"Negative for OSA!" :)

JimNtexas

JimNtexas

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Jim - In Texas!
I just got back from from renewing my Class 3 medical with Dr Bruce.

As usual, he coordinated with my GP to ensure that when I filled out the online form 8500 that I didn't step on a landmine, and that I showed for the physical with all the right letters, reports and paperwork.

Anyway, last month I took a take home sleep study from the lab that did my initial sleep study that correctly diagnosed pretty severe OSA. This follow-on study came back with a finding of 'negative for OSA'. I had lost about 70 pounds since that first diagnoses, and maintained the same reduced weight between my 2013 and yesterday's physical.

I had to get a letter from my GP telling the FAA I was officially off CPAP, I had to state on the 8500 that I wasn't on CPAP when I took the test (duh).

The FAA no longers requires me to use CPAP! NO MORE LOGGING REQUIRMENTS!!!!! :) :) :)

I'm not out of the woods, I am on the FAA fat boy program for the next 3 or 4 years (I forget which). If my BMI goes up much above 30 then I guess they send a Drill Instructor or something to slap me around.
 
That's great Jim. Stiengar and Dr Bruce stay on me about my weight. They are both good friends and I am trying so hard, how did you do it.
 
On my June 2011 physical I was 260 pounds. I used the Medifast system to lose a lot of it of it in late 2012 and the first half of 2013. On my June 2013 physical I was 190lbs, on my July 2015 I'm 187. :)
 
Congrats,hope you keep up the healthy lifestyle. Now go enjoy the flying you've earned it.
 
Well i guess the FAA has a weight tolerance now? That sucks for me im at 281 lbs.and going down and 5'11" but alot of muscle mass. Not a bodybuilder or anything just one of those strong as a horse types. This might get interesting when i go for my physical as i plan on getting a first class medical.
 
Crane Pilot said:
Well i guess the FAA has a weight tolerance now? That sucks for me im at 281 lbs.and going down and 5'11" but alot of muscle mass. Not a bodybuilder or anything just one of those strong as a horse types. This might get interesting when i go for my physical as i plan on getting a first class medical.
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I don't think it matters unless you get diagnosed with OSA or some other condition that is BMI related.
 
JimNtexas said:
I don't think it matters unless you get diagnosed with OSA or some other condition that is BMI related.
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It matters because the FAA requires the AME to screen us for OSA risk, and BMI is used as a criterion to assess risk. The OP's numbers come out to a BMI of 39.2, which is high risk - my understanding is the AME could issue but he would be required to have a sleep study done within something like 90 days (or is it 60?).
 
I do get on Tim, I want my friends around for awhile. Weight loss is ridiculously simple. If you're eating the correct amount you will not gain or loose weight. If you are gaining weight you need to either eat less caloric food, or eat less of the more caloric food you've been eating, or increase your activity. Food=calories in. Activity=calories out. When these two are equal you neither gain nor loose weight.

What I dislike about diets is they imply an ephemeral status, i.e. you do them and then you're done. The problem is what you were eating before you went on the diet is what caused you to gain weight in the first place.

I was told by my AME that I already had two strikes against me regarding OSA, being a man and being old. I have never heard myself snore, therefore I must not do so.

Medical reform cannot come too soon.
 
OSA ?? I'm guessing that's also known as sleep apnea? As i'm going for a 1st. class medical unfortunately the reform will not have an affect on me.
 
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azure said:
It matters because the FAA requires the AME to screen us for OSA risk, and BMI is used as a criterion to assess risk. The OP's numbers come out to a BMI of 39.2, which is high risk - my understanding is the AME could issue but he would be required to have a sleep study done within something like 90 days (or is it 60?).
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How did you determine 39.2? At 185#s he'd have to be about 4 1/2 ft tall to have a BMI that high.
 
JOhnH said:
How did you determine 39.2? At 185#s he'd have to be about 4 1/2 ft tall to have a BMI that high.
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Plug the numbers into your favorite online BMI calculator, see if you don't get the same result I did.

He's not 185, he's 280 something and 5'11".
 
Those bmi calculators are for general information. if i went down to the weight they list for normal for my height i would look strange and not healthy, like i said i have alot of muscle mass as i was a powerlifter in high school. 128- 165 lbs. to be within the calculators bmi level, they have got to be kidding. If i saw 190 to 200 lbs. again i would look fit and reasonable for my height.
 
Crane Pilot said:
Those bmi calculators are for general information. if i went down to the weight they list for normal for my height i would look strange and not healthy, like i said i have alot of muscle mass as i was a powerlifter in high school. 128- 165 lbs. to be within the calculators bmi level, they have got to be kidding. If i saw 190 to 200 lbs. again i would look fit and reasonable for my height.
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Many people have similar body habitus, I don't think that is unusual at all. Unfortunately, FAA goes by the BMI formula, and according to the formula, you fall into the high risk category. :(

Yet another reason to support, and hope for, 3rd class reform.
 
azure said:
Plug the numbers into your favorite online BMI calculator, see if you don't get the same result I did.

He's not 185, he's 280 something and 5'11".
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Oh, you are talking about Crane, not the OP.
 
JOhnH said:
Oh, you are talking about Crane, not the OP.
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Yes, I was talking about Crane. Sorry, I thought this was a necroposted thread. When a thread is revived after years, I sometimes call the reviver the OP. My bad. :redface:
 
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