Migraines

[Deleted User]

jack_pott wrote:

Their website says that if they haven't done anything within 90 working days they'll write and say why. The 90 days are up tomorrow, so we''l see.

Well well well, guess what dropped through the letter box on the morning of the 90th working day:

Dear Jack Pott,
In order to re-apply for a driving licence you will need to complete the enclosed forms.
You may find it helpful to check with your doctor(s) that you are now able to satisfy the required medical standards for driving before submitting any re-application.

So, it's taken them four months to decide that it's not their decision, and bounce me back to the doctor who said "It's not my job to give medical opinions", and referred me to the DVLA in the first place.

Four months, and I'm right back where I started.

I've just spent 15 minutes arguing with the quack on the phone. He still insists it's not his responsibility to make a decision so he's faxing the job back to the DVLA this afternoon. He kept on asking if I'd had any more migraines since he last saw me, so I can see where that's leading. If I get my licence back I'll end up having to report every new migraine, and losing my licence for another 4 months each time.

I also rang Direct Line, they won't even give me a quote for insurance without a reference from the DVLA.

pickle

Sorry i didn't comment before but i can't even think about the DVLA without blowing a fuse after they put my passport in the regular mail to mail it back to me after assuring me it would be posted back securely (after it took me 4 months of a nightmare to get my passport renewed i was not happy) and this was just to change my address (as i'm a foreign national). Luckily it managed to make it through the mail this time. I can't say it surprises me that they did that to you. I would see if there is an ombudsman who covers the DVLA so that you can have a formal investigation into the unreasonableness of the timeframe and why such an onerous timeframe is considered acceptable to them. How can people be expected not to drive if they are reliant on a car for work or other activities? 90 days is outrageous (plus the rest still to come). That's the only thing i can think of at this stage, sounds like you have exhausted almost all the avenues. Good luck.

Savvy_Sue

I think your GP is also being unreasonable. He may not always be able to give an opinion on whether someone is fit to drive, but at the very least he should be referring you to someone who can. Can any of the migraine associations now help with guidance on who should decide your fitness to drive?

I know when my uncle surrendered his licence (not voluntarily! but old age and ill health were taking their toll) he was told he would have to travel to a special assessment centre and take a driving test before getting it back again. We were fairly sure by the time he reached the centre he'd be too tired and unwell to drive safely in any test ... But for someone who has occasional problems, you should romp it - unless you have to travel on a day when you have a migraine!

Are you keeping a record of how regular / frequent / long your migraines are? Do you get enough warning to stop driving before you can't see? Obviously if they're very frequent or come on too fast to do anything, you'd be a menace, but you're not giving that impression ...

[Deleted User]

Savvy_Sue wrote:

I think your GP is also being unreasonable.

Are you keeping a record of how regular / frequent / long your migraines are?

Do you get enough warning to stop driving before you can't see?

It's the GP who's at the root of the problem, not the DVLA. This isn't the first time, I've had this attitude problem from the NHS for the last 35 years.

I've only had TWO migraines in my entire life (46yr). The doctor who diagnosed the first in 2003 said nothing about being unfit to drive. It was only in September last year that I had to fill in a form for a new photo licence, and wondered what I should say when it asks if you have ever had visual feild problems. I rang the GP, and that's when I got the "ask the DVLA, it's not my job to give medical opinions"

An ocular migraine is one that causes visual disturbances, but without the headache. It starts with a small shimmering patch that looks just like the pixellation that they use to hide someones face on a TV picture. Slowly over a period of 15 minutes the patch grows larger, and then over the next 15 minutes it shrinks and disappears. And that's it, gone, until the next time, no other symptoms. My two were about 10 months apart, which is about typical I gather. They were both at home, whilst sitting in the armchair too. In the extremeley unlikely event that I had one whilst driving, the onset is so slow and obvious that I could pull over and stop the car 10 times over before I lose enough visual feild to be a hazard. That's why I continued to drive for over a year after my first migraine. I'm not being irresponsible. If I thought that someone was going to suddenly switch the lights off one day as I'm driving down the motorway I wouldn't need the DVLA to tell me to stop driving.

It's interesting that everything I know about migraines, ocular and otherwise, is what I've read in the library and on the internet. I've had nothing whatsoever other than the name "ocular migraine" from the NHS. It was self evident when I saw my GP, that he had never heard of an ocular migraine. He virtually said so once before pulling himself up mid-sentence.

It's made me wonder what diagnosis I would have got if I'd originally seen my own GP, instead of an out of hours duty GP.

Savvy_Sue

It's the GP who's at the root of the problem, not the DVLA. This isn't the first time, I've had this attitude problem from the NHS for the last 35 years.

Time to change your GP? I do hope you can get to another if you can't drive ... but even if you can't, I think I'd be prepared to pay a few taxi fares to sort this out! It sounds outrageous!

Does this site help?

Savvy_Sue

Have been trawling around the DVLA website. Tell me, have you done a search there for migraine? Says surprisingly little.

It seems to me that you have valid grounds for a serious complaint against both your GP and the DVLA. On this page of the DVLA site:
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/dmed1.htm#4
there is a link to 'At a Glance Guide to the Current Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive' - A Guide for Medical Practitioners'

So clearly DVLA expect your GP to give you some guidance. And equally clearly, DVLA does not have migraine as a 'surrender your licence or else' condition. Unlike having a hole drilled in your head ...

[Deleted User]

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Time to change your GP?

What makes you think it's just one? The current GP's only been there a year or two, I've had this attitude problem from the NHS for 35 years.

savvy

wirm wrote:

Conclusion: Proper diet, reduction of stress, exercise, and nutritional supplementation offer the prospect of ameliorating migraines, if not substantially reducing or eliminating them.

Hi wirmy
Only just spotted this thread! My step family suffer badly from migraines, their triggers being choc/red wine/caffeine, whereas mine are completely different!
I usually get them due to stress/weird lighting/bright sunlight/exercise/bad posture. I don't feel sick, but people lose limbs and facial features, and words disappear on paper - that's my first sign, then the Predator sign appears!! Wavy lines a bit like in the Predator film!! THEN comes the wacking headache that knocks me out!!

I was told by my old chiropractor that when you have 3 of triggers occur, a migraine ensues, and an old lecturer of mine studied reflexology, she showed me how to massage the base of my big toes and thumbs (if you cant get to your toes!!) to relieve it as soon as you know one is about to happen - I have always used this and since have been able to prevent most of them and if not, bring the phases on faster and thus get rid of it quicker, making it more manageable. Does Feverfew work??

wirm

Wow! I never realised how big this thread has got! I had lost it for ages!

Good news I havne't had a migraine in ages. must be nearly a year! Heres hoping for more migraine free years to come!

JayS_3

Hi Wirm and fellow migraine sufferers

Here is something new in the field of migraines:

http://www.divernet.com/news/stories/pfo190105.shtml

As my husband is a regular migraine sufferer and compulsive diver, he is going to see our GP about being screened for this...we'll let you know what the outcome is.

As you can see from the article, this does not apply just to those who dive and have migraines though, the information just came out of some diving research.

Jay

PS we are a whole family of sufferers, my husband and I suffer, and our two sons have suffered since being very young children.:(