Bipolar/Schizoaffective Disorder and Soaring

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:02:15 +0000, DL152279546231 wrote:

By the way my Psychiatrist is a pilot and feels I am safe to fly provided I
take my medicines daily and I do...

But, I do need some clarification.
A medical certificate is not required for soaring is what I have been told
reguardless of medications or illness provided the pilot feels he can fly
safely.

I have never heard of a list of medications which bar a pilot from flying
gliders...

However I have done some research and read the FAA won't even issue a medical
to an applicant on unipolar depression so I did not plan to apply to face
certain rejection

Also, however, I am wondering if these psychotropic medications don't cause
problems with heatstroke and dehydration

Perhaps the question you should ask, is "how hot and dehydrated will I get
whilst flying" and "how much exercise is involved in ground-handling
gliders". Most people on the list would be able to answer these questions
for you, and you can take this information to your doctor who will be able
to tell you whether it is likely to be a problem.

I was hoping maybe an annonymous person would step forward and say they were
flying and it was not a problem

Lithium, Effexor, and Zyprexa are the ones I have taken for over two years

All of the patient information for these drugs cautions that they can
cause dizziness and / or drowsiness. They caution against driving if these
symptoms are apparent, and I think this would apply to gliding x2 (or
more).

Also, by the way, my Pyschiatrist said getting back into flying would be
an excellent anti-depressant

vne