12 month ban for misuse of drugs

Convicted Driver Insurance

PaulBoswell

New Member
I'm on a OST (opioid substitute therapy) for 18 months now, taking 8mg Subutex (buprenorphine), I was reduced to a low amount where as I started suffering from the symptoms (anxiety, depression) I used opiates to deal with in the first place. At the same time I'm prescribed pregabalin. When my dose was low I started using more pregabalin than I was prescribed, I informed my clinic of that fact. I was told that the pregabalin might make me unfit to drive and that I should inform the DVLA, the doctor actually phoned me to tell me he had legal advice to say that if I did not inform the DVLA then he was legally allowed to do so without my permission as I was a danger. They were actually quite hostile to me during that period which I did not expect, I volunteered the information to them seeking help. They made me see my GP at the same time for blood tests and an ECG as they were sure I was doing damage to myself, I went to the GP and explained the situation, ECG and blood tests came back without any problems. The only marker that came up was for loss of muscle but I'd been two weeks without gym, I was on a heavy routine four hours a day which I stopped during that period.

So I informed the DVLA, this was already at a period where I had returned to normal usage of pregabalin, long story short the DVLA have revoked my driving license until I have been free from drug dependence/misuse for 12 months. OST, from what I can tell, does not lose you your license, it is the misuse of pregabalin that is the problem here. As I'm not misusing Pregabalin and have 18 months of clean tests with the clinic I find this unfair. Seems that the clinic tricked me into reporting this to the DVLA, I do not approve of the ends justify the means sort of tactics. I've always done what the clinic has told me, I've been referred to a mental health team who believe that I am the Autistic spectrum and have been referred to the local Autistic group. I've been struggling my whole life and self-medicated with opiates, Subutex has worked well for me but I'm stopping it as soon as possible, detox March 6th as I will have to find other ways to cope. I need my license and the letter today from the DVLA is going to make my life very difficult from here on in.
 
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