Driving

Can I drive?

Well, first you’d need your driver's license. But we know that’s not what you’re asking about.

In general, people with CHD do not have extra limits on driving. But, some people have certain conditions (heart rhythm problems) that might cause them to pass out. This is why they are not allowed to drive. Also, people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) may have some extra limits on driving.

If you’re not sure, you should ask your doctor or nurse about driving. This is usually an easy yes/no question that health providers like!

If you have heart surgery, talk to your doctor or nurse to find out when you’ll be able to drive again.

Basic driving info for all people with CHD

If you feel unwell, don’t drive
Never drive yourself to the hospital if you’re feeling unwell
After most hospital procedures, you won’t be allowed to drive yourself home. Ask a friend or family member to be your chauffeur
If you have palpitations (fast heart rates) that make you feel dizzy or lightheaded, do not drive until you see your cardiologist
Don’t drink and drive (okay, this one is for everyone)

This website is designed specifically for young people with congenital heart disease. The goal is to provide information to help people who are getting ready to move (or have recently moved) to adult heart care. We use the term ‘transition’ to describe this process. Family, friends and health care providers may also find this website helpful.

Please be advised this site does not provide medical advice. All of the content on this website is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have or suspect you have a health problem, please consult your family physician. If you have or suspect you are experiencing a health emergency, please promptly visit a Hospital Emergency Department in your area. Reliance on any information provided on or provided in relation to the site is solely at your own risk. Contributors to this website are not responsible, nor liable, for any claim, loss or damage arising from the use of the information contained within this site.

Any websites linked from this website are created by other organizations. Those organizations are responsible for the information contained within their sites. We are not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites or third-party advertisements and do not make any representations regarding their content or accuracy. Your use of third-party websites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such sites. Any specific comments regarding these sites should be directed toward that individual organization.

We have a simple ‘Getting to Know You’ survey that we ask all visitors to complete (we don’t ask for any personal health information). Website browsing activity will be monitored so that we can learn about the people who visit the website, how often people visit the website, and the web pages that are visited most often. This will help us decide which changes and improvements to make to the website in the future. Results from this project will be described for groups of website visitors (i.e., not for individual users).

Anyone can visit this website and most users will create their own User IDs and passwords. However, there are also Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) and pediatric cardiology programs that have officially joined the iHeartChange team and work together to keep this website going. (You can find a list of the ACHD programs in the ‘Welcome to Adult Care’ section of the website). Some of these programs might choose to assign User IDs so that they can track of and how patients from their own programs visit the website. They might even want to track this for research. If you have been assigned a User ID from a program, that program might ask us to give them information about your answers to the ‘Getting to Know You’ survey, how many times you log into the website and which web pages you visit.

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