Is Prediabetes Considered Diabetes For A DOT Physical?

Hey guys,

Hopefully a future trucker here as I'm currently trying to get my CDL with a paid to get your CDL program. My question is I'm going through a form i need to fill out before my DOT physical. It asks about Diabetes and I have been diagnosed with pre diabetes but idk if that's enough to qualify a yes response?

Another question is I thought I saw somewhere that if I have sleep apnea that I have to bring my actual CPAP to the appointment, is that true? I already did get my 30 day usage report to have ready but dont want to have to break down my machine to bring it in if I dont need to?

TIA

Pre diabetes is not diabetes. But it will be if you don’t change your diet.

Grumpy is correct. This happened to me when I was starting out. I was told by my doctor that I was pre-diabetic, but answered no to the diabetes question.

But even more importantly, he’s right about the diet. A poor diet for a driver can shorten his career and life dramatically. A very beneficial area of education for a driver is to become knowledgeable about what an anti-diabetes diet is and then stick to it.

Hey Evan

Pre-diabetes is not a disqualifying item for your physical. I’m a type 2 diabetic and just need to show the DOT physician that it’s under control with diet and meds.

Of others have said you can adjust your diet to improve the blood sugar levels.

Be careful on the sleep apnea. Initially they ask for a 30 day report for new users. However, my doctor (Workfit…formerly Concentra) asks for. 90 day report on CPAP for existing users.

Good luck

Thanks for the tip, I only printed 30 days but I will ask my doctors office to do 90 days.

Yeah getting into this career field has made start trying to make changes in my lifestyle. I've just been worried about the DOT physical because while I don't think I have anything that disqualifys me outright, just the fact that there's like 5 things I feel makes it look bad.

Along with the CPAP and Pre Diabetes I also have early stage chronic kidney disease (just barely out of normal zones last it was checked), High Blood Pressure which is managed with Meds, I shouldn't be above the 140/90 threshold. Also take Adderall for ADHD which I already talked to the company about and they said it's fine as long as I have note and Perscription.

Do I need a doctor's note for all this stuff?

Hey Evan

Pre-diabetes is not a disqualifying item for your physical. I’m a type 2 diabetic and just need to show the DOT physician that it’s under control with diet and meds.

Of others have said you can adjust your diet to improve the blood sugar levels.

Be careful on the sleep apnea. Initially they ask for a 30 day report for new users. However, my doctor (Workfit…formerly Concentra) asks for. 90 day report on CPAP for existing users.

Good luck

Not sure what you mean by "the company said it was ok" as in the trucking company or CDL school, but if I'm not mistaken, Adderall use is prohibited by the FMSCA, even if perscribed and allowed by the medical examiner.

Even if the examiner gives you a medical card, a prospective trucking company may not hire you because of that.

I may be mistaken, but I think Adderall can be approved if the prescribing doctor signs off on the individual.

It is still at the DOT examiners discretion if they approve the med card or not. The prescribing doctor signing off isn't an automatic approval.

I'm not 100% sure on that, but it's my understanding.

As a registered dietitian who has partnered with thousands of patients to help them manage their "prediabetes" and diabetes, "prediabetes" IS diabetes. This is not semantics. at least it shouldn't be. The fact that you mention "chronic kidney disease is cause for concern. The doctors and endocrinologists will tell you it's just prediabetes, or what they also call "borderline" diabetes, and might recommend metformin. But now is the time to get your HbA1c under control and as close to 5.0% as quickly and consistently as possible through diet (as Grumpy Old Man mentioned) and exercise. Not to be an alarmist, but your heart and kidneys (play a role in BP) are just two of the organs in your body irreversibly damaged by diabetes. No pun intended, but don't let anybody sugarcoat this disease for you. It creeps in slowly for many because they aren't educated to take it more seriously and they do not make adjustments. They're just recommended to "watch" their diet and maybe take some metformin and be on their way most of the time. Sorry, I went down the rabbit hole there. This doesn't answer your question.

As for a DOT physical - no. Why? Because the medical establishment has that arbitrary HbA1c number of above 6.4% as a 'diagnosis' of diabetes, and you are not on insulin.

Good luck with everything. Trucking is a rewarding career for those willing to put in the time to be successful.

The first thing I told the recruiter for the company that's going to hire me is that I'm on it and her response is its ok as long as its prescribed. I've done a lot of research on this because I thought it would disqualify me.

This quote is straight from fsmca.dot.gov

"What medications disqualify a CMV driver? Answer: A driver cannot take a controlled substance or prescription medication without a prescription from a licensed practitioner. If a driver uses a drug identified in 21 CFR 1308.11 (391.42(b)(12)) or any other substance such as amphetamine, a narcotic, or any other habit forming drug, The driver is medically unqualified.

There is an exception: the prescribing doctor can write that the driver is safe to be a commercial driver while taking the medication. In this case, the Medical Examiner may, but does not have to certify the driver.

Any anti-seizure medication used for the prevention of seizures is disqualifying.

The Medical Examiner has 2 ways to determine if any medication a driver uses will adversely affect safe operation of a CMV:

Review each medication - prescription, non-prescription and supplement Request a letter from the prescribing doctor"

I appreciate what you are all saying about my health and I understand this, I am starting to make changes but they will take time. Thanks for all the input. My physical is tomorrow so we will see what happens. I'm going to prepare as much as I can and we will see how the chips fall.

Not sure what you mean by "the company said it was ok" as in the trucking company or CDL school, but if I'm not mistaken, Adderall use is prohibited by the FMSCA, even if perscribed and allowed by the medical examiner.

Even if the examiner gives you a medical card, a prospective trucking company may not hire you because of that.

Its very confusing and there is very little I can find online that defines it. In my head I should be able to put no as on my Bellin chart for the a1c, the little range arrow has 5.4 as in the green area, 5.6 is where it turns to yellow. idk I guess it shouldn't really matter because its something that will be checked anyways right? My a1c last time it was checked in June was 5.4% it might be a bit higher now.

It may sound silly but another reason I wanted to get a job in trucking is the heightened health requirement's over normal jobs, I feel like it will be more motivating to me to start getting healthier as I will need to in order to keep my career. It has been in the last week after I realized what was entailed int he DOT physical.

As a registered dietitian who has partnered with thousands of patients to help them manage their "prediabetes" and diabetes, "prediabetes" IS diabetes. This is not semantics. at least it shouldn't be. The fact that you mention "chronic kidney disease is cause for concern. The doctors and endocrinologists will tell you it's just prediabetes, or what they also call "borderline" diabetes, and might recommend metformin. But now is the time to get your HbA1c under control and as close to 5.0% as quickly and consistently as possible through diet (as Grumpy Old Man mentioned) and exercise. Not to be an alarmist, but your heart and kidneys (play a role in BP) are just two of the organs in your body irreversibly damaged by diabetes. No pun intended, but don't let anybody sugarcoat this disease for you. It creeps in slowly for many because they aren't educated to take it more seriously and they do not make adjustments. They're just recommended to "watch" their diet and maybe take some metformin and be on their way most of the time. Sorry, I went down the rabbit hole there. This doesn't answer your question.

As for a DOT physical - no. Why? Because the medical establishment has that arbitrary HbA1c number of above 6.4% as a 'diagnosis' of diabetes, and you are not on insulin.

Good luck with everything. Trucking is a rewarding career for those willing to put in the time to be successful.