FAA or request for more tests/information? Yes of course, but if you want to maximize your chance to never be denied (to keep sport pilot option open) if it were me I'd go straight to the guy who's best at handling these things and do exactly as he says.

Edit: also, best of luck to you! And now you will forever know that doctors who are not familiar with the pilot certification process represent a danger to wannabe pilots. You can't be handing out psychoactive meds just to get you over a bump like you would the general population. For pilots you always must ask "how will this impact my certification?" before accepting any new medication prescription.
 
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On the other hand if the roles were reversed, many people would judge the boy to be a true go-getter, nothing will stop him, bound for success in business and sports.

Not really. He would be labeled as disruptive, get disciplined and excluded from scholastic progress.
 
On the other hand if the roles were reversed, many people would judge the boy to be a true go-getter, nothing will stop him, bound for success in business and sports.
This comment reminds me that an ADD personality style is generally encouraged in business. 2 minutes on this issue, 3 minutes on this fire over here, 30 seconds on this other thing....

The extent of corruption of diagnostic criteria in America continues to amaze me.
 
I'm an airline pilot and flew 10 years active, was a navy flight instructor, flew Navy 737s internationally for 10 additional years in the reserves, and fly as a captain in the majors. I believe I'm ADD. I believe a lot of people are, and have never been diagnosed. I do just fine. Actually, I'm pretty darned good at what I do! I would tell a kid who wants to fly to stop taking the meds and don't admit anything. Half of the diagnosis are bs. How do you really know? You get distracted doing homework? Class bores the **** out of you and you've caught yourself day dreaming? Yeah, that's called being a dude! Lol. If you can fly and pass your rides, move along.
 
I'm an airline pilot and flew 10 years active, was a navy flight instructor, flew Navy 737s internationally for 10 additional years in the reserves, and fly as a captain in the majors. I believe I'm ADD. I believe a lot of people are, and have never been diagnosed. I do just fine. Actually, I'm pretty darned good at what I do! I would tell a kid who wants to fly to stop taking the meds and don't admit anything. Half of the diagnosis are bs. How do you really know? You get distracted doing homework? Class bores the **** out of you and you've caught yourself day dreaming? Yeah, that's called being a dude! Lol. If you can fly and pass your rides, move along.

and thats why you are not a AME. as dr bruce has said a million times on here, once the diagnosis is in the computer its there forever and the feds will find it and that "dont admit a thing" turns into falsifying a medical application. and that becomes an problem that cannot be fixed most of the time.
 
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