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"Asthma" Question

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Rob1692

New Member
Hey everyone- I'm currently knee deep in the application process for Navy OCS. Hopefully one day I'll either be an Intel Officer or a SWO. Anyway, one thing that has been terrifying me lately is the "asthma" that I have. I put it in quotes because I don't think it's a huge deal at all. I was wondering if anyone could offer any sort of insight about this and maybe help me out.

I was never officially diagnosed with asthma, but I have an inhaler (albuterol). Apparently I started wheezing when I had pneumonia back when I was in like 5th grade or something. I then would occasionally wheeze when I got sinus infections. I still have an inhaler somewhere, but I have not used it since at least sophomore year of high school (I am going to be a senior at college this fall).

I have never had an asthma attack. I have never had to stop doing any sort of activity because of this. I was on the crew team my freshman year of college, and have played intramural hockey every year so far. I run/workout all the time and have never experienced any problems. I do this without ever using my inhaler. Heck, I don't think I even bring it to college with me.

Any input? I understand that I am going to get a pulminary exam. If I am diagnosed with an extremely mild case of asthma, is there anything I can do to help myself, or is it a deal breaker?

I do not want to havy my dreams of becoming a Navy Officer crushed by something like this.
 
E

Engineer

New Member
I am a civilian and have done my research on asthma. If they do a methacoline challenge test and it comes back positive for any kind of asthma, try your best to get a second opinion (and/or another methacoline challenge test) and make sure the navy sees the second opinion. The reasean for this is the methacoline challane test is probably the best indicator for asthma however it's very subjective. I know that make no sense but at least you now have some options.

As far as this being a carreer killer, the best thing you can do is take the examinations, submit the paper work, and see what happens. Don't get bent out of shape from what everyone on this forum says could happen. You have already choose to follow through with the process so there isn't much anyone on this site can do for you.

However, I could be wrong. I'm 19 year old punk who hold a 3.83 in engineering and am a smart ass and I learn something new evertime I log on to this site. However, I like to think I have a good handle on some of the medical policies.

Best of luck to you and make sure to keep us all posted so we can further advise applicants in your shoes.

Very Respectfully,

Engineer.
 
feddoc

feddoc

Really old guy
Contributor
Rob1692 said:
Hey everyone- I'm currently knee deep in the application process for Navy OCS. Hopefully one day I'll either be an Intel Officer or a SWO. Anyway, one thing that has been terrifying me lately is the "asthma" that I have. I put it in quotes because I don't think it's a huge deal at all. I was wondering if anyone could offer any sort of insight about this and maybe help me out.

I was never officially diagnosed with asthma, but I have an inhaler (albuterol). Apparently I started wheezing when I had pneumonia back when I was in like 5th grade or something. I then would occasionally wheeze when I got sinus infections. I still have an inhaler somewhere, but I have not used it since at least sophomore year of high school (I am going to be a senior at college this fall).

I have never had an asthma attack. I have never had to stop doing any sort of activity because of this. I was on the crew team my freshman year of college, and have played intramural hockey every year so far. I run/workout all the time and have never experienced any problems. I do this without ever using my inhaler. Heck, I don't think I even bring it to college with me.

Any input? I understand that I am going to get a pulminary exam. If I am diagnosed with an extremely mild case of asthma, is there anything I can do to help myself, or is it a deal breaker?

I do not want to havy my dreams of becoming a Navy Officer crushed by something like this.
Click to expand...

I was never officially diagnosed with asthma, but I have an inhaler (albuterol).

Your situation is not unique....since you were never diagnosed, and have had no symptoms since, then the chances for asthma being a problem are going to be very slim. As a heads up, try the search function.
 
Kriegadler

Kriegadler

New Member
I was diagnosed with asthma when I was young. If I recall properly, the regs say if you have had an asthmatic episode after age 6, it difficult to get medically qualified. However, if you can show, truly show, that the condition described as asthma does not exist any more or was misdiagnosed, then you stand a good chance of getting a waiver if needed. PM me with questions how I did it.

AND...tell them the truth. At the least it puts a flag in your file saying "Hey, this cat's got asthma (or whatever else you have)" that way if something happens, they know and they can treat it properly.
 
airgreg

airgreg

low bypass axial-flow turbofan with AB driver
pilot
Rob1692 said:
Hey everyone- I'm currently knee deep in the application process for Navy OCS. Hopefully one day I'll either be an Intel Officer or a SWO. Anyway, one thing that has been terrifying me lately is the "asthma" that I have. I put it in quotes because I don't think it's a huge deal at all. I was wondering if anyone could offer any sort of insight about this and maybe help me out.

I was never officially diagnosed with asthma, but I have an inhaler (albuterol). Apparently I started wheezing when I had pneumonia back when I was in like 5th grade or something. I then would occasionally wheeze when I got sinus infections. I still have an inhaler somewhere, but I have not used it since at least sophomore year of high school (I am going to be a senior at college this fall).

I have never had an asthma attack. I have never had to stop doing any sort of activity because of this. I was on the crew team my freshman year of college, and have played intramural hockey every year so far. I run/workout all the time and have never experienced any problems. I do this without ever using my inhaler. Heck, I don't think I even bring it to college with me.

Any input? I understand that I am going to get a pulminary exam. If I am diagnosed with an extremely mild case of asthma, is there anything I can do to help myself, or is it a deal breaker?

I do not want to havy my dreams of becoming a Navy Officer crushed by something like this.
Click to expand...
I know it sucks hearing this, but do a search. I have posted very extensively on this (years ago). "Methacholine" will probably get you good results.

Long story short, I had a very similar history to yours, and I'm not flying gray jets. Do your homework and you should be ok.
 
R

Rg9

Registered User
pilot
Rob1692 said:
I was never officially diagnosed with asthma
Click to expand...
That's what matters to the Navy in the application process. If you don't know already, the medical questionnaires seem to be designed to weed everyone out ("have you ever had shortness of breath?" well... yeah, when I start running again after not running for weeks).

You don't want to be dishonest, but you also need to know how to fill them out. DO NOT SAY ANYWHERE THAT YOU HAVE ASTHMA! You weren't diagnosed, so you "don't" have it until a doctor says you do. Trust me. It will cause much more pain than not if you use the word. If you do have a concern, explain it to the Navy Doc (do not use the "A" word, however) and they should be able to check it for you.

This all comes from personal experience, by the way.
 
G

Goob83

Active Member
None
If you were not diagnosed then you never had it. you do however have to answer yes to the weezing question. have your documentation ready. the A word as mentioned above is disqualifying by itself but if you say it was an isolated incident or before the age of 12 you are ok. soon as you say wheezing you will need meddocs from your visits and then all will be ok as long as it was not diagnosed as asthma by your doctor. to help your chances before you submit your request for a physical have your records and also go get the PFT done.
 
W

WittyUserName

New Member
I figure I'll just reuse this thread, but I was diagnosed with asthma. In first grade I had one asthma attack, it's the only one I've had my whole life, I was prescribed an inhaler, but have never had wheezing or anything related to asthma since then. I'm a fast runner too, I've never had any problems during athletic activities ever, but is this going to hurt me? Also I was at a Marine recruiter and he had me read a list of disqualifying medical conditions, sure enough there was asthma, but it had an star next too it, at the bottom of the page it said asthma is only DQ if it was after age 13. But I'm wondering since I want to be a pilot, might there be different standards?
 
Mustang83

Mustang83

Professional back-seat driver
None
WittyUserName said:
I figure I'll just reuse this thread, but I was diagnosed with asthma. In first grade I had one asthma attack, it's the only one I've had my whole life, I was prescribed an inhaler, but have never had wheezing or anything related to asthma since then. I'm a fast runner too, I've never had any problems during athletic activities ever, but is this going to hurt me? Also I was at a Marine recruiter and he had me read a list of disqualifying medical conditions, sure enough there was asthma, but it had an star next too it, at the bottom of the page it said asthma is only DQ if it was after age 13. But I'm wondering since I want to be a pilot, might there be different standards?
Click to expand...

No. Very simple. The only difference for SNA is your eyes. If you haven't had asthma like symptoms after 13 they consider it 'acute respiratory syndrome' which is not disqualifying and isn't even recorded in your medical (from personal experience)
 
Nose

Nose

Well-Known Member
pilot
You are not a doctor. You cannot diagnose yourself with Asthma. You do not have Asthma. Listen to me, repeat after me: I do not have asthma.

If you want to tell them that you wheezed once when you had Pneumonia, that is fine, but YOU DO NOT HAVE ASTHMA.

Once you complete training and get your comission, you can tell them if your wheezing comes back. You can have albuterol, you can have almost anything you need - especially if you are not flying.

I dealt with this as a Navy Pilot. YOU DO NOT HAVE ASTHMA.

Feel free to PM me if you want me to spell it out for you.

Best and good luck.

Nose
 
H

hendrix

New Member
Hey there. So I'm basically in the same boat...I've never been diagnosed with asthma, never had an asthma attack, and the last time I had the faintest symptoms was when I was eleven, and what I'm getting from this is to not say that I have asthma and to say that when I was under 12 I had minor coughing and etc. Is this okay or anyone have a better option:confused:
 
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