Pre-emptive Sleep Study before Medical?

[Unregistered]

I am in between medicals and my wife wants me to get a sleep study done. She has been having trouble sleeping due to some recent medicine changes and she feels that my snoring doesn't help.

My snoring appears related to weight gain over the last 2 years, although my BMI is below the 'send to sleep study now' category and I don't seem to have any of the other flags or symptoms of OSA so I was issued my medical a few months ago without any further action.

If I do the sleep study and am diagnosed with OSA, what would I need to do in between the diagnosis, beginning of treatment and my next medical (over 6 months from now)?

 

[write-stuff]

Make sure you do everything properly. Had two friends deal with this. One was back flying very quickly. It took the other one over a year.

 

[Matthew]

The way I understand the new rules:

1) If you go to the AME and he feels you fit the profile for OSA, he'll give you a medical (as long as you qualify on everything else), but it's going to also require that you get a sleep study within a certain amount of time, and it's possible you could run out of time because of sleep lab schedules, doc appointments, whatever. If you run out of time, your medical gets revoked until you meet the requirements.

2) If you already have a diagnosis, and a status report showing proper treatment and compliance (within 90 days of your AME visit), and then you see an AME, he'll issue your medical (as long as you otherwise qualify). Eventually you'll get a letter from FAA with the special issuance instructions.

3) Here's where I'm unclear: If you get a preemptive sleep study and it shows you are clean (but the AME feels you fit the profile anyway), I think you can show that to your AME and be OK. But, it probably has to be recent (within 90 days).

 

[JimNtexas]

I am in between medicals and my wife wants me to get a sleep study done. She has been having trouble sleeping due to some recent medicine changes and she feels that my snoring doesn't help.

My snoring appears related to weight gain over the last 2 years, although my BMI is below the 'send to sleep study now' category and I don't seem to have any of the other flags or symptoms of OSA so I was issued my medical a few months ago without any further action.

If I do the sleep study and am diagnosed with OSA, what would I need to do in between the diagnosis, beginning of treatment and my next medical (over 6 months from now)?

I was in your shoes a few years ago. I had the sleep study right AFTER taking a Class 3 FAA medical, and sure enough, I had serious OSA.

I went on CPAP, and despite the PIB aspects of using this device my sleep quality improved noticeably and I began to lose weight.

When my next physical came due I consulted with Dr. Bruce, and he told me what documentation to bring to the FAA physical, and I was able to walk out of his office with a renewed Class 3 medical, and was issued an SI for OSA by the FAA a few weeks later.

Flash forward to last summer, I'd lost a lot of weight, took an at-home study shortly before my FAA physical, which found that I no longer suffered from OSA (which I knew myself). I qualified for the class 3 and a few weeks latter I got a letter from the FAA saying my OSA SI was canceled because I no longer have OSA.

My advice: Talk to your family doctor to see if a sleep study is indicated. If possible, ask for an "at home" study, the in lab studies are really not fun.

If you really have OSA then you need to deal with it per your doctor's orders.

For your next FAA physical consult with a senior AME like Dr. Bruce first, before the official physical to discover the current FAA requirements for pilots with OSA.

My impression is that the FAA wants to let pilots with OSA fly as long as these pilots are in fact being treated appropriately.

The big thing is to use an AME who knows exactly how to report this to FAA in such a way that the AME can issue on the spot. If the AME defers to the FAA you'll still get your medical, but there could be long delay before the FAA gets around to looking at your case.

 

[Bonanza]

Why not just lose some weight ???
Stephen.