Meniere's Disease & 3rd Class Medical

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I am finally getting around to fulfilling a life-long dream of learning to fly. Ultimately I want to get my private certification. First I want to get my sport certification, then move on to my private. I know I don't need a medical for my sport certification. My fear is not being able to pass a class 3 medical in order to get my private.

I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease in 1987. It came on suddenly and I experienced severe vertigo, hearing loss, etc. I had surgery in 1987 where my doctor put a drainage valve (shunt) in my ear. It's been over 20 years since then and I have not had a single vertigo episode and I have had no further hearing loss. I am in great physical health otherwise.

Can anyone share their thoughts on the likelihood of me being able to pass a medical? How might I approach this so that I have the best chance of succeeding?
 
You will not have any problem with a third, however, you will need all the current status stuff for vestibular dizzsiness. 20 years means it's over:

Nystagmogram
ENG
Current status letter from an ENT
Audiogram
Past surgical op note if still available- they will want the old records (this is the tough part).

If you value your SP certification, make SURE all of these are OK before anybody sends ANYTHING to FAA.

Not to toot my own horn, but this is what I do. Frequently from afar.
PS my email form this site works.

CFI-ATP AME
 
Dr. Bruce doesn't need to toot his own horn. Plenty of us will attest that he is one of the best in helping you through tricky issuances.
 
Astronaut Alan Shepard had the same condition which grounded him after his first sub-orbital flight. He had the surgery and fought sucessfully to get back to flight status and eventually walked on the moon!

Go man go!
 
Dr. Bruce, thank you so much for your advice. I appreciate you and can see why you have such support on this site. After I get certified, I will join and support the organization you so honorably serve.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and encouragement. Much appreciated.
 
A visit to an ENT Doctor today and he suspects Meniere's Disease. Do I go trough the test he wants to do to confirm his diagnosis? How will this, if confirmed, affect my career as an airline captain? I take a physical every 6 months. Could surgery be done and the FAA reinstate the first class medical?

Thanks
 
Unregistered said:
A visit to an ENT Doctor today and he suspects Meniere's Disease. Do I go trough the test he wants to do to confirm his diagnosis? How will this, if confirmed, affect my career as an airline captain? I take a physical every 6 months. Could surgery be done and the FAA reinstate the first class medical?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Sounds tough but if NASA cleared Shepard to walk on the moon anything is possible. Good luck.
 
Unregistered said:
A visit to an ENT Doctor today and he suspects Meniere's Disease. Do I go trough the test he wants to do to confirm his diagnosis? How will this, if confirmed, affect my career as an airline captain? I take a physical every 6 months. Could surgery be done and the FAA reinstate the first class medical?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The ONLY situation where surgery might be of use if if it's limited to ONE ear, and they CUT the auditory and Vestibular nerves to that side, resulting in one sided deafness. But if you're stable and can pass a hearing check and this was in 1987, you likely don't have Meniere's. You have something else.

How about going for a "mock" physical at an AME's and finding out?
 
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Bruce,
I’m a different guy than the one that had surgery in 1987. I never had a problem in my life with hearing or balance. Been flying since 1976, have over 16,000 hours in the air and am early 50's. The research I find on line seems to indicate that there is no cure and they don't know what causes this. I think the FAA would pull a pilot's medical for life, if they were diagnosed with this. I passed the ENT's extensive hearing test. I have declined further testing at this point.
What are your thoughts? Mayo Clinic, would they have answers for pilots? I have the best job in the world. I would not want to put it in jeopardy by one Doctors opinion.
Thank-you for your honesty and time in answering my questions.
 
Unregistered said:
Bruce,
I’m a different guy than the one that had surgery in 1987. I never had a problem in my life with hearing or balance. Been flying since 1976, have over 16,000 hours in the air and am early 50's. The research I find on line seems to indicate that there is no cure and they don't know what causes this. I think the FAA would pull a pilot's medical for life, if they were diagnosed with this. I passed the ENT's extensive hearing test. I have declined further testing at this point.
What are your thoughts? Mayo Clinic, would they have answers for pilots? I have the best job in the world. I would not want to put it in jeopardy by one Doctors opinion.
Thank-you for your honesty and time in answering my questions.
Click to expand...
Unreg, a webboard is no place to be getting advice for a professional career.

Mayo's is no place to go as they always order "extra tests" which are how they generate revenue.

Use my email or PM me from this board. You have to register, but then don't post, just double click on my name and I'll get it.
 
Do Pilots experience more earing problems then most people?

I ask this because I lost the hearing in one ear around a year ago. My Doctor thought at first it was Meniers but then ruled it out. He can only say now it is unexplained nerve damage due to maybe a virus I may of got or of some other unknown reasons.

I started thinking maybe flying has something to do with it. We fly in different altitudes and the inner workings of our ears must go though so much more then others. Can flying have cause the damage? My Doctor has no answers.
 
I am a student pilot, i am 22 years old, i have Ménière's disease, i had my first attack when i was 18 years old, and i have been attacked 3 or 4 times as i remember, i have Ménière's disease in my left ear only, i took my FAA license but i want to know what is the reasonable thing to do? i take beta serc before my flights to be safe, and i dont have any attacks, some body please advise will this affect my career as a pilot, i am very afraid to see my dreams broken because of this Ménière's disease, please advice. thank u
 
Unregistered said:
I am a student pilot, i am 22 years old, i have Ménière's disease, i had my first attack when i was 18 years old, and i have been attacked 3 or 4 times as i remember, i have Ménière's disease in my left ear only, i took my FAA license but i want to know what is the reasonable thing to do? i take beta serc before my flights to be safe, and i dont have any attacks, some body please advise will this affect my career as a pilot, i am very afraid to see my dreams broken because of this Ménière's disease, please advice. thank u
Click to expand...

I assume you have not yet gone for your medical?

Unless the medication is an automatic fail, you really need to make an appointment with a well qualified AME for a consultation (not a FAA medical) to get an assesmemt of your particular situation and evaluate options. I suspect it would be worth a trip to central Illinois if you are serious about flying.
 
Zombie thread, I know, but I just wanted to say that Betahistine (Serc) is meant to be taken on a daily basis. Taking it as a preventive measure before flights is useless. It has no effect on acute symptoms either.

CF-VMC
 
About five months ago I got into a car accident. After the accident I noticed some ringing in both my ears, pressure build up in the ears, some vision problems like seeing shadows and maybe a touch of blurry vision that went away, and some vertigo. The vertigo-dizzy spells was getting to the point that I would get sick you know.... vomit. Then it all went away for a very short period. I am still feeling it in the neck and the back from the collision. And then the vertigo came back pretty bad. Imagine having that sea-sick feeling all day, its the only way I could describe it. Some days it would get so bad I would get sick 2-5 times, I think for the past four weeks I have been sick about 20 times. The doctor put me on a new medication and it is helping me not getting sick but I am still feeling, you know sea-sick. I have had lots of MRI's and x-rays, and CT Scans, but the Doc's only found multiple bulging discs in my neck and back.

I have been reading online and trying to figure out if this is truly Meniere's disease? I am pretty sure the GP hasn't figured it out, as I only started really digging into this, this past weekend, and I plan to bring it up with the Doc this week. I seem to have all the symptoms, and a family friend that is a therapist has worked with people that have had it, and thinks I might have it as well. I guess I am just asking if anyone out there has had this and what happened to their 1st class medical? I have been flying for 25 years, the last 20 of it professionally, and I am not reading to give it up just yet.

I appreciate all your help
 
Capt Biff,
i'm not a doctor, but helped my neighbor with his vertigo, after he was properly diagnosed with BPPV. Google "Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV". Also check YouTube for "Canalith Repositioning". You can try it yourself and see if that helps and go from there. My neighbor is over his vertigo after a month. His wasn't Meniere's disease.

Denis
 
denisd said:
Capt Biff,
i'm not a doctor, but helped my neighbor with his vertigo, after he was properly diagnosed with BPPV. Google "Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV". Also check YouTube for "Canalith Repositioning". You can try it yourself and see if that helps and go from there. My neighbor is over his vertigo after a month. His wasn't Meniere's disease.
Click to expand...

Not a doctor either, but I know someone who had inner ear "gravel" (a very technical term) knocked loose in an car accident. Canalith repositioning fixed it.

Doesn't mean that's the case in your case, just saying there may be other possibilities. But there may not. I would say pay for a remote consult with Doc Bruce, and go from there.
 
Thanks for the replies folks, it means a lot. I have another appointment this week with my GP. I have a list of things to ask her, and will set up another appointment with my Neurologist. I do have an accident attorney, a very good one so that will help recover lost wages and medical related bills. The GP put me on Meclizine, and it seems to be helping, unfortunately my company manual lists this type of medication as a prohibited drug so I can't work while on it. I did see a dentist, that specializes in accident related injuries and he did diagnose me with TMJ, which has several of my symptoms and this might be the real cause. TMJ wouldn't explain the nystagmus, which is shifting in the eyes, that a therapist saw though.

I have been off since the accident which was in Aug of this year, which has been nice......no commuting, being home in own bed with the wife and not some horrible hotel, no TSA, rude passengers, bad weather, mx issues, oh the list could go on and on and on. But the nausea, vertigo, vomiting, dizziness, ear ringing, ear pressure, and all the other stuff I could live without.
 
Capt Biff said:
About five months ago I got into a car accident. After the accident I noticed some ringing in both my ears, pressure build up in the ears, some vision problems like seeing shadows and maybe a touch of blurry vision that went away, and some vertigo. The vertigo-dizzy spells was getting to the point that I would get sick you know.... vomit. Then it all went away for a very short period. I am still feeling it in the neck and the back from the collision. And then the vertigo came back pretty bad. Imagine having that sea-sick feeling all day, its the only way I could describe it. Some days it would get so bad I would get sick 2-5 times, I think for the past four weeks I have been sick about 20 times. The doctor put me on a new medication and it is helping me not getting sick but I am still feeling, you know sea-sick. I have had lots of MRI's and x-rays, and CT Scans, but the Doc's only found multiple bulging discs in my neck and back.

I have been reading online and trying to figure out if this is truly Meniere's disease? I am pretty sure the GP hasn't figured it out, as I only started really digging into this, this past weekend, and I plan to bring it up with the Doc this week. I seem to have all the symptoms, and a family friend that is a therapist has worked with people that have had it, and thinks I might have it as well. I guess I am just asking if anyone out there has had this and what happened to their 1st class medical? I have been flying for 25 years, the last 20 of it professionally, and I am not reading to give it up just yet.

I appreciate all your help
Click to expand...
 
I have lived with menieres for 10 years and have tried various combinations of medications, vitamins and other supplements with varying degrees of effectiveness, but more recently the thing that actually does help has been taking Mucinex (generic) daily and or nightly. I always suspected there is an issue with my eustachian tube on the effected side and this has turned out to be the closest thing to a cure for me.
Worth a try anyway. All the best!
 
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