Insurance and driving on meds

[irish-coleen]

Hi jjust a quick question. Ive been on morphine patches for 4 years now also some other pain meds. I feel they dont effect my driving but if im having a bad day with pain,meds or fog i will not drive. Im worried now i should have told the dvla and insurance about these and my fibro and degenerate disc disease. But its a very grey area when i research it. If my licence was taken off me i wouldnt be able to cope as i cant walk very far and the car is my life line. Has anyone had to tell the dvla and insurance and what was the outcome? Thanks for reading. Gentle hugs x

[Betty67]

you can have an assessment to see if you should still be driving. Sorry but if you have any doubts you should call a taxi.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Hi Betty. Thanks for your reply. No i dont have any doubts and i would never drive if i felt unable to dtive safetly. Its just that some people say fibro is a condition that they need to knw about. Other online say its not a notifiable condition. Ive been on the meds for years now and am well adjusted. I managed to hold down a banking job on them also just had to give up work to try and get the pain under control. Thanks again mags x

[Betty67 in reply to irish-coleen]

I do still drive but do check how I feel and if in doubt either ask for a lift/ get a taxi or don't go. I find that being stress makes a lot of difference so I find that a sat nav helps if I am going somewhere new.

[Royalspec01 in reply to Betty67]

Hi there are you entitled to legal aid if you are then what I think you need to know is how legal is it to drive as you are. If you don't have legal aid then you have tow options to ask your doctor and see what he says or ring a mobility agency of sorts who can advise you in fact even better is Citizens Advice. My doctor asked me if i had handed mine in. I know that the law and insurance run hand in hand these days and if they can get out of paying they will and then that could leave you in a very sticky predicament of having no insurance. I know how difficult it is but I drove for at least a year knowing I shouldn't be driven by the needs of my sister who is disabled and my need for independence but one day I had an absence out of the blue and it brought home to me that I would have lost all three generations of my family that day and when my little sister said it didn't matter. It brought home to me that they were vulnerable to me. Its up to you and only a choice your can make but think carefully . If you feel your in control then good for you wish it was me anyways im away now so take care and be kind xx

[irish-coleen in reply to Royalspec01]

Hi Royalspec,thanks for your reply. I did ask my doctor when i first got the patches 4 years ago and he said it was ok to drive on them as long as i felt ok. I will ring a disability action group as you say just to make sure. Im glad you came to the right decision after you had an absence and didnt drive your family around again. Life is precious. Im sure lots of people with motability cars have meds that they are on and the insurance must say its ok otherwise they wouldnt insure them through motability. Take care and thanks again x

[sharron1 in reply to irish-coleen]

My daughter is on morphy and rang her driving instructure he said no she can not have driving lesson, whislt she is on this

[irish-coleen in reply to sharron1]

Hi Sharron1. Is she on brutrans patches? X

[sharron1 in reply to irish-coleen]

No she is on tablet morphy she came of the patches and went on to the tablets

[Betty67 in reply to Royalspec01]

I spoke to GP and specialist and both said I was OK I just think that everyone else I should not drive if I am tired or stressed. I always stop every hour and have a break.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Thanks Betty67. I also asked my gp and consultant at pain clinic and got the same response as you. I only drive short distances and it never occured to me before as they dont make me drowsy at all.xx

[Betty67 in reply to irish-coleen]

my problem was looking over my shoulder.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Oh yea. Thank goodness i dont have that problem x i hope the meds helped your pain x

[Betty67 in reply to irish-coleen]

had an injection and physio shoulder and neck much improved.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Thats good news. I had them into my back but they didnt help x

[Betty67 in reply to irish-coleen]

sorry to hear that. I have now moved to the Mediterranean as I have found my symptions are less here.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Oh thats my dream. My pain is def less when im abroad. But if its a hot day in the uk the pain is the same. I always wondered why that is. Do u know. Is it a different heat??x

[Betty67 in reply to irish-coleen]

Not just the heat as agreed a summer day in UK does not help but then is takes a few days after I get out here to kick in so perhaps the UK heat waves are not long enough.

I am less stressed here, I eat a better diet, drink more water, vitamin D levels higher although I always wear sun block. - Several times in the last few days it has been 30 degrees, there is sea air.

[sharron1 in reply to Betty67]

Hi Betty

Can i jump on a plane and come and visit.

I would love to be able togo abroad have been saying to my hubby how about going abroad for about 3/6 months but only ever been on holiday years ago to spain, cofu etc so where to go i just done know. but yes i have notice that when i have been abroad my pain is less

so this time of year where is 30 degree.

[Betty67 in reply to sharron1]

you can join the queue Foggy has first tabs on the spare room. I found that I started coming out more and more and then realised that if I came on a resident basis rather than a holiday it was affordable. i would certainly say if you can it is worth a trial.

[sharron1 in reply to Betty67]

Money could be a problem, so i will have to start working on it. Our passports have run out so i better get that sort quickly and book a holiday for some sun to easy my body pain, Betty67 thank you. so did you try different country or are you intune with just one

[Betty67 in reply to sharron1]

I did go to Denmark as well and I felt better than UK - clean sea air and relaxed and sunny but not as good as Gozo. I am not great at languages and English is an official language here also they drive on the left and have same electricity.

To stay here a month is less than I once was paying a specialist for a month's worth of consultation and treatment.

[irish-coleen in reply to Betty67]

Thanks Betty67. I also asked my gp and consultant at pain clinic and got the same response as you. I only drive short distances and it never occured to me before as they dont make me drowsy at all.xx

[Fibrofoggiest]

I'm with you both in saying if I don't feel completely up to driving I really don't do it. I try to keep my journeys to a minimum anyway and certainly now wouldn't want to do a long drive and have taken the train as an option on many occasions recently, that having been said trains out of the westcountry normally mean changes which can be difficult.

Anyway, I think the differing opinions aren't helpful and I did speak with my GP about it and he said the same as both of you, if you feel in full charge of your faculties then go ahead. If you're flaring and feeling very tired and fuzzy headed, don't.

Foggy x

[irish-coleen in reply to Fibrofoggiest]

Definatley i would never drive if i felt foggy. Im only driving to the shops etc never long journeys either and if i cant drive my son brings me when he gets home from work. Im going to ring my insurance company anyway just to let them know so im covered properly by my insurance x thankyou x

[Fibrofoggiest in reply to irish-coleen]

Well done mags, could you ever let us know the outcome so that we can act accordingly, and thank you for bringing up such a pertinent issue

Foggy x

[irish-coleen]

I will Foggy x

[clare_hart in reply to irish-coleen]

Oh boy on the "inform your insurance company." I think I would talk to that advocate group first. They might use this as an excuse to cancel your policy, then you would be up the proverbial creek. I would just be cautious. (maybe someone already said this - I read thru all but ,. . . )

[irish-coleen in reply to clare_hart]

Hi clare. No they havent.. i know thats what i was thinking. I tolerate the meds really well and wouldnt even dream of driving if i felt off with them. Im sure some other people on here must be on meds and drive. Thanks mags x

[TheAuthor]

Hi mags1970

I can certainly understand that you would not want to be without your car. I had my license removed many years ago due to a high level of medication and I was given a bus pass instead. I must admit that I do not miss driving at all, but if you need to drive then it is a different matter?

I have pasted you a link to the GOV.UK pages on Disability and Driving

gov.uk/driving-medical-cond...

It says:

1. Telling DVLA about a medical condition or disability

You must tell DVLA if you have a driving licence and:

you develop a ‘notifiable’ medical condition or disability

a condition or disability has got worse since you got your licence

Notifiable conditions are anything that could affect your ability to drive safely. They can include:

epilepsy

strokes

other neurological and mental health conditions

physical disabilities

visual impairments

I want to wish you all the best of luck with this.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken x

[irish-coleen in reply to TheAuthor]

Hi Ken. Thankyou. Im sorry to hear you had to give up driving but better safe than sorry!! I looked up the medical conditions on dvla link and artritis it says you do not need to notify unless your car is adapted. Which mine isnt. Fibro is not listed as a notifiable condition. Im still reserching more.

Mags x

[Lottieonline]

Hi there,

I thought I would add that I wrote to the DVLA informing them of my conditions Fibromyalgia and Ulcerative Colitis and asked for a reply in writing.

Within 2 weeks I received a letter from them stating I was able to continue driving with my conditions.

It's always a good idea to get everything in writing in case you ever need to refer to it again in the near future.

Good luck, don't put it off, do it today!

Like everyone else have stated, if I feel dizzy or sleepy from my medication I never attempt driving.

Best wishes

Lottie

[irish-coleen in reply to Lottieonline]

Hi Lottie. Thanks for that. Did you write to swansea?.x

[Lottieonline in reply to irish-coleen]

Hi Mags1970

Yes I wrote to DVLA in Swansea and I also told my car insurance company.

Good luck, do it today while you're thinking about it. DVLA wrote back to me and confirmed it was not a problem which I have kept.

[irish-coleen in reply to Lottieonline]

Thanks so much for that. I will write to dvla on monday after ive spoken with disability action x glad your all covered. Mags xx

[fenbadger]

just a quickie as I'm short on time.

If i remember rightly the recent rules on meds didn't cover patches so you're ok on that.

The law is clear in that if you drive while unfit it's an offence so do be guided by your feelings.

Do talk to DVLA and insurance, they're more helpful than you might think.

My daughter surrendered her license and insurance due to MS (vaguely similar) but got both back during remission.

If in doubt don't drive - but what do you do if its an "emergency" and there's little or no other choice? It's your call. You're clearly sensible so trust your feelings. The meds info is on DVLA website and you'll probably be able to find it from Ken's link. Good luck.

[irish-coleen in reply to fenbadger]

Hi Fenbadger i followed kens link.it says artritis is not notifiable unless you have a specially adapted car. Fibro is not listed at all. Im still going to research it more and phone disability action on monday. Im happy your daughter had remission x

[fenbadger]

Good. You're far better getting your facts right first. You wouldn't want to find out the hard way you should not have been driving. More unnecessary stress. I'm quietly confident you'll be ok. Please keep us up to date.

Fibro may not be notifiable, but if it impaired your ability you'd be wise to consider how you'd do in an emergency. Good luck

[irish-coleen in reply to fenbadger]

Yes very true. Will keep you posted x