CruiserBill
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Display Name
Display name:
Bill
Hi all,
Just thought I would posy my journey in trying to get my medical again. (This is going to be long, but I thought it may help someone).
So, my mom said I was hyperactive. I was told from others I may have ADHD (non-medical people). I mentioned this to an Army doc that I might be ADHD and magically, it is now in my medical records as a chronic condition. No testing, no questions, just there. I can find no records of being on ADHD medication other than Wellbutrin which I will discuss later.
I saw a psychiatrist, Army of course, and he diagnosed me with depression around 2005 and gave me Zoloft 150mg a day. I can't find ANY record of this and have tried and tried. Once on the Zoloft, I came out of the depression which had the ADHD-like side affects. It was wonderful to figure out what was going on and feel what it felt like to not be depressed. I took the Zoloft for a year or two and moved on with life.
Fast forward to 2015. I am back flying again and working on IFR. For some reason the flight school wanted me to have a class II medical which I got. Next thing I know, the FAA sends me a letter stating I can no longer fly because I have ADHD. Whelp, here I am grounded. Crap.
In 2016 I am separated from my family, in a job I hate, and no friends around. I started getting depressed again so I go to the VA and the doc gives me Wellbutrin. I stay on that until 2018 when a new VA doc gives in addition to the Wellbutrin 50mg of Zoloft.
I really, really want my medical again so I start the EXPENSIVE process of trying to get it back. So, I go see a Phycologist that works specifically with pilots to get their medicals worked out. She advises me to see my Pshyc and see if he will take me off of the Wellbutrin which he agrees to, but ups my Zoloft to 100mg. After 90 days I go through the 2 days of cognitive and other phycological testing (WOW is all I can say about that). I paid $4500 + paid for the 2 drug tests on each day.
After the psychologist gathers all of my medical records and test results and writes up a report, she sends the all that to the HIMS AME that charges $250 a visit. After 2 visits he sends it all in, deferred of course, to the the FAA Surgeon in Washington D.C. for evaluation. And then COVID hits which really sped up the process, NOT!
After about 6 months of waiting and them asking why I needed a Class II, I was told I needed to be stable on the Zoloft for one year and he would reconsider it then. At that point I took the Advice of the psychologist and starting seeing a psychiatrist that she recommended. He increased the Zoloft to 150mg and I stayed on that.
Now more than a year has passed and I start the process all over, basically. I go back to the psychologist and get the 2 days of testing done again. I have been seeing the psychiatrist every 3 months. Now the psychologist has a family emergency and won't have the report done for another week (no problem, crap happens). The psychiatrist sends her his report. She gave me a break and only charged me $3500 for the second set of 2 days of testing. The psychiatrist charges $200 a session and an extra $200 for his report. Wallet is feeling empty at this point, LOL.
Once her report is done, all this will be sent to the AME again and the $250 visits will begin again.
There is an upside to all of this - The testing shows I do not have ADHD. So the only concern for the FAA is the depression. Once I get through all of this, I am working to control the depression without medication and this will allow me to get a regular medical vice a special issuance. The 2nd round of testing was even better than the first and better than most ATPs. I have confidence that the FAA will grant the medical this time and I will only be apply for a class III.
Happy Skies,
CB
Just thought I would posy my journey in trying to get my medical again. (This is going to be long, but I thought it may help someone).
So, my mom said I was hyperactive. I was told from others I may have ADHD (non-medical people). I mentioned this to an Army doc that I might be ADHD and magically, it is now in my medical records as a chronic condition. No testing, no questions, just there. I can find no records of being on ADHD medication other than Wellbutrin which I will discuss later.
I saw a psychiatrist, Army of course, and he diagnosed me with depression around 2005 and gave me Zoloft 150mg a day. I can't find ANY record of this and have tried and tried. Once on the Zoloft, I came out of the depression which had the ADHD-like side affects. It was wonderful to figure out what was going on and feel what it felt like to not be depressed. I took the Zoloft for a year or two and moved on with life.
Fast forward to 2015. I am back flying again and working on IFR. For some reason the flight school wanted me to have a class II medical which I got. Next thing I know, the FAA sends me a letter stating I can no longer fly because I have ADHD. Whelp, here I am grounded. Crap.
In 2016 I am separated from my family, in a job I hate, and no friends around. I started getting depressed again so I go to the VA and the doc gives me Wellbutrin. I stay on that until 2018 when a new VA doc gives in addition to the Wellbutrin 50mg of Zoloft.
I really, really want my medical again so I start the EXPENSIVE process of trying to get it back. So, I go see a Phycologist that works specifically with pilots to get their medicals worked out. She advises me to see my Pshyc and see if he will take me off of the Wellbutrin which he agrees to, but ups my Zoloft to 100mg. After 90 days I go through the 2 days of cognitive and other phycological testing (WOW is all I can say about that). I paid $4500 + paid for the 2 drug tests on each day.
After the psychologist gathers all of my medical records and test results and writes up a report, she sends the all that to the HIMS AME that charges $250 a visit. After 2 visits he sends it all in, deferred of course, to the the FAA Surgeon in Washington D.C. for evaluation. And then COVID hits which really sped up the process, NOT!
After about 6 months of waiting and them asking why I needed a Class II, I was told I needed to be stable on the Zoloft for one year and he would reconsider it then. At that point I took the Advice of the psychologist and starting seeing a psychiatrist that she recommended. He increased the Zoloft to 150mg and I stayed on that.
Now more than a year has passed and I start the process all over, basically. I go back to the psychologist and get the 2 days of testing done again. I have been seeing the psychiatrist every 3 months. Now the psychologist has a family emergency and won't have the report done for another week (no problem, crap happens). The psychiatrist sends her his report. She gave me a break and only charged me $3500 for the second set of 2 days of testing. The psychiatrist charges $200 a session and an extra $200 for his report. Wallet is feeling empty at this point, LOL.
Once her report is done, all this will be sent to the AME again and the $250 visits will begin again.
There is an upside to all of this - The testing shows I do not have ADHD. So the only concern for the FAA is the depression. Once I get through all of this, I am working to control the depression without medication and this will allow me to get a regular medical vice a special issuance. The 2nd round of testing was even better than the first and better than most ATPs. I have confidence that the FAA will grant the medical this time and I will only be apply for a class III.
Happy Skies,
CB
