Is This Med Legal to Fly With?

MBDiagMan

MBDiagMan

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I fell and hurt my shoulder. A sports medicine orthopedist examined and X Rayed me this morning. It appears to be arthritis, but will do an MRI to ensure it isn’t a torn rotator cuff. He gave me a five day progressive steroid and an ibuprofen type pain killer named Nabumetone. As I understand it the five day steroid is not a problem for flying, but I am afraid that Nabumetone is something I should not fly with. If that is true, I will not take it. Does anyone know or canyou point me toward the FAR that I need to study?

Any information and comment is greatly appreciated.
 
Of course the more important question is whether this accident and/or these drugs will reduce your flying skills in any meaningful way. Regardless of what the AOPA page says.
 
The only way the shoulder may effect my flying is handling the manual landing gear. I don’t think the drugs will degrade my flying skills.

I could not log into the AOPA site. I will have to call them tomorrow for login help. So... I have to wait to take them until I get the plane home.
 
With any new-to-you med it's a good idea to ground yourself for a few days to see if there are any unusual side effects that might affect flight safety. But though I'm not a physician and have no special knowledge of this med, a quick bit of online research told me that it is a pretty ordinary NSAID, and the FAA doesn't have any problem with most NSAIDs. I didn't find anything that said it crosses the blood-brain barrier, for example.

The steroid might be a problem FAA-wise though, depending on what and how much you are taking. I think Dr. Bruce has written that 20 mg/day of prednisone is the limit beyond which you are supposed to self-ground.

Just a random opinion, worth what you paid for it. Hopefully Dr. Bruce or Dr. Lou will weigh in.
 
The prednisone dosage is 4mg per pill. There are six the first day which would exceed the 20mg daily dosage.

I am getting a ride very early to pick up the Mooney from the avionics shop. I will be home before breakfast so i will start the medication at that point, and give it a few days to see how it all makes me feel.

You guys are the best. Thanks to all of you.
 
Thanks Larry!

It appears that both of these medicines will not be a problem.

I picked up the plane this morning and getting the gear up set my shoulder on fire. It was extremely painful. If the medications don’t help the situation, I don’t know what I will do. If nothing changes I can’t fly this plane. It is an outstanding example of a corrosion free Mooney with a low time engine and prop, a 430 W and 345. I shudder to think what would come next.
 
Looks like you've got it resolved, but there was one troubling thing you said. You said you may choose not to take the NSAID if it would affect flying. I wouldn't do that if you haven't cleared it with your doctor (which you may have and just not noted it). NSAID's do more than just kill pain and the doc may have been banking on those effects to work with the steroid. It may be more than palliative. (One hint is that if the words "as needed" aren't on the bottle, it may be for more than just pain.)
 
Thanks arnoha for the advice.

As it turned out, I got the medicine late Wednesday, and picked up the plane early Thursday and was home by 8AM. I started the medicine as directed at that time. The shoulder seems very slightly better, but that might just be wishful thinking. I have two more days of the medicine and I go for an MRI tomorrow.

Again, thank you for being concerned and pointing this out.
 
MBDiagMan said:
I fell and hurt my shoulder. A sports medicine orthopedist examined and X Rayed me this morning. It appears to be arthritis, but will do an MRI to ensure it isn’t a torn rotator cuff. He gave me a five day progressive steroid and an ibuprofen type pain killer named Nabumetone. As I understand it the five day steroid is not a problem for flying, but I am afraid that Nabumetone is something I should not fly with. If that is true, I will not take it. Does anyone know or canyou point me toward the FAR that I need to study?

Any information and comment is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I broke my right shoulder February 23 and the ortho nailed it back together (per xrays). He told me that the shoulder is such a complex joint that it would be months if not years before it got close to normal. Right now I live on Tylenol Fours. I feel your pain!!!

Bob
 
Sorry to hear that Bob! Sorry on two fronts; I hate to hear that you are having trouble and sorry that I may be faced with a long term problem. That means not flying my beloved Mooney solo.
 
My Mooney experience was years ago, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Sorry about the Johnson bar problem, but I can visualize what is happening and empathize. I have no way to compare your injury with mine, of course, so whatever I say is based on guesswork. My shoulder was shattered (I'm 89), thus the need to pin the bones together with screws/nails (can't tell from the xray); I spent two weeks in the hospital, then three weeks at a rehab facility, then six weeks of physical therapy both at home and at a clinic. It is still difficult for me to reach above or behind my head, and when I reach down to pull on shoes or socks I get twinges. It's almost a sure thing that you are younger than I am and your healing progress will be faster. Do you have any passengers with strong left arms?

Bob
 
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