Vertigo advice and driving

[ceecee32]

Hi - not even sure where to post this but would be grateful for any input.
For a couple of weeks I was having the odd dizzy spell during the day but mostly at night.
Finally went to the GP a week ago when I was so dizzy getting out of bed that I was nearly sick. Vertigo confirmed and medication given.
He told me that I shouldn't drive which I fully agreed with. I just dont know when I can drive again.
After a week on meds I have very few dizzy spells and these are always when I turn over in bed. They have also lessened to perhaps one a night.

I checked the DVLA website but that just mentions reporting periods sudden, disabling or recurrent dizzyness but it is none of those. I dont want to take to the roads before I am perfectly capable.

I was thinking of giving it another couple of days to absolutely make sure that I was fine to drive - but does anyone have any experience of this and when I could legally drive again

I suffer from positional vertigo and do drive.

I've had one or two episodes in my life where I've been really bad and couldn't drive but I've just got the bus until I've felt better. When I feel dizzy I make sure I take anti sickness tablets and ibuprofen which sorts me out.

I only tend to feel wobbly if I lie completely flat or tip my head back so to be honest I avoid doing these things and I'm mostly fine. I am also super careful turning over in bed etc. I manage it. By managing it I've been okay for a good four years now and not at all worried about driving.

If you feel dizzy though, don't drive. It's not worth it, especially as you've had a diagnosis in your gp records.

I get BPPV from time to time, also had horrendous labyrinthitis once and couldn't/didn't drive for months.

The thing I notice when I'm suffering with BPPV is I don't want to move my head - the first warning sign I'm getting it after just generally feeling ropey is I start dropping things in the kitchen as I don't move my head to look up into cupboards. This is the point at which I tend not to drive as I know I'm not moving my head properly. The way I tend to test if I'm ok to drive is pretty simply - I sit looking straight ahead and do a quick right/left/right as I would at a junction - if I know I'm not checking properly/feel dizzy after that I don't drive. Also if I'm finding watching TV difficult because of things moving in front of my I stop driving.

Thanks very much for posting.
Apart from a couple of days when I was really dizzy when I moved my head it seems to have settled down to when I turn over in bed.

I think I will just have to be very aware of if/when it starts to get worse and stop driving then.
Its good to hear other peoples experiences.