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When to tell DVLA

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Laconic

Laconic

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Diagnosed type 2 beginning of October can drive but haven’t driven for two years, mainly due to financial reasons and not being able to afford a car.
My GP asked me if I drive to which I replied I can but don’t at the moment.
Is it ok for DVLA not to be informed then, or does a diabetes diagnosis need to be noted.
I’ve no intention of driving until, I’m told I’m fit to drive as don’t want licence revoked and have to appeal and apply to get it back
 
As you are not on insulin you do not need to inform the DVLA.
 
Gliclazide can cause hypos too. I'm not sure whether the DVLA rules list drugs though. Keep hearing about hypos and driving.
 
Are Glicazide and Metformin not Insulin then?
I’ve stopped taking Glicazide now
 
Laconic said:
Are Glicazide and Metformin not Insulin then?
I’ve stopped taking Glicazide now
Click to expand...
Gliclazide and Metformin are drugs which produce an effect on the body’s own insulin production, or insulin sensitivity,
Insulin is not a drug as such, it is a hormone, and is the artificial replacement for the body's lack of its own insulin.
 
Thanks medication aside, if someone isn’t going to drive anyway does Dvla really need to be informed regardless of medical circumstances?
 
Laconic said:
Are Glicazide and Metformin not Insulin then?
I’ve stopped taking Glicazide now
Click to expand...
No. Metformin amongst other things helps make you more receptive to your own insulin and Gliclazide forces your pancreas to produce more insulin.
So Gliclazide can cause hypo’s
 
Laconic said:
Are Glicazide and Metformin not Insulin then?
I’ve stopped taking Glicazide now
Click to expand...
They're not insulin. Gliclazide increases the production (Or release?) of insulin by the body. So you have more insulin, and have a hypo risk.
I've not taken it myself.
 
Laconic said:
Thanks medication aside, if someone isn’t going to drive anyway does Dvla really need to be informed regardless of medical circumstances?
Click to expand...
Not to sure what you are asking so only a guess. If you hold a driving licence and you have a medical condition that the DVLA needs to be informed about then yes you need to tell them.
Diabetes wise no you don't as you are not on insulin.

I'm wondering if your GP was asking due to the prescribing of test strips which are required if on hypo inducing medication.
 
I informed the DVLA when diagnosed, and on Metformin, and was told that a note had been made but no further action was required.
If you are taking a medication which can cause hypos then you really need to clarify the situation as your licence could be invalid, and also your insurance, aand the car tax too I believe, if you had an accident and it was found out that you could have been hypo - even if you were not, it is the non disclosure which causes the problem.
 
Doctor asked me if I drive, to which I replied I can drive but I haven’t driven for a while and won’t be in the foreseeable future. He said that’s fine

Are test strips what are used with the finger prick gluco meter
 
Laconic said:
Are test strips what are used with the finger prick gluco meter
Click to expand...
Yes. You put one in the meter, then a drop of blood on the end of it.
 
Due to a drop to 58 HBA1C doctor said I’m fit to drive and can stay off Gliclazide but should carry on with Metformin which doesn’t affect driving.
Relieved as the thought of losing my licence was worrying
 
You wouldn’t lose your licence if you told the DVLA you were taking Gliclazide, so don’t worry about that. The very worst that could happen is that you get a three year licence., like we T1s do.
 
The key to losing your licence was, still is, and will always be, maintaining good control of your BG but it's not just when driving we need to do that, is it? Cos we will always suffer anyway if we don't!

Of course when driving we can make other people suffer from our lack of attention to our own BGs and that's the concern for everyone. I couldn't care less if a drunk driver wrecks his car and kills himself - but I definitely do care about who else that might affect - so going hypo at the wheel is not a thing I ever wished to do and so have always tried hard to avoid. Doesn't really matter what makes us try harder to get better control really as long as something does!
 
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