Hro medical (your experiences)

[Wickwick]

I'm hoping this thread can become a sticky and be the one stop place to compare peoples experiences. It can be difficult as it seems (quite understandably) that people don't come back on here once they have got their licences back but I would appreciate anyone who does to please fill in the following below and post:

1) Date you applied for new licence:
2) Date when you got the letter to book medical:
3) Date when you sent letter back to book medical:
4) Date of Medical:
5) Date of Results and Outcome:


Also Please state:

1) Period of abstinence prior to actual medical Date:
2) Drinking habits prior to abstinence period:

[Loulou321]

1) Date you applied for new licence: 14/03/2016

2) Date when you got the letter to book medical: 24/03/2016

3) Date when you sent letter back to book medical: No letter sent back, jsut called up from details on letter 29/03/2016

4) Date of Medical: 07/04/2016

5) Date of Results and Outcome: 13/04/2016 - Phoned DVLA everyday from this point, at this date they had received my blood reports but no paperwork. I sent an email with a signature attached to request my bloods to be sent to myself.
19/04/2016 - Received blood report in the post (still no sign of paperwork until 20/04/2016)
21/04/2016 - Phoned DVLA who informed me that my licence had been issued.


6) Period of abstinence prior to actual medical Date: See below

7) Drinking habits prior to abstinence period: See below

Now I know there is a lot of debate on the medical front in regards to abstinence so I will share my own personal experience.
I am 22, female, around 60kg, 5'4, healthy, gym weekly, work etc. My drinking habits tend to be binges at the weekends. Sometimes around 2-3 bottles of wine in one sitting. I rarely drink in the week, maybe one or two if I go for dinner but it is mainly Friday & Saturday drinking. So, building up to the medical, I cut down a little from the start of February but I was still drinking a little. I had a big binge on 27/02/2016 and then drank again on 12/03/2016 (around 14-16 units), from this date I had one drink of one single measure 19/03/2016 - if you ignore the one drink on 19th that means I pretty much had just under 4 weeks alcohol free. I took no extra vitamins or anything like that. This gave me a CDT reading of 0.9%, answered no to all on questionnaire.

[shouldaknownbetter]

1) Date you applied for new licence: 14/03/2016

2) Date when you got the letter to book medical: 24/03/2016

3) Date when you sent letter back to book medical: No letter sent back, jsut called up from details on letter 29/03/2016

4) Date of Medical: 07/04/2016

5) Date of Results and Outcome: 13/04/2016 - Phoned DVLA everyday from this point, at this date they had received my blood reports but no paperwork. I sent an email with a signature attached to request my bloods to be sent to myself.
19/04/2016 - Received blood report in the post (still no sign of paperwork until 20/04/2016)
21/04/2016 - Phoned DVLA who informed me that my licence had been issued.


6) Period of abstinence prior to actual medical Date: See below

7) Drinking habits prior to abstinence period: See below

Now I know there is a lot of debate on the medical front in regards to abstinence so I will share my own personal experience.
I am 22, female, around 60kg, 5'4, healthy, gym weekly, work etc. My drinking habits tend to be binges at the weekends. Sometimes around 2-3 bottles of wine in one sitting. I rarely drink in the week, maybe one or two if I go for dinner but it is mainly Friday & Saturday drinking. So, building up to the medical, I cut down a little from the start of February but I was still drinking a little. I had a big binge on 27/02/2016 and then drank again on 12/03/2016 (around 14-16 units), from this date I had one drink of one single measure 19/03/2016 - if you ignore the one drink on 19th that means I pretty much had just under 4 weeks alcohol free. I took no extra vitamins or anything like that. This gave me a CDT reading of 0.9%, answered no to all on questionnaire.

I'm sorry, I meant to quote the original poster.

Nevertheless, this is my experience.

Despite having had my license back for three months now, I am more than happy to answer any questions or concerns anyone may have. From my medical 'experience' to travelling to the US or elsewhere..just ask, if I can help, I will.

1) I sent off my application and cheque on 09/12/15.

2) Received letter from DVLA requesting that I attend a medical on 23/12/15.

3) Booked medical via phone with GP surgery on 23/12/15, the same day I received my letter from DVLA.

4) Date of medical 25/01/16 at 0930hrs.

5) Called DVLA for an update on 04/02/16. Was told that my (10 year) license had been issued on 02/02/16. (Licence was waiting for me when I got home on 04/02/16) Asked for CDT reading but told that I needed to either scan my signed request letter or post a written, signed request. I posted a signed request on 05/02/16. Received a copy of lab report and full questionnaire/doctor's report on 18/02/16, dated 15/02/16. My CDT reading was 1.0%.

6) 23 full days of abstinence. My last drink was on 01/01/16 at about 1800hrs. Medical was at 0930 hrs on 25/01/16.

7) Was drinking about 8-10 units a day just about every day. Very rarely had a day off.

I am a reasonably healthy eater (apart from the drinking). I increased my consumption of fresh leafy green vegetables and fresh fruit. Cut down on processed foods and red meat. Basically, if a food was shown to have liver supporting properties, then I ate it. I drank hot ginger and lemon 'tea' every morning (about 400ml). Upped my intake of water from about 3 pints a day to approximately 6/7 pints a day (be careful when upping your water consumption, especially when in conjunction with unusual or excessive exercise. It is possible to "OD" on water!) I took doses of milk thistle, artichoke, turmeric and ginger extracts daily. I do not propose that they made a huge difference but they certainly can't hurt. I also exercise daily, combination of cardio, strengthening and stretching (yoga style movements).
I have no empirical evidence but either my dietary efforts helped (if even only a little) or the the much purported "12 week abstinence" period is wide of the mark. I have found clinical research papers stating anything from 7 days to 28 days for a half-life for CDT, so even the medical fraternity are "at odds" as to what may be the minimum time of abstinence. There are too many factors involved, from previous drinking habits to weight, lifestyle, fitness and individual physiology to say with absolute certainty that a specific time period will reduce your CDT reading. Obviously, the longer you abstain, the better but I would say that someone looking at a mere 3/4 weeks of abstinence need not give up hope.

[Wickwick]

This is invaluable information, thanks, keep them coming.

One further query, is there a time frame that you have to book your medical within? Reason why I ask is if someone may want to buy some time to increase thier abstience period.

[shouldaknownbetter]

This is invaluable information, thanks, keep them coming.

One further query, is there a time frame that you have to book your medical within? Reason why I ask is if someone may want to buy some time to increase thier abstience period.

Once you have sent your application form and payment to DVLA, as an HRO, you have set the wheels in motion. DVLA will write back, asking you to attend a medical examination, where a sample of your blood will be taken for analysis at a lab. They are looking for CDT, a blood serum, which can give a reasonably reliable indication of excessive alcohol consumption.

You have 6 weeks from the DATE of their letter to you to attend your medical exam.

This is regardless of how long it takes for this letter to get to you. The 6 week window starts from the date of them writing to you...something that took me by surprise and I'm sure many others.

[Wickwick]

Once you have sent your application form and payment to DVLA, as an HRO, you have set the wheels in motion. DVLA will write back, asking you to attend a medical examination, where a sample of your blood will be taken for analysis at a lab. They are looking for CDT, a blood serum, which can give a reasonably reliable indication of excessive alcohol consumption.

You have 6 weeks from the DATE of their letter to you to attend your medical exam.

This is regardless of how long it takes for this letter to get to you. The 6 week window starts from the date of them writing to you...something that took me by surprise and I'm sure many others.

This is excellent advice, thank you, I imagine so many people are unaware of these aspects. I hope more can post so good comparisons can be made.

[shouldaknownbetter]

This is excellent advice, thank you, I imagine so many people are unaware of these aspects. I hope more can post so good comparisons can be made.

May I add that the turnaround time for my blood test results and my questionnaire/doctor's report was very quick. To be fair to DVLA, the letter requesting me to attend a medical was probably delayed by high Christmas/seasonal postal demands, although they only sent it by second class post and only after my cheque cleared.

[jfh1991]

15/03/2016 applied for licence
30/03/2016 recieved letter from dvla re: booking the medical with doctor
25/4/2016 was the date available for my medical
27/04/2016 my ban is officialy up
05/05/2016 Today i checked on gov.co.uk website it now says that i am eligable to drive :-)

[Wickwick]

Can I ask, how long did you abstain for? What were your drinking habits prior to that and did you get your results??

[jevboy]

Just received my licence today 21/5/16 after 2 long years off the road!

I had my medical on the 11/5 it was very quick and painless, but I was certainly worried about the CDT Test and results as I had been quite a heavy drinker throughout my ban, maybe 2 bottles of wine a night and some beers on top, I cant remember a day where I hadn't drank.

So anyway I sent away for my licence on the 10th of march, and I stopped drinking from that date, it took 4 weeks for the dvla to send me the medical application form, and then a further 4 weeks til the earliest medical was available. I must say the first month wasn't too tough but the next month was hard not to have a drink! I did cave and had a bottle of wine 1 week before my medical, I this is what caused me to worry about the CDT Test. But I was ok and got my licence back today! As well as not drinking for nearly 2 months I did also take milk thistle twice daily, and started running again.