How Long Does It Take To Raise CDT Levels

Convicted Driver Insurance

DC905210

New Member
First time poster here.

I am just nearing the end of a three year ban and have caused myself a bit of worry.

I am working away from home at the minute and the first week away my freedom got to me a bit and I had a fair bit to drink on the evenings of 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] May (before that very little while I was at home with the wife). The equivalent of couple of bottles of wine per night 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] to 5[SUP]th[/SUP].
Then I had nothing on 6[SUP]th[/SUP], 7[SUP]th[/SUP], 8[SUP]th[/SUP] and 9[SUP]th[/SUP].

10[SUP]th[/SUP] I had the equivalent a bottle and a half, then read about the new CDT test and scared myself to death!

Most of what I read says you need to drink 60g per day for at least two weeks.
I have drank more that 60gs but much less than 2 weeks.

The DVLA have currently written to my GP ahead of the medical so no idea when the medical will happen but intend not to drink until then at all.
Am I likely to have raised my CDT between the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] or is the fact I didn’t continue night after night help?

The time for the levels to go down are really confusing also. 2-4 weeks seems to be the most common answer and I have seen that even from people trying to see the tests to such as employers so I can not see that THEY would take it down.

So two questions really, how big a mistake is drinking what I did between the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th [/SUP]and how quickly is whatever I have done likely to take to calm down.

Many thanks for all your help :)
 
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Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels

First time poster here.

I am just nearing the end of a three year ban and have caused myself a bit of worry.

I am working away from home at the minute and the first week away my freedom got to me a bit and I had a fair bit to drink on the evenings of 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] May (before that very little while I was at home with the wife). The equivalent of couple of bottles of wine per night 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] to 5[SUP]th[/SUP].
Then I had nothing on 6[SUP]th[/SUP], 7[SUP]th[/SUP], 8[SUP]th[/SUP] and 9[SUP]th[/SUP].

10[SUP]th[/SUP] I had the equivalent a bottle and a half, then read about the new CDT test and scared myself to death!

Most of what I read says you need to drink 60g per day for at least two weeks.
I have drank more that 60gs but much less than 2 weeks.

The DVLA have currently written to my GP ahead of the medical so no idea when the medical will happen but intend not to drink until then at all.
Am I likely to have raised my CDT between the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] or is the fact I didn’t continue night after night help?

The time for the levels to go down are really confusing also. 2-4 weeks seems to be the most common answer and I have seen that even from people trying to see the tests to such as employers so I can not see that THEY would take it down.

So two questions really, how big a mistake is drinking what I did between the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th [/SUP]and how quickly is whatever I have done likely to take to calm down.

Many thanks for all your help :)

Hi there

Firstly, no point in beating yourself up over whether your binge was a mistake. It's done now. It would have been a big mistake if you'd carried on!

Two bottles of wine a night even for only four or five nights is very likely to raise your CDT levels. One bottle can contain anywhere from 8.5 units (or 68g) to 11 units (or 88g), obviously depending on the ABV of the wine. You were consuming somewhere in the region of 135g-175g a day but it's impossible to say what your CDT has been raised to, without knowing your starting cdt etc..

In my case, I was drinking about 9 units (or 72g of alcohol) a day, just about every day. I had 23 whole days of abstinence and got a reading of 1.0%.
Obviously, the longer you stay dry, the better but you could pass the blood test with about three or four weeks sobriety. There are no certainties I'm afraid, there are too many variables involved.

Stop all alcohol immediately and hopefully the conversation between DVLA and your GP will give you a little more time.

Hope that helps.
Just ask if you have any questions and if I can help, I will.
 
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I assume (always a bad idea!) that because the CDT test is meant to catch out heavy drinkers, one could in theory drink occasionally and sensibly almost upto the date of the medical? Say in the order of 5 units twice a week?
Personally not doing that, more of a wondering out loud...
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels

Hi there

Just an update.

I am now 28 days away from the main "binge" so to speak and 23 days totally abstinent over all.

I did a private blood test yesterday using the blood prick test so waiting to see what that comes back with.

I chased the DVLA on the phone yesterday and they said they have now reviewed what my doctor said and are happy with that, and they have written to me to advise me where I need to go for the medical.

The letter has not arrived yet and I work away in the week and need to give my employer at least a week's notice to have time off meaning I can not realistically attend a medical until week commencing 13th June 2016 now.

This will be 38 days from the main binge and 33 days abstinent, which from what I have read I am convinced will be enough. I will be surprised to be honest if the private test isn't below 1.0%

When you consider to raise to 2.6% you need to drink AT LEAST 60g per day for two weeks = 60 x 14 = 840g

I have worked out I consumed around 960 but to be conservative say 1,000g

1,000 / 840 = 1.19 x 2.6% = 3.1% is where my CDT should have been at.

CDT half life of 1 - 14 days so take worst case in the 28 days so far I have had two half lives= 3.1% / 2 = 1.55% then 1.55% / 2 = 0.78%

You have to also take into account we are talking about biological half life which is not the same as nuclear half life that does keep halving and halving. Transferin gets used up to 100 times before expiring. It doesn't devolve in the same linear way as radioactive material.

I have seen one source that states 12 weeks to clear.

Others 17 +/- 4 days half life but most 7 - 14 days.

Will keep you all posted anyway.
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels

Hi there

Just an update.

I am now 28 days away from the main "binge" so to speak and 23 days totally abstinent over all.

I did a private blood test yesterday using the blood prick test so waiting to see what that comes back with.

I chased the DVLA on the phone yesterday and they said they have now reviewed what my doctor said and are happy with that, and they have written to me to advise me where I need to go for the medical.

The letter has not arrived yet and I work away in the week and need to give my employer at least a week's notice to have time off meaning I can not realistically attend a medical until week commencing 13th June 2016 now.

This will be 38 days from the main binge and 33 days abstinent, which from what I have read I am convinced will be enough. I will be surprised to be honest if the private test isn't below 1.0%

When you consider to raise to 2.6% you need to drink AT LEAST 60g per day for two weeks = 60 x 14 = 840g

I have worked out I consumed around 960 but to be conservative say 1,000g

1,000 / 840 = 1.19 x 2.6% = 3.1% is where my CDT should have been at.

CDT half life of 1 - 14 days so take worst case in the 28 days so far I have had two half lives= 3.1% / 2 = 1.55% then 1.55% / 2 = 0.78%

You have to also take into account we are talking about biological half life which is not the same as nuclear half life that does keep halving and halving. Transferin gets used up to 100 times before expiring. It doesn't devolve in the same linear way as radioactive material.

I have seen one source that states 12 weeks to clear.

Others 17 +/- 4 days half life but most 7 - 14 days.

Will keep you all posted anyway.

I have always stated that there are far too many variables involved to try and second guess what a person's CDT reading was/is to start with and how long a period of abstinence would be required to produce a 'pass' CDT reading. Some people might not need to drink as much as 60g a day to see an increase in CDT or for very many consecutive days, some people might be able to consume far more than this, consistently and still have a low CDT. Similarly, I have read clinical research papers where CDT half-life is quoted at anything from 7 to 28 days, some with a variance +/-4 days.

It is worth pointing out that many tee-totallers will have a natural, base-line CDT of more than the CDT reading you are projecting/predicting for yourself because everyone is different and even someone who doesn't drink might have a naturally higher CDT than a heavy drinker who has quit for a month.

Obviously 12 weeks abstinence will provide a low CDT reading and to be sure of a low reading, the longer the abstention period, the better. (I have also seen someone so insistent that 12 weeks is the only period of abstinence that will produce a pass that they were most rude to those who were going with less time!) However, experience has shown that many of us have had much less time than this and still produced a low reading. I had a quarter of this time, 23 days abstinence, and got a reading of 1.0% and another poster here observed just under 4 weeks and had a result of 0.9%.

CDT half-life, like nuclear half-life, is generally considered to display exponential decay, not a linear decline, although in nuclear decay it's more easily demonstrated!
 
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I assume (always a bad idea!) that because the CDT test is meant to catch out heavy drinkers, one could in theory drink occasionally and sensibly almost upto the date of the medical? Say in the order of 5 units twice a week?
Personally not doing that, more of a wondering out loud...

In theory, yes, according to some sources....but I personally don't see the point. You could be wasting your £98.50/£118.20 (with VAT) medical fee and refusal of your license for a potential further 6 months..not really worth it for 2 pints of Fosters on a Friday and Saturday night!!
 
Another point I often think about if the DVLA thresholds.

They consider 3.0> high enough to consider someone alcohol dependent.

That is a very strong label / accusation to plant on someone and however much someone has drunk on a holiday or stag do or other time off to label someone dependent if they have not drank for a month just doesn't stack.

Therefore I would conclude it is fairly difficult to get a 3% plus score after a month of no alcohol whatsoever.

The only "case studies" I have seen on heard and other places are people giving up for 4 or five weeks and ending up with scores of around 1%

Also the sorts of sources I have seen presenting 12 weeks as required seem to be establishments that are looking for evidence of any alcohol consumption, they consider 1.6% a "positive" whereas the DVLA only start to hear alarm bells ringing at 2.3%.
 
Another point I often think about if the DVLA thresholds.

They consider 3.0> high enough to consider someone alcohol dependent.

That is a very strong label / accusation to plant on someone and however much someone has drunk on a holiday or stag do or other time off to label someone dependent if they have not drank for a month just doesn't stack.

Therefore I would conclude it is fairly difficult to get a 3% plus score after a month of no alcohol whatsoever.

The only "case studies" I have seen on heard and other places are people giving up for 4 or five weeks and ending up with scores of around 1%

Also the sorts of sources I have seen presenting 12 weeks as required seem to be establishments that are looking for evidence of any alcohol consumption, they consider 1.6% a "positive" whereas the DVLA only start to hear alarm bells ringing at 2.3%.

I've been researching this for far too long!! ? I've read clinical trials, studies and tests from all sorts of sources, including university hospital research trials, private rehabilitation centres, court mandated residential programs. There seems to be no agreement as to what the halflife of CDT is and not much mention of a "normal" level. (The person I mentioned is/was a poster here who became quite rude to/about anyone who was going for less than the "sacred" 12 week abstinence period.)

Rehab centres aren't so much requiring 12 weeks abstention (often people who are referred to rehab can't go 12 hours without, let alone 12 weeks) as reporting how CDT levels behave when tested weekly in a highly controlled environment i.e. no alcohol at all.
In some trials, this has been used as a 'control' against outpatient groups who may have had the opportunity to 'slip up' whilst unsupervised. Indeed, some alcohol treatment programs require weekly testing where a consistently 'high' cdt will indicate that the patient has still been drinking to some extent. It could be that someone has a naturally higher than average cdt but if it's not fallen at all since abstinence began then they are probably cheating.

Its all quite arbitrary and I agree, rather strong of DVLA to be labeling anyone an alcoholic. Especially when you speak to anyone at DVLA medical division and they first thing they throw out, as a disclaimer, is "we're not medically trained personnel"!!
 
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I have seen the shouldaknownbetter who was kicking off about the 12 week think, it was ridiculous.

Was it about 1 bottle of wine a day you were drinking that you were drinking prior to 23 days abstinence?

Another way I have looked at it for me again personally is rounding up to 1,000g and then working out how many days that is split over since I started drinking it.

For example it is 33 days since I started drinking the 1,000 (which is actually more like 950 or whatever I said) which means a g/day of 30.30 or 4 Units.

Again without a knowledge of how CDT is produced this is fairly ropey. but if it is the case that CDT is produced when there are units in the system then and during abstinence normal transferin dilutes the CDT that is a way of looking at it.

What is REALLY the key I think is what actually is the longevity of transferin, I think I said earlier I have read (totally outside of the CDT articles) that transferin does its job up to 100 times. Again, that means nothing in isolation but it does sort of suggest it has a maximum "age" at which point none of an original amount remains. It is actually exceptionally interesting I think.
 
I have seen the shouldaknownbetter who was kicking off about the 12 week think, it was ridiculous.

Was it about 1 bottle of wine a day you were drinking that you were drinking prior to 23 days abstinence?

Another way I have looked at it for me again personally is rounding up to 1,000g and then working out how many days that is split over since I started drinking it.

For example it is 33 days since I started drinking the 1,000 (which is actually more like 950 or whatever I said) which means a g/day of 30.30 or 4 Units.

Again without a knowledge of how CDT is produced this is fairly ropey. but if it is the case that CDT is produced when there are units in the system then and during abstinence normal transferin dilutes the CDT that is a way of looking at it.

What is REALLY the key I think is what actually is the longevity of transferin, I think I said earlier I have read (totally outside of the CDT articles) that transferin does its job up to 100 times. Again, that means nothing in isolation but it does sort of suggest it has a maximum "age" at which point none of an original amount remains. It is actually exceptionally interesting I think.

Yes, I was consuming about a bottle of wine a day, everyday, so about 10 units or 80g a day. It's important to remember that everyone has, or produces some CDT, even people who have never had a drink. Hence some tee-totallers could potentially have a higher level than I did when I got a reading of 1.0% after just 23 days of abstinence.

Some people who have drunk more, on a daily basis, than I was drinking, have consistently scored lower than my final result, from the beginning and throughout their abstinence (as shown by private testing).

It's these reports and a lack of definitive answers from the medical research community that leads me to think it very unwise to try and calculate or back calculate a starting CDT and eventual CDT reading from the DVLA medical sample.

Basically, the longer you give yourself before the medical, the better but I certainly don't think that 12 weeks of abstinence is the absolute minimum amount of time required to get a satisfactory result. As has been demonstrated by my own experience and that of many contributors.
 
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I have a very minor update.

They were late receiving the private sample so that is spoiled so I need to do ANOTHER (3rd time lucky).

The DVLA wrote back to me today though saying they have completed their enquiries with my doctor and now need me to do a medical.

The earliest appontment I can get is on 20th June 2016.

This will be 45 days so circa six and a half weeks since the main chunk of the "1,000g" (which is more like 950g) I consumed and 39 days of total abstinence circa five and a half weeks.

From what I have read for others I am fairly confident that should be enough to get me through. The third private test should arrive in the next few days also so have an opportunity to get a heads up with that. I will send it guaranteed next day this time.

Even taking the half life as the full 17+3 (one of the longest you see quoted) I have "two half lives" meaning I could get to <2.1% from 8.4% using some very pessimistic numbers.

Prior to the "binge" I was drinking next to nothing so I should not have been raised prior.

We are talking between none and one drinks per day.
 
Hi there,

Im new to this site and this whole discussion. I've been reading up A LOT about this whole DVLA medical exam for HRO's and frankly I think the whole thing is utterly shambolic! I lost my licence 16 months ago because I got into my car after being attacked on a dark country road whilst waiting for a taxi! The only safe place for me to go was to my car and even then it was pitch black so I drove less than half a mile and seemingly the only other people around, apart from my attacker, were the overzealous police. The seemed very uninterested in the attacker and his whereabouts and more interested in 'processing' me despite being merely less than a mile away from my point of origin.

So, now, as a high risk offender (in their opinion - mine is that I was a victim that night! but I shan't harp on about the conviction I got from a heartless magistrate - yes, I contested it and no, I didn't win!) I have to take a DVLA medical. Im due to get my licence back on around 7th July and have a medical booked for this coming Monday. I'm not a heavy drinker but I am stressed beyond belief! In all honesty, I have friends on the road who have't been done for drink driving who wouldn't pass this test in a million years and yet, here I am, the person who drinks the least out of my group of friends who has to jump through the DVLA's unbelievable hoops - and they are just that, everyone is making money off this awful situation. As if the shame of it all isn't enough!

I decided to take the matter into my own hands however and beat them to it (just so I know where I stand) and got an independent blood test done this week with medichecks (again, another company fleecing people who are scared sh**tless about the outcome from the DVLA'S Dr - not our own!!). Today I got the results back but they don't have anything in the report other than a result of the following:

CHO: DEFECIENT TRANSFERRIN .7% CHO TH deficient Transferrin 0.7 % 0 -T
1.6

CHO deficient Transferrin 0.7 % 0
-
1.6
 
Hi there,

Im new to this site and this whole discussion. I've been reading up A LOT about this whole DVLA medical exam for HRO's and frankly I think the whole thing is utterly shambolic! I lost my licence 16 months ago because I got into my car after being attacked on a dark country road whilst waiting for a taxi! The only safe place for me to go was to my car and even then it was pitch black so I drove less than half a mile and seemingly the only other people around, apart from my attacker, were the overzealous police. The seemed very uninterested in the attacker and his whereabouts and more interested in 'processing' me despite being merely less than a mile away from my point of origin.

So, now, as a high risk offender (in their opinion - mine is that I was a victim that night! but I shan't harp on about the conviction I got from a heartless magistrate - yes, I contested it and no, I didn't win!) I have to take a DVLA medical. Im due to get my licence back on around 7th July and have a medical booked for this coming Monday. I'm not a heavy drinker but I am stressed beyond belief! In all honesty, I have friends on the road who have't been done for drink driving who wouldn't pass this test in a million years and yet, here I am, the person who drinks the least out of my group of friends who has to jump through the DVLA's unbelievable hoops - and they are just that, everyone is making money off this awful situation. As if the shame of it all isn't enough!

I decided to take the matter into my own hands however and beat them to it (just so I know where I stand) and got an independent blood test done this week with medichecks (again, another company fleecing people who are scared sh**tless about the outcome from the DVLA'S Dr - not our own!!). Today I got the results back but they don't have anything in the report other than a result of the following:

CHO: DEFECIENT TRANSFERRIN .7% CHO TH deficient Transferrin 0.7 % 0 -T
1.6

CHO deficient Transferrin 0.7 % 0
-
1.6

Hi there.

I read this as your carbohydrate deficient transferrin is 0.7%. This is very low and as long as you are able to answer "NO" to all the questions on the DVLA medical questionnaire, there should be no problem with getting your license reissued. But that obviously depends on your medical history/things you've been to see your Dr. about.
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels

I have always stated that there are far too many variables involved to try and second guess what a person's CDT reading was/is to start with and how long a period of abstinence would be required to produce a 'pass' CDT reading. Some people might not need to drink as much as 60g a day to see an increase in CDT or for very many consecutive days, some people might be able to consume far more than this, consistently and still have a low CDT. Similarly, I have read clinical research papers where CDT half-life is quoted at anything from 7 to 28 days, some with a variance +/-4 days.

It is worth pointing out that many tee-totallers will have a natural, base-line CDT of more than the CDT reading you are projecting/predicting for yourself because everyone is different and even someone who doesn't drink might have a naturally higher CDT than a heavy drinker who has quit for a month.

Obviously 12 weeks abstinence will provide a low CDT reading and to be sure of a low reading, the longer the abstention period, the better. (I have also seen someone so insistent that 12 weeks is the only period of abstinence that will produce a pass that they were most rude to those who were going with less time!) However, experience has shown that many of us have had much less time than this and still produced a low reading. I had a quarter of this time, 23 days abstinence, and got a reading of 1.0% and another poster here observed just under 4 weeks and had a result of 0.9%.

CDT half-life, like nuclear half-life, is generally considered to display exponential decay, not a linear decline, although in nuclear decay it's more easily demonstrated!

Hi There,

An update for you all.

I eventually managed to take a successful sample (that didn't clot etc) for the private testers on 9th June 2016 which is 28 days of total abstinence and 34 days away from the end of the main "binge".

The results are as follows and I have my official DVLA test on this Monday coming:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHO deficient Transferrin 0.5%

CDT Comment
No biochemical evidence of alcohol abuse

Reference Range:

Negative : 0 - 1.6%
Positive : > 1.6% Positive

Increase in alcohol intake for longer
than 2 - 4 weeks.

The consumption of 50 to 80 grams of alcohol every
day for a period of one week induces a rise in the
CDT level.

After withdrawal, the serum CDT concentration
declines, with a half life of 14 to 17 days.
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels

Hi There,

An update for you all.

I eventually managed to take a successful sample (that didn't clot etc) for the private testers on 9th June 2016 which is 28 days of total abstinence and 34 days away from the end of the main "binge".

The results are as follows and I have my official DVLA test on this Monday coming:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHO deficient Transferrin 0.5%

CDT Comment
No biochemical evidence of alcohol abuse

Reference Range:

Negative : 0 - 1.6%
Positive : > 1.6% Positive

Increase in alcohol intake for longer
than 2 - 4 weeks.

The consumption of 50 to 80 grams of alcohol every
day for a period of one week induces a rise in the
CDT level.

After withdrawal, the serum CDT concentration
declines, with a half life of 14 to 17 days.


Hi there

I am new to this site, I have read a few threads, however I have found yours the most interesting and useful. I am due to apply for my licence back after a 4 year ban, I shall not bore you with the whys ect, I too have to go for a Medical, unfortunately with postnatal depression and a few other issues, I used Alcohol in large quantaties over a period of time, but this has all been sorted. I am not Alcohol dependent, however they have been occasions that large amounts of Alcohol have been consumed, bit of a catch 22 as when you are not driving you can afford to drink and not worry about driving.... anyway I have decided to be abstinence from Alcohol, and should take me over a month at least by the time my medical date comes through. I am intrigued as to what you final outcome was from the DVLA DC905210, as you said on the last thread that your DVLA Medical was on the following Monday? Tia
 
Hi.
for the past 5 weeks i have probably been consuming around maybe 20 units on Saturday nights only.
the last time i had a drink though was the 14th oct. maybe 2 units.
on peoples past experiences, what does anyone think my CDT level would be.
thanks
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels



Hi there

Firstly, no point in beating yourself up over whether your binge was a mistake. It's done now. It would have been a big mistake if you'd carried on!

Two bottles of wine a night even for only four or five nights is very likely to raise your CDT levels. One bottle can contain anywhere from 8.5 units (or 68g) to 11 units (or 88g), obviously depending on the ABV of the wine. You were consuming somewhere in the region of 135g-175g a day but it's impossible to say what your CDT has been raised to, without knowing your starting cdt etc..

In my case, I was drinking about 9 units (or 72g of alcohol) a day, just about every day. I had 23 whole days of abstinence and got a reading of 1.0%.
Obviously, the longer you stay dry, the better but you could pass the blood test with about three or four weeks sobriety. There are no certainties I'm afraid, there are too many variables involved.

Stop all alcohol immediately and hopefully the conversation between DVLA and your GP will give you a little more time.

Hope that helps.
Just ask if you have any questions and if I can help, I will.
Hi there,Do you think if there is recent history of abuse on your medical records through stupidly telling your doctor there's no chance of getting a chance to do your medical as I've stopped for 3 months now?
 
In order for you to be considered to getting your license back you will need to provide 6 months of controlled drinking or abstinence backed up with liver function tests and a DD2 full report from your own gp, however if dvla find you dependent then this will be 12 months complete abstinence and they will expect you to maintain that strategy (no alcohol)...if it is abuse you can reapply after 6 months...
 
Re: How Long Does It Take To Raise CRT Levels



Hi there

Firstly, no point in beating yourself up over whether your binge was a mistake. It's done now. It would have been a big mistake if you'd carried on!

Two bottles of wine a night even for only four or five nights is very likely to raise your CDT levels. One bottle can contain anywhere from 8.5 units (or 68g) to 11 units (or 88g), obviously depending on the ABV of the wine. You were consuming somewhere in the region of 135g-175g a day but it's impossible to say what your CDT has been raised to, without knowing your starting cdt etc..

In my case, I was drinking about 9 units (or 72g of alcohol) a day, just about every day. I had 23 whole days of abstinence and got a reading of 1.0%.
Obviously, the longer you stay dry, the better but you could pass the blood test with about three or four weeks sobriety. There are no certainties I'm afraid, there are too many variables involved.

Stop all alcohol immediately and hopefully the conversation between DVLA and your GP will give you a little more time.

Hope that helps.
Just ask if you have any questions and if I can help, I will.
 
I appreciate that this is an relatively old thread but thought I'd post about my recent experience. I recently undertook a CDT test with Medichecks. My licence has been suspended by DVLA as a result of an accident whereby new medication was the cause. Unfortunately the DVLA made enquiries with my GP about my health and they informed them that I was a heavy drinker (my breath test was negative and I hadn't had a drink for four days prior to the accident) as a result they insisted that I provide evidence of a reduction in drinking. I do consider myself a heavy drinker, averaging a bottle of wine a night so I abstained for just under two weeks prior to my blood test. On the Friday of week one I had two pints during a pub lunch and on the Sunday I had four pints of 5% beer at a barbecue, my bloods were taken the following Thursday. I received the results after four days and my CDT level was 0.7%, a very good level. I was expecting it to be higher considering I had quite a boozy weekend prior to abstaining and the beers I had during the period prior to the blood sample. I didn't take any suplements or try anything to decrease my CDT levels other than abstaining (most of the time) for two weeks.
 
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