Sleep Apnea

[deanathpc]

Hello folks. Haven't posted in some time. Just sittin' back taking everything in as of late..

 

My question is about Sleep Apnea. I thought I read somewhere on the FAA website that sleep apnea is an instant disqualifier for your Medical.

 

Now I haven't been diagnosed with it myself but my wife is saying I need to go get a sleep study done because of my snoring. I think I sleep fine at night except for a sore back due to a rotten matress but that's another story..

 

So could anyone point me in the right direction. i've done a search but for some reason I'm coming up with nothing. Unless my search isn't correct. Any insight would be great...

 

Thanks!

[tattooed]

This is a cut-n-paste right off of AOPA's website regarding FAA and sleep apnea.

 

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Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Review of multiple specialists reports and medical publications indicate sleep apnea is a condition with significant complications such as daytime hypersomnolence, also referred to as Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), cardiac dysrhythmia, and significant hypertension. These complications could present a risk to flying safety. The FAA staff physicians make the following recommendations for review of these cases:

 

Initial work-up to include:

 

Sleep studies (overnight polysomnography). The evaluator should comment on any cardiovascular or psychological aberrations and provide the results of any tests deemed necessary.

Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT) after therapy has been initiated. If a favorable current status report indicating effective treatment such as CPAP or surgery has been provided with the initial report, a current MWT will not be required.

 

Acceptable treatment includes:

 

Surgery with documentation of satisfactory results, a post-op sleep study and MWT evaluation should be done as soon as surgical wounds have healed.

CPAP — A copy of the initial sleep study and a follow-up report of Maintenance of Wakefulness Test done at least 60 days after beginning of CPAP treatment.

Mouthpiece requiring a polysomnogram to show adequate control.

 

Unacceptable treatment includes:

 

Tennis balls in sleep shirt.

Weight loss only.

 

Suggested protocol for MWT:

 

No dietary or medication manipulation is needed.

The MWT consists of four twenty-minute test periods at two hour intervals (e.g., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.).

Patients should be monitored in the standard polysomnographic manner (central and occipital EEG, diagnostic EMG, and eye movement recorder).

Patients should be dressed and sitting semi-recumbent on a bed in a dark room.

Patients are asked to remain awake, but not to use extraordinary measures such as face slapping or singing.

The endpoint of each test period is either sleep (three consecutive 30-s epochs of Stage I or any single 30-s epoch of Stages 2,3,4, or REM) or the end of the twenty-minute time period. The patient is then asked to stay awake until the next test.

Difficult cases or denied cases seeking reconsideration may require review by an FAA specialist consultant.

[PhotoFlyer]

http://www.aviationmedicine.com/resources/...%204-07.pdf.pdf

[Sparker]

Tennis Balls?

 

I'm curious....

[PhotoFlyer]

http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic721.htm#section~treatment

 

Third paragraph down under "treatment"

[deanathpc]

This is a cut-n-paste right off of AOPA's website regarding FAA and sleep apnea.

 

That's it!!! I was on the wrong websites.. And I'm a member at AOPA too.. Go figure.... I knew I saw it...

 

O.K. Then let's see.. How many pilots here have Sleep Apnea and are still flying? And how many are not because of it?

 

So basically you can have it and if you are treated with CPAP then all is fine.

 

Cool.... Thank you!

[goromadgo]

Tennis Balls?

 

I'm curious....

 

Same thing I was thinking! Googeled that...going to have to build one of those shirts for my wife and my dog! Both of them are snorers...