Dizziness & Class 3 Medical

Stick to good Day VFR and you should be ok. I wouldn't be flying night, IMC or even poor vis VMC though. BTW, did YOU drink the rest of the grapefruit juice? You ought to come down here to Florida with the rest of the Canadian population and find out what a grapefruit can taste like.... The best ones come from Indian River, all the rest require sugar.
 
I'm only qualified for Day VFR. In Canada, you need a separate night rating to fly after dark. (well, 1/2 hr after sunset.)

I'll try to drink some more of the grapefruit juice today. And, try the Epley Maneuver.

Yes, I've been to Florida many times. I even applied for an engineering job with Piper, but I'd need a green card or a visa to work in the US. I think Vero Beach is in Indian River county, right?

There's a ton of "snowbirds" that go to the US. Retired Canadians who go to Florida for the winter. Although, now I live in Western Canada and it seems here people go to California and Arizona for the winter.
 
Yep, Vero even has an Indian River Fruit stand...yummm
Drink all the juice, throw some sugar in it.
 
My dad talked to one of the aviation docs in his building.

The aviation doc thought that I should wait until my dizziness clears up completely before going to get my medical renewed. He said that if someone came to him with similar symptoms, that he would probably defer renewal.

So, I talked to a doc who said it was no problem to renew and fly with my dizziness, while my dad talked to a doc who said that I shouldn't fly or even get my medical renewed until my dizziness goes away. But, the neurologist who did my MRI said it was fine for me to fly and even wrote a letter to that effect. So, there's a bit of a divergence in opinion there.

How does the renewal process work? Can the doc make the decision on the spot? I think he has to fill out a form, which then gets sent to the FAA/Transport Canada. Can the Feds overturn the doc's recommendation?

And, how would the process work keeping in mind that my medical expired on Apr. 30, 2011?

Thanks.
 
My wife had a couple of rounds of dizziness, it turned out to be a combination of stress and dehydration. Nowadays, many people do not drink enough fluids, or mix their fluids with things that are diuretics (like coffee and sodas).

Make yourself drink water, plain water, and drink at least 50% more than you currently do. Chronic dehydration is common and can cause any number of ailments.
Drink more water. It's free, and if it doesn't fix the issue, your kidneys will thank you anyway.
 
Hi guys,

My dizziness has been getting better these past few weeks. However, it is not completely gone. I'm eligible for benefits at work, so this week I'm going to see a physiotherapist who specializes in vestibular rehabilitation, an osteopath, and a chiropractor. I don't think the chiropractor will be able to cure the dizziness, but who knows, maybe the bones in my neck are out of alignment and some adjustments could help. I'm not holding my breath for the osteopath, but I think the physio could help. I discovered the Cawthorne exercises last week, and they might be helping. I'm a bit suprised at how difficult it is to stand on one foot with my eyes closed for 20 seconds or to walk one foot in front of the other (like being on a tightrope) with my eyes closed.

The big thing I'm not sure about is when/how to renew my medical. I had a consult with the aviation doc and she told me it would be no problem to renew. However, my dad talked to 2 other aviation docs and they said that they'd defer me until my dizziness was gone. I don't want to have the doc say I'm fine, then get over-ruled by Transport Canada.

The other thing I'm curious about is how long I should wait after my dizziness has cleared being going for renewal. 1 week? 1 month? Does it really matter if the aviation doc thinks I'm fine now?

Dr. Bruce - I don't think you've weighed in on my situation yet. I read some of the comments you've left for others and they seem to be really helpful. Please let me know what you. Thank you very much.
 
I can't give medical advice, Airmaster, and I am not a Transport Canada DME.

In the states, we would look at the causes of transient dizziness-most would be viral, which come an then pass over about 90 days. Second would Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which is a bunch of epithelial hair cell crud breaking off into you semicircular canals and spinning one of your inner ear gyros faster than the other. Both of these are transient.
You'd need a letter from your Primary care guy saying you had a bout of transient dizziness which occurred on such and such a date, and resolved as of such and such and that there has been a period of 60 days since without any symptoms.

However, if you have hearing loss associated (and this needs an audiogram and an ENT consult) this will be regarded as Meniere's until proven otherwise. That requires waiting until it burns out (one sided) and six months have gone by without another episode. A Nystagmogram is required. All of these read, "expensive tests not available to Canadian Health System subscribers under the plan". Most Canadian transport pilots get these done in the States, or find a way to pay for them outside the system.....as the Canadian philosophy is, "grounded, not a medical emergency, we'll wait out the transient ones....." !

And that is why I pretty much bypassed this string. Owing to liability concerns in the States, I can't give advice, only certification discussion as to how our Federal Aviation Administration handles this sort of difficulty.

Best of luck!
 
Hi Dr. Bruce,

My medical has expired, so I would it renewed from a Transport Canada DME before I can fly again.

I think it's unlikely that my dizziness is caused by a viral infection - I don't have any other symptoms. As for BPPV, I'm not experiencing vertigo or any of the other symptoms and I've had different doctors perform the maneuvers to check if it is that.

I haven't had any hearing loss or ringing, so Meniere's is probably unlikely, too.

I am only flying on a Category 3 (Private Pilot - Airplane), Day VFR, but I'm not sure how much the regs differ from that of a transport pilot.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

When I had some bloodwork done about a month ago, I also had an EKG done. I just learned that the results are in. Perhaps I can get lucky and the attending doctor at the walk-in will be the aviation doc. Then, I can pick her brain a bit more about my situation.

I've had my first physio appt and that seems promising. Apparently, once I'm good at standing with one foot in front of the other with my eyes closed, I'm supposed to bend my knees and repeatedly squat on the spot in that position.

The osteopath person wants to use craniosacral therapy, which I'm a bit skeptical about. Because she isn't technically a licensed osteopath, it falls under a different category for my benefits and there isn't as much coverage. I may put it on hold to give physio a few weeks try.

"Better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here."
 
bbchien said:
Most of the time the viral labyrinth infections have NO other symptoms!
Click to expand...


Isn't there a vitamin or mineral deficiency that has an effect on equilibrium? I seem to remember that from something with seasickness.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top