This sounds very bizarre. If your BP is normal, why is the doc talking about BP damage at all? I think that's a very long-term affect. The NIH neuropathy page mentions a situation where nerve damage can cause a sudden BP drop when standing. I think that Richard 157 has talked about that a bit and now Jen has talked about it as well. It takes time for nerve damage to occur and I think would have to involve very elevated BG for a pretty long time, given that Richard has had T1 for 50 years and Jen is somewhere in the 20s I think, it seems very odd to talk about a specific complication without some medical evidence, e.g. BP test or you getting woozy when you stand up. It is certainly one of a long list of complications to be concerned about but there should be other medical evidence to warrang pulling your driver's license. Although the NC document I posted the link to is sort of vague in a sinister manner? Is there something else going on here?
There is an older generation of doctors out there who still regard T1 diabetes or any other "disability" as something that means we should live shuttered lives and not be seen in public. This view was very common when I was diagnosed 30+ years ago but today... this is a very UNENLIGHTENED view.
In fact the ADA has been specifically enhanced in past few years to make sure that diabetics can continue working and employers cannot categorically fire diabetics for no other reason than diabetes. http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/know-your-rights/discrimination/employment-discrimination/americans-with-disabilities-act-amendments-act/
Yes Tim....the CDA (Canadian Diabetes Association) advocates tirelessly as well in that area....in bringing awareness, and in making life as a whole accessible to all people with diabetes. Nevertheless....we will always find a few, doctors included, that come out from under a rock!
Tim, then there were the doctors like mine who were ahead of their time when I was dxed over 50 years ago. He had what they called the new method of treating us. He allowed at times having what was considered forbidden for us to eat. When I wanted to drive he signed a special form that I needed, he encouraged me to live a normal life. I just had to make this statement because every doctor was not like each other he was as I said ahead of his time.
That's great Betty...and indeed, your doctor WAS ahead of his time!
I remember about as long ago, a little boy who lived across the street from my grandmother's place. He was 6, a year younger than I. We were forbidden to play with him...told he was diabetic. Forbidden to play with him not because it was thought we would "catch it", but because he was perceived as very ill....fragile. Running and skipping as the rest of us did was forbidden fruit for him. I remember being very gentle toward him, coddling him. Perhaps he was fragile, I don't know. I at times wonder what happened to him...did he survive...did he grow up...did he lead a normal life....or was his a life long struggle of being disabled?!
Firstly I wish you well and continuous good health Rob !!
I know people with type 1 diabetes who work for insulin pump companies . I also know people with diabetes , who work for the Canadian Diabetes Association ...they are shining examples . I recently had a medical , requested by the Motor Vehicle Branch in my Province , GP wrote on form " her observation is , that I will not require another medical drivers test for 5 years " .I am in my 73 rd year , living with d for 30 .She and I have an open relationship about my diabetes and other aging concerns .To "complicate " the matter a bit , PWD in Canada can apply with the help of Doc for a " disability tax credit" ..what it means, one has to prove , that it takes a min of 14 hours weekly to manage one's diabetes , insulin pump therapy or MDI ...the name " disability " may require changing ??:)
"Disabled" can be a double edged sword. If we use it right, it means that we have some limitation that may not be visually obvious, that with the correct enabling technology (e.g. insulin shots, bg meters) we can overcome. If we use it wrong, then we are consigned to being lower class citizens, shunned from the ordinary schools, employment, and services that any human being should have access to.
Yeah, it's also possible that the OP's doc is really part of a "disability mill". i.e. not so interested in helping patient in any way except for qualifying them for disability.
I was very lucky when I was a kid, that only occasionally would I come across a doc who consigned me to "disabled" on learning that I had diabetes. And I don't mean "disabled" in the good way where I get extra help that I might need, I mean "disabled" as in prevented access to care or services I needed. Then... when I was in grad school.... it was hard for me to find a good doc that would accept me as a patient (I nominally had insurance except whenever I went to try to see a doc none of them would see me!), and I ended up getting stuck with a doc who seemed to just be part of a disability mill, an entire circle of docs and labs that seemingly had no goal except to make sure that their patients were officially disabled.
You know I read some articles about disability mill operations, and I'm not sure I would believe them, EXCEPT that I was once stuck not being able to see any docs except those in that circle of disability mill docs. The stories sound too strange to be true (e.g. parents not sending their kids to school because if they learned how to read, then they would no longer be qualified for intellectual disability payments). If I hadn't seen (been stuck in!) this lower rung of hell with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe the newspaper articles either. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/opinion/sunday/kristof-profiting-...
http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2012/manhattan-u.s.-attor...
Here's a great link regarding the rights for a diabetic or otherwise 'disabled' person, however one would define that.
http://blog.joslin.org/2011/11/diabetes-and-employment-rights-what-you-should-know/
You may want to consider filing a complaint with the North Carolina Medical Board: http://imp.ncmedboard.org/consumer_resources/complaint_process/
I think you need another doctor. I work full time and my D is of no hindrance to my performance. I just keep my tool box (all my supplies)with me and it is of no consequence.
That makes no sense to tell that to a patient.