Struggling with testing before driving

[urbangiraffe]

Does anyone else struggle with the practical realities of testing before driving?

I have a high pressure job and commitments outside of work that mean my life is one constant rush. I drive and test, but find the '5 before you drive' rule really impractical. I know it's important and the margins are set high to keep everyone safe, but I struggle with the effects.

I function perfectly at 5 below, and good diabetes control means I am quite often below 5 without actually being hypo. I have excellent hypo awareness, and most of my journeys are less than 30 mins long.

I test before I drive, but frequently find I am a bit below 5, so have to eat a snack that i do not want, often ultimately over-shooting my medical BG target of 5.9, pushing my HbA1c (and my weight) higher than it needs to be. My blood sugar can take quite a while to raise to the required lel, by which time I have missed my meeting, my health appointment, or other deadline. I am fed up of being so embarrassingly late for things.

Has anyone got any good tips for how you streamline things to stop the testing rule from taking over your life?

 

[steve_p6]

I think the actual DVLA advice between 4-5 is to have some carbs, but in your situation and job I would suggest you look at the freestyle Libre, its not officially recognised by DVLA, but in reality is far better. ie Dvla BG testing requirement says you were fine 2 hours before you get into car, Libre tells you that you are fine but dropping fast as you get into car, bit of a no brainer to my mind !

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @urbangiraffe or should I say fellow giraffe !

The Libre is great for managing your BG results, however it's not an accepted meter for use by the DVLA, you will still need to test on your regular meter before you drive. There is no easy answer to this, you need to test every 2 hours when driving and stay above 5, if you get pulled over and have tested below 5 then you could find yourself in hot water as 5 is the limit. It's really a case of making time to manage your type 1. I know how you feel though as I drive alot and can find myself sometimes forgetting to test within the required time frame, however I always keep jelly babies in the car so if I am falling it will pick me up quick. If below 5 then I pull over eat, wait, test and drive once back up, with hypo I wait 45 mins. Jelly babies really are the quickest way to get back up for me. In regards to managing this better can you leave earlier to start your day or give yourself more time throughout the day so plan your day to allow for this ?

 

[noblehead]

Welcome to the forum @urbangiraffe

As Juicyj says you only need to test every two hours and snack if your under 5mmol/l, personally I don't have any issues with this as it's all about keeping people safe on the roads, an occasional small snack won't lead to weight gain but if your having to snack frequently to keep your bg levels above 5 then it's worth doing a basal check then looking at your I:C ratio's,

 

[ArtemisBow]

I don't have anything to add other than to say I feel your pain. As I'm pregnant my fasting target on waking is below 5.3. As I need to drive to work fairly soon after I wake up, it's a very small window to hit, and often I am in the 4s on waking. I have my breakfast as soon as I wake but sometimes I'm sat there testing every 10 minutes waiting for it to bring the levels up enough. Very frustrating as I'm sure there are plenty of non diabetics driving round with BG levels of 4.5 etc, but those are the rules.

I understand why they don't want you to hypo while driving, but having a reading of 5.2 which is dropping quickly is much more dangerous than a 4.5 when I've just eaten.

 

[h44]

I don't have anything to add other than to say I feel your pain. As I'm pregnant my fasting target on waking is below 5.3. As I need to drive to work fairly soon after I wake up, it's a very small window to hit, and often I am in the 4s on waking. I have my breakfast as soon as I wake but sometimes I'm sat there testing every 10 minutes waiting for it to bring the levels up enough. Very frustrating as I'm sure there are plenty of non diabetics driving round with BG levels of 4.5 etc, but those are the rules.

I understand why they don't want you to hypo while driving, but having a reading of 5.2 which is dropping quickly is much more dangerous than a 4.5 when I've just eaten.

I was 4.2 fasting several years before I was diagnosed
I was allowed to drive then as I wasn't diabetic and wasn't on insulin, even though BG was below 5

 

[Diakat]

Yes it is a pain. Yes I have been late for things. Yes I have awful screaming rows with my husband about it. But not having a licence would be worse. Killing someone would be far worse.