Previous SSRI use

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I'm planning on starting my PPL this November or December but would like to square away my medical before starting. I'm 26 and as far as I know do not have any immediate disqualifications from obtaining a third class medical.

However when I was 19, after transitioning between high school and college I was having anxiety and began taking an SSRI. I believe it was Celexa but I'm not really sure since I took it briefly and quite a few years ago. I took it for approximately 3 months, stopped and I've had no issues since then.

I feel like this won't be disqualifying but I don't want to be deferred either if I just go in and disclose this. Is this a non-issue? What is the best way to approach this before going in for my medical?
 
+1 for you to figure this out BEFORE you start.

Dr. Bruce Chien will be along eventually. He is one of the group that authoried the SSRI special issuance, so what ever he advises you to do, do that and don't stray.

You might also be well advised to contact him directly, aeromedicaldoc@comcast.net or www.aeromedicaldoc.com

With his expertise, you have good chance of getting a successful out come.
 
And whatever Dr. Bruce says, you do. You follow the directions precisely. Do not try to figure it out on your own or try to out guess the FAA as to why they might want something.

There is a checklist for this at the Aeromedical Division. Dr. Bruce helped create that checklist. You are going to want to present the information in that checklist to the FAA in the order provided in the checklist in the format asked for. If you do not vary the items provided, provide them all with the information requested and only the information requested in the order asked for, you shall be entitled to receive a third class medical certificate.

Seriously, do what they want, provide the info required and do it in the order provided and you'll be fine. Its been 7 years [and it better be exactly the time frame you claim - shaving any facts will get you looked at more deeply and no one wants that examination from a federal agency] - and assuming its been that long you may actually get away with regular 3rd class without the special issuance - Dr. Bruce will know for sure.

I'm just telling you that you should be ready to jump through hoops cleanly and follow the procedure even if it seems silly . . .
 
A related question, not from the OP: If someone with a similar history failed to disclose previous SSRI usage and later was issued a 3rd class medical, is it worth rectifying after the fact? If so, how?
 
Unregistered said:
A related question, not from the OP: If someone with a similar history failed to disclose previous SSRI usage and later was issued a 3rd class medical, is it worth rectifying after the fact? If so, how?
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As per the OP, Dr. Bruce is the best equipped to handle this situation.

As you read, not only does he have all the right info on how to obtain certification with SSRI's in the picture, he also knows how to deal with situations like yours.

Likely there is a correct procedure to be done. And Bruce will know the right steps in order to minimize any fall out.
 
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Unregistered said:
A related question, not from the OP: If someone with a similar history failed to disclose previous SSRI usage and later was issued a 3rd class medical, is it worth rectifying after the fact? If so, how?
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You have two problems there - first is medical and the other is legal. . .

Dr. Bruce prob has a better idea of the willingness of the AMD to entertain such information and disclosure . . . they had an amnesty, did they not, when the SSRI program first came out?
 
This one is easy. If you stil lhave access to the doc who presecribed, visit him again, and ask for a letter stating: "Dates of usage of Celexa from ABC to XYZ. Situation was transient and has resolved. No need for further treatment and no further symptoms present". That will do the job.

The reason you have to visit him is the latter statement...."and has resolved".
 
Thank you Dr. Bruce. I still have access to this doctor fortunately. I will set up an appointment with him first asking for a letter stating what you said, then bring in the letter for my third class exam. Hopefully I won't have any issues with that.

To the other anonymous poster, I don't know what the outcome would be disclosing previous use after the fact, but that's the kind of situation I would prefer to avoid. Has anyone done this? I'd be curious to know how that plays out as well for this instance.

From some of the previous posts that I've read on here and elsewhere it seems like people have disclosed potentially but not disqualifying conditions after the fact and were able to keep their medical with some money and hoop jumping. I can't imagine discontinued SSRI use without symptoms being any different.
 
Unregistered said:
A related question, not from the OP: If someone with a similar history failed to disclose previous SSRI usage and later was issued a 3rd class medical, is it worth rectifying after the fact? If so, how?
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That requires a consult. You would need to do the first report of it, accompanied by a fistful of documents (or maybe jsut a short letter, if your situation is identical to OP) that would assure the agency that you relaly ARE certifiable. If you ARE, I have never had anyone referred for legal action.
 
Unregistered said:
To the other anonymous poster, I don't know what the outcome would be disclosing previous use after the fact, but that's the kind of situation I would prefer to avoid. Has anyone done this? I'd be curious to know how that plays out as well for this instance.

From some of the previous posts that I've read on here and elsewhere it seems like people have disclosed potentially but not disqualifying conditions after the fact and were able to keep their medical with some money and hoop jumping.
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In a few cases, yes. In others, where the FAA felt they were being deceptive or evasive until the FAA found out about it, the FAA has done an emergency revocation on all their FAA certificates (pilot, medical, and anything else they held). For those reasons, I recommend most strongly against omitting anything you know about in the hope that they'll forgive you when they do find out later on, no matter what stories you hear. The "F" in FAA does not stand for "forgiving."
 
Unregistered said:
A related question, not from the OP: If someone with a similar history failed to disclose previous SSRI usage and later was issued a 3rd class medical, is it worth rectifying after the fact? If so, how?
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Joe is correct. At that point you have a serious legal problem, not just an Aeromedical issue. Your best bet then is to retain an aviation attorney to negotiate some kind of a deal with the FAA that avoids revocations of all your certificates. If the FAA finds out on their own, revocations are a virtual certainty, and criminal prosecution on a Federal felony charge is at least a theoretical possibility.
 
There is yet antoher strategy. Take your medical certificate and send it certified, return receipt back to OKC. Tell them, "I am returning my certificate for cancellation". That stops all clocks and forestalls all action against your pilot certificate for lying.

Then only reapply when you have all your ducks in a row-the condition was documented well to be transient, or definitive neuro-spych testing shows you never had the condition.
 
bbchien said:
There is yet antoher strategy. Take your medical certificate and send it certified, return receipt back to OKC. Tell them, "I am returning my certificate for cancellation". That stops all clocks and forestalls all action against your pilot certificate for lying.
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That's a new one on me. Is that written somewhere?
 
Ron Levy said:
That's a new one on me. Is that written somewhere?
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Of course not. It's perfecty obvious. It is a tactical tool that resolves around the fact that no action originates from the medical branch, on an airman who has no medical certificate. Think about it: How can you deny an airman who has no current application pending, and no actionable medical certificate?

It is very useful, and also accomplishes the agency's goal to get such an airman DOWN until thoroughly evaluated. Then the reapplication, complete and in one package, carries none of the "OMG we've got a guy flying who we need DOWN" which leads to the Emergency proceedings.

I have alluded to this before, Ron :)
 
bbchien said:
Of course not. It's perfecty obvious. It is a tactical tool that resolves around the fact that no action originates from the medical branch, on an airman who has no medical certificate. Think about it: How can you deny an airman who has no current application pending, and no actionable medical certificate?

It is very useful, and also accomplishes the agency's goal to get such an airman DOWN until thoroughly evaluated. Then the reapplication, complete and in one package, carries none of the "OMG we've got a guy flying who we need DOWN" which leads to the Emergency proceedings.

I have alluded to this before, Ron :)
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wait, you mean the FAA allows for common sense? When did that arrive?
 
comanchepilot said:
wait, you mean the FAA allows for common sense? When did that arrive?
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I used that strategy last summer on an airman I issued TODAY. He's 85 years old and has 5 conditions.

There are other useable strategies. When a Medicare airman has too may tests to get down in a 3 month period and limited ability to get letters, I use:
"You'd better get in here to day so I can get you denied" (I already know the letter will come from the 5th doc, because I have seen good data).
"Why would you want me to do that"
"It's so I can stop the clock and you won't have to restart gathering prothrombin times all over again as they are about to be outdated."
"OK if I'm there at 1:00?"
"yup. See you".

Five days later I was able to make the phone call and get him issued for the whole year. He was down five days.
There are a number of maenuvers that are obvious but would amaze most. And, properly applied, they all work.

It's just like being an O-2. You need common sense and thorough knowledge of the book.
 
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More related questions, not from the OP:

In the absence of records (or even an official diagnosis), can a consumer obtain prescription records from >15 years ago in order to find out who the prescribing physician was, in order to obtain a letter? Presumably if this information is available to the FAA, it is also available to the individual.

If one returns one's 3rd class medical for cancellation, can one still fly LSA using their PP-ASEL certificate?

Will cancellation and subsequent re-application, itself, be a red flag?
 
(1) Yes. go to the drugstore
(2) Cancellation is not a denial or a withdrawal of a special issuance.
(3) Only if the application does NOT contain the necessary information to make the airman again eligible for issuance. The Re-app needs be COMPLETE and I recommend being CERTAIN that the documentation contained CLEARLY renders the airman elgible.
 
Well, my doctor has my chart in storage and the staff expected about a month of time before they can retrieve it. He's also not seeing new patients. I'm considered new since so much time has passed since seeing him last (I've been travelling so much I haven't been seeing the same doctor or having exams regularly).

This is a roadblock but I haven't given up on obtaining a letter from him but in the meantime what are some other options to get the necessary documentation? I'd prefer to get it taken care of sooner than a month as I was going to start training in November.
 
Unregistered said:
Well, my doctor has my chart in storage and the staff expected about a month of time before they can retrieve it. He's also not seeing new patients. I'm considered new since so much time has passed since seeing him last (I've been travelling so much I haven't been seeing the same doctor or having exams regularly).

This is a roadblock but I haven't given up on obtaining a letter from him but in the meantime what are some other options to get the necessary documentation? I'd prefer to get it taken care of sooner than a month as I was going to start training in November.
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You don't need a medical to start flight training, you DO need a medical to solo.

Of course you don't want to get to the point of being able to solo, then get stuck waiting on the medical, so use your own judgement there.
 
dell30rb said:
You don't need a medical to start flight training, you DO need a medical to solo.

Of course you don't want to get to the point of being able to solo, then get stuck waiting on the medical, so use your own judgement there.
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Right, that's what I'm worried about. I plan on flying 3 times per week so it could create a delay in solo/progress if I started and didn't have my medical.
 
You could take a ground school class at your local junior college or FBO while you wait, that way you get it out of the way.
 
Matthew said:
You could take a ground school class at your local junior college or FBO while you wait, that way you get it out of the way.
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Let's just hope it doesn't take so long that Unreg has studied and passed the written's all the way through ATP before he gets that file.
 
If the doctor or the office staff presents you with a problem about being a 'new' patient, ask them if they "want you to consult an attorney to see what your rights are?"

Most people at that point will say no, thats not what I meant - which begs the question of what they did mean - but - then all you want them to do is pull the chart.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Let's just hope it doesn't take so long that Unreg has studied and passed the written's all the way through ATP before he gets that file.
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It's what I did when I was waiting on my deferred SI. I'm guessing that even when the paperwork shows up, maybe in a month, it might be as many as 3 or more months in deferral unless a very savvy AME is involved.
 
comanchepilot said:
If the doctor or the office staff presents you with a problem about being a 'new' patient, ask them if they "want you to consult an attorney to see what your rights are?"

Most people at that point will say no, thats not what I meant - which begs the question of what they did mean - but - then all you want them to do is pull the chart.
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I was able to write a letter directly to the doctor explaining the situation. I imagine I will get a faster follow up now at least and maybe it won't take a month or more to resolve this.
 
Unregistered said:
This is a roadblock but I haven't given up on obtaining a letter from him but in the meantime what are some other options to get the necessary documentation? I'd prefer to get it taken care of sooner than a month as I was going to start training in November.
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I had a similar experience, and here's what I had to do:

Background -- I was on Zoloft for what was called "mild depression" and "insomnia" for a few months about 9 years ago while some stuff was going on in my life (divorce etc.) - I declared it on my medical back in July and was denied. It took me about two days of research to figure out that the doctor who treated me had since changed her name (marriage?), moved to the other side of the country, and was now working in a VA Hospital. After another three (patient) weeks of waiting for her to return my voicemails (she never did), my medical examiner referred me to a psychologist (also a pilot) who put me through a pretty rigorous set of tests (IQ, personality evaluation, and more) all to be able to write a letter stating my history, that I was "treated to remission", and that I would make a perfectly safe pilot. That letter was sent by my original examiner to the FAA, and two weeks later, I had my medical and was able to solo.

All told, it took about 7 weeks from the date of my first medical exam to when I got my cert. My CFI managed to fill in a couple of lessons with some stuff, but I had a good 5 weeks with no flying. It sucked, but I got through it and now I can laugh about it (except for the $500 that I had to pay for the psychological testing).

Keep your head up and follow the process that the doctors prescribe, and you'll get it done. Good luck!
 
Unregistered said:
I had a similar experience, and here's what I had to do:

Background -- I was on Zoloft for what was called "mild depression" and "insomnia" for a few months about 9 years ago while some stuff was going on in my life (divorce etc.) - I declared it on my medical back in July and was denied. It took me about two days of research to figure out that the doctor who treated me had since changed her name (marriage?), moved to the other side of the country, and was now working in a VA Hospital. After another three (patient) weeks of waiting for her to return my voicemails (she never did), my medical examiner referred me to a psychologist (also a pilot) who put me through a pretty rigorous set of tests (IQ, personality evaluation, and more) all to be able to write a letter stating my history, that I was "treated to remission", and that I would make a perfectly safe pilot. That letter was sent by my original examiner to the FAA, and two weeks later, I had my medical and was able to solo.

All told, it took about 7 weeks from the date of my first medical exam to when I got my cert. My CFI managed to fill in a couple of lessons with some stuff, but I had a good 5 weeks with no flying. It sucked, but I got through it and now I can laugh about it (except for the $500 that I had to pay for the psychological testing).

Keep your head up and follow the process that the doctors prescribe, and you'll get it done. Good luck!
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That's a good story! Glad to hear it worked out for you.
 
Unregistered said:
I had a similar experience, and here's what I had to do:

Background -- I was on Zoloft for what was called "mild depression" and "insomnia" for a few months about 9 years ago while some stuff was going on in my life (divorce etc.) - I declared it on my medical back in July and was denied. It took me about two days of research to figure out that the doctor who treated me had since changed her name (marriage?), moved to the other side of the country, and was now working in a VA Hospital. After another three (patient) weeks of waiting for her to return my voicemails (she never did), my medical examiner referred me to a psychologist (also a pilot) who put me through a pretty rigorous set of tests (IQ, personality evaluation, and more) all to be able to write a letter stating my history, that I was "treated to remission", and that I would make a perfectly safe pilot. That letter was sent by my original examiner to the FAA, and two weeks later, I had my medical and was able to solo.

All told, it took about 7 weeks from the date of my first medical exam to when I got my cert. My CFI managed to fill in a couple of lessons with some stuff, but I had a good 5 weeks with no flying. It sucked, but I got through it and now I can laugh about it (except for the $500 that I had to pay for the psychological testing).

Keep your head up and follow the process that the doctors prescribe, and you'll get it done. Good luck!
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Send her the bill for your $500 in testing. Should have at least returned your call and sent you any pertinent documentation.
 
dell30rb said:
Send her the bill for your $500 in testing. Should have at least returned your call and sent you any pertinent documentation.
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You'd think so -- I know I would have been glad to help out. She never did return any of my calls, and since she's working in a hospital, there was never a direct number to call. I always had to jump through switchboard operators to get to her VM. I was always polite in my messages too: "I believe you practiced in Anytown under the name of Blah Blah, and I'm a former patient of yours..." etc.

Tracking her down was exhausting; maybe she thought I was crazy after-all?
 
Not that you care, but she probably was an employee of a clinic and the records would be available from the clinic where she worked, and she would have zero access to them in the current employment situation.

In every one of the 50 states, if you didn't provide your records to an outside purveyor of records (for a fee), you have to make the records avaiable for a finite period of time thereafter- usualy 5-7 years.
 
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bbchien said:
Not that you care, but she probably was an employee of a clinic and the records would be available from the clinic where she worked, and she would have zero access to them in the current employment situation.

In every one of the 50 states, if you didn't provide your records to an outside purveyor of records (for a fee), you have to make the records avaiable for a finite period of time thereafter- usualy 5-7 years.
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Thanks for the reply, Dr. Chien. In this case, the practice she had here was her own private practice, but I knew that even if I could get a hold of her that the records were most likely gone and she wouldn't remember who I was. I was a bit disappointed not to get a return call though, but it is what it is (or was). Fortunately, the AME and the psychologist I had to see were on the ball and the process was relatively painless. Those tests were something else, too.
 
Unregistered said:
Thanks for the reply, Dr. Chien. In this case, the practice she had here was her own private practice, but I knew that even if I could get a hold of her that the records were most likely gone and she wouldn't remember who I was. I was a bit disappointed not to get a return call though, but it is what it is (or was). Fortunately, the AME and the psychologist I had to see were on the ball and the process was relatively painless. Those tests were something else, too.
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Good AME, though :)
 
A followup, not from the OP.

I was able to unearth some records containing diagnostic information, but the prescribing doc was unable to provide a letter.

Plan B involved sending said records to Dr. Bruce along with a note from my current primary care physician and a character reference. Ultimately, this resulted in a letter of eligibility from the FAA. The whole process took about nine months.

Unregistered said:
To the other anonymous poster, I don't know what the outcome would be disclosing previous use after the fact, but that's the kind of situation I would prefer to avoid. Has anyone done this? I'd be curious to know how that plays out as well for this instance.

From some of the previous posts that I've read on here and elsewhere it seems like people have disclosed potentially but not disqualifying conditions after the fact and were able to keep their medical with some money and hoop jumping. I can't imagine discontinued SSRI use without symptoms being any different.
Click to expand...
 
Unregistered said:
A followup, not from the OP.

I was able to unearth some records containing diagnostic information, but the prescribing doc was unable to provide a letter.

Plan B involved sending said records to Dr. Bruce along with a note from my current primary care physician and a character reference. Ultimately, this resulted in a letter of eligibility from the FAA. The whole process took about nine months.
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I might have the wrong anon, but IIRC I sent the completed file into FAA in January, and if this is the correct anon we just heard now. Six months is what it takes currently to get a response on a file in which there is no AME of record to push it.

And looking at the cover letter, I see I used my best "lieutenant beseech": "we do request this, at this time"


Bruce
 
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