TexasFlyer
Living the Dream (well at least trying to)
I'll keep this as short and factual as possible. For a decade I struggled with extreme fatigue and headaches which kept me from being reliable due to excessive sick calls. This led to depression and the ultimate denial of my medical about 6 years ago. The denial was specifically for:
1) Mild Sleep Apnea: bogus as retests showed none, but the initial test did show it early on and that stuck.
2) Depression: very true as at that time I knew my airline career was ending; now this is behind me as all stages of denial to anger to depression to acceptance run their course.
3) Idiopathic Hypersomnia or Narcolepsy Type II: this was based on a sleep study and determined this was the source of the fatigue, which at the time seemed to make sense since this was based on the results of a PSG/MSLT (sleep study).
4) Migraines: these are associated with lack of proper sleep and were extreme at the time.
For 6 years I been taking medications of all kind with zero success. So many I could not even begin to list them all. Nothing helped. So I stopped taking all meds for awhile and felt no better, but felt no worse. Earlier this year, I decided I needed to lose the 15 pounds of weight I put on over the last couple years. I went on a keto diet and cut carbs to around 20 grams a day, never more than 40 grams. THEN THIS HAPPENED!!!!
It's been several months and I noticed huge changes! I sleep great. I no longer have the excessive fatigue. The migraines subsided. I feel really good!!!
So now I am a but frustrated and confused. I simply had a carbohydrate issue? That it, really? The result of the diet change is that now I feel fit-to-fly and get my career back. But how do I explain a change in diet has somehow either cured me or made my conditions manageable? How does this even make sense?
Anyone else every experience this? Any AME have guidance here on what to do? I set up a doctor appointment for later this month to talk to the two doctors that diagnosed me years ago (a neurologist and a primary care doctor) about this development. And to see where to go from there. Problem is, they are doctors. They treat the sick, not the healthy! And now I need to show to the FAA I'm healthy and fit for duty. Help... where to begin?
1) Mild Sleep Apnea: bogus as retests showed none, but the initial test did show it early on and that stuck.
2) Depression: very true as at that time I knew my airline career was ending; now this is behind me as all stages of denial to anger to depression to acceptance run their course.
3) Idiopathic Hypersomnia or Narcolepsy Type II: this was based on a sleep study and determined this was the source of the fatigue, which at the time seemed to make sense since this was based on the results of a PSG/MSLT (sleep study).
4) Migraines: these are associated with lack of proper sleep and were extreme at the time.
For 6 years I been taking medications of all kind with zero success. So many I could not even begin to list them all. Nothing helped. So I stopped taking all meds for awhile and felt no better, but felt no worse. Earlier this year, I decided I needed to lose the 15 pounds of weight I put on over the last couple years. I went on a keto diet and cut carbs to around 20 grams a day, never more than 40 grams. THEN THIS HAPPENED!!!!
It's been several months and I noticed huge changes! I sleep great. I no longer have the excessive fatigue. The migraines subsided. I feel really good!!!
So now I am a but frustrated and confused. I simply had a carbohydrate issue? That it, really? The result of the diet change is that now I feel fit-to-fly and get my career back. But how do I explain a change in diet has somehow either cured me or made my conditions manageable? How does this even make sense?
Anyone else every experience this? Any AME have guidance here on what to do? I set up a doctor appointment for later this month to talk to the two doctors that diagnosed me years ago (a neurologist and a primary care doctor) about this development. And to see where to go from there. Problem is, they are doctors. They treat the sick, not the healthy! And now I need to show to the FAA I'm healthy and fit for duty. Help... where to begin?
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