My Proposed Pre HRO Medical Schedule

Convicted Driver Insurance

Drongo

Member
Hi there
I have read lots of useful information on this wonderful forum and wanted to ask about my own plan.

I wondered if anyone agrees/disagrees and can advise if the plan I have is sound ? It could be too optimistic or it could be over long, I don't know for sure.

Normally I do drink quite a bit, but never huge amounts; typically up to about 20 pints of normal lager a week, spread over 3, 4 or 5 days - I always have at least a couple of dry days a week, just cos it seems like a good idea to take a break.

I am thinking of not having any drink at all for the next four weeks.
Then applying for my licence and medical - With the time it will take to arrange the medical that appears to give me 10 weeks dry prior to the day.
I think that should be ample, but any thoughts are most welcome.
If is not enough, than so be it; I would just rather not stop drinking indefinitely as that in itself makes it more of a chore.
 
Hi there
I have read lots of useful information on this wonderful forum and wanted to ask about my own plan.

I wondered if anyone agrees/disagrees and can advise if the plan I have is sound ? It could be too optimistic or it could be over long, I don't know for sure.

Normally I do drink quite a bit, but never huge amounts; typically up to about 20 pints of normal lager a week, spread over 3, 4 or 5 days - I always have at least a couple of dry days a week, just cos it seems like a good idea to take a break.

I am thinking of not having any drink at all for the next four weeks.
Then applying for my licence and medical - With the time it will take to arrange the medical that appears to give me 10 weeks dry prior to the day.
I think that should be ample, but any thoughts are most welcome.
If is not enough, than so be it; I would just rather not stop drinking indefinitely as that in itself makes it more of a chore.


See my thread on the half life of the CDT test. It takes 14 days for your CDT levels to half of what they will be at the start of your abstinence. Most levels will return to to normal after about a month.

It's a job to say what your CDT level is right now. You don't drink extremely heavily, but 20 pints a week is still quite a lot.

10 weeks will easily bring your CDT levels down to normal. Recently most of us have achieved this with 4 weeks of abstinence.
 
Hi there
I have read lots of useful information on this wonderful forum and wanted to ask about my own plan.

I wondered if anyone agrees/disagrees and can advise if the plan I have is sound ? It could be too optimistic or it could be over long, I don't know for sure.

Normally I do drink quite a bit, but never huge amounts; typically up to about 20 pints of normal lager a week, spread over 3, 4 or 5 days - I always have at least a couple of dry days a week, just cos it seems like a good idea to take a break.

I am thinking of not having any drink at all for the next four weeks.
Then applying for my licence and medical - With the time it will take to arrange the medical that appears to give me 10 weeks dry prior to the day.
I think that should be ample, but any thoughts are most welcome.
If is not enough, than so be it; I would just rather not stop drinking indefinitely as that in itself makes it more of a chore.

Hi there.

Your plan sounds sensible.

Be aware that you have a 6 week window from the DATE of the letter that DVLA send to you, requesting that you attend the medical, in which to go to the appointed doctors surgery. Also, the surgery may not have availability right at the end of the 6 week timeframe.
However, with 4 weeks before you apply, say a week for DVLA to cash your cheque and print the letter, a week for it to reach you and say 3 weeks later you attend your appointment would bring you up to 9 weeks. Going by your reported previous drinking habits this should be plenty of time to bring your CDT reading right down. It could be a couple or three weeks longer than the 9 I've estimated above, which is even better.

Personally, I was drinking more than you report, very rarely having a 'day off'. I had 23 days of abstinence (about a third of the time you're planning on!) and achieved a reading of 1.0%, well within the DVLA 'green zone' parameters.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please ask and if I can help, I will.
 
Thank you both very much for the input :)

Its a week tomorrow since I had a glass of lager and to be honest I hadn't noticed the lack of the stuff, but I often go a week or so without a beer - its next week it may start to drag a little!

Having done some further reading up, I would guesstimate my typical CDT level to be somewhere about 3%ish; if that is the case it should return to the "green light" zone by the next weekend (14 days).....
If it is on the high side (say 4.5%) another fortnight should see it go back down into that zone.

That means I could apply for my Licence on or about the first of June :O

Add on 4 weeks for me to get a medical and that gives a total of 57 dry days, or just over 8 weeks.

To be honest, if I am not "in the zone" by that time, I am not all that sure I deserve my licence back!
 
Thank you both very much for the input :)

Its a week tomorrow since I had a glass of lager and to be honest I hadn't noticed the lack of the stuff, but I often go a week or so without a beer - its next week it may start to drag a little!

Having done some further reading up, I would guesstimate my typical CDT level to be somewhere about 3%ish; if that is the case it should return to the "green light" zone by the next weekend (14 days).....
If it is on the high side (say 4.5%) another fortnight should see it go back down into that zone.

That means I could apply for my Licence on or about the first of June :O

Add on 4 weeks for me to get a medical and that gives a total of 57 dry days, or just over 8 weeks.

To be honest, if I am not "in the zone" by that time, I am not all that sure I deserve my licence back!

If you've got 80 quid, get a private test? This will help allay any concerns you may have. I did that with Medichecks and can recommend them.
 
Two weeks in, and I can't say I have missed having a drink (almost) at all :) That isn't to say I would't mind one, but I don't want one, if anything I miss the taste of lager, not the effects.

I did think about having the Medichecks private test as mentioned by White43, then I thought of £80 in my pocket!

Unless my maths is seriously flawed, almost anyone would be in the pass zone after 4 weeks.
Even with a CDT as high as 7% (which I assume would mean drinking a huge amount every single day) one would be down to 1.75% within four weeks.
Allowing for the possibility of a CDT half-life at the high end (21 days) I should be well in the pass zone in another 4 weeks.

So I think that means I can apply for my license in the next week or so?
 
On Saturday I had some beers - 10.2units of it to be precise.

I assume that this won't be affecting my CDT levels as a one off, and the rest of the week will be dry again.

I intend now to send off my licence application form next week, so by the time they receive it, I will have been dry for 27 out of 28 days.

The CDT test is aimed at catching dependent drinkers not those who have the occasional drink I assume? With CDT been raised by consuming 50g a day for seven days it seems to be that way.
 
Over a month passed now- Not dry but only slightly damp ;)

Last weekend saw 15 units down the hatch over two days, this weekend so far is dry but it is only half nine Sunday morning.....

So, in 31 days I have had 32 units of alcohol - that is even less than "nanny" tells us is more or less OK.


There has been no rush to get my licence back, I feel the process of waiting for it is keeping me nicely to this level of drinking, and it is becoming my "new normal". I have dropped from drinking about 40 units spread over a week (which whilst hardly excessive, is certainly the high side of moderate!) to about 15 in two goes.
 
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