Unexplained blackouts.
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Severn Estuary
Age: 63
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I've experienced several episodes over the last two years. My 'triggers' include standing up too quickly and sipping fluids and choking on it. This apparently led to a vaso-vagal episode. The first time it happened I was sat down and passed out after fluid seemingly went down the wrong way and the second time I managed to get up from the computer and, while 'out of it,' walked five yards into the kitchen where I eventually collapsed and put my two upper front teeth through my top lip.
My tilt-table test was negative but my manometry test showed that the pressure readings in my esophagus were all over the place.
Do you have any difficulty swallowing food & liquids? Or, Dysphagia, as it's termed.
My tilt-table test was negative but my manometry test showed that the pressure readings in my esophagus were all over the place.
Do you have any difficulty swallowing food & liquids? Or, Dysphagia, as it's termed.
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Australia
Age: 63
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Fulham, I am medical .
Get onto it quickly with the smartest doctor you can find if you want to keep your class1 . Strictly speaking you shouldn't be flying right now at all.
The good news is that after aggressive investigation, many of the potential causes of your problem are quite minor, but you have to go about proving this with quite high powered medical input.
For a start you eill have to have a few major diseases ruled out that CAA will have to know you font have such as WPW, thyroid disease, epilepsy, slow heart rate,mineralocorticoid deficiency and so on. You will need to have 24 hour ecg tests, and a tilt test arranged by a cardiologist
Most likely you have a slow neurological response to low blood pressure and need to run at a higherblood pressure. This can be achieved by a combination of higher salt intake, venous compression, or even the addition of a bp raising hormone. You need theexperts to have a go at you asap. Your career is important to you.
Get onto it quickly with the smartest doctor you can find if you want to keep your class1 . Strictly speaking you shouldn't be flying right now at all.
The good news is that after aggressive investigation, many of the potential causes of your problem are quite minor, but you have to go about proving this with quite high powered medical input.
For a start you eill have to have a few major diseases ruled out that CAA will have to know you font have such as WPW, thyroid disease, epilepsy, slow heart rate,mineralocorticoid deficiency and so on. You will need to have 24 hour ecg tests, and a tilt test arranged by a cardiologist
Most likely you have a slow neurological response to low blood pressure and need to run at a higherblood pressure. This can be achieved by a combination of higher salt intake, venous compression, or even the addition of a bp raising hormone. You need theexperts to have a go at you asap. Your career is important to you.
Join Date: May 2011
Location: UK
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FulhamFC,
I suffered a TIA ( mini stroke ) in April 2009 when I lost my speech whilst on the telephone at work. Thanks to a relatively new clot busting drug administered at Morriston Hospital Swansea my speech slowly returned over a couple of hours, all be it remains slurred to this day.
My AME told me I would never fly again and the CAA withdrew my class 2 medical ( All be it suggesting I should try for a NPPL ) The DVLA suspended my licence for 6 months, I was advised to retire from a job I really enjoyed and things were looking pretty black!
However I continued to fly my Annexe 2 Aircraft with an Instructor to negate the need for a medical. My doctor ( a lady ) was fully supportive of my continued flying activities and after 6 months signed the medical declaration for a class 1 NPPL medical and I then flew solo or with a safety Pilot particularly if I wanted to go somewhere where the radio work was likely to be intense. My insurance co ( Haywards ) were happy for my insurance to continue as before with no limitations.
The CAA Medical people were also very supportive from the "word go" which surprised me no end!
After a further six months of remaining medically incident free my Doctor signed the medical Declaration for a NPPL class 2 medical to be renewed in 4 years time when I reach 65 years . The only stipulation was that I had to pass a Treadmill test ( strange world when you consider I was on yearly medicals with all the heart tests on the JAR class2 medical pre stroke! )
Since resuming flying I have flown in the region of 150 hours and regularly take my non flying partner with me, likewise friends and family who know my medical history. I limit my flying now to places I am familiar with in particular due to the radio work as I am concious of my slight speech problem but this has never presented any problems to any ATC or A/G unit.
Lessons learnt! Flying can be your sanity and challenge to get back to normality again. It helped with my speech therapy in so much as I practised continually all the radio work with my therapist over several months and it was far better than practising using NHS material!
Like VFR has said in his extremely helpful earlier Post the Internet is not necessarily your friend, Your friends are your Doctor and Health Care specialists who you badly need on your side!
Never say never especially if your AME says so! He also told me I would never get a Doctor to sign my NPPL medical! As my Doctor said I probably present less of a risk to the general public flying a light aircraft than driving up the motorway at 80 mph or being a person with a non diagnosed medical condition which is not controlled by medication.
If flying is important to you keep flying with an Instructor ASAP, it costs a bit more but keeps you in the air and proves to your Doctor and others that matter, including yourself!! that you can still do it safely!
Best of luck and I hope you eventually gain a diagnosis which keeps you up in the sky.
I suffered a TIA ( mini stroke ) in April 2009 when I lost my speech whilst on the telephone at work. Thanks to a relatively new clot busting drug administered at Morriston Hospital Swansea my speech slowly returned over a couple of hours, all be it remains slurred to this day.
My AME told me I would never fly again and the CAA withdrew my class 2 medical ( All be it suggesting I should try for a NPPL ) The DVLA suspended my licence for 6 months, I was advised to retire from a job I really enjoyed and things were looking pretty black!
However I continued to fly my Annexe 2 Aircraft with an Instructor to negate the need for a medical. My doctor ( a lady ) was fully supportive of my continued flying activities and after 6 months signed the medical declaration for a class 1 NPPL medical and I then flew solo or with a safety Pilot particularly if I wanted to go somewhere where the radio work was likely to be intense. My insurance co ( Haywards ) were happy for my insurance to continue as before with no limitations.
The CAA Medical people were also very supportive from the "word go" which surprised me no end!
After a further six months of remaining medically incident free my Doctor signed the medical Declaration for a NPPL class 2 medical to be renewed in 4 years time when I reach 65 years . The only stipulation was that I had to pass a Treadmill test ( strange world when you consider I was on yearly medicals with all the heart tests on the JAR class2 medical pre stroke! )
Since resuming flying I have flown in the region of 150 hours and regularly take my non flying partner with me, likewise friends and family who know my medical history. I limit my flying now to places I am familiar with in particular due to the radio work as I am concious of my slight speech problem but this has never presented any problems to any ATC or A/G unit.
Lessons learnt! Flying can be your sanity and challenge to get back to normality again. It helped with my speech therapy in so much as I practised continually all the radio work with my therapist over several months and it was far better than practising using NHS material!
Like VFR has said in his extremely helpful earlier Post the Internet is not necessarily your friend, Your friends are your Doctor and Health Care specialists who you badly need on your side!
Never say never especially if your AME says so! He also told me I would never get a Doctor to sign my NPPL medical! As my Doctor said I probably present less of a risk to the general public flying a light aircraft than driving up the motorway at 80 mph or being a person with a non diagnosed medical condition which is not controlled by medication.
If flying is important to you keep flying with an Instructor ASAP, it costs a bit more but keeps you in the air and proves to your Doctor and others that matter, including yourself!! that you can still do it safely!
Best of luck and I hope you eventually gain a diagnosis which keeps you up in the sky.
