Do I Need to Self Ground or Report?

A

Anon

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I currently hold a first class medical althoughe I only hold a private pilot certificate. Over the last week I've had some chest tightness and walked into the ER to get it checked out. It has been a very mild pain/tightness. They did an EKG, chest x-Ray and stated, "This appears to be noncardiac atypical chest pain presentation" and recommended I follow up with my primary care provider if symptoms persist. They prescribed me Albuterol in case I have shortness of breath. I have not filled this prescription.

My main goal was to make sure I wasn't having heart problems. Now I'm trying to figure out next steps. I will adjust my diet and exercise regimen and follow up with my doctor if the symptoms persist. I know I will need to report this visit when I renew, but do I need to report anything now, self ground, etc?

I'm thinking this may be stress related as there are a lot of pressures on me at the time. If exercise and diet cause the symptoms to go away would I need additional documentation for when I go back for my medical?
 
you asked "Do I Need to Self Ground or Report?". I haven't had my certificate long enough to advise you on the second part of your question but I certainly would hope you would self-ground yourself until the symptoms pass and/or you've seen your doc. flying aside chest pains are nothing to fool with.
 
Anon,

Self-grounding at least until your primary care provider has cleared you medically is the prudent thing.

Also good is to get a written statement from the PCP about this incident and what he is doing will help your AME. Especially if you include data points such as the lab and test results.

I would also suggest that you contact the AME you use and have this conversation with him or her versus us knuckleheads on PoA. While we can provide an educated and semi-unwashed opinion based on our experiences, there are only a handful of contributors to this forum that have the creds to say what the FAA thinks about the situation. Two of those are Dr. Bruce and Dr. Lou.

Consultative conversations with the AME are just that, consultations. Not official "report to the FAA" encounters. So a conversation with the AME could have the result of "you're okay to fly. Just make sure to bring in this list of stuff on your next renewal" or "you're okay to fly, but before you do, I need to see you so we can do the FAA dance now and ensure something doesn't get your certificate yanked because you didn't report promptly."

TL;DR -- Speak with your AME or Dr's Bruce or Lou. Then follow their directions so you can return to duty as soon as possible.
 
self ground and report to your AME. likely a GXT will be in order ( a heart test while u exercise is be necessary ... if u fail that it will be cardiac consult etc ... ) heart attacks and 'psychiatry' attack are 2 biggies for the FAA.
 
I had this....and after the nuke stress test was clear....I discovered a work place allergy to building mold. I self grounded then went back at it after I began feeling well again.

It was a yawner for my AME....

Flonaise and Singular are a wonderful thing.
 
lbfjrmd said:
self ground and report to your AME. likely a GXT will be in order ( a heart test while u exercise is be necessary ... if u fail that it will be cardiac consult etc ... ) heart attacks and 'psychiatry' attack are 2 biggies for the FAA.
Click to expand...

OP here. Current plan is to self ground, schedule a follow up appointment with my primary care doc, and go from there. Once whatever is going on is discovered and corrected I will schedule a consultation appointment with the AME to determine if I'm safe to fly AND have the documentation from the Dr's to make the FAA happy. It is my understanding that I don't need to report anything while I have self grounded.
 
correct ... no flying till you report and case is resolved
 
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