Frustrated after NASAH - Driving

[DaveReading]

Hi Everyone

I spoke to the GP yesterday on the phone, hoping that she would be happy with my week's worth of BP readings which now show only borderline hypertension now that I'm on 10 mg Amlodipine per day instead of 5 mg.

 

Alas, she still wasn't willing to give me the OK to drive again, because the DVLA's new (September 2019) criteria say that I've got to have had a "normal" cerebral angiogram in order to be allowed behind the wheel again.

 

I feel I'm in a Catch-22 - I've got copies of 4 scan reports (3 x CTA, 1 x DSA), which are all "normal" in the sense that none of them show an aneurysm and they conclude that my bleed was perimesencephalic.  But the doctor's problem is that the two last CTA scans also show a vasospasm, albeit improving in the second of those scans.

 

I was discharged from hospital a week after my last scan, with the assurance that the vasospasm would by then be (almost) gone, but of course I can't provide any evidence for that in the absence of a subsequent CTA.  I'm due for a follow-up out-patient scan, but that's not till March !

 

I'm worried that by the time I finally get back behind the wheel, I'll have forgotten how to drive

[Susan]

Hi Dave

 

You could try ringing up your consultant's secretary to see if you can get confirmation that you are fit to drive. If the consultant says that you have to wait on your next scan then unfortunately you are out of options.

 

Good luck

 

[Daffodil]

Dave, yes phone your consultant and ask them to help or another option if it’s a possibility for you which is to pay for a private consultation with a neurologist and  take all your scans, history but either way they may ask for an angiogram if they have concerns. 

 

i have a Shunt since my SAH and last year had sudden ocular migraine which can be a side effect or possible Shunt malfunction but an overzealous locum GP reported it to DVLA after my follow up visit to the local surgery after a hospital visit who said I must be cleared to drive as he thought I may have had another SAH...I hadn’t, had clear scans at hospital ...anyway once your are in the system I knew you have to get cleared by a specialist and GP’s etc tend to just not have that depth of experience or confident to make decision .

 

So I paid £100 and went and had a complete neurological check with a neurologist whom was more than happy to then write to my usual GP and provide a letter for me to send to DVLA confirming I was clear to drive. 

 

But fear not. You do not forget how to do it ...I had a much longer time away first time around as was without license for over 14 months following my SAH and Shunt surgery. That was a real palava getting it back then. 

 

 

[DaveReading]

Thanks for the replies.

 

It's clear from the DVLA criteria that only a clear scan will satisfy them.  I'll try my consultant, but I suspect he'll say that since I already have a booked appointment for a CTA in March, he can't offer me anything sooner.

 

Happily the SAH Advanced Nurse Practitioner at the John Racliffe is really on the ball, so I don't anticipate any problem in getting hold of the scan report from her as soon as it's done, so I can then hopefully wave that at my GP and the DVLA.

 

In the meantime, I'm getting plenty of exercise on the bike