louisiana_flyer
New member
Hello, everyone. New here but been lurking the forum.
I am looking to hopefully start PPL training soon and starting to research the 3rd Class Medical requirements.
In April 2020, due to the pandemic and social isolation, I went to my Primary Care Doctor. He quickly diagnosed mild seasonal depression and gave me a script for minimum dose of bupropion (150MG XL). The bupropion didn't help and actually made me anxious, so I quit taking it September 2020.
Around that time, we were hit with two major hurricanes (South Louisiana) and I started to experience some burnout due to volunteering with cleanup efforts, so in November 2020 I went to a counseling center that does medicine management. So my therapist, working with a psychiatrist in that practice, started me on a very low dose of Lexapro for anxiety (also saying that the initial diagnosis of depression was inaccurate. It was my first ever visit with that doc and I think he just assumed depression right away).
To make it clear, I was never on both at the same time. Though there may be confusion on my medical record (I emailed my doctor that I was stopping the bupropion but not sure if he noted it down on the chart. I have an annual coming up in a few weeks and will make sure he notes down the stop date, and maybe even correct the diagnosis of depression - which was situational due to the pandemic).
So now, I am on 10mg and about to start weening off of it since I was able to make changes in my life to negate the need for it (getting promoted in my software development career, finding new groups to be a part of, not drinking alcohol anymore - never had a problem, but it contributed to anxiety).
So here I am, finally wanting to look into getting a PPL, which I have wanted to get since I was a teenager and did an introductory flight in 4H, looking at an uphill battle for taking an SSRI.
Will I run into trouble with an AME? Would rather avoid HMI AME since there are none in my state. Would it be recommended once a few months have passed since weening off to get a letter from the psychiatrist/therapist? What about the depression misdiagnosis that is on my medical record from my primary doctor?
Im hopeful that the FAA sees the pandemic as an extenuating circumstance (I started working from home mid-March and have been working from home ever since).
I am looking to hopefully start PPL training soon and starting to research the 3rd Class Medical requirements.
In April 2020, due to the pandemic and social isolation, I went to my Primary Care Doctor. He quickly diagnosed mild seasonal depression and gave me a script for minimum dose of bupropion (150MG XL). The bupropion didn't help and actually made me anxious, so I quit taking it September 2020.
Around that time, we were hit with two major hurricanes (South Louisiana) and I started to experience some burnout due to volunteering with cleanup efforts, so in November 2020 I went to a counseling center that does medicine management. So my therapist, working with a psychiatrist in that practice, started me on a very low dose of Lexapro for anxiety (also saying that the initial diagnosis of depression was inaccurate. It was my first ever visit with that doc and I think he just assumed depression right away).
To make it clear, I was never on both at the same time. Though there may be confusion on my medical record (I emailed my doctor that I was stopping the bupropion but not sure if he noted it down on the chart. I have an annual coming up in a few weeks and will make sure he notes down the stop date, and maybe even correct the diagnosis of depression - which was situational due to the pandemic).
So now, I am on 10mg and about to start weening off of it since I was able to make changes in my life to negate the need for it (getting promoted in my software development career, finding new groups to be a part of, not drinking alcohol anymore - never had a problem, but it contributed to anxiety).
So here I am, finally wanting to look into getting a PPL, which I have wanted to get since I was a teenager and did an introductory flight in 4H, looking at an uphill battle for taking an SSRI.
Will I run into trouble with an AME? Would rather avoid HMI AME since there are none in my state. Would it be recommended once a few months have passed since weening off to get a letter from the psychiatrist/therapist? What about the depression misdiagnosis that is on my medical record from my primary doctor?
Im hopeful that the FAA sees the pandemic as an extenuating circumstance (I started working from home mid-March and have been working from home ever since).
