Speaking of valerian root, it is very popular in Eastern Europe, but its reputation as a mild and harmless natural sedative isn’t entirely true. In high doses (which is what you will need for acute sedation), it inhibits your thinking and dumbs you down a lot. This is what you may need at times of grief and sorrow, but certainly not when you need your brain to function optimally. In particular, if you feel jittery after a dangerous event or simply too much coffee, valerian will not get you back to normal; the doses needed to suppress the jitters will leave you barely able to construct a phrase. Incidentally, one harmless way to accelerate recovery from a jittery state is to drink a lot of water (say, 2 litres at once); note that it will go through your kidneys considerably faster than in a normal relaxed state.
Rhodiola is a powerful stimulant, somewhat similar to eleutherococcus, schisandra, aralia and ginseng. It does somewhat improve your intellectual abilities and allows you to skip sleep for a night or two while remaining alert, but you borrow that energy from yourself and will need a lot of rest afterwards. A similar effect is also produced by amphetamines, but it arises faster and wears out faster, too.
Statin posts moved to a new thread
I was not suggesting taking any of these an then going flying. They’re impairing, one way or the other. Just as a natural, unregulated alternative to big pharma’s option. We all experience stress and anxiety to some degree throughout our lives, not attributable to anything that necessarily needs treatment or a psych evaluation. A natural option could help with temporary relief and yet still not riks your medical.
Take a Xanax in the US, and you’re done in the eyes of the FAA. Means 6 month wait and full workup by a psychiatrist. Not only that, you’re looking at Special Issuance medical for the rest of your life probably.
AdamFrisch wrote:
As for Kava having liver toxicity problems, that was based on faulty research – the study group had used the whole bush, stems, leaves etc, and they’re toxic. But the root isn’t and that’s what should have been used. There’s no evidence that using the root causes liver problems. If that were the case, Polynesians (who use it regularly) would have higher liver failure rates.
There are a number of convincing case reports of people who’ve had liver failure after taking Kava, so the potential for liver problems isn’t something that’s based on a single study. These people had for the most part taken commercially available Kava preparations – it may be that the Kava producers had used the leaf and stem of the plants or it may have been that they left the kava root to go mouldy and it’s actually the mould that is toxic. Perhaps only a few of the hundreds of strains available are toxic. It seems to me that the distinction is somewhat academic – if you’re a pharmaceutical company wanting to know whether it’s worth trying to make a synthetic version of Kava then you’ll have a keen interest in whether the psychoactive elements are safe. If you’re a Pacific islander you can prepare your own. But for most of us it would be a matter of going somewhere where its sale isn’t banned and buying a commercial preparation. As a consumer how do you find a reputable brand of Kava? Do you go for the most expensive, the best packaged, the one that’s been around the longest, the most widely sold? I don’t trust pharmaceutical companies, but I don’t trust herbal remedy companies either: herbal remedies are a big business with lots of money at stake, suffer from some similar conflicts of interest, and are less regulated.
As a more general observation, liver toxicity is often idiosyncratic. For example, we get people who take massive overdoses of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) on a recurrent basis, and who seem to pull through without suffering any measurable damage at all. Some other poor soul takes a half-hearted one-off overdose and ends up with a liver transplant. Kava is meant to be much the same – most people are fine but a few clearly aren’t. The rarity of severe reactions makes them difficult to study so I would be wary of the idea that Pacific islanders don’t suffer the same effects from time to time. Pacific islanders are not a healthy population; there’s a high rate of viral hepatitis in the region, life expectancy is low, healthcare is not up to Western standards and to be honest, if you keel over unexpectedly there I think it unlikely that people would look as hard for the cause as they would in Germany, the UK or the USA.
What I would agree with is that people aren’t dropping like flies when they’re taking the stuff – if you take Kava then go flying are you more likely to die of liver failure than a plane crash? To me the biggest question with all of these things would be whether and how they alter your cognition and make you more likely to have an accident. You wouldn’t go flying after alcohol, as we know that even small amounts of alcohol affect performance. In large doses Kava produces somewhat similar effects, so on what basis would you justify the idea that taking a smaller dose won’t impair performance. Don’t look for research on the issue: there’s no such thing as a standard Kava preparation. The Kava plant contains a number of different psychoactive substances and the relative proportions will depend very much on the cultivar used. Results of such a study wouldn’t be generalisable to all brands. In principle, it’s going to be almost impossible to ‘prove’ the safety of the substance.
On a broader note, anyone taking a preparation to treat a psychiatric ailment is by definition trying to alter their state of mind – and depression and anxiety often go hand in hand. The magic bullet of a substance that will relieve anxiety without having sedative or other cognitive side effects is always going to be hard to find. Either it doesn’t work – in which case it isn’t going to be worth taking – or it does work, in which case the issue of unwanted side effects is worth thinking about.
How much insight do we have into our mental alertness and acuity? It’s a question I often wonder about. When I flew r/c models I quickly became aware that I crashed them overwhelmingly when I’d not slept well or felt a bit under the weather – but generally still ‘clear headed’. I’ve often thought it would be interesting to make a mobile phone app where you’d perform a quick array of psychometric tests (e.g. the Stroop effect) then compare your performance against your average to help with those go/no-go decisions. Either way, my own feeling is that it’s quite difficult to be truly aware of your state of alertness, and that caution is in order.
Peter wrote:
Obviously (b) is a real catch-absolutely-everything, including the common cold…
It depends on your definition of regular. If I have the cold, take some paracetamol and it goes away after say five days, I wouldn’t consider it a regular use. I see no reason why I shouldn’t fly a week later. I wouldn’t fly while having a cold. But I’m not in doubt (which doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong) what I’m doing is safe hence there is no reason to consult an AME.
what_next wrote:
I think any condition which requires taking antibiotics for “a week or two” will clearly fall under point 4 of the list quoted above:
I believe the AMC talks about at least 21 days.
kwlf wrote:
I’m not sure exactly what you mean by ‘careless syndrome’
Means that the patient starts to care less about others and himself.
Phenibut probably a bad substance overall and should perhaps not be on that list. As for Kava having liver toxicity problems, that was based on faulty research – the study group had used the whole bush, stems, leaves etc, and they’re toxic. But the root isn’t and that’s what should have been used. There’s no evidence that using the root causes liver problems. If that were the case, Polynesians (who use it regularly) would have higher liver failure rates.
I’ve tried Kava myself. In fact I have some at home here as a solved tincture. 30 drops in the tea and a very relaxed and calm feeling comes over you almost instantly. You’re still alert and not drowsy, though. If you’re stressed or have some anxiety for some reason, it will give quick relief. It’s like nature’s Xanax. Not that I’ve ever taken that…
Lemon Balm I’ve also tried quite a few times and it has a much subtler feel than Kava. Just a very mild state of calmness. Botanically it also comes in creams and has been used since Roman times on cold sores, skin burns etc. In the medical studies that have been performed, it has performed well:
In another double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 18 healthy volunteers received 2 separate single doses of a standardized lemon balm extract (300 mg and 600 mg) or placebo for 7 days. The 600 mg dose of lemon balm increased mood and significantly increased calmness and alertness.
University of Maryland on Lemon Balm
I’ve tried Valerian for sleep, but never had much luck with it. Passionfruit the same – didn’t notice a difference. I’ve not tried Rhodiola or Ashwaghanda.
Peter wrote:
most of it is lifestyle related
Exercise can be helpful for depression as well.
dublinpilot wrote:
I think he was overstepping the mark and looking to drum up business.
Maybe you are right. Luckily I don’t have many vaccinations coming the next two or three years.
dublinpilot wrote:
If it was me, I wouldn’t use them again.
If there’s one thing I learnt in my years in aviation then it is “never change your AME unless there is no other option”. A lot of pilots I know (including myself) got into quite some trouble after moving to a different doctor. As long as he signs my medical every year I would be foolish to try my luck and go elsewhere…
what_next wrote:
A couple of years ago (EASA regulations were already in place) I went through the medical questionnaire with my AME during the yearly visit. Before, one would fill the questionnaire on paper for oneself while waiting for the doctor, but now it has become an eye-to-eye interview with the doctor ticking the boxes on his computer screen. So when he asked about any medication during the last 12 months, I told him that I got myself a vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (we live in a high risk region and I spend much time outdoors). So he lectured me that I should have informed them immediately and next time better go directly to him for any vacccination…
On what basis did he expect that? I can’t see anything there that would require notification of a vaccination. Indeed I’ve had the tick-borne encephalitis vaccination myself a few times, and it never occurred to me to report that to the AME. I don’t think there was anything on the questionnaire about vaccinations either.
I think he was overstepping the mark and looking to drum up business. If it was me, I wouldn’t use them again. I never had any such problems with me AME.
