Vin Diesel
Filing Flight Plan
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- Feb 17, 2012
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Vin Diesel
I am a healthy male, late twenties with no significant medical history. However, in early 2010 I had an episode of vertigo. I had been working a punishing schedule at work and I just generally felt exhausted. Eventually, I 'collapsed' with a spinning sensation (vertigo) for a short period of 10-20 seconds.
I did not seek a diagnosis then though as I just attributed the episode to exhaustion/stress and thought no more of it. The next 12 months passed symptom free.
However, I then had 3 over the course of a 4-6 month period from summer 2011 to December 2011. Each incident followed my generally feeling unwell with a punishing work schedule and a lack of sleep. Each episode was similar, a sudden onset of vertigo, spinning sensation, having to reach for an object to keep my balance.
I saw my a family doctor after the final episode who performed a number of tests, tracking a light with my eyes, putting me (my head) into various positions to try to induce another episode of vertigo (Dix Hallpike test?) but I did not show any signs of nystagmus and did not feel any sense of vertigo. The tests were 'negative'. So on the basis of my history and description of the symptoms he diagnosed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and he performed the Epley maneuver to reposition the likely debris in my ears which was causing the vertigo episodes. His prognosis was unclear. He said that it may never return, or I could have a future event, which is extremely worrying as I would like to train as a pilot.
With that in mind I am wondering where I stand from a medical perspective. Ideally, I would like to fly commercially and hold a class 1 medical.
I read some other threads on BPPV but none seemed to relate to a class 1 medical, and none seemed to speak to specifics of time without symptoms etc.
I hope some users can help!
Thanks!
I did not seek a diagnosis then though as I just attributed the episode to exhaustion/stress and thought no more of it. The next 12 months passed symptom free.
However, I then had 3 over the course of a 4-6 month period from summer 2011 to December 2011. Each incident followed my generally feeling unwell with a punishing work schedule and a lack of sleep. Each episode was similar, a sudden onset of vertigo, spinning sensation, having to reach for an object to keep my balance.
I saw my a family doctor after the final episode who performed a number of tests, tracking a light with my eyes, putting me (my head) into various positions to try to induce another episode of vertigo (Dix Hallpike test?) but I did not show any signs of nystagmus and did not feel any sense of vertigo. The tests were 'negative'. So on the basis of my history and description of the symptoms he diagnosed benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and he performed the Epley maneuver to reposition the likely debris in my ears which was causing the vertigo episodes. His prognosis was unclear. He said that it may never return, or I could have a future event, which is extremely worrying as I would like to train as a pilot.
With that in mind I am wondering where I stand from a medical perspective. Ideally, I would like to fly commercially and hold a class 1 medical.
- Is is possible to hold a class one medical having had an episode of bppv diagnosed?
- I seems that transient vertigo requires FAA decision at a minimum, and even then, there's no indication of whether a class 1 is possible or would only a lesser class would be considered? The Faa medical standards state "Transient processes, such as those associated with acute labyrinthitis or benign positional vertigo may not disqualify an applicant when fully recovered."
- What does fully recovered mean? My last episode was in December 2011. The physician performed the Epley maneuver and I have felt fine since. My episodes were all of short duration (5-10 seconds) and I had no nausea/tinnitus or other symptoms.
- Is there a particular length of time the FAA will want to see without symptoms before they can issue a medical?
- Are there other specialists I should see to get further tests performed (do I need to see an otolaryngologist/audiologist or other specialists)?
I read some other threads on BPPV but none seemed to relate to a class 1 medical, and none seemed to speak to specifics of time without symptoms etc.
I hope some users can help!
Thanks!