dvla medical drink drive

Convicted Driver Insurance
Hi. I am currently awaiting details from the dvla about my medical.
Sent the app form and 90 quid...
Anyway... i was banned for two year in 2005 til 2007.
During this time i was amazed by how many stories there was about
not drinking for a year... for two month... three month... a week etc
so heres a blog if you may to keep everyone updated with
my progress.
Im 27 year old...
Since i was 18 i have drank pretty much every saturday night
iv had lads holidays etc
enjoyed myself too
This past year iv been drinking all afternoon and night on
saturdays with little or no food
dont drink any other day of the week
i go to the gym three times a week
smoke 15 a day
im a bit worried about my ggt levels they seem to be a
stumbling block...
Havent drank since i sent my app which was bonfire night
iv bought milk thistle tablets from holland and barrett
heard these were good.
My diets poor... junk food
so started havin a glass of cranberry juice and an apple
everyday
heard they are good for you.... haha.
Anyway il post again on this thread when i recieve
the details of the medical and il keep you all posted
with as much details as i can.
Sb
 
Hi. I am currently awaiting details from the dvla about my medical.
Sent the app form and 90 quid...
Anyway... i was banned for two year in 2005 til 2007.
During this time i was amazed by how many stories there was about
not drinking for a year... for two month... three month... a week etc
so heres a blog if you may to keep everyone updated with
my progress.
Im 27 year old...
Since i was 18 i have drank pretty much every saturday night
iv had lads holidays etc
enjoyed myself too
This past year iv been drinking all afternoon and night on
saturdays with little or no food
dont drink any other day of the week
i go to the gym three times a week
smoke 15 a day
im a bit worried about my ggt levels they seem to be a
stumbling block...
Havent drank since i sent my app which was bonfire night
iv bought milk thistle tablets from holland and barrett
heard these were good.
My diets poor... junk food
so started havin a glass of cranberry juice and an apple
everyday
heard they are good for you.... haha.
Anyway il post again on this thread when i recieve
the details of the medical and il keep you all posted
with as much details as i can.
Sb

So you were banned till 2007 but only now taking your medical? how come?
 
I was in the army at the time and didnt really have time
to mess about with waiting for the dvla and wasnt really
in the country long enough to wait for the dvla etc.
I came out in dec 2010 but was put off by many ppl
on the internet sayin they failed.
Thats why im doin this thread now to hopefully help others
and give them a good idea of what to expect
thanks for the response
dvla finally cashed my cheque today so thats alnost a two
Week wait.
Hoping to have doctors details.next week....
 
Quick tip to speed things up a bit, ask the DVLA to fax the letter to the doctor and get them to tell you which doctor it is, so you can book your appointment
 
Hi there. I tried ringing the dvla a few times but didn't
ever get through to anyone so i sent an email today.
It states it takes at least 3 week to process an app and its
been two week now so nothing out of the ordinary.
Had a sit down this week to think of how much i have drank
over the last 6 month...
As i mentioned i only really go for a drink saturdays
drinking during the week doesnt interest me and i
do not drink at home.
i did go to lloret in spain with my partner on the 1st
of oct till the 9th and i had my fair share of cocktails,
Vodka redbulls and lager but it was always at night.
If averaged out over the saturdays iv not drank id guess
7 pints per week over the last 6 month
which is averaged at a pint a day.
But is it fair we be judged or legal to be judged on our
social activities when we do not have a licence....
Wouldnt it be fairer to pay for a medical take the levels
then have a bloodtest 6 month later to judge us?
I am confident of passing this test as im not
dependent on alchohol which is proved as i dont drink
everyday nor do i crave it
as for misuse which is classed as over two pints of lager
in a day in units then one in every two saturdays im guilty
but is that really misuse? Id say misuse is someone who drinks
a bottle of vodka before goin to the pub then drinkin when they get
home till they drop.
 
They're rubbish at answering the phone so just keep trying

But I totally agree with you, we shouldn't be denied a licence just because we drink at all. I drink I fair amount usually, most days at least a couple of pints not to mention jaeger bombs etc on a Friday night. But I know I can go without drink as well so I know for a fact I don't have a problem with it. but then the DVLA would probably think that's too much to allow me a licence so I went a month drinking next to nothing. Now I've taken my medical I'm back to drinking as I did before, so I don't see what point the medical proves, although I suppose it does stop the people who simply cannot go without a drink.
 
im just a saturday drinker... few pints before football...
Then out all night after.
But thats my choice i enjoy it too.
Iv not had a drop since bonfire night.
I do really hate staying in watching tv and cant wait
til this is over and done with.
I read a post about the questions and saw u had posted.
Did you pass your medical? And how long were you waiting
before you rang the dvla..
Im in no rush im jus really hoping i can get one before xmas
as staying in watching home alone... gremlins... and the
other naff they put on tv at xmas does not appeal to me lol.
 
Just called them, they only got my information onto their system on Friday, it is with their medical team and they should have "something in the post to me" by the end of the week, so hopefully if i call them up on thursday/friday they'll be able to tell me that they have sent my licence out!
 
Thats good news.... hope you have passed!!!
Finally got a letter today with details of the doctors
and booked in for the 15th of december.
If anyone reads this from the sheffield area the
doctors is called Page Hall and is in the S4 area of
town.
£96 in cash to be paid on the day.
So time wise from sending my app to getting booked
in was just short of 6 weeks.
Bad news is another 3 weeks of animals funniest moments
and the x-factor... also miss my works xmas night out
but guess good news is i can have a drink at xmas and the
new year..
Kind of nervous about it but should be fine.
Unsure if i need to do these things but iv been taking milk
thistle tablets since i stopped drinking..
Also still having a glass or two of cranberry juice each day
and attending the gym everyday doing ten min of running plus
my normal weight lifting fitness.
Giving apples and nuts a try for a snack each day at work
heard seeds and berries are rich in antitoxins and reduce
the dreaded ggt levels but im not going to go that far lol.
Even the milk thistle is prob a step too far but im not wanting
that 96 pounds to go down the loo..
Sb
 
Hi guys,

I'm new here and after a bit of advice. Does anybody know exactly what the DVLA test for in the bloods and any relevant limits they set?

I have to arrange my mdeical soon and really nervous about it. I've been for 2 blood tests with my doctor recently and have a slightly raised GGT of 72 and ALT of 63. My ALP is also 79 (normal). Unfortunately the tests didn't test for AST so I'm not sure how that scored.

No matter who I ask at DVLA I can't seem to get an answer as to what they look at so I can have an idea of how good or bad my results are. Surprisingly the above results were the seond results and actually went up slightly from the first set despite a further month without alcohol between the tests.

I can't understand why the readings have gone up even though I've had no alcohol. I do worry that my diet may be affecting it, particularly as the doctor said that GGT can be affected by non alcoholic fatty liver!

My doctor also mentioned that in January 2011 the medical Board agreed that the sole test for alcohol abuse would be something called CDT (Carbohydrate Deficiency Transferrin). Anybody have any idea what this is about and if in fact they have stopped looking at AST/ALT/GGTetc..?

I've not had a drink in 4 months now so don't know why my results won't come down to normal levels, its so frustrating. I'm even taking Milk Thistle.


Thanks

ses8352
 
Im not sure what the exact levels are.
From advise my nurse at my works medical center gave me
the ggt and alt levels are linked to alchohol abuse so she
said an alchoholic would have ridiculously high levels of ggt
and alt.
Ggt levels from what iv been told and read are affected by
alot of factors such as diet, alchohol, smoking, obesity, diabetes
and various drugs such as paracetomel and anabolic steriods.
Im having milk thistle too.
As i mentioned in an early post i was on hol in spain for
a week at the begining of oct and drank every night which i will
mention in my medical because at the end of the day i was
on a well deserved break and they cant just say im not allowed
my licence back because i drank abroad.
Most members on here who have posted thier pre medical
blood tests all have raised ggt...
My friend at work who has never drank had raised ggt.
Some people have been given temp 6 month licences
then have to do another medical.
Anybody could have a liver disease which could affect levels.
I wouldnt worry too much.
Im going for it due to a convo with my dads friend who
is in the pub everyday.. he never stopped drinking and was
bladdered the night before the medical and still passed.
Good luck
 
The most frustrating thing about this medical process is lack of concrete info about what is required of you to ensure you pass. There is info on the home page of this site about what they are testing for in the medical, and it tells you what the normal levels of enzymes etc should be.....but it says something like "stop drinking for 4-6 weeks and that SHOULD reduce GGT levels to 'normal'"
Hmmm, pretty vague!!!

I work with a guy who knows a fair bit about biology from a previous job doing transplant coordinating, and he's adamant that if I were to be told I'd failed the medical, he could take the DVLA to court with me on the grounds that raised GGT levels are by no means a guaranteed indicator of alcohol abuse, as clearly indicated by ses8532's post re: not drinking for 4 months.
 
Sb,

Thanks for the reply, made me feel a bit better about things, I'm just so worried.

I know I did wrong in the first place and I've certainly learnt my lesson I just want this all to be over.

Hoping to get another blood test in with my doctor before I have to book an appointment with DVLA.

I might also try Cranberry juice. So far I've just been drinking plenty of water and eating apples and bananas. I've also been careful with my diet for the last week or so to try and lose some weight.

My mates have been quite supportive and haven't been taking the p*@s out of me too much when I've had to drink non-alcoholic lager in their presence. Mind you I found a nice tasting one called Bavaria from Tesco and also Becks Blue is not bad!!!!!

Even though these lagers are non-alcoholic do you think they could contain other crap ingredients that could affect my levels? Maybe I should stop drinking them.

Hope all goes well for you, let us know how you get on.



ses
 
I did consider drinking becks blue but was under the impression even that stuff has a tiny amount of alcohol in it? I could be wrong.


Sb,

Thanks for the reply, made me feel a bit better about things, I'm just so worried.

I know I did wrong in the first place and I've certainly learnt my lesson I just want this all to be over.

Hoping to get another blood test in with my doctor before I have to book an appointment with DVLA.

I might also try Cranberry juice. So far I've just been drinking plenty of water and eating apples and bananas. I've also been careful with my diet for the last week or so to try and lose some weight.

My mates have been quite supportive and haven't been taking the p*@s out of me too much when I've had to drink non-alcoholic lager in their presence. Mind you I found a nice tasting one called Bavaria from Tesco and also Becks Blue is not bad!!!!!

Even though these lagers are non-alcoholic do you think they could contain other crap ingredients that could affect my levels? Maybe I should stop drinking them.

Hope all goes well for you, let us know how you get on.



ses
 
YouTeeAitch,

I think that's why I though it was worth mentioning about CDT. The fact that GGT, in particular, can be influenced by other non-alcoholic issues could be why they are looking to use some other more reliable means of testing

The problem is I don't know whether the screening for CDT is actually in effect as of now or what it means and how its tested. My doctor didn't know much about it. The attached is the only information I have on CDT which was e-mailed to my doctor from the DVLA.
 
YouTeeAitch,

Forgot to mention, you are right that Becks Blue does have about 0.05% of alcohol in it but the Bavaria one from Tesco is a true 0% lager which is the one I've been drinking in the main.

I only had 2 days on Becks Blue.
 
Iv seen online that normal lft levels are
Alt 9-52
Ast 10-35
ggt 0-42
alp 30-120
They say it is measured in multiples with these levels
known as u.l.n think that stands for upper levels normal.
See this test is daft....
If someone is 50 year old drank everyday from the
age of 18 to 30 then went t-total for 20 year and his liver
was damaged would he fail??
Theres lots of unanswered questions.
The way i see it and i hope im right they are tryin to
sort out people like us weekend drinkers or normal people
that have a social life from the frosty jack drinkers who have
vodka for breakfast
 
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