Driving with Diabetes

Oh no @PMJ I hope you're feeling better soon!
I know how devastating it would be to be told that I couldn't drive, mainly as I work 50 miles from home with no direct transport routes other than the motorway!
I may be talking complete rubbish here, but I think one way to boost your hypo awareness, which isn't necessarily good for your body is to run slightly high (say, 8-10) for a couple of weeks. Your body will become used to it, and then when you go back to normal you will get the hypo symptoms much earlier. Anyone can chip in here and tell me I'm wrong, but I'm just coming out of the rebellious teenage years where my sugars have been consistently high. The one plus of this is that now I get the hypo symptoms at 4.5!
Another way is to just keep your sugars at 5-6 for a while. I think this might take longer though, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!
The main thing is recognising what those symptoms are. The first thing for me is a flush of heat rising up my neck, and then a few seconds later a wave of dizziness. Nothing major but enough to tell me that I need to stop, test and take a good swig of Lucozade. Two to three minutes later I start getting shaky and jittery. This happens whether I've had sugar or not, as the sugar takes time to work into your bloodstream. I keep monitoring it until I stop feeling jittery and my blood is back up to normal (around 6 for me, although the guidelines say 5). Then I push out of the hard shoulder and bomb it home or to the nearest service station for some lovely carbs!
I don't think your hospital will report you to the DVLA as they have given you an 8 week ban, as opposed to the DVLAs 1 year (I think!) This is essentially the warning before any BIG problems come up.
Hope you get this sorted out soon

Welcome the UK Diabetes Police (I'm in the US thank God). It's pretty unrealistic for them to restrict you from driving "until I regain some hypo awareness". What if you don't? What I've learned here is that you're supposed to test before you drive, and have a sugar of at least 5.0 (as I recall, maybe 6.0), and test every 2 hours whilst driving. That will insurer that you don't crash when low. Have you ever been in an accident because you were low? You didn't mention one. If so I don't think they can yank your driving privileges unilaterally. That seems quite unreasonable especially if you've not had problems with this.

TheBigNewt said:

It's pretty unrealistic for them to restrict you from driving "until I regain some hypo awareness". What if you don't?

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Then you have to surrender your driving licence to the licencing authority unfortunately.

TheBigNewt said:

Have you ever been in an accident because you were low? You didn't mention one. If so I don't think they can yank your driving privileges unilaterally. That seems quite unreasonable especially if you've not had problems with this.

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If a consultant suspects that you have hypoglycemia unawareness (and has evidence from your testing even if you don't agree) they can inform the licencing authority (DVLA) of this who will then likely revoke your licence until such time you can demonstrate your awareness to low blood glucose again.

I don't particularly like that I could potentially have my licence revoked if I were to ever lose awareness of hypoglycemia and it would have a huge impact on my life but that is the law and it's better to lose the licence than potentially kill yourself or someone else from the dangerous driving that would likely be the result of a hypo you weren't aware you were having.

Question is did you have a hypo in the 24hrs you were being monitored? We're you aware of one? Was it whilst you were asleep? Did you keep a diary of the blood tests done during the 24hrs and does the cgm results match those? You need to talk to the consultant in detail about this. The hospital has already made one cockup.....!

But we all need to drive safely, so if their evidence is true and correct you do have to comply with their wishes.

db89 said:

Then you have to surrender your driving licence to the licencing authority unfortunately.



If a consultant suspects that you have hypoglycemia unawareness (and has evidence from your testing even if you don't agree) they can inform the licencing authority (DVLA) of this who will then likely revoke your licence until such time you can demonstrate your awareness to low blood glucose again.

I don't particularly like that I could potentially have my licence revoked if I were to ever lose awareness of hypoglycemia and it would have a huge impact on my life but that is the law and it's better to lose the licence than potentially kill yourself or someone else from the dangerous driving that would likely be the result of a hypo you weren't aware you were having.

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This is about as absurd a practice as I've ever heard of. So you can lose your job "if I were to ever lose awareness of hypoglycemia". So if you ARE aware of it and fail to do anything about it that's OK? Here's what would happen here, and should happen to this guy: GET HIM A DEXCOM CGM. Not the Freestyle Libre they use a lot there. Those are the Yugo of CGMs, now I realize why you can't get 'em here. The Dexcom will alert your smartphone if your sugar passes below 4.0 which gives you plenty of time to correct. In short it will make him hypo aware right away. Problem solved. Way cheaper than anything else too. It's what parents of kids with Type 1 use so they won't have a seizure in the middle of the night. It alerts them too. Right?

It's not going to help anyone from what you say. It's only going to mess you up. I'll tell you one thing, if this happened here the ACLU whom I generally abhor) would sue the bejeezus out of your whomsoever is doing this and most likely win.

TheBigNewt said:

This is about as absurd a practice as I've ever heard of. So you can lose your job "if I were to ever lose awareness of hypoglycemia". So if you ARE aware of it and fail to do anything about it that's OK?

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No, that's not okay either. If you are aware and fail to do anything about it more than once, the DVLA will revoke your driving license if they find out.

TheBigNewt said:

The Dexcom will alert your smartphone if your sugar passes below 4.0 which gives you plenty of time to correct. In short it will make him hypo aware right away. Problem solved. Way cheaper than anything else too

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If it hits four on the dexcom, and has been falling relatively fast then the likelihood is that you are a lot lower than that, so no, that's not okay to be driving either. Fine if you set it at 5.

TheBigNewt said:

I'll tell you one thing, if this happened here the ACLU whom I generally abhor) would sue the bejeezus out of your whomsoever is doing this and most likely win.

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Great. And in the meantime, who do we sue the bejesus out of when the car coming down the road is being driven by a Hypoglycemic T1D with a poorly calibrated dexcom sensor that has a current BG that is 58 and climbs the kerb to kill someone on the pavement?

So across the UK thousands of Type 1's who agree to test before they drive and who haven't been found guilty by the Diabetes Police of driving while hypo can test and drive to work, etc. And this guy who is basically the same as them cannot? It's pretty subjective if you ask me, and pretty unfair to boot.
"Who do we sue the bejesus out of when the car coming down the road is being driven by a Hypoglycemic T1D with a poorly calibrated dexcom sensor that has a current BG that is 58 and climbs the kerb to kill someone on the pavement?" Quote your source of when that happened there last.

TheBigNewt said:

So across the UK thousands of Type 1's who agree to test before they drive and who haven't been found guilty by the Diabetes Police of driving while hypo can test and drive to work, etc. And this guy who is basically the same as them cannot? It's pretty subjective if you ask me, and pretty unfair to boot.
"Who do we sue the bejesus out of when the car coming down the road is being driven by a Hypoglycemic T1D with a poorly calibrated dexcom sensor that has a current BG that is 58 and climbs the kerb to kill someone on the pavement?" Quote your source of when that happened there last.

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A close call is enough for me. Is February 2017 close enough? https://www.expressandstar.com/news...nd-elderly-pedestrian-was-in-diabetic-trance/

PMJ said:

I have been for a review at the hospital today. One of the reasons is that sometimes I am not aware of having a hypo until blood sugar readings are -2.5. So I raised this with the specialists. They put me on a 24 hour monitor and today I went for the results. After a mix up at the hospital I left and came home. Just taken a call from the consultant and due to the results they have said I can't drive for 8 weeks until I regain some hypo awareness

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I really think it's sensible advice by your Consultant @PMJ , I know it's going to cause a lot of stress and inconvenience to you but the DVLA Regs state that you must be hypo aware to drive in the UK. The Regs are there to keep everyone safe on the road and there's no way round it so I would heed the Consultants advice and work on getting your awareness back.

Its also worth bearing in mind that your insurance company may not pay out if they find out that you've lost your hypo awareness and were involved in an accident, insurance companies are quite thorough and will often carry out their own investigations before they settle a claim.

Best wishes and good luck.

And what if he can't get his hypo awareness back to their arbitrary satisfaction? Take the bus forever? What if he agrees to test frequently and show it's 5.0 or greater driving? And/or get a Dexcom that goes off at 5.0 and alerts him? As for the insurance not covering you did you know that in the UAE you are not covered by any insurance if they find ANY alcohol detected in your blood a the time of an accident, even if someone runs a red light and hits you. A level of 0.01 and you're uninsured. Sounds about as fair to me as what they did to him.

Best not to have a morning rinse with mouthwash if driving there then.

db89 said:

Best not to have a morning rinse with mouthwash if driving there then.

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Yeah not a lot of pubs serving Guiness there either lol. Actually alcohol is only sold there in hotel bars frequented by foreigners. I think one can purchase takeout from them too.

PMJ said:

I have been for a review at the hospital today. One of the reasons is that sometimes I am not aware of having a hypo until blood sugar readings are -2.5. So I raised this with the specialists. They put me on a 24 hour monitor and today I went for the results. After a mix up at the hospital I left and came home. Just taken a call from the consultant and due to the results they have said I can't drive for 8 weeks until I regain some hypo awareness This is devastating to me as there are work issue las that mean I need to be there to protect my job and if I can't drive I am not able to get there on public transport without adding 3 hours each way making it impossible to get to the office. Plus with everything going on at work I am not sure they would wear me being off for that long without handing me a P45. How can I get round this. Will the hospital report me to the DVLA. What can I say to work that will get them on my side I am really really lost as to what I can do here and what support I need I am 54 years old and the stress of all this is getting to me oh and to cap this all off I am currently off work after a 3 day hospital visit with Viral Bronchitis.

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Hi as you have been told not to drive and you decide to do so then your licence is void as is your ins. If you were involved in an accident you would also be jailed.

Just a suggestion, could you not stay near your work place during the week and just travel home at the weekend?

TheBigNewt said:

Welcome the UK Diabetes Police (I'm in the US thank God). It's pretty unrealistic for them to restrict you from driving "until I regain some hypo awareness".

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I'm in Canada and like the U.S. I'm not aware of any prohibition on diabetic drivers. That really sucks if you're in the U.K. I wonder if it's always been that way or if there are statistics backing up their policy. Good luck @PMJ, I hope it gets resolved soon!

PMJ said:

Hi. Looking at all options at the moment. Got called back to the hospital this afternoon and the support and guidance was tremendous we have a plan to pull this round. But there is still a 4 week plus ban. There is no getting round this and I am not stupid enough to ignore it. It just couldn't have come at a worse time. Now deciding if I need to let my work know as driving is not part of my role but getting to the office is. And there will be days it will be almost impossible to travel the 26 miles on public transport. Taxi would cost too much so I am not sure how to deal with this as far as work goes.

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I once lost my license through a hypo at the wheel but got it back after 3 weeks. It was a very long time ago and I know that things are much stricter now regarding DVLA. They are really slow even with routine stuff. I know that you have probably considered all the options but could you beg anybody you work with for a lift? A really numb question to ask but I will ask anyway. Could you cycle as a last resort?

PMJ said:

Hi. Looking at all options at the moment. Got called back to the hospital this afternoon and the support and guidance was tremendous we have a plan to pull this round. But there is still a 4 week plus ban. There is no getting round this and I am not stupid enough to ignore it. It just couldn't have come at a worse time. Now deciding if I need to let my work know as driving is not part of my role but getting to the office is. And there will be days it will be almost impossible to travel the 26 miles on public transport. Taxi would cost too much so I am not sure how to deal with this as far as work goes.

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Well I really hope you are able to get this straightened out. And remember YOU were the one that raised the issue about hypo awareness (or lack thereof). And YOU have not had any hypo incidents driving. So that right there will be a lesson to you about what happens around there when you tell the truth, unfortunately. Know what I think they should do to make this right? Pay for your cab fare to/from work until it's "straightened out". With all the freaking money they must waste in gubment healthcare they can surely find a few pounds to get you to work and back for a few weeks. That's couch cushion money for them. But you and I both know that will never happen. Just like they won't spring for a Dexcom CGM for you either.