n27e

I am not 100% sure if this is the correct forum but based on other posts, I figured I could get some assistance here.


If you're knowledgeable on the subject at hand, please, render your best advice. If you have nothing valuable or nice to say, I ask you refrain from replying otherwise you're just wasting both of our time.


Now to the question:


I am student pilot; in 2016, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I opted to take medication because at the time, I did not know it would disqualify me as per the FAA.



I was prescribed an SSRI (Fluoxetine to be exact). During this period, I was dealing with high levels of stress at work and felt it was time to seek help. The medication surely helped and luckily for me, I did not experience ANY side-effects. From the moment I started the medication, I stopped flying because I wasn't sure if I could. I have not flown since. In 2017, I moved to WA and my 3rd Class medical was already expired. I made an appointment to see an AME and disclosed my medication. The FAA deferred my medical application as I was instructed (strongly via a lengthy legally worded letter which freaked me out a bit) that I was to see a HIMS doctor and complete all these tests.



I consulted a HIMS doctor and he advised me that the whole process could be expensive. I am also an AOPA member and their medical team pretty much told me to either pay the expenses or come off the medication. That or just simply give up. Other than that, the AOPA medical team wasn't very comforting or helpful besides that information which to me was pretty much useless as I already figured what they said. It was worth a try nonetheless.


Almost a year later and I am still clueless as to what I should do. It upsets me every time I see a plane fly over my house because my dream is grounded literally.


Had I known this would have happened, I would've thought about alternative options but I am not as experienced as many pilots are. I have almost 100 hours to include solo time I have paid for and it only took me this long because I am an active duty service member and had to deploy several times.



Keep in mind, I go through the military medical system and when I suggested to my PNP (Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner) that I wanted to try to come off the medication, she wasn't too fond of the idea (even though I have been on the medication for almost 2 years with no issues.


From what I was told by AOPA, hypothetically, if I came off the medication, the FAA would require documentation from an actual Psychiatrist and not a PNP as they do not hold enough weight to speak on my behalf.


My ultimate question is, where do I go from here?



Personally, at the time I sought help, I feel as if I took the easy way out by just asking for meds; not realizing the repercussions of it. I do believe that had I just waited, my situation would've gotten better and my stress levels would have decreased as I was in transition of a duty station plus had other personal issues going on that subsided months later after being diagnosed.



Has anyone else had this issue before? If so, what was your course of action and are you flying again?



My fear is I will never get to fly again, I don't have the money to pay for all these tests and to deal with the FAA but rest assured, I have accepted and dealt with numerous stressful challenges far greater than piloting an aircraft and made it through safely if not better than others with more experience.



What is your best advice?

rickair7777

The bad news first: If you REALLY need to be on meds, then it will be an uphill and expense battle to get cleared to fly. This was not even allowed at all just a few years ago, and the FAA only recently made it possible. Unfortunately shortly after the policy change, that germanwings fruitcake murdered a planeload of people, which caused the FAA to take a round turn on mental health issues in general, and flying on meds in particular.

The good news: Generalized anxiety disorder is very common, and in a situational context is most often easy to resolve. Unless your life consists of constant, unavoidable high stress levels, odds are good that most folks can use the meds for a few months to stabilize themselves, and then manage their lifestyle better to avoid the anxiety spiral... just knowing that it can happen and how you got there is half the battle. Do some research on lifestyle and stress, and then get a second opinion if you think getting off meds would work for you.

Complication... being active duty, it's possible that the military medical system might be able to direct you take meds even if you get an outside opinion to the contrary. Might want to talk to a lawyer about that, you wouldn't want to go off meds and then get in trouble for doing it.

WhisperJet

Can you work with someone to find ways to address your anxiety without medication? If you are going through life issues, maybe working with a counselor or life coach can help you through those and enable you to proceed without meds. Maybe lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, faith, meditation, hanging around positive people, new hobbies, etc etc)?

If you opt to stay on meds, and if flying is your dream, suck it up and pay the money. Look at it as the cost of doing business. It's better that you are in the best frame of mind (on or off meds) before you are at the controls anyway. You can do this. It's not impossible but you do have work to do.

Consider working with AMAS who is who ALPA contracts with for medical counsel.

Keep us posted. Good luck to you.

n27e

Thanks for the replies,


I have though about just paying the money (whether it be through loans or whatever I can save up).



I don't really NEED to be on the meds, I remember my original doctor (an actually military psychiatrist) asked me what I wanted to do and I volunteered to try the medication. Horrible choice.



It's just that every medical professional I see, doesn't KNOW me and think I'm just another "freak show". I remember telling my PNP (before I knew she was only a PNP) that I wanted to get back into flying, I told her about the FAA regulations and she literally said to me "well, perhaps you should find another hobby". I left her office feeling extremely empty and lost. I really screwed myself over for doing the RIGHT thing.



I have no intentions of doing anything shady or illegal to fly again, I want to do this the right way.



So far, it's looking that I should just pay the money. I can't let this go, I don't want to be 85 years old some day and regret not doing what is necessary to live out my dream. I'm not asking to be an airline pilot, I just want to fly again for my own reasons. It's what I passionately enjoy.


Thanks to those who responded, I think I know the direction I need to take now. Thanks again!

n27e

Sorry about the question but what exactly is AMAS and ALPA? I am not familiar with these terms, can you please educate me on this? I seriously do not know what they are.

Thanks!

n27e

You are 100% correct about the complication. In fact, I have already verified what you have said with my prescribing military doctor (a civilian contractor so-to-speak). He mentioned to me that I CAN see an outside psychiatrist and follow through with their orders and recommendations. The only caveat to that is that I am REQUIRED to report it to the military. That is, doesn't mean the military would disregard it, they just wanted to be informed on what it is I am doing and whether or not my condition is within parameters to remain in military service.



I have less than 2 years remaining on my contract as I plan to leave the service with 9 years in. I did sign a document as Generalized Anxiety is a military dis-qualifier and I ran the risk of an administrative discharge. The agreement I made with the military was that provided I follow my doctors orders I would not be subject to discharge. I have followed ALL orders to the "T" but this is what is stopping me from flying.


Suppose when I get out of the Navy in less than 2 years, I seek outside treatment, would I have a better chance then?

Excargodog

You are active duty???

Geez, guy, make use of your resources. Go find yourself a Navy flight surgeon and tell him/her your situation. If it's a base with a large flying mission, you'll likely have a senior flight surgeon who is board certified in Aerospace Medicine.

These guys are all sort of one big club, the USAF residency at Wright-Patterson, the Army/Navy residency at Pensacola, and afew civilian ones. These guys all know one another in a first name basis and generally the military guys wind up in the OKC FAA office and/or Federal Air Surgeon slot after they get their twenty years in.

Go find a military flight surgeon (Navy if that's your service) and explain what's going on. They pretty much LIKE people who like to fly, or they wouldn't have that job, and that's damn sure the case for the senior guys.

They can get everything you need done through military channels - if it indeed doable.

rickair7777

Airline Pilots Association (the union).

Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (consulting company). They're good, and you'll probably need them if you want to try to get a medical while taking meds. Not particularly cheap.

If you can get off the meds, you probably don't need to spend that money. Just wait some number of months post-meds, and then get a clean psych eval regarding the anxiety (your AME should be able to advise you on that).

n27e

Yes, I am aware of my resources, very good point. In fact, that was the first thing I did. I talked to a Naval Flight Surgeon and told him what is going on, unfortunately this particular gentleman was advising me "off-record" so he couldn't do much other than what else I could try. The way the naval medical system works is you can't just call up a flight surgeon and set up an appointment. The use of a referral is required and that would have to be obtained via my PCM or this PNP who is essentially useless to me right now.



HOWEVER, you do raise some more good points and maybe I should dig deeper on this. According the flight surgeon I talked to, he said the odds of me being seen for this particular issue is pretty low for several reasons not even related to my issue but solely on the fact that I'm not a naval aviator and this is primarily for recreational purposes and not directly in the line of duty. He did say, it was possible, so it is worth a shot to try and push the visit.


Thanks for the response!

n27e

Curiosity, you mentioned that the AMAS is not particularly cheap? How much am I looking at spending via this route?



According the HIMS doctor I talked to months back, it almost sounded as if the most expensive part is getting the psychiatric evaluation.



The FAA also directed me to get and submit a Neuropsychologist report and cog screen-ae report. Cost on this particular testing and report was not mentioned by the HIMS. I'm going to assume this will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars?


I am just collecting information and assessing my options, right it SEEMS to me that my best chance would be to safely come off the medication, wait the required time by the FAA and try again. The question is, will they still grant me a medical certificate. This was also mentioned to me by the AOPA that even if I do ANY of the above, there is still no guarantee that the FAA will find my case suitable and deem me fit for flight again.


I will definitely keep the forum posted on this matter.