AmericanEagleFO

Willisium,

Here is some advice from someone that actually went through this. I have ADHD. No, it is not just a medium, yes it can be mis-diagnosed. Ask my wife, I will be in the middle of a sentence and completely change the subject lol. I was diagnosed in second grade and had taken medicine for it until freshman year. I started feeling a little better then because of some "growing up" things. But alas, it was not gone, just not as bad. I went to the doc the end of my senior year because I was having problems with it all and took a sample for 2 days. I tried to get my medical and was completely honest with the AME (kinda a mistake). I was denied and after about a year of corresponence with the FAA, AOPA, and my psyciatrist. The FAA requires you to be off of the medication for 24 months. The point of the time is to prove that you can function as a norman human being without the drugs. Your good grades should be more than enough, seeing as I could barely hold a C average without the meds and I was approved. Exactly 2 years after the denial I went to an AME, told him I was previously denied and told him what they told me, and walked out with a class 2. Get the notes by your doctor, and a note from him saying that you can be a normal human being without the meds, and hand deliver it to your local FAA regional office if possible. They put all my information before a board and they made the ruling. I hope all works out well for you. I am confident that you will get your medical.

Good Luck.....

AEFO

willisium

AmericanEagleFO--
Thanks for the encouragement. Much appreciated.
Excellent, I did notice there was an AOPA hotline (Haven't looked to see what those phone calls are gonna cost). I should give it a ring and see. As for my current plan of action since I believe I am under a little bit of a time concern to keep pace with the class I'm in, and I hope it will not be a 24 month process. I'm hoping they allow me to do the ground school and let me bank the plane time for later. I was also considering the "do not tell" the AME because I knew this was going to pose a definite issue, but I decided to deal with it the right way. I haven't been in the psychiatrist care since atleast '05 and rumor has it he has dealt with this issue before with someone trying to become a pilot. Let's see what the FAA responds with, I have seen the ADD response letter posted on one of those sites that was earlier mentioned in this post, but no ADHD response letter. I'll think about it a little and see. Maybe I'll grab another psychiatrist and do some of those tests that I have seen mentioned since I can't seem to get into see the original guy until Oct. I was only under the care of this guy for less then a year, although the family history is gonna screw me if a panel of judges sees that.

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

You got some great info/advice here especially from AmEagleFO. When I used to flight instruct one of my students had his medical denied because he'd taken meds for ADHD years prior. When he was applying he'd been off the meds for some time (~2 years or so) and eventually he got his medical. Today he flies for SWA - now you know why the taxi speed equals the rotation speed over there.

If I were you I’d contact www.leftseat.com and ask for assistance, they know what they're doing. Please do not trust the FAA on this - they're very mechanical about things like this and you need to talk to those who're familiar with the subject and accustomed to dealing with the FAA on a regular basis.