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Been ill for a couple of years, without any answers...

Posted , 6 users are following.

Del1937
Del1937

been tested for thyroid problems, distended  left stomach, left breast pain, chest pains headaches, extreme tiredness, unbelievable  fatigue blurred vision, dizziness, feeling faint, I've had camera test up and down, ultra sounds scans, CT scans, MRI scans come up with an an problem on my pituitary gland and I also have a gallstone, low vitamin d and low cortisol. They tested for diabetes insipidus which was negative and are now by means of the endocrinologist heading towards Adderson disease. Ive yet to be tested on this but gave many of the symptoms. In the last month or so I've been told not to drive, until I find out what's wrong with me, and as driving is my job, I'm now not working. Does anybody have any info on driving and Adderson disease??? The Dvla website just says you don't have to tell them to drive a car, but you do if a lorry or bus, don't know how this will affect me as driving my job? Any ideas???

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • kirsten58259
    kirsten58259 Del1937

    Posted

    spent ages replying- it hasn't gone- apologies for typo's- DVLA can;t legislate with everything but we all have a duty of care to others. I imagine with exreme fatigue, dizziness, prone to fainting etc- if you had an accident you'd be culpable- just safe driving/ common sense.. be careful and hope you get sorted- it's awful isn't it?k
    • Del1937
      Del1937 kirsten58259

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply 😄Yes your right there about duty of care, that's why I havnt and don't intend to drive while I ill, what I was interested to know is that, if adderson is diagnosed, and you get your medication gets under control, is driving ok then..are people driving with this condition?
    • kirsten58259
      kirsten58259 Del1937

      Posted

      Hi- As a nurse- I personally can not see why you couldn't- if treated and ok- and symptoms gone- it is no different than wearing glasses- the difference with epilspy treatment etc is it can take a while for it to get under control and be certain there won't be fits etc for a while- so sure once treated you'll be driving as before smile
    • barbara98940
      barbara98940 kirsten58259

      Posted

      Hi kirsten and everyone, I read on this site somewhere that they know that posts get lost and are trying to find a way to fix it. In the meantime, a good trick is: befoe you click reply, select and copy all your answer, then if someting goes wrong you can just paste it into a new reply.
  • hanny32508
    hanny32508 Del1937

    Posted

    Most interesting story and recognizable for me.  And indeed - my biggest problem was driving.  I can see why a doctor advises not to drive.  It was then that I somehow missed a couple of seconds.  No idea what happened during those missed seconds and perhaps sometimes even minutes of not being present behind the wheel.  That is of course a risky situation to be in. 

    At present I'm on Cortef and that makes that I function normal again.  I take extra vitamine D as well.  One thing remains a mystery - I'm all the time borderline diabetic.  I have adopted careful eating habits therefore, and it doesn't seem to go any further.  

  • barbara98940
    barbara98940 Del1937

    Posted

    I'm sorry to hear you are going through a rough time. The best explanation of Addisons disease I've found is on website betterhealth vic. gov. au I seem to remember immune system attacking insulin producing cells can be a symptom of Polyendocrine deficiency syndrome (which just means more than one endocrine system problem). I've got an underactive thyroid and know that a thyroid can be ok then a few months later it isn't. So if you have any symptoms of thyroid disease it's worth getting rechecked.
    • kirsten58259
      kirsten58259 barbara98940

      Posted

      Hi

      This is all really useful and thank you for the weblink- does anyone else get really bad tummyache, so you just can't eat? or you can if you forced yorself, but feel really full quickly and generally don't want to eat?

    • barbara98940
      barbara98940 kirsten58259

      Posted

      I do when I've eaten something I'm intolerant to. Does it happen when you eat specific foods? The usual candidates are wheat, dairy and soya.
  • Roddy999
    Roddy999 Del1937

    Posted

    A pituitary problem [benign tumour? NB pituitary is not in your brain!] means 'secondary adrenal insufficiency' (could be called, but isn't, 'secondary Addisons' ). Lots of good info at pituitary.org.uk . If you need an op, relax! as it is quite simple and straightforward nowadays.

    Back to driving: you need to download and return the noticfication form from the DVLA right away. Not just because its the law but the sooner you get into their [very long] queue, the sooner they'll clear you . Doesn't matter that you don't have all the info yet as they'll give you a reference number that you can use to add extra info.[I waited - big mistake!]  In the meantime they'll tell you that 'you may drive unless you know of any reason why not', [which you've been told you do] so you need to press your consultant to get you off the hook that your GP has put you on.

  • sean39332
    sean39332 Del1937

    Posted

    Do you mean Addison's disease (or Adderson?) I phoned DVLA about this about 25 years ago, wasn't (then) on their list of conditions needing to inform, But maybe the advice not to drive is due to not yet having a proper diagnosis? If it is Addisons, you'll be ok once on the tablets!
  • Roddy999
    Roddy999 Del1937

    Posted

    I don't know of any reason to report having 'vanilla' Addison's.

    The problem with a pituitary tumour is that it can disturb the optic nerves, meaning vision lproblems starting with loss of peripheral ['corner of the eye'] vision, then fuzzy vision in one or both eyes, then I suppose blindness. So if you can't see properly, you shouldn't be driving.

    [The connection with Addison's is that another effect of a pituitary tumour is hat it can block the normal instructions from the pituitary to the adrenals, meaning no adrenal response when needed = an Addisonian crisis.)

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