3rd class medical question

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mikeshmo

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so i have made my appointment to get the 3rd class medical but i have a question. i graduated high school in '13 and started college that fall. i started getting social anxiety and went to a counselor everyweek for about 3 months, i got prescribed an SSRI, the ssri didnt work. while still going to counseling i went to see a doctor and he prescribed me Klonopin (benzo) ( paid cash) i didn't like the feeling so after about 5 pills i threw them down the toilet. I never told my counselor about it, and after 3 months i stopped going, i felt totally fine. My question is that that was 2 years ago, on the 3rd class medical it asks for the past 3 years of medical, what do i do? not mention it? will they find out regardless? this was 2 years ago and it was a phase that lasted a few months.
 
Oh boy, the SSRI wouldn't be a huge deal, the benzo, well that is a different story. All I will say is, they would probably never find out unless and until you bend something. If that were to happen all your certificates would be revoked, assuming you're still alive. I can only say, if it were me I wouldn't lie.
 
mikeinbama said:
Oh boy, the SSRI wouldn't be a huge deal, the benzo, well that is a different story. All I will say is, they would probably never find out unless and until you bend something. If that were to happen all your certificates would be revoked, assuming you're still alive. I can only say, if it were me I wouldn't lie.
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edit: i was also given a prescription for adderall, threw them away as well.
 
You should probably talk to a medical professional who understands the FAA and AME guidelines before you go in for your real exam.

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Actually it's all a big deal. The transient use of the both the SSRI and Klonopin isn't so bad but the bigger issue is whatever the underlying diagnosis that resulted in all these prescriptions which hasn't even been mentioned by the poster. The FAA is going to have issues with that even if you discontinue drugs. You need a good consult with an AME who knows what the FAA is going to want.
 
flyingron said:
Actually it's all a big deal. The transient use of the both the SSRI and Klonopin isn't so bad but the bigger issue is whatever the underlying diagnosis that resulted in all these prescriptions which hasn't even been mentioned by the poster. The FAA is going to have issues with that even if you discontinue drugs. You need a good consult with an AME who knows what the FAA is going to want.
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And stop,posting using anything that looks like a real name.
 
murphey said:
And stop,posting using anything that looks like a real name.
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If the guy's last name is Shmo, it's no wonder he has psychological issues (and he has a bad idea how to spell word of Yiddish origin).
 
flyingron said:
If the guy's last name is Shmo, it's no wonder he has psychological issues (and he has a bad idea how to spell word of Yiddish origin).
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first of all id never use my last name, i made that name up smh, secondly, im not sure if i was ever 'diagnosed' with anxiety
 
mikeshmo said:
edit: i was also given a prescription for adderall, threw them away as well.
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This ia a 'big deal'. I don't know about the others, but I do know this one.

The deal with Adderall is, it's for treatment of ADD/ADHD. To get a prescription for it, your doc probably made a diagnosis. If he didn't, he has a lot of explaining to do, so chances are good that he did.

FAA considers ADD/ADHD a lifetime disease. If you have it, you always have it, even if you stop taking the meds. This is a case where FAA isn't so much concerned about the meds as much as WHY they were prescribed. And FAA really doesn't like ADD/ADHD.

The way to clear this up is to get a new diagnosis that shows you do NOT have ADD/ADHD, which means you never had it in the first place. This generally means a thorough exam from a psychiatrist - FAA has a certain protocol they prefer. It may or may not be covered by insurance.

There are a few AMEs that deal with this, a lot. One used to be on this board and someone here will tell you how to contact him.
 
Advice - talk to an AME for a consult before your doctor takes your exam live even if that means cancelling the appointment or changing it to a non-medical consult.

You need to get in front of this for many reasons.

First - you are in an ambiguous state. YOUR HEALTH IS NUMBER ONE. Never put your desire to do something in front of your health.

Second - if you actually have ADD, as hard as it is to hear, you need to not fly. There is no checking out in the cockpit.

Third - if you don't have ADD, the FAA still needs to know. You need to be completely open with the FAA about your history or it WILL come back to bite you and result in losing your certificate forever. In this case, it's absolutely better to never have loved.

Its a complex thing - but go get your medical in order first, you have a long road.

You can try local - and I'd advise to try local, you want a local AME. But if you can't, contact Dr Bruce Chien for a consult, he knows the rules inside and out and is a specialist at getting pilots flying. http://www.aeromedicaldoc.com/ You might have to go to Peoria and that's not as bad as it sounds. You will also have to be completely open and honest with him - I saw him recently write "There is no room for dishonestly of any kind on my flight deck". He isn't there to judge you, he is there to help you understand your condition and what the FAA wants to see from you to issue you a medical. To do that, he needs complete information. If you're not open, you can expect a similar level of non-help from him.
 
Side bar advice for the OP and others regarding prescriptions of medications on the FAA's cannon fly and need more information before you can fly list.

First, get. To know what is on this list or check it out before you fill the prescription. What your doc issued my be on the "no" list, but an acceptable alternative might be permitted.

When you fill the script, you create a findable record in the system that you were given the mess and you are assumed to have consumed the entire quantity you were issued. But if you find that your body cannot tolerate them, DO NOT flush them down the toilet like the OP said he did. This action does not document that you did not consume XX days of that medication. So the FAA will go with the fact you consumed the entire bottle.

If you wish to stop taking the filled script of of the "you can't fly on this" medication, you need to return to the doctor who issued the script, and surrender the meds to him. Have him create a note in your file (bonus if he will also write on his letterhead) "John Doe was given a prescription of ________, _____(quantity) _____mg to be taken _____ daily for his ________ condition. On this date, he has returned _______ of the tablets to me and I have destroyed them."

Or at least something like that. This goes into your permanent record so it's also findable.
 
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