migraine and floaters

[solo16]

Can anyone tell me if mild floaters in the eye will prevent me from getting a class 1 medical. I also have a history of 2 or 3 migraines which I have not experienced for over a year. I am 17 and put them down to the dreaded "changes". Will these pose a problem? Cheers. Nick

[flying doc]

Migraine has a nasty habit of causing a problem with aircrew medicals I am afraid. Before you launch into things (sponsorships or even the Class 1 itself) then I strongly suggest you phone the CAA Aeromedical Dept and speak to a doctor, the Senior Medical Officer if you can. They will be able to tell you outright if your conditions may be a problem. Sorry to paint a bleak picture but I do hope things work out for you!

GOOD LUCK!

FD

[Tarmach]

solo16,

Take flying doc's advice. Perhaps a change of diet may help such as to avoid chocolate, cheese and make sure you eat at regular times. Don't be too worried though, Guy Gibson suffered from migraines!

[Stop Stop Stop]

Alternatively, if it hasn't appeared on your medical notes recently, keep quiet about the migranes. (Although I cannot condone such behaviour). ;)

[Skycop]

Tarmach,

Guy Gibson is dead!

Solo16,

Sorry to be flippant, I couldn't resist that. Good luck with your medical but for your own good don't be tempted to hide anything from the CAA.

[DOC.400]

Hopefully you'll outgrow the migraines soon -I had them from about age 13 through to 17 or so. Try 'Migraleve' at the first signs -it worked for me then.
I can only feel sorry for my 13 yr old son who has inherited this problem!!

Best of luck anyway.

[PilotsPal]

There's two sorts of migraine: common and classic. I've suffered with both for around 28 years although mercifully they have become less frequent as I've got older. Unfortunately there's a strong family history and it's already started in two of my nieces. Life improved dramatically after treatments such as Imigran and Zomig became available but they are prescription only and unbelievably expensive if you have to pay for them (thank God for the NHS!).

Successful management of migraine requires a little effort on your part: pay close attention to all the symptoms that precede an attack as it gives you that bit more time to take medication before you start throwing up (too late by then!). Foods can be less of a trigger than is generally thought. I never go anywhere without good sunglasses (very bright light/sunshine is a trigger for me) and make sure you avoid dehydration (increases pain behind the eyes). Tiredness/lack of sleep and excess alcohol aren't good either.

I'm down to about 5 or 6 migraines and about 20 severe (migraine-type) headaches a year. Driving is out of the question with a bad one so I can well understand the condition causing problems with medicals.

Only you know exactly how incapacitated you are during an attack but I don't think its something you can lie about in a medical.

[mad_jock]

I had them as well when your age.

Failed RAF selection because of it. :(

I had my class 1 medical 4 months ago and the doctor didn't bat an eye lid mumbled something about its all part of growing up.

And preceded to grill me over my various rugby injurys between the age of 14 and 25.
When your there, play down any head knocks you have had as a kid they don't like it when you tick the concusion box on the form.

MJ

[Rod Eddington]

floaters in your eye shouldn't prove a problem at all. they're just dead cells and everyone has a few. if asked about them say they've been there for ages (which they probably have) and i'm sure you'll be ok. i don't know much about migraines but the guys above seem to know. good luck with the medical,
cheers,
rod

[simon chitty]

The cure for most migraines is to totally ABSTAIN from coffee and chocolate.

After consuming a "trigger food" e.g coffee, it takes approximately 2 weeks before you will get the migraine.

An external factor such as; sun, lack of sleep, noise etc will then cause the migraine to manifest.

Personal interest in the subject led to the discovery of the "2 week" timelapse.

May migraine become something of the past.

[Rob_L]

I knew an instructor who suffered from migraine. Always had done. Had a career as RAF pilot (simply told them at initial medical he had the ocasional headache, not migraine). He well knew what the triggers were, especially the Demon Drink, but found he couldn't always avoid it when when chatting up potential valuable clients!

After one such episode he became pretty ill with it, but produced a compressed-air "injection" of, I believe, Migraleve, which he carried around with him. It was administered and he was fine in the morning, but I was told not to breathe a word!