Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Medical Question

Asked by: 5018 views FAA Regulations, Student Pilot

Hello everyone, I have a quick question.  I have been training for a few weeks now and my instructor said I was getting close to solo, that I needed to go get my medical/student pilot certificate.  When I went to the doctor, I told him that I was prescribed Adderall and he said that I could not get a medical until the doctor called him and said I was off of it and then I had to wait 90 days.  I am very close to solo and don't want to wait 90+ days to get the medical, is there any way around this?  Possibly getting prescribed another medication or anything else?  Any and all help is very important and very much appreciated.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

3 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Nov 17, 2011

    Sorry, but from the AOPA website, you will have to be off your medication for 90 days and have an evaluation:
    Because of the potential for significant underlying psychiatric or psychological problems and the side effects of medications, the FAA does not currently allow medical certification for a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD requiring the use of medication.
    For medical certification consideration, you will need to have discontinued all psychoactive medications for at least the preceding 90 days.  After being off the medications for 90 days, a neuropsychological evaluation should be conducted.  The neuropsychological evaluation must also include the following three tests:

    Trail Making Test
    Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
    Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)

    If the airman is an adult who has been prescribed one of the stimulant-type drugs for ADD, but has not been diagnosed with the disorder, the medications will have to be discontinued for three days before undergoing the neuropsychological evaluation noted above.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Dave on Nov 17, 2011

    There are AMEs that specialize in tough cases like this, one of which frequents the medical forums on the AOPA forums and Pilot’s of America.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Heather McNevin on Jan 10, 2012

    I’d also recommend contacting the Aviation Medicine Advisory Service.  They are a group of former flight surgeons that assist pilots with their medical issues.  It isnt free, but I’d highly recommend contacting them.  They helped me get my medical back.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.