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Peanut Alergies and Flying

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Peanut Alergies and Flying

Old 16th Feb 2017, 20:41
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Of course not everyone with an allergy or allergic reaction needs an Epipen.

But it is common practise in the UK by NHS clinicians to prescribe them to people who have had an anaphylactic reaction.

http://www.redbridgeccg.nhs.uk/downl...nes%202014.pdf

Without knowing the details of someone's case it is not possible to say why the CAA has decided that they cannot hold a Class 1.
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Old 16th Feb 2017, 21:10
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Originally Posted by Piltdown Man
I feel for you but there are some jobs some people can not do. This is one job where your health should not compromise the safety of those in your plane or those on the ground. Be it a peanut allergy, dicky heart, or epilepsy it doesn't matter. If there is a reasonable chance you will have a seizure you cannot do this job. If a medic states you will not have seizure through contact with peanuts then that's fine.
Absolutely right, and for those thinking in terms of licence restrictions (e.g "as or with co-pilot") as a get around for this there may well be periods (depending on which company you fly for ) when you may well be alone for several minutes on the flight deck.

As PM has said the medics have to consider the safety of the x 100 people "down the back" in the event of an incapacitation, not just the rights or dreams of someone to be an airline pilot....that's why even serving pilots with long clear medical histories can suddenly lose their licence (and their jobs) due to them developing a condition that gets spotted in a medical....it's tough but anyone, newbie or an old timer can be deemed not fit to fly.
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Old 16th Feb 2017, 21:23
  #63 (permalink)  
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I'm puzzled.

Circa 2002, flying career ended, thank God, it was less than two years before I had my first serious reaction. I had been in Clacton hospital to have me back stretched - no drugs and no breakfast yet. Lots of cheerful banter with the lovely physio. Get in car to head home having washed my hands in hospital soap.

5 minuets, hands itch like hell. 7 minuets, hands fat and red and itch like hell. 8 minutes, feel unwell. 10 minutes, feel so ill it's almost impossible to describe. Just able to holla on 999.

Now, end of 40+ years flying. No forewarning I was starting to react to, of all things, soap. So it seems, anyone can be disabled by a lot of things and no one is free from the possibility.

Last job, one of my FO's had the peanut thing on his JAR licence. Life threateningly severe reaction - presumably learned from experience. It gets worse, not better.

My GP refused a 3rd eppipen because of the cost. "why? It only buys you 10 minutes".


In haste, end, for tonight. I'll come back on this thread but just add that I had my second severe reaction last year. Although I don't usually use strong soaps, I used Mr Muscle, and what's more, sprayed it on the bath. I suspect the mist got me. 5 mins, stomach cramps and felt ill. This time I knew what had happened. I had the presence of mind to unlatch the front door - staggered back slowly collapsing. Just see grey with some white spots. Not being able to see made me get a 999 call in and fantastic young chap was telling me to "stay with me". He was in the house in 7 mins. I kept him waiting due to having a reaction like ten packets of Picolax at once.

BP was some silly figure that's impossible. Rate was 40-something. My temperature was falling. Apart from that, I was fine :-)

What's so odd is that during the intervening years, a young lady at Addenbrookes, a consultant, said I could not possibly have had anaphylactic shock. I would not have survived. She went on to say I must have got over excited about my fat red hands and made a fuss. I almost filed a formal complaint, but with other problems in my life, just didn't have the energy.

Last edited by Loose rivets; 16th Feb 2017 at 22:32.
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Old 14th May 2018, 14:37
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As you will see from this thread

The UK seems to have an issue with this allergy
The facts are unclear
The logic is even more obscure

I havent a clue what happens in Germany BUT are you saying you have been eating peanuts for 10 years with no issues, or you have avoided peanuts for 10 years? If the former, you dont have an allergy. Period. If the latter, it is a simple enough test to see if you are allergic - the degree of allergy will, I suspect be irrelevant as an allergy will be the disqualifying factor. However the result should only take a few days in any hospital

Good luck and let us know what happens - we clinicians are totally bemused about this
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Old 16th May 2018, 17:54
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Has anyone heard of a pilot who is required to carry an epipen/jext being able to get a class 1 medical?

I've just got a class 2 with no major drama, had to see a specialist allergy doctor who said in his report "I certainly see no reason why this diagnosis should be a barrier to him becoming a helicopter pilot including piloting craft solo." But whether the CAA see it that way....

Current plan is to train under the class 2 then try to upgrade to a class 1 ASAP and see what happens. Can't get a class 1 currently due to eye astigmatism but the optician seemed confident that would decrease after wearing glasses for a year.
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Old 18th May 2018, 13:01
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Hi Crist check your pm’s
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Old 18th May 2018, 22:55
  #67 (permalink)  
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My reactions are getting worse and worse. Booked to see a specialist sometime soon. Last surprise was that apples could garotte me.

I grew up in an apple orchard, in fact the house was called Orchard Villa. I ate apples from the time the buds fattened, to when they were huge and wrapped in paper for Christmas. Why now?

It seems they're sprayed with stuff from hell to keep them on the trees. Then they're gassed - for weeks. Then they're probably injected by a dæmonic creature so as to kill old blokes. I made the last one up cos I like using diphthongs, but anyway, a week ago I opened a supermarket packet and washed one apple. Not enough it seems. I'd cut it into segments, and topped and tailed each piece cos the ends is where the chemicals might congregate. In a moment, my throat closed around the part-munched pieces and stopped me breathing, and moaning my fate. Being good in a crisis, I knew the air I'd got was going to give me one go. Suffice it to say, I covered half the kitchen floor in debris. I then spent the rest of the day with swollen tonsil roots and a feeling of being predisposed to hunting down folk with an AK47 that poison food. Batards.

Last full reaction was to Mr Muscle. Blue light job and this time, all the readings to my GP. At last he finally believed me.

These reactions can be so bad it's as though two guys with baseball bats broke into your house and set about you. Nothing you can do to stop going down, and out. You get better quicker I suppose. If you survive.

My first one, as mentioned above, happened after I'd finished flying. Good job, I might just have found myself on the flight-deck with a lovely bloke who was similarly affected by peanuts. The two of us writhing about foaming would have been a somewhat misleading puzzle. Him affected by someone who did not believe, and would ignore rules anyway. There was the recent case of the peanut eater, defying all the pleas not to consume nuts on that flight. The vulnerable child was four rows ahead of the nut-eater, but still she was poll-axed by the mist of particles in the air. It was touch and go whether she survived.

It was a famous case, world-wide news, but what was important was the father of a lovely family himself, allowed the defiant munching of peanuts by one of his own. Didn't he care? How could a moment of utterly self-indulgent disregard risk the life of a child? Beats me.

Crews not fit for purpose? Tough one that. If you'd known the man I was referring to, you'd have done anything to see that his chosen career wasn't ruined. As said, lovely bloke, with more than his fare share of problems. Tearing away his life's love of flying on top of other issues would have been profoundly cruel. Tough luck? I don't think so. Just stop selfish, self indulgent people from stuffing totally unneeded junk into their faces, and we're good. As the Americans would say.

I'm just beating the same drum now, but remember, everyone . . . that is every single pilot on Earth, is a potential victim of their immune system. What is not known, is which one, and if and when the first attack will occur.
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Old 4th Jun 2018, 18:21
  #68 (permalink)  
 
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Rivets, if you're reacting to cleaning products you may want to look into Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Once you reach your "toxic threshold" you react to things that were previously ok. Its a matter of cutting out fragrances, dyes etc...
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Old 4th Jun 2018, 18:57
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I am not a fan of Wikipedia, but it does seem quite accurate about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I thought it worth posting as peanut allergies are a real issue and we dont want this thread hijacked:

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also known as idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI), is a disputed chronic condition characterized by symptoms that the affected person attributes to low-level exposures to commonly used chemicals.[2] Symptoms are typically vague and non-specific. They may include fatigue, headaches, nausea, and dizziness.

MCS is not recognized as an organic, chemical-caused illness by the World Health Organization, American Medical Association, or any of several other professional medical organizations.[3]
[4] Blinded clinical trials show that people with MCS react as often and as strongly to placebos as they do to chemical stimuli; the existence and severity of symptoms is related to perception that a chemical stimulus is present.[5]
[6] Some attribute the symptoms to depression, somatoform disorders, or anxiety disorders.[7]
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Old 4th Jun 2018, 20:01
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There are several well known specialists in the US dealing specifically with MCS as it relates to the aviation industry. I was merely providing a suggestion that he can look into if he wishes, since there was mention of hand soap and window cleaner. Hardly "hijacking" the thread, and I hope the phrase "peanut allergy is a real issue" was unintentional as it implies you think people with MCS are making it up. Wikipedia is hardly a bastion of accurate info... Johns Hopkins certainly haven't discounted the possibility of severe reactions due to exposure to everyday levels of common chemicals.

There are a number of airline crews presenting with symptoms that have been ruled out as allergies, food issues and other diseases coinciding with issue of new uniforms in several US airlines at the moment. Another thing antone interested can go read up on.

back to the peanut gallery...

Last edited by givemewings; 4th Jun 2018 at 20:17.
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Old 2nd Nov 2018, 15:52
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Tried to get my class 2 OSL restriction removed, after a secondary review the CAA replied with "the need to have access to adrenaline still suggests an unacceptable risk" I've never used an adrenaline autoinjector and have a report from an allergy doctor who said I have a very low risk of anaphalyactic reaction! Hope this helps others. I doubt the doctor will remove the requirement to have access to adrenaline, but I will try. Anyone know of immunotherapy trials going on??
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Old 21st Nov 2018, 17:30
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Progress! the Doctor at the CAA said in the appeal review letter he was happy to speak with the Professor who did my allergy test. So I asked the Prof, who was more than happy to help, and now I have an unrestricted class 2, with carrying adrenaline auto injectors.
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Old 21st Nov 2018, 22:12
  #73 (permalink)  
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Well done, it's nice when people behave considerately and professionally.

In the meantime, I've just gone over givemewings' link to MCS and find I have ~70% of the symptoms. I let it drop because of the stress of moving house at my great age. It really was a difficult time.

Reading in has coincided with a six month wait to see a professor in the Royal Marsden only to find today that they're sending me back to Addenbrooks where I had the bizarrely silly consultation with a $@^$^$%%#&#% consultant. I am very easygoing but she is one of the few professional people I have ever really taken a dislike to.

This allergy problem is so far-reaching and the symptoms so lost in a mist of confusion that I don't suppose I'll ever really resolve it. Not so important at my age.
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