Medical Exam Disqualifiers

[ZacGree]

Hello - I'm a student pilot and I'm in the process of setting up my medical exam. I'm in my early 30s and have no major medical issues. However, I have received prescriptions in the past that I've noticed are on the "not permitted" list. I'm curious whether or not these will give me any issues getting approved.

I'm currently on a low dose of Lisinopril for pre-hypertension. I'm also on a low dose of Imipramine which was prescribed a few years ago for IBS. I have been fine for quite some time, so I'd like to get off of Imipramine knowing that it is not allowed. What is the process of showing that I no longer take the medication even though I have a current prescription?

Finally, about 3 or 4 years ago I was given a prescription for clonazepam for anxiety following a particularly bad situation where the company I was working for suddenly went out of business. I do not suffer from frequent anxiety and have not taken any of the drug in quite some time, nor do I have a current prescription for it. The last prescription date was 2018 with no refills.

Will any of this cause me significant problems in getting my 3rd class medical (and eventually 1st class medical)? Do I have hope of getting my certificate? If so, what do I need to do to make the process as quick and easy as possible?

 

[Rgbeard]

Are you familiar with the FAA Medication Database?

here's a helpful link: https://www.aviationmedicine.com/medication-database/

It appears your IBS drug is a no-no, and of course, you already know the clonazepam is a no-no.

Someone smarter than me will need to discuss the next steps.

 

[bbchien]

Hello - I'm a student pilot and I'm in the process of setting up my medical exam. I'm in my early 30s and have no major medical issues. However, I have received prescriptions in the past that I've noticed are on the "not permitted" list. I'm curious whether or not these will give me any issues getting approved.

I'm currently on a low dose of Lisinopril for pre-hypertension. I'm also on a low dose of Imipramine which was prescribed a few years ago for IBS. I have been fine for quite some time, so I'd like to get off of Imipramine knowing that it is not allowed. What is the process of showing that I no longer take the medication even though I have a current prescription?

Finally, about 3 or 4 years ago I was given a prescription for clonazepam for anxiety following a particularly bad situation where the company I was working for suddenly went out of business. I do not suffer from frequent anxiety and have not taken any of the drug in quite some time, nor do I have a current prescription for it. The last prescription date was 2018 with no refills.

Will any of this cause me significant problems in getting my 3rd class medical (and eventually 1st class medical)? Do I have hope of getting my certificate? If so, what do I need to do to make the process as quick and easy as possible?

yeesh. FAA will see an anxiety disorder (you have to document was reactive, e.g, not innate), but that you are on an antidepressant, which makes it look recurrent.

No AME can issue that.
Classically the FAA looks to a forensic psychiatrist to take a detailed history and give a detailed diagnosis. This is not simple and can run to quite a few months and $$s. Yes you have to be >90 days off imipramine, but the question of whether you actually have a recurrent illness (IBS as a manifestation of an anxiety disorder, recurrence (Clonazepam period, Imipramine period = 2 periods). Recurrent disease, untreated and unmonitored is 100% denied by the agency.

We have the "On SSRI" program for that--->but it's costly both for start up and maintenance of the SI. A lot of guys in your position end up ON a low dose of one of the 4 permitted meds, qualify on the SI once, and go to basic med (you cannot go to basic med first, per the legislation).

 

[ZacGree]

yeesh. FAA will see an anxiety disorder (you have to document was reactive, e.g, not innate), but that you are on an antidepressant, which makes it look recurrent.

No AME can issue that.
Classically the FAA looks to a forensic psychiatrist to take a detailed history and give a detailed diagnosis. This is not simple and can run to quite a few months and $$s. Yes you have to be >90 days off imipramine, but the question of whether you actually have a recurrent illness (IBS as a manifestation of an anxiety disorder, recurrence (Clonazepam period, Imipramine period = 2 periods). Recurrent disease, untreated and unmonitored is 100% denied by the agency.

We have the "On SSRI" program for that--->but it's costly both for start up and maintenance of the SI. A lot of guys in your position end up ON a low dose of one of the 4 permitted meds, qualify on the SI once, and go to basic med (you cannot go to basic med first, per the legislation).

Thank you for the feedback. What would you advise that I should do? Is there any hope for getting a medical? I've had a lifelong dream of flying and would hate to have to abandon it. I also want to be realistic though and not waste time and money learning how to fly if I don't have any chance of ever doing it professionally.

 

[PaulS]

Thank you for the feedback. What would you advise that I should do? Is there any hope for getting a medical? I've had a lifelong dream of flying and would hate to have to abandon it. I also want to be realistic though and not waste time and money learning how to fly if I don't have any chance of ever doing it professionally.

ZacGree,

The docs are here to give general answers to questions, which Dr B and Dr Fowler (sp?) do freely. But you need specific answers based on your medical history that would be better served by someone reading your records and possibly conversing with your doctors.

You would do better to go to Bruce's website (listed in the sig line on his post), read and follow the instructions on how to interact with him. Do the initial info exchange, and or then pay his fee if needed, which is very reasonable. You will get the answers you need, although you may not like them, but you will understand whether or not to go forward and what needs to be done.

Make sure you are forthcoming with all potential negative info in the beginning when dealing with Dr B. I hope this works out for you.

 

[kath]

One thing you can do is make an appointment for a "consult" with an AME (Aviation Medical Examiner).

If your local AME's operate anything like the ones around here do, they (or rather the person who answers the phone at their office) will tell you to fill out a very official FAA form through something called "MedXpress" before coming to the office for your appointment... but do NOT do this. Politely tell the person that you don't want to submit that form yet, you just want a consult with the doctor. Do not fill out any FAA paperwork (avoid any button that says "Submit" on it) until you've gotten some human guidance.

If they tell you that you MUST fill out the form in order to get an appointment, thank them for their time, hang up, and look for a different AME.

 

[Kelvin]

One thing you can do is make an appointment for a "consult" with an AME (Aviation Medical Examiner).

If your local AME's operate anything like the ones around here do, they (or rather the person who answers the phone at their office) will tell you to fill out a very official FAA form through something called "MedXpress" before coming to the office for your appointment... but do NOT do this. Politely tell the person that you don't want to submit that form yet, you just want a consult with the doctor. Do not fill out any FAA paperwork (avoid any button that says "Submit" on it) until you've gotten some human guidance.

If they tell you that you MUST fill out the form in order to get an appointment, thank them for their time, hang up, and look for a different AME.

Read this post over and over. Then...read it again. This is some of the best advice you can get at this point in your journey.

 

[Dana]

You may have a path to a medical, not my area of expertise, but do yourself a favor and look into "Sport Pilot"... it has some limitations which may or may not matter to you, but requires no medical... the caveat being that you can't have applied for and been denied a medical. Consider carefully.

 

[bbchien]

PS. I totally concur with Kath, above (post #5).
Why, would you want to go before a board of inquiry, without having everything you already need, in hand?

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Perhaps see my page on obtaining an FAA medical which will answer a lot of these questions http://steinmetz.org/peter/flying/faaMedicalInfo.html. Though you already have the best advice above. Do an AME consult.

 

[WDD]

My only contribution is that when the time comes to apply after you’ve sorted out the depression medicine is not to forget about the bp. Don’t leave that to chance. I had my primary care doc give me a full physical, and wrote a letter stating my BP was under control. AME probably didn’t need it- but I didn’t want to take any chances.

Best of luck

 

[AndRotate]

Also on the blood pressure... if the blood pressure machine reads high, ask your AME to do it manually. In my case, the results were SUBSTANTIALLY different even though the machine was just calibrated.

 

[PaulS]

Also on the blood pressure... if the blood pressure machine reads high, ask your AME to do it manually. In my case, the results were SUBSTANTIALLY different even though the machine was just calibrated.

This, those machines can really suck.