Yet another “Old DUI” Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Medical Applicant
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Medical Applicant

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Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.

History - Two DUIs
First one in 2003
Second one in 2008
Driving while license suspended in 2011

No motor vehicle actions since 2011.

I’m sure it matters not but I was a young and immature kid in my 20s when both instances occurred. I’m now in my mid-40s working in aviation maintenance. The party life is long behind me and I have no desire to return to it.

I went through the 3rd class special issuance process and was eventually issued a special issuance. Complied until expiry of the medical certificate, then went BasicMed. Completely walked away from everything, including UA testing. Have been flying BM ever since.

I went in completely blind the first time I went through the process. I had never even heard of HIMS when I did it the first time. And I hadn’t heard of Pilots of America and the fine resource of information the Medical Topics section would have been had I known about it at the time.

I quit drinking altogether on New Years Day of 2021 and have maintained sobriety ever since. I’m aware the FAA is about provable sobriety, thus I will have to restart the testing routine from ground zero.

Now I want to go for a 3rd class medical certificate. But I want to forego my most recent special issuance authorization and go in fresh with a whole new application in hopes of obtaining an unrestricted medical certificate.

My plan in my mind is to get engaged with a HIMS AME. Get the testing routine restarted, and my only focus to be on completing two years of monitored testing with the HIMS AME before anything else is done.

The only thing different from my last medical application is a diagnosis of chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps that I received earlier this year. A septoplasty and nasal polypectomy were performed successfully in late October 2024. ENT prescribed aftercare treatment is a period of 4 months consisting of twice daily saline nasal rinse, and one of the daily rinses shall contain 0.5mg budesonide. Will have my next follow up appointment with my treating ENT in February.

For the senior/HIMS AMEs in here, what are my odds of obtaining an unrestricted medical given my particular scenario?

Thanks in advance.
 
Twice is by definition at least Alcohol abuse, by FAA stds. The only way that might not be is if both BACs were <0.15 and a HIMS psychiatrist agreed that this didn't meet the FAA def of abuse.

To make sure this isn't FAAs def of "untreated dependency" know that the use of any alcohol after two publically recorded events, is Dependency (requiring proven abstinence, and rehab). Know that the ASSERTION that you are abstinent wil REQUIRE substantiation. They're not going to "take your word for it".

A good HIMS AME, armed with two low BACs, and say four negative random urines done ~monthly, could make a good case that this might not be dependnecy ("guy saw the light and quit, and it's substantiated"), but unless you have two BACs and they are both below 0.15, this is presumptive FAA-abuse.

B
 
bbchien said:
Twice is by definition at least Alcohol abuse, by FAA stds. The only way that might not be is if both BACs were <0.15 and a HIMS psychiatrist agreed that this didn't meet the FAA def of abuse.

To make sure this isn't FAAs def of "untreated dependency" know that the use of any alcohol after two publically recorded events, is Dependency (requiring proven abstinence, and rehab). Know that the ASSERTION that you are abstinent wil REQUIRE substantiation. They're not going to "take your word for it".

A good HIMS AME, armed with two low BACs, and say four negative random urines done ~monthly, could make a good case that this might not be dependnecy ("guy saw the light and quit, and it's substantiated"), but unless you have two BACs and they are both below 0.15, this is presumptive FAA-abuse.

B
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Thank you Dr B. This is exactly what I was looking for.

In addition to this, will the bit about my nasal polyp surgery be a non-issue with a satisfactory clinical progress note from my treating ENT stating that I’m asymptomatic with no observable growth over a 12 month period?
 
I'm curious, is the process that different for a 3rd, than a 1st or 2nd? And unrestricted?!

I ask because my timeline is similar to yours, except I was done drinking for good after the second one, and my MVR is squeaky clean from then on. Looks like you went BM and were not abstinent during that time period up until 2021?

Good for you for quitting, never too late. But I'd be prepared for the full rodeo. 2 events, went Basic, continued to drink.
 
ALPA's std which is the FAA std for all medicals 1-2-3rd: one airspace one std.
MAINTENANCE of a class 3 SI might be a little less onerous for some conditions.
And the O.P's nasal issue - it's pretty much a nonissue.
 
Anon said:
I'm curious, is the process that different for a 3rd, than a 1st or 2nd? And unrestricted?!

I ask because my timeline is similar to yours, except I was done drinking for good after the second one, and my MVR is squeaky clean from then on. Looks like you went BM and were not abstinent during that time period up until 2021?

Good for you for quitting, never too late. But I'd be prepared for the full rodeo. 2 events, went Basic, continued to drink.
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I wasn’t issued until July 2023. My testing began in February of 2021. So I had a total of 29 months of clean testing by the time I was issued.

Even though I went BM and walked away from testing, I’ve remained abstinent. But will have to restart testing from ground zero and go for two years minimum because I stopped it.

Good to know that the nasal issue is a yawn.
 
Ah! That makes a lot more sense, with that additional information. BasicMed is an option I'm looking at also, but wouldn't dream of stopping the random testing. It's the easiest, cheapest part of the entire program. I'll say...other than that...I understand your decision completely.
Good luck to you!
 
Medical Applicant said:
I wasn’t issued until July 2023. My testing began in February of 2021. So I had a total of 29 months of clean testing by the time I was issued.

Even though I went BM and walked away from testing, I’ve remained abstinent. But will have to restart testing from ground zero and go for two years minimum because I stopped it.

Good to know that the nasal issue is a yawn.
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29 months?? Was that required by the FAA? When did you send in the med exam with all the HIMS stuff for SI? I.e. how long did you have to wait for SI?
 
UTLonghorn_1979 said:
29 months?? Was that required by the FAA? When did you send in the med exam with all the HIMS stuff for SI? I.e. how long did you have to wait for SI?
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Because I was blind to the whole process, I was required to engage with a HIMS psychiatrist first before anything else. He required 4 months of testing (monitored by him as I didn’t have a HIMS AME yet) before he’d even book the evaluation appointment. At booking time, he was booked two months out. By appointment time, I had 6 months of UA testing done. Once my psych report was sent in, it was another four months until the FAA sent the letter outlining my aftercare path.

By the time I was set up with the HIMS AME, I had already completed a full year of UA testing under the HIMS psychiatrist. I did 8 months of monitoring under the HIMS AME before I did my 2nd MedXpress application and physical (the first one had already expired). This was August of 2022. I was issued in mid-July 2023.
 
Medical Applicant said:
Because I was blind to the whole process, I was required to engage with a HIMS psychiatrist first before anything else. He required 4 months of testing (monitored by him as I didn’t have a HIMS AME yet) before he’d even book the evaluation appointment. At booking time, he was booked two months out. By appointment time, I had 6 months of UA testing done. Once my psych report was sent in, it was another four months until the FAA sent the letter outlining my aftercare path.

By the time I was set up with the HIMS AME, I had already completed a full year of UA testing under the HIMS psychiatrist. I did 8 months of monitoring under the HIMS AME before I did my 2nd MedXpress application and physical (the first one had already expired). This was August of 2022. I was issued in mid-July 2023.
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Ah, I see. I’m going through a HIMS deal right now. 7 tests over 6 months, just did my exam after all the other required items. My HIMS AME seems to think I should hear from OKC in the next few months, I’m hopeful but not optimistic.

Good luck with your situation!
 
Medical Applicant said:
Because I was blind to the whole process, I was required to engage with a HIMS psychiatrist first before anything else. He required 4 months of testing (monitored by him as I didn’t have a HIMS AME yet) before he’d even book the evaluation appointment. At booking time, he was booked two months out. By appointment time, I had 6 months of UA testing done. Once my psych report was sent in, it was another four months until the FAA sent the letter outlining my aftercare path.

By the time I was set up with the HIMS AME, I had already completed a full year of UA testing under the HIMS psychiatrist. I did 8 months of monitoring under the HIMS AME before I did my 2nd MedXpress application and physical (the first one had already expired). This was August of 2022. I was issued in mid-July 2023.
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ATTENTION ALL: This is why I have commented in the past that it never hurts to get going on a proven abstinence test program, at the first engagement!
 
bbchien said:
ATTENTION ALL: This is why I have commented in the past that it never hurts to get going on a proven abstinence test program, at the first engagement!
Click to expand...
I didn’t have anyone to give me the answers at the time I began the process the first time. I had no idea there were different types of AMEs when I started (AME, Senior AME, HIMS AME, etc). And I had no one to give me the answers and information I needed to know at the time. I was already about halfway through the process when I learned about this forum.

Had I known all of this in the beginning I definitely would have done this so much sooner, and will be doing this on the next go round.
 
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