Depression

I'm taking citalopram, which is a anti depressant, but I'm not depressed. But you have to wait 3 months after you stop. I think that applies to all antidepressant meds.
 
SFCC/UND said:
I'm taking citalopram, which is a anti depressant, but I'm not depressed. But you have to wait 3 months after you stop. I think that applies to all antidepressant meds.
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what do you mean you have to wait 3 months?

to fly at all? or what?
 
ALL antidepressant medications are DQ. If you have been on hte medication for less than 6 months and then off for more than 90 days, the AME can issue the medical if your history supports the decision. You need to provide copies of your medical records for the AME to review and to forward to the FAA. If you have nbeen on an antidepressant for more than 6 months, the AME must defer the decision and send the records to the FAA for their decision.
 
well I got my third class in Sept of '08 and am probably going to start on anti-depressants here soon. what does this mean for my flying
 
I'm posting this not to interfere with any dcotor's treatment, but as a way of making that treatment work even better.

If one is sad and can't shake it, be it the normal grief process or depression, I highly recommend picking up a copy of David Burns' "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" and working through it. He has workbooks out and his website is http://www.feelinggood.com/. While reading the book and doing the exercises requires some hard work, it might be enough to alleviate the need for drugs (thus no grounding), shorten the time on the drugs (reduced grounding), or increase the time between depressive episodes (increased time between groundings).
 
Have you tried taking St John's Wort? That's supposed to help, and you can get it at any vitamin store. (Dr, please correct me if this sounds like a bad advice) I'll echo the above post in that I'm not saying go against medical treatment. And if you think you need help with depression, you should get yourself checked out.
 
I think this thread has moved beyond the Doc's area of expertise (and he already gave his opinion on the original topic) so I moved it from Ask A Flight Surgeon to the General Topics forum.
 
Depression - With the exception of herbal preparations (Saint Johns Wort), anti-depressants, such as prozac and zoloft, are rarely approved by the FAA
 
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