Question:
congratulations.. and welcome back… a tough road… but you’ve made it.. and I’m sure the friends in the flying club helped.. I always saw my flying as a stress reliever… nothing better than banging out a few patterns on a windy day.. or going some place new… to get the mind off work.. are refocus.. TIZ
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again. In May of 2001, I stopped flying because I was seeing a therapist for depression. On September 11th, I lost two co-workers and probably 25% of our company’s customers, and my therapy wasn’t going so well, so I reluctantly started taking anti-depressants. I knew that it was a big step, because anti-depressants are medically disqualifying. I told my club I was going "inactive". Several months later, I was off the drugs, and therapy was going well and I wanted to get back flying again. At Sun n’ Fun, I asked an aeromedical expert from the FAA about it, and he said I’d have to be off the drugs for six months. So last September, I went to my AME and did a class 3 physical. Meanwhile I went "active" in the club again and started working on my instrument rating, since I could do dual without a medical. The physical got submitted to OK City, and they came back and demanded more information about my diabetes and my depression. I got letters from my doctor and my therapist, and sent them in. Over a month later, they asked for more information. I got that information, and sent it in. And finally, about a month ago I got my special issuance medical, good until August – in July I have to submit followup information about my depression. Thanks to cruddy weather, it’s taken until today until I got my BFR scheduled and done. Got some actual IFR during that time, but no BFR until day, which was severe clear. So tomorrow I’m going to go up and enjoy flying without an instructor yammering away in the right seat. Doing the BFR was fun because I got to actually see out the windows for a change. — "I had to kill him — he was starting to make sense."
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Congratulations. Tell me – what’s the story with Diabeties and Aviation medicals in your neck of the wood? Type 1 or 2?
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Tell me – what’s the story with Diabeties and Aviation medicals in your neck of the wood?
It wasn’t a big deal for me. My blood sugar was going between 40 and 300 over the course of a day (actually, that was between just before lunch and an hour or two afterwards). I had been taking Glucophage for a while, but it hadn’t worked. So I started the Atkins diet and now my blood sugar is steady as a rock, between 70 and 110 all day long. My doctor gave them the results of an "a1c" test or something like that, and they were happy. — Paul Tomblin, PP-ASEL _|_ Rochester Flying Club web page:
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It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again.
Way to go, Paul! We’ve got a nurse staying at the inn long-term who (thanks to our horrible influence) has been taking flight lessons, and is ready to solo. She went to get her medical and discovered — to her horror — that a medicine she’s been taking for years disqualifies her for flight! She is understandably devastated. I have no idea what the disqualifying medicine is, but she will no doubt be heartened to hear about your success. — Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination"
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"Paul Tomblin" wrote … Real live depression is a lot more than "feeling down in the dumps"<<
Perhaps I just haven’t managed to get down to that level yet… <grin I’ve always found that my moods could be changed by one of three possible treatments: 1. Going flying 2. Getting laid 3. Going to the gun range and shooting a few hundred rounds I guess in severe cases, it might require a combination of the above three methods… Then again, no one has ever accused me of being a "sensitive person"… Glad you’re back flying…
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Paul, congratulations on getting back in the saddle! I’m glad you’ve been able to part with the troubles. And let me also take this opportunity to publicly express you big thanks for the on-going CoPilot-related efforts of yours! Kind regards, Vassilii
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Here in the US you can get a special issuance and fly as a diabetic, even if taking insulin shots. Your blood sugar levels have to be between 100 and 300 30 minutes before flight. I’m fine even at 300, but a lot of people I know would be on the floor well before that mark!
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Tell me – what’s the story with Diabeties and Aviation medicals in your neck of the wood? It wasn’t a big deal for me. My blood sugar was going between 40 and 300 over the course of a day (actually, that was between just before lunch and an hour or two afterwards). I had been taking Glucophage for a while, but it hadn’t worked. So I started the Atkins diet and now my blood sugar is steady as a rock, between 70 and 110 all day long. My doctor gave them the results of an "a1c" test or something like that, and they were happy. — Paul Tomblin, PP-ASEL _|_ Rochester Flying Club web page:
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It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again.
Congratulations! My last round with the FAA medical people grounded me for over three months. I had it easy compared to you. George Patterson, N3162Q.
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Congratulations on getting up and at it again! May you have many more years of satisfying flying.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again. In May of 2001, I stopped flying because I was seeing a therapist for depression. On September 11th, I lost two co-workers and probably 25% of our company’s customers, and my therapy wasn’t going so well, so I reluctantly started taking anti-depressants. I knew that it was a big step, because anti-depressants are medically disqualifying. I told my club I was going "inactive". Several months later, I was off the drugs, and therapy was going well and I wanted to get back flying again. At Sun n’ Fun, I asked an aeromedical expert from the FAA about it, and he said I’d have to be off the drugs for six months. So last September, I went to my AME and did a class 3 physical. Meanwhile I went "active" in the club again and started working on my instrument rating, since I could do dual without a medical. The physical got submitted to OK City, and they came back and demanded more information about my diabetes and my depression. I got letters from my doctor and my therapist, and sent them in. Over a month later, they asked for more information. I got that information, and sent it in. And finally, about a month ago I got my special issuance medical, good until August – in July I have to submit followup information about my depression. Thanks to cruddy weather, it’s taken until today until I got my BFR scheduled and done. Got some actual IFR during that time, but no BFR until day, which was severe clear. So tomorrow I’m going to go up and enjoy flying without an instructor yammering away in the right seat. Doing the BFR was fun because I got to actually see out the windows for a change. — "I had to kill him — he was starting to make sense."
Response:
It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again. In May of 2001, I stopped flying because I was seeing a therapist for depression. On September 11th, I lost two co-workers and probably 25% of our company’s customers, and my therapy wasn’t going so well, so I reluctantly started taking anti-depressants. I knew that it was a big step, because anti-depressants are medically disqualifying. I told my club I was going "inactive". Several months later, I was off the drugs, and therapy was going well and I wanted to get back flying again. At Sun n’ Fun, I asked an aeromedical expert from the FAA about it, and he said I’d have to be off the drugs for six months. So last September, I went to my AME and did a class 3 physical. Meanwhile I went "active" in the club again and started working on my instrument rating, since I could do dual without a medical. The physical got submitted to OK City, and they came back and demanded more information about my diabetes and my depression. I got letters from my doctor and my therapist, and sent them in. Over a month later, they asked for more information. I got that information, and sent it in. And finally, about a month ago I got my special issuance medical, good until August – in July I have to submit followup information about my depression. Thanks to cruddy weather, it’s taken until today until I got my BFR scheduled and done. Got some actual IFR during that time, but no BFR until day, which was severe clear. So tomorrow I’m going to go up and enjoy flying without an instructor yammering away in the right seat. Doing the BFR was fun because I got to actually see out the windows for a change. — "I had to kill him — he was starting to make sense."
Response:
Thanks to cruddy weather, it’s taken until today until I got my BFR scheduled and done. Got some actual IFR during that time, but no BFR until day, which was severe clear. So tomorrow I’m going to go up and enjoy flying without an instructor yammering away in the right seat.
Congratulations, Paul!!! Cheers, Sydney
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It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again.
Welcome back, Paul. — Jim Fisher
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It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again.
Glad to hear everything is turning out okay. Welcome back…
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@allhats.xcski.com: It’s been a long slow road upward, but I’m a real live pilot again.
Glad to hear you are doing better. Having something like flying that gives you pleasure and allows you to "achieve" is, IMHO, its own form of therapy. Jeff — Student Pilot – Cessna 172R JYO – Leesburg, Virginia, USA
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"Paul Tomblin" wrote … In May of 2001, I stopped flying because I was seeing a therapist for
depression<< I find that whem I’m feeling down in the dumps that going flying really lifts my spirits… Even an hour doing touch-and-goes really makes a difference… Is it possible that your depression could have been more readily treated by just some more flight time? I guess I’m not a big believer in head shrinkers… Seems that a treatment that prevents you from flying is not much of a treatment… Kind of like hitting your hand with a hammer in order to get you to forget about your headache…
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Fantastic news, Paul!
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"Paul Tomblin" wrote … In May of 2001, I stopped flying because I was seeing a therapist for depression<< I find that whem I’m feeling down in the dumps that going flying really lifts my spirits… Even an hour doing touch-and-goes really makes a
Real live depression is a lot more than "feeling down in the dumps". The official diagnosis was "post traumatic stress", and in my case it was because of something that had happened 25 years previously that I didn’t even know had affected me until one day I found myself having to pull off the Interstate because I was sobbing uncontrollably. — There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and BSD [Unix]. We don’t believe this to be a coincidence. – Jeremy S. Anderson
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You might also like to take a look at www.zonediet.com – I switched to it from the Atkins, and never loked back.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. George Patterson, N3162Q.
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("Paul Tomblin" wrote) It wasn’t a big deal for me. My blood sugar was going between 40 and 300 over the course of a day (actually, that was between just before lunch and an hour or two afterwards). I had been taking Glucophage for a while, but it hadn’t worked. So I started the Atkins diet and now my blood sugar is steady as a rock, between 70 and 110 all day long. My doctor gave them the results of an "a1c" test or something like that, and they were happy.
(Long Type-ll ramblings) My One Touch PROFILE (Lifescan) meter registered – "Why don’t you eat a snack" one day when I was at 56. If I eat normal/average, don’t overdo the carbs, diet pop, don’t snack after 10pm (Ya right!), and exercise 5 days per week, I can hit 90 – 110 in the morning. When I’m "bad" at night (midnight..ish) I’ll see a 125 – 150 at 10am. I’ve run her up to 175-181 a couple of times…just to see. My glucose tolerance test was 250/225/180, etc after 3 hrs – diagnosis was easy….Type-II. My fasting blood sugar #’s are a little better – 135 and under. Still, anything over 125/120 is considered a problem. (115 might be the new benchmark in the near future, as they learn more about diabetes) When I get a 150+, I go for my 3 mile neighborhood (sidewalk) loop. I was told to get a little protein/fat in my system, at night, so my liver has to work longer before it starts making sugar. Carbs 4 hrs before the liver kicks in, protein/fats 6 hrs – on average. I’ve been to a number of seminars, classes, and one-on-ones. Everyone has a slightly different opinion on what’s what – Dr.’s, nurses, specialists, etc. I’m left to cobble together what sounds best, and is workable for me. Here’s what I do….cheat, cheat, cheat. Damn machine catches me though. Exercise – 1/2 hr treadmill and 1/2 hr recumbent bike at the Y, 3 – 4 days a week. 2.75 mile walk 5 days a week. ( I call it 3 miles!!) 1/2 Tablespoon soluble dietary fiber (looks like Orange Tang) once every other day. Don’t take this around med time. It doesn’t have the "urgency" of prune juice, plus it seems to even out my numbers. I know it’s kind of the supermodel bulimia approach to things, but it’s only every other day AND I only take a fraction of the daily recommended serving/dosage. Maybe 20%. Chromium Picolinate (sp?) from GNC Health Foods. One tablet every 4th day; my nod to homeopathic options. I have a Swedish friend who swears by it for her mother’s Diabetes. Something non-carbish before bedtime. Ice cream bad, peanut butter on crackers still bad, but choice #1 of the two. We now buy $3.00 bread – high fiber (5g per slice). We actually like it. 5 – 32 oz Powerade/Gatorade bottles of water per day (big base, won’t tip). Empty bottles go on counter top during the day, 5 bottles filled again and put in fridge at night. Simple system, no counting. Got one sitting next to me right now – gulp, gulp, gulp…..ahhh. I’ve dropped 50lbs. BP came down to 125/85 (140/90 bad) A1-c (hemoglobin) is now 4.5 (4.1 – 6.4 is good) My HDL (healthy cholesterol) is only 37 (41-75 is target range) This HDL number should continue to climb with exercise. LDL (lousy cholesterol) is 96 (60-130) Other cholesterol numbers are teenager good – it’s in the genes :-) That’s it for me. No diet. I know what to do, I just need to do it. (There’s a Star Trek quote in there someplace) My #1 successful tip is to chart, chart, chart – meal planning if you need to. I generally eat and THEN figure out where I’m at – 43 year old teenager in me. Charting means updating your info 2-3 times a day. Every night the numbers are there for you, "on the paper", or computer screen. Every week you can see trends, etc. When I drop tonnage it’s because I’ve done the 5 essentials: * Good breakfast * A gallon of water/day, or more * Chart, chart, chart * Nothing after 10pm (low carb snack(s) at night) * Walk at least 5 days per week. YMCA at least 4 days per week. I eat what I want, as long as I don’t overdo the 4-5 carb choices per meal. (Carb choice = 15g) I also try going 3 hours before eating ANYTHING else. I only take my numbers after a 3 hr break from food :-) I get just over 2 tests in per day, on average per week. Some days I only test in the AM. Some days I skip – when I don’t want to see the numbers!! I figure, don’t beat yourself up when you don’t have to. The machines are for a ballpark idea only. FDA says they can be off by 20%, or more, and still be certified. That’s my "out" when I get a high number – blame the machine :-) — Montblack
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Good old high glycemic index carbohydrates strike again eh? You might also like to take a look at www.zonediet.com – I switched to it from the Atkins, and never loked back. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It wasn’t a big deal for me. My blood sugar was going between 40 and 300 over the course of a day (actually, that was between just before lunch and an hour or two afterwards). I had been taking Glucophage for a while, but it hadn’t worked. So I started the Atkins diet and now my blood sugar is steady as a rock, between 70 and 110 all day long. My doctor gave them the results of an "a1c" test or something like that, and they were happy. — Paul Tomblin, PP-ASEL _|_ Rochester Flying Club web page:
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