Originally Posted by
sherpster
I can stress enough that the faa regional medical offices are there to help. They are not trying to pull certificates.
This is totally true. Look, if you are actually unsafe to fly, you are screwed - at least for flying anything as a job with other people's lives depending on you - but they really do want to grant waivers in all the other cases.
The AME rules are much more limiting because the AMEs are often not that well trained in aviation medicine unless they are former military flight surgeons and they are not granted a great deal of discretion because of that. That goes especially for those who aren't senior flight surgeons who aren't even allowed to do class 1 physicals. The fact that your AME can't clear you if you set off a tripwire does not mean you can't be cleared.