SSRIs - I'm lost

B

BeachLover

Guest
I'm so confused.

I'm a student pilot, hoping for a basic PPL. I'm older. I've taken anti-depressants for years. No major episodes. No hospitalizations or anything like that. Just treatment by my GP for low level depression. I'm in the process of getting off them, for other reasons. I just discovered this issue with the flight medical. Now I'm freaking out that I won't be able to qualify.

There's no concern that I won't be able to get off the meds, and I wouldn't go see the AME until the magical 60 days. But what I'm not clear on, is because this has been such a long term thing, am I even going to be able to qualify.

I have no doubt that a psychiatrist will pass me as not depressed or suffering anxiety, if that's what I need.

I'm willing to go through the process, I'm just not understanding the steps.

And, am I okay to continue flight training before all this happens, or is that a no-no?
 
If you tell the truth on your medical form you’re going to be in for an extremely expensive, unfair, punitive and time consuming process with no guarantee of getting a medical.
 
Switching to sport is a really good idea. You’ll be able to fly with a few limitations while you’re waiting for the idiotic bureaucrats at the faa to make a decision.
 
BeachLover said:
I'm so confused.

I'm a student pilot, hoping for a basic PPL. I'm older. I've taken anti-depressants for years. No major episodes. No hospitalizations or anything like that. Just treatment by my GP for low level depression. I'm in the process of getting off them, for other reasons. I just discovered this issue with the flight medical. Now I'm freaking out that I won't be able to qualify.

There's no concern that I won't be able to get off the meds, and I wouldn't go see the AME until the magical 60 days. But what I'm not clear on, is because this has been such a long term thing, am I even going to be able to qualify.

I have no doubt that a psychiatrist will pass me as not depressed or suffering anxiety, if that's what I need.

I'm willing to go through the process, I'm just not understanding the steps.

And, am I okay to continue flight training before all this happens, or is that a no-no?
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Contact @lbfjrmd or @bbchien , two top tier AMEs. I suspect they’ll tell you it’s doable but expensive. They can tell you exactly what will be required.

Sport Pilot only requires a driver’s license, no FAA medical. You will be limited to daytime VFR, a single passenger, and light sport aircraft, but that’s not as limiting as you may think. Light sports are capable aircraft and you’d be able to fly anywhere in the US and Bahamas.

But if you apply for an FAA medical and get denied, you’re locked out of Sport Pilot.

Think it over.
 
You can fly on one of the 4 approved SSRI. In any event I would advise you find a local HIMS AME to assist you in this endeavor.
 
Have you already taken the 3rd class exam? If you haven’t, you can still switch to sport pilot and work with someone like Dr Bruce (you’ll see him here - he is an FAA AME expert MD) to see if you can get the 3rd class.

But the big risk is, you submit for the 3rd class and get deferred or denied and then you close the Sport Pilot door too.

Think through the flying you want to do. Maybe Sport Pilot will work for you.
 
BeachLover said:
I'm so confused.

I'm a student pilot, hoping for a basic PPL. ....And, am I okay to continue flight training before all this happens, or is that a no-no?
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If I am reading your post correctly, you have started training & have not applied for your 3rd class medical yet?? You should be okay to continue your training, but you won't be able to solo until you have your medical. While you are training, your CFI is PIC, so lack of a medical does not stop your training. Like the others have said, you can always apply your training to Light Sport if you choose not to go for a medical.
 
jstone said:
If you tell the truth on your medical form you’re going to be in for an extremely expensive, unfair, punitive and time consuming process with no guarantee of getting a medical.
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And if you lie (which includes omission) and get caught, it's guaranteed that you'll be on their NFE list.

Not
F---ing
Ever

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
There's more to this than can be properly relayed in an internet forum. Things change if you have been prescribed more than one medicine at the same time as well. Best to have a frank consultation with a savvy AME before blindly going into an AME for an exam based on advice given here.
 
Contact dr Bruce Chein. He can advise you on what to do. I am going through a similar case (without knowing your exact details). I have been working with dr Bruce, who knows his stuff. My advice....talk to dr Bruce, be COMPLETELY honest with everything and do EXACTLY what he says. If he says something will work but will be expensive..do it. Don’t ask for a cheaper option. If you want to get through this you need to be very diligent and follow the dr’s recommendations. He is a very busy man and doesn’t have time for people who screw around. As for me. I was deferred in the beginning of December. Took 6 weeks to get the deferral letter from the FAA. I have since gotten an HIMS psychiatric evaluation (under dr Bruce’s advice) and am waiting for results. Thousands of dollars so far. But worth it in the grand scheme. Buckle in, it’s a long road.
 
BeachLover said:
Now I'm freaking out that I won't be able to qualify.
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Good advice here so far, and believe it or not if you can qualify you probably will qualify after going through a rather burdensome and expensive process.

Feeling fine, having no concern that you can get off the meds, having no doubt that a psychiatrist will say you have no depression or anxiety, etc. etc. - those self-assessments are of ZERO interest to the FAA. With a history of long term use for any mental health diagnosis ("mild" or not) the FAA wants proof of your qualifications to hold a medical certificate from professionals who are uniquely qualified to provide it to them.
 
The critical questions for the OP are:
How long on the meds?
Ever more than one episode on the meds?
Ever more than one med at a time?
Is there ever in the record, any suicidality?
 
bbchien said:
The critical questions for the OP are:
How long on the meds?
Ever more than one episode on the meds?
Ever more than one med at a time?
Is there ever in the record, any suicidality?
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Is suicidal a complete full stop, no issuance available? Or still possible by following certain protocol for now and forever?
 
AggieMike88 said:
Is suicidal a complete full stop, no issuance available? Or still possible by following certain protocol for now and forever?
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I can tell you that a past suicide attempt on your record is NOT a full stop (not permanently), at least it wasn't for me. But mine was many many many years ago. I was originally deferred/denied don't remember which when I went for my student and I had to go through a bunch of steps to get signed off on. Including a psych exam, providing proof of recovery, outpatient work, interviews etc. I have a signed copy of a letter that permits me to get at least a class 3 medical from the FAA which I have to bring with me to every renewal because checking the box immediately gets a question from the AME.

I actually got a 2nd class medical recently from an AME as well, so it CAN happen.

I haven't been on SSRI's in decades and the conditions of my letter call for immediate grounding if I ever do again.
 
Anon1 said:
I can tell you that a past suicide attempt on your record is NOT a full stop (not permanently), at least it wasn't for me. But mine was many many many years ago. I was originally deferred/denied don't remember which when I went for my student and I had to go through a bunch of steps to get signed off on. Including a psych exam, providing proof of recovery, outpatient work, interviews etc. I have a signed copy of a letter that permits me to get at least a class 3 medical from the FAA which I have to bring with me to every renewal because checking the box immediately gets a question from the AME.

I actually got a 2nd class medical recently from an AME as well, so it CAN happen.

I haven't been on SSRI's in decades and the conditions of my letter call for immediate grounding if I ever do again.
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Were you able to obtain a first class medical?
 
If you have been on the meds for years then waiting 60 days to apply will be tough to get through. It would require exemplary documentation. The Decision Path I is more for a shorter term use. It is possible, but again, would require a decent amount of work to show that you probably shouldn't have been on them in the first place.

Meanwhile staying on them for Decision Path II is also a decent amount of work. If you pass all of the testing then you are faced with a out a year to 15 month wait just because of the backlog.

Regardless of which path you go with, starting with Sport isn't a bad idea to be "productive" towards goals while working through the FAA medical process.
 
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