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Velocity173
Even some of these mild antidepressants I wonder about how safe they are. My brother took Prozac for years for his depression and had problems sleeping, headaches, etc. I wondered about his ability to drive a car, let alone operate an aircraft. Of course he was diagnosed as bipolar / ADHD as well so that didn’t help.When I look at some of the medications the FAA will approve pilots to be prescribed these days, I think the FAA has gone too far. As an example:
As of April 2024, the FAA conditionally approved venlafaxine for special issuance for pilots and controllers. This approval applies to patients who are stable and taking venlafaxine, which is a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) commonly used to treat anxiety and depression.
One of the side effects of this medication is a condition called brain zaps. These sensations are described as brief, repetitive, electric shock-like feelings in the brain or head. They can also feel like the brain is shivering.
Brain zaps can occur when someone is late taking their dose, or when they abruptly stop or reduce their dose of the medication. They are often associated with involuntary side-to-side eye movements, and can also be triggered by other head movements. The sensations usually last a few weeks, but can persist for years.
This medication is also commonly prescribed to men receiving ADT prostate cancer treatments to combat hot flash side effects. Many describe these brain zaps a debilitating. I doubt you would find a single prostate cancer patient on this medication who would tell you flying an airplane would be acceptable. About everyone on the medication experiances the side effects.
Enough is enough.
Another thing I’ve noticed recently is all these people who need weed to get by because of a GAD diagnosis. Seems like everyone is suffering from GAD these days. Had a nephew and his girlfriend come up to my place and spend the night a couple months back. She has a medical marijuana card and he vapes like crazy. Couldn’t have anything on the tv with explosions or sirens because it would set off her PTSD. That’s like 75 % of what’s on tv these days! Unbelievable.