Anxiety and medical

[Drilln]

I have been reading and researching and reading some more. I want to get my class 3 medical certificate and start persuing my private pilot certification (starting completly from scratch). I do have high blood pressure that is being kept under control with a daily dose of linsopril. I know this may cause me to have to jump through a few hoops but it should not prevent me from getting the certificate. What really concerns me is that about a year and a half ago, I mentioned to my Doctor (actually nurse practioner) that crowds caused me a level of anxiety that made it hard to enjoy concerts and such. She suggested I try a perscrition for ativan, taken just as needed to see if it helped, which it did. I continued this perscription, taking on the average less than 2 pills a month (I refilled the perscription more than that due to have real bad luck with pill bottles coming open in my pocket and losing/contaminating pills), until the end of february of this year. I quit taking them A) because of the way I felt when taking them, and I learnd some concentration techniques and some breathing techniques that releive the symtoms faster and better than the drugs, with out the light headed feeling that the pills gave me. I know this is kinda getting to be a long post, and I apologize for that. But just how screwed am I moving forward to get my medical? Any advice on how I can improve my situation?

Thanks
Bill

 

[bbchien]

As we move to lesser and lesser qualified practitiones, more and more airmen are getting screwed.

Bill: [RANT]

So what do we ask this "nurse-almost a doc" to write?
"I gave you anxiety pills for no reason?"....hmmmn, doesn't hunt.
"I gave these without any real diagnosis?".....hmmmn, state board of nursing enforcement action.
"I gave these as a clinical trial, for 18 months...." hmmmn, this practitioner is inherently ridiculous and we (FAA) disregard anythign she has to say. He/She should have referred you immediately to someone qualified.

Cheap is cheap and you get what you get.

Now you have to pay the piper. This is EXACTLY the situation with little Johnny and those Ritalin pills, prescribed for no real reason at all.

Go see a psychiatrist (yes, and pay $$s, I know it's unbelievable you have to actually pay some $$s) and let's see what his assessment says. This could be nothing. He will say so. This could be Social Anxiety Disorder. This could be a general anxiety disorder. This could be "nuttin, honey".

In our state the nurses have petitioned the state legislature to be declared doctors. [/RANT]

My take: '"....whatever....."

A practitioner doesn't know what he/she doesn't know. How can he/she know what damage they do by dispensing pills....In fairness there are docs that do this too, but we eventually take 'em out. These NPs.....shakes head.....

 

[Drilln]

Thank you for the quick reply. Going to the nurse pratitioner was not a matter of being cheap, here in western North Dakota for the last couple years with the oil boom, you take what you can get. I needed my BP meds refilled and it was either wait 3 weeks to see her, or wait 2 months to see the actual doctor. Yes we are in that bad of a need for doctors. Anyway money is not an issue in any of this, I am just looking for suggestions on how best to proceed to make a potential bad situation better. If I need to go see a psychiatrist, thats not a problem, other than the time it will take to get a appointment.

Bruce, with all the reading here I have been doing, it is obvious that the people on the forum hold you in high regard, and it is obvious you know what you are talking about. If I hit a sore spot with you or offended you in some way I truely apologize as that was not my intention. I have always wanted to learn to fly and when I was younger, I couldn't afford it, then family and career took up all my time. Now I have the time and money and am hoping that some how I can make it happen. If going to a psychiatrist will help my situation then that is what I shall do.

If the psychiatrist gives me a clean bill of mental health (as in the pills that I am no longer taking are unnessisary), what are my relative chances of getting approved?

Here is also a intresting twist, the NP I was seeing is actually working under my local AME, would it be benificial to use this AME or would it be better travel to see someone else?

I have a distint feeling that I am fighting a uphill battle here, but I have to try....

Thank you
Bill

 

[Drilln]

After thinking about this some more, I realize that this road block to my medical is not the end of the dream, I can still persure a light sport certification while working towards getting a clean bill of health BEFORE I apply for a class 3 medical. This way I can still get flying (maybe the light sport will fufill my desire anyway, who knows) and the way I understand it, the hours I put in with a light sport will count towards a futture Private certification. This site is great, so much information............

Thank you
Bill

 

[bbchien]

If the psychiatrist gives me a clean bill of mental health (as in the pills that I am no longer taking are unnessisary), what are my relative chances of getting approved?

100% favorable.

Here is also a intresting twist, the NP I was seeing is actually working under my local AME, would it be benificial to use this AME or would it be better travel to see someone else?

Run away. Run quickly and run far. That's doc who believes in the cheapest care....which can be approriate for minor aches and pains, but not for psych.

I have a distint feeling that I am fighting a uphill battle here, but I have to try....

Thank you
Bill

 

[Mason]

After thinking about this some more, I realize that this road block to my medical is not the end of the dream, I can still persure a light sport certification while working towards getting a clean bill of health BEFORE I apply for a class 3 medical. This way I can still get flying (maybe the light sport will fufill my desire anyway, who knows) and the way I understand it, the hours I put in with a light sport will count towards a futture Private certification. This site is great, so much information............

Thank you
Bill

It will if your CFI IS APPROPRIATELY RATED.

 

[Art VanDelay]

As we move to lesser and lesser qualified practitiones, more and more airmen are getting screwed.

Bill: [RANT]

So what do we ask this "nurse-almost a doc" to write?
"I gave you anxiety pills for no reason?"....hmmmn, doesn't hunt.
"I gave these without any real diagnosis?".....hmmmn, state board of nursing enforcement action.
"I gave these as a clinical trial, for 18 months...." hmmmn, this practitioner is inherently ridiculous and we (FAA) disregard anythign she has to say. He/She should have referred you immediately to someone qualified.

Cheap is cheap and you get what you get.

Now you have to pay the piper. This is EXACTLY the situation with little Johnny and those Ritalin pills, prescribed for no real reason at all.

Go see a psychiatrist (yes, and pay $$s, I know it's unbelievable you have to actually pay some $$s) and let's see what his assessment says. This could be nothing. He will say so. This could be Social Anxiety Disorder. This could be a general anxiety disorder. This could be "nuttin, honey".

In our state the nurses have petitioned the state legislature to be declared doctors. [/RANT]

My take: '"....whatever....."

A practitioner doesn't know what he/she doesn't know. How can he/she know what damage they do by dispensing pills....In fairness there are docs that do this too, but we eventually take 'em out. These NPs.....shakes head.....

I'm certain you would have an entirely different opinion of Nurse Practitioners if YOUR family had to depend on an HMO for medical care. As it is I would FAR rather deal with an NP than an MD as at least the NP takes the time to LISTEN to what I am saying.

Additionally and probably due to the increased academic workload and complexity involved with getting through medical school these days the vast majority of young physicians I have met have ZERO personality and or people skills. A doc treating my mother was such a total nerd he couldn't even maintain eye contact with people while in a conversation.

 

[Drilln]

Thank you everyone for the responses, they have been most helpfull.

DR. Bruce, once I get rolling with the psych, I will contact you through your web site, and as long as your willing to take it on, I would like to retain your services to help me through this. Thank you very much.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bbchien]

I'm certain you would have an entirely different opinion of Nurse Practitioners if YOUR family had to depend on an HMO for medical care. As it is I would FAR rather deal with an NP than an MD as at least the NP takes the time to LISTEN to what I am saying.

Additionally and probably due to the increased academic workload and complexity involved with getting through medical school these days the vast majority of young physicians I have met have ZERO personality and or people skills. A doc treating my mother was such a total nerd he couldn't even maintain eye contact with people while in a conversation.

Then you have the wrong doc, Art, (or too restrictive of an insurance plan). The right guys are out there. They really are.

I do agree with you about Doogie Howser, but there is no two ways about this, this NP put the OP into he_l.

 

[Daveroo]

im just a newby here in the forum..but about the nurse practitioners,vs doctors (family medicine).,i went to see my Dr.last week for a minor issue,we are also personal friends outside of the office,and we began to visit as he wasnt busy that day,i asked him how he will be affected by the up coming health care package ( i refuse to call it that other phraze).
he told me that he was notified by blue cross,and two other major carriers.that he must agree to accept lower fee's..i think he put it as 80% on the dollar,he needs to sign it..or be dropped..meaning he would no longer be able to treat those blue cross patients (or the other two HMOs),he said that the general conscensouse at a meeting of his peers was that in time ( he hopes after his retirement) there will be no family medicine doctors,GPs..that we will all have to see the Nurse pactitioner first for minor treatment,then off to specailists,,or you pass by the NP and go to the hospital ER..

 

[bbchien]

I'm certain you would have an entirely different opinion of Nurse Practitioners if YOUR family had to depend on an HMO for medical care. As it is I would FAR rather deal with an NP than an MD as at least the NP takes the time to LISTEN to what I am saying.

Additionally and probably due to the increased academic workload and complexity involved with getting through medical school these days the vast majority of young physicians I have met have ZERO personality and or people skills. A doc treating my mother was such a total nerd he couldn't even maintain eye contact with people while in a conversation.

No. I'd rather have someone who knows what he/she doesn't know, than someone who thinks he/she knows.

I put up with all kinds of c_ap to get expertise.

 

[RJM62]

No. I'd rather have someone who knows what he/she doesn't know, than someone who thinks he/she knows.

I put up with all kinds of c_ap to get expertise.

I think patients need to take that responsibility, as well. Sometimes you have to shop around, and accept some inconvenience, until you find the right doc.

I FINALLY found a new doctor local to me, about a year and a half after moving. Prior to that, my former doc downstate, three hours away, was still treating me.

My requirements for a new doc were not unreasonable: I just wanted to find a doctor I connected with, who was board-certified in Internal Medicine or Family Practice, and who was affiliated with a decent hospital, within a radius of 50 miles.

It took a lot of asking around, and then a few interviews, but I found an excellent doc, only 12 miles away from me (a stone's throw by boondocks standards), who is affiliated with an excellent hospital network, whose nearest hospital is 24 miles away from me. She spent a good hour with me during my initial meeting with her (which was also my annual physical), and I was impressed that she wanted to understood not only my medical condition, but me as a person.

And she has small fingers, which all of us 50+ guys really appreciate.

So I'm a happy camper. But my point is that sometimes it takes some legwork to find the right doctor. Degrees, licenses, and board certs attest to a minimum acceptable level of medical skill and knowledge, but there are other factors that are harder to quantify. Unfortunately, a lot of people spend more time choosing a car mechanic than a doctor.

-Rich

 

[airheadpenguin]

Funny how "do no harm" seems to only cover the immediate these days not the future.

 

[bbchien]

Funny how "do no harm" seems to only cover the immediate these days not the future.

.....You can ask Nancy Pelosi about that. Nobody can afford now, to look beyond "this time".

In the offices now, are electronic systems clocking the actual minutes in the doc's day.
3 minutes in the bathroom- no charges.
9 minutes in room one, 99242 because there was no time for a dedicated systems review.
6 minutes in room two, 99241.\
20 minutes in room 3, uh on, a money loser.
on and on it goes.....

I saw that coming and said, "I'm out, boys...."