Chuck,

This is why you NEED AOPA.

Sleep Apnea is a disqualifying condition. Now you have to prove to the
FAA that you deserve a waiver, in the form of a special-issuance
medical.

What you should have done BEFORE going to your AME is get your paperwork
in order, then find an AME with experience doing SI medicals. The SI can
be done very quickly if you have the right stuff ready to go and an AME
who's willing to help get you issued.

The FAA wants to see that you are under treatment for sleep apnea and
that you will not fall asleep at the controls. There are different kinds
of S.A., the most common is obstructive. This is usually treated with
CPAP machine or some variant thereof. It is a condition where the throat
closes and stops your breathing. There are other kinds, like central
sleep apnea which is a central nervous system disorder.

Presuming you have obstructive sleep apnea, what you are going to need
for the FAA is your sleep studies, both before and after CPAP or
surgery. You are also probably going to need to take a daytime test
called a maintenance of wakefullness test or MWT. If you have all the
paperwork ready at your medical, your AME has to defer your medical to
the FAA. It is possible to get issued with a phone call, if your doc
knows how to get through. Most likely, the bundle of paperwork will need
to go in to Oklahoma or the Regional Flight Surgeon.

Once you get the SI, you'll most likely get a 1-yr renewal, requiring a
letter from your treating physician that you are compliant with
treatment and experiencing no daytime sleepiness. You'll probably have
to go back to the AME or send the letter in once a year and get your SI
renewed.

AOPA's medical resources have the full details of the required protocols
the FAA is looking for. Get a copy and bring them to your regular doctor
who is treating you for apnea.

It's a PITA, but that's what you gotta do.


In article ,
Chuck wrote:

Hi everyone,

I've run into a problem with renewing my medical because of a
diagnosis of Sleep Apnea. It didn't cause me to fail my medical, but
I didn't pass either.