• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Starting Insulin and Driving

C

ClaireG 06

Well-Known Member
Messages
934
Location
Corby Northants
I have an appointment with my DN tomorrow and it is highly likely that I will be started on insulin. I'm on the max dose of Glic and have been getting high readings myself. Had an HBA1C last week and just phoned for result which was 10.2% :(
Have spoken to a Dr friend who said she advises her patients not to drive for the first month after starting insulin due to increased risk of hypos etc. What's your experience of this?
 
There are several threads on this already, if you get chance to look around.

I started insulin in December 2010. I was told I could drive provided I tested regularly. Most people use 5.5 as the floor (i.e. if you are about to drive and are below 5.5, have a small carby snack). You'll have to fill in a form from the DVLA to say you have begun insulin therapy. The DVLA have given me a three year licence, which should be renewed providing I haven't had too many disabling hypos. This seems fairly typical from what people have said. You also have to inform your insurance company. They should not charge any extra. If they do, I'd change company on renewal but mine didn't; don't think that many do from what other people have said.

if it makes you feel better, my HbA1c on starting insulin was 13.7% I bet plenty of others were even higher!
 
Excellent advice from Russ! :)

I wasn't told not to drive for the first month but that was 30 years ago, I think that advice is good and will allow you time to adjust to your new insulin regime. Good luck and hope all goes well!

Nigel
 
at your appointment they'll give you lots of information on insulin and driving, when i was diagnosed it was sort of drilled into my head about the risks and what to do.

They'll give you leaflets and probably something to sign that says you have been made aware.

You'll need to notify the DVLA and they will send you a questionnaire to fill in then depending on that the DVLA will instruct what to do from there.

Nobody said to not drive for a month, and when i was diagnosed i was doing driving lessons, which i chose to hold off on for a while until i was comfortable with myself that i was safe to drive :)

Good luck starting with insulin! :)
 
You can actually get all the information you need from the DVLA website: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr ... /DG_185427

The form you need is a DIAB1: http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg ... 066647.pdf

On the rest of it I was only diagnosed 2 years ago and wasn't told not to drive for the first month but I too was told the little mantra "5 on the drive" so 5 is the minimum I go by and have a snack if it is below that.
I also always keep some glocose sweets in the car just in case.

The advise if you do feel a hypo coming on is to stop someplace safe, take the key out of the ignition and sit in the passenger seat. I think that if you are hypo they consider it as "unfit due to drink or drugs" though I am sure a more legally savvy person on here will correct me if I am wrong :)

Andy
 
I didn't stop driving, nor was I advised to

You will have to tell the insurance company before you do though else you may not be covered

You will also have to tell the DVLA and they give you a license that need to be renewed every 3 years
 
Thanks everyone. As a type 2 on meds i have been testing my bloods and wouldn't drive if they were below 5. However,they've never been that low :lol:
Prehaps it's just in my area that they give the advice not to drive for 4-6 weeks. It does make sense though.
 
There are 4 must do's on this:

1) Inform Dvla
2) Inform insurance
3) Do a blood test EVERY singl;e time before driving, even is you have just popped out to the shops for 10 minutes. Therefore, make sure you get enough bloodstrips from your GP to enable you to test each and every time, as well as your normal tests....sometimes I need 10-14 strips a day!!!!! Depending on just how many short trips I am doing.
4) ALWAYS have hypo stoppers in the car, and somewhere readily available...on the top of the dash, in side of door......

After my incident last July, although I was good 1 hour before with my BG I didn't test....and it led to a huge amount of unnecessary anxiety, depression and horrenous thoughts that I would never wish upon anybody else...

For me now, I will NEVER drive below 5. Depending which literature you read-some say a limit of 4 and some say 5, but allowing for bloodtesting machines having at least a 10% error on them-I NEVER drive under 5.

Complacency can set in with all of us.....I thought I was fine before driving. It was only during driving I realised I wasn't fine, and I managed to pull over....but NOT before somebody else was concerned and phoned the police and ambulance.......NEVER let complacency set in. You MUST be able to test before EVERY drive. Learn from somebody that has experienced the horrendous thoughts and desperation when the thought of losing your licence is there.

Make sure you tell DVLA and Insurance. DVLA may require a letter to be completed by your Consultant, but you should as far as I am aware still be allowed to drive whilst they get all the information.....

Lastly, always make sure you have some hypo stoppers in the car that you can eat safely and quickly.

NEVER drive below 5.....

I NEVER want anybody else to go through what I went through. I had huge help from Cugila, iHs on this website-and I will be eternally grateful for their support. I also had a fantastic DSN and Hospital Consultant (who I wish I could name-but can't). I will never forget the awful **** I suffered for 3 months thinking I was going to lose my licence, and I will never forget the support that I had to enable me to keep it (including a very special DSN and iHs from this website) that helped me on to a pump immediately (no waiting, no hesitiation etc).

These memories will stay with me forever, especially as I have never even met Cugila or iHs. Their support was unending.

DON'T EVER get yourself in to my situation. I had been diabetic type 1 for 25 years.....and I really, neever, ever want anybody else ever to experience what I did.....
 
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. I will demand i get enough strips and will test each and every time i go near the car. I also intend to inform DVLA and my insurance company as soon as i get back from my appointment tomorrow if it's decided that insulin is indeed the way forward.
 
Not quite sure what the rules are for type 2's going over to insulin, but think they are the same as type 1's on insulin with notifying DVLA.

Giving insulin isn't so bad, so I hope that if you have to, that you will get on ok with it. It does give a better chance to lower those hba1c's when other meds fail.

I hope that as a type 2 that you will be able to get the necessary strips to keep yourself safe and out of hypoland.....

Best wishes..Sharon
 
Well..i am back and not going onto insulin yet :) The DN is going to refer me to the hospital as I fit the PCT's criteria for Byetta :D I may have to go onto pioglitazide in the meantime until the appointment comes through. She wants to avoid this if poss though because of likely weight gain. I even managed to persuade her to give me a scrip for some strips :D I'm only supposed to test if i feel hypo or before driving long distances though :roll:
 
ClaireG 06 said:
Well..i am back and not going onto insulin yet :) The DN is going to refer me to the hospital as I fit the PCT's criteria for Byetta :D I may have to go onto pioglitazide in the meantime until the appointment comes through. She wants to avoid this if poss though because of likely weight gain. I even managed to persuade her to give me a scrip for some strips :D I'm only supposed to test if i feel hypo or before driving long distances though :roll:
Click to expand...

Good news then :)

I hope byetta works for you!

I'm T1 so my knowledge of T2 meds is limited, but if the meds you are on are hypo-inducing meds then i would still suggest that you test before driving anyway, and it's recommended if you drive for long periods then test every few hours to be on the safe side.

Good for you on getting some strips on prescription, i hear thats quite an acheivement for some T2's :)

goodluck!
 
Hi - this is my first time posting and just wanted to thank you all for your information on this thread. I think it is highly likely I will be put onto insulin this week when I see the consultant and have been worrying about losing my licence. I have even considered moving the appointment because of the worry of this so that I can get things organised for my daughter so she can still continue with her pre-school and other activities. I know this is a ridiculous idea as if I leave my blood sugars this high for any longer it could mean I get ill or worse but not being able to drive would be a nightmare for me. I hope that the inforamtion is accurate. I have been on insulin before when I was pregnant and had no restrictions placed on my licence but I was living overseas at the time so it did not really affect me and we knew it would be short term. Unfortunately I will not be a candidate for Byetta as I have already been on it for nearly 3 years and think that it must have run its course as it is no longer of help and no matter what they put with it is not helping either. Anyway, wish me luck for Thursday and I will update with the outcome of my appointment.

Jo
 
Hi Jo,

As far as I'm aware, for normal car driving the only reason your licence would be taken away is for disabling hypos, no hypo awareness or eyesight problems. In these cases, I wouldn't want to drive anyway. As inconvenient as that would be, it's still much better than killing yourself or someone else.

I filled in the form and sent it off to DVLA and kept driving in the intervening period. I recieved a letter back with my three year licence fairly quickly.

Good luck for Thursday - as many here will say insulin really isn't as bad as you think it's going to be and for me frankly the much improved blood sugar control is a great relief. I'm sure you'll be fine. As we've all said, once on insulin just test, test, test before driving and you'll be okay.
 
Hi Russ - thanks.

Not all that worried about going onto insulin, like I said - I was on it throughout my pregnancy. The main concern was my licence. I am also concerned about the potential weight gain as I have managed to shift 4 stone since christmas but still have a long way to go and I don't really want the added difficulty - however, if it will sort out my blood sugars and stop making me feel so tired I will have to live with it and hope that I have more energy to do more exercise!! When I was on insulin before I was fine - only hypo's I had were in the middle of the night tucked up in my bed! The first time I had one I had no idea what was wrong - woke my husband up and told him I needed the hospital. Then thought I better check and there it was a BS of 1.6 i think it was! So fingers crossed I will be fine this time - and you never know if I can get more weight off it might not be a permanent thing.

Jo
 
Hi Jo,

Okay - fingers crossed for you. I've put about some weight on whilst on insulin, which I'm also trying to now shift :(. Still, I do feel loads better and I hope you will too. Good luck.
 
Back
Top