T1 driving in the UK, fingerprick versus Libre

[Jaylee]

Thanks a lot for this info, @Jaylee !
I wasn't about to not carry my meter, I use it a lot, driving or not driving, and I'm very happy to know I don't have to wait for another 45 minutes until after my Libre has finally noticed I'm above 5!
What takes a fingerprick 10 minutes at most if treated aggressively will take the Libre half an hour.

This part makes it clear that glucose meter trumps Libre, very happy with that, and it also clearly shows the rules on driving and testing:

Advice on managing hypoglycaemia or developing hypoglycaemia at times relevant to driving
• In each case if your glucose is 5.0mmol/L or less, eat a snack. If it is less than 4.0mmol/L or you feel hypoglycaemic do not drive.
• If hypoglycaemia develops while driving stop the vehicle safely as soon as possible.
• You should switch off the engine, remove the keys from the ignition and move from the driver’s seat.
• You should not start driving again until 45 minutes after finger prick glucose has returned to normal (at least 5.0mmol/L). It takes up to 45 minutes for the brain to recover fully.
• If you use a real time (RT-CGM) or flash glucose monitoring (FGM) system to check your glucose levels and the reading is 4.0mmol/L or below, you must stop driving and confirm your finger prick glucose test reading. • Your finger prick glucose level must be at least 5.0mmol/L before returning to driving.

Less happy with this rather unclear parts:

• You must eat regular meals and snacks and take rest periods on long journeys.
I must eat regular meals and snacks? But exactly what are regular meals and snacks? And what if I don't usually eat regular meals so suddenly starting doing so would make my diabetes more unpredictable?
What an odd rule.

• You should carry personal identification to show that you have diabetes in case of injury in a road traffic accident.
Like what? I'd think my sensor, insulin, meter and stuff are pretty much identification for having diabetes. What more do they want? Do I have to wear these at all times while driving?

View attachment 56337

I’m lucky in one respect with lows.. one early sign is a loss of confidence. Even before censors, if I was driving & felt, “i can’t do this.” When pulling over to test. The meter concurs. The same when prior to grabbing the keys.
Also lucky for me hypos prior or during driving are very rare. Works vehicles or driving abroad can cause a liver dump. (So my sensor CGM set up says.) I also keep that on an at a glance display in “split screen” with the navigation on a cradle for my phone with the sat nav..

 

[Antje77]

I’m lucky in one respect with lows.. one early sign is a loss of confidence. Even before censors, if I was driving & felt, “i can’t do this.” When pulling over to test. The meter concurs. The same when prior to grabbing the keys.
Also lucky for me hypos prior or during driving are very rare. Works vehicles or driving abroad can cause a liver dump. (So my sensor CGM set up says.) I also keep that on an at a glance display in “split screen” with the navigation on a cradle for my phone with the sat nav..

Same here, thankfully! And yes, I recently found the split screen trick for navigation and DiaBox. I now put on navigation when driving even if I know my way, just because the navigation app prevents my phone screen from going to sleep!

However, in the unfortunate event I should be involved in an accident, I'm not minded to spend the rest of my days in an English gaol just because I didn't know I had to wear my deely boppers (or wait for 45 minutes after recovering from a hypo or such).

 

[Jaylee]

Same here, thankfully! And yes, I recently found the split screen trick for navigation and DiaBox. I now put on navigation when driving even if I know my way, just because the navigation app prevents my phone screen from going to sleep!

However, in the unfortunate event I should be involved in an accident, I'm not minded to spend the rest of my days in an English gaol just because I didn't know I had to wear my deely boppers (or wait for 45 minutes after recovering from a hypo or such).

Providing you cover your back. (As I do whilst “in Rome.”) you will be fine.. If you get banged up? I’ll bring a boiled ham with a file in? We do some nice hog roasts in my part of the world, too…

 

[Antje77]

Providing you cover your back. (As I do whilst “in Rome.”) you will be fine.. If you get banged up? I’ll bring a boiled ham with a file in? We do some nice hog roasts in my part of the world, too…

Thanks @Jaylee , looks like I'm all covered then!

 

[Jaylee]

Thanks @Jaylee , looks like I'm all covered then!

I once got stopped by Dutch cops with an outa date restricted licence? The new one was in fact sat at home in an opened envelope. I forgot to pack it in my wallet. They were kind & wished me a safe trip.. There is sensible policing in the UK too. Just do what you can to stay on the right side of the law. Or “left side of the road.” You will do great. Regardless of your steering wheel on the “wrong side.” Lol, I get that wheel joke all the time in Holland..

Look forward to the meet up..

 

[Antje77]

I once got stopped by Dutch cops with an outa date restricted licence? The new one was in fact sat at home in an opened envelope. I forgot to pack it in my wallet. They were kind & wished me a safe trip.. There is sensible policing in the UK too. Just do what you can to stay on the right side of the law. Or “left side of the road.” You will do great. Regardless of your steering wheel on the “wrong side.” Lol, I get that wheel joke all the time in Holland..

Look forward to the meet up..

Same here, and I'll try to steer clear of the law!

Last time I was in the UK I was 17. I used to have a hole in the pocket of my winter coat so I could use the whole inside of the coat to store cassette tapes. Never went to school with less than 8 tapes, because how would it be possible to know in the morning what you'd want to listen to on your walkman in the afternoon!

Anyway, my father and I went to London for a couple of days around new years eve, me of course with my winter coat with extended storage room.
Once at the hotel I felt something in the lining of my sleeve so I did some complicated digging in the inside of my coat to find our what it was. Turned out it was a long forgotten bag of weed, perfectly legal in my country and unknowingly smuggled to yours!

Thankfully I hadn't got caught!
Still, I had to get rid of it before going back of course. Throwing it away seemed wasteful and I didn't dare smoke it, we had noticed how the police went after someone smoking a spliff on Trafalgar Square at midnight new years eve, which was pretty impressive!

So after consulting my father, we split up the contents of the bag into 4 parts, and made some buskers on London Undergound stations very happy on that first day of the new year!

So that's how easy it is to accidentally get on the wrong side of the law...

 

[Jaylee]

Same here, and I'll try to steer clear of the law!

Last time I was in the UK I was 17. I used to have a hole in the pocket of my winter coat so I could use the whole inside of the coat to store cassette tapes. Never went to school with less than 8 tapes, because how would it be possible to know in the morning what you'd want to listen to in the afternoon!

Anyway, my father and I went to London for a couple of days around new years eve, me of course with my winter coat with extended storage room.
Once at the hotel I felt something in the lining of my sleeve so I did some complicated digging in the inside of my coat to find our what it was. Turned out it was a long forgotten bag of weed, perfectly legal in my country and unknowingly smuggled to yours!

Thankfully I hadn't got caught!
Still, I had to get rid of it before going back of course. Throwing it away seemed wasteful and I didn't dare smoke it, we had noticed how the police went after someone smoking a spliff on Trafalgar Square at midnight new years eve, which was pretty impressive!

So after consulting my father, we split up the contents of the bag into 4 parts, and made some buskers on London Undergound stations very happy on that first day of the new year!

So that's how easy it is to accidentally get on the wrong side of the law...

I got a story about Trafalgar Square with my dad. My mum, sister & I were feeding pigeons. (I was about 10?) my dad was not into it.. He just sorta stood by.
My dad was approached by a strange woman giving him a card.. I saw it. ( ever the eagle eye.) Lol, my dad looked shocked. Flashing the card to my mum & exclaiming “ what is this.” The sex worker snatched the card back from my dad & disapeared into the crowd..