How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

Medical Drink Drive CDT test help please? I cracked :(

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Marrisab

Member
Hi there

Okay so I was banned for 24 months yet reduced to 18 with the drink awareness course. My ban is up mid Jan. Since the ban I have given up on many occasions, 4-6 weeks at a time then something seems to come up such as a birthday and I end up having a good old binge drink (only the same as my friends but seems to affect me more? I must have a low tolerance. Well my grandma died a few weeks back and I had a few days of binge drinking (I am not proud, I feel so ashamed) but it's happened and I have my medical in 2 weeks.

I was drinking strong wine to 'deal with' (stupidity) the upcoming Christmas. I had previously gone 2 weeks with zero yet a binge before that then approx 4 weeks nothing previous to that. I'm worried this will be a fail of the blood test? I read that CDT levels can be detected 7 - 14 days yet some people on forums say way longer. I don't know what to do. I can't afford the private blood test, even so I'd want to wait the full 14 days to take it so I really have messed up.

I'm in no way an every day drinker. I used to drink wine every night or 2 but stopped that over a year ago. It's these 3-4 day binges. Soon as I start it makes me feel so bad the next day I buy another bottle. Will these binges have ruined my chance of my licence back? If I don't drink anything at all over 2 weeks will it pass me? It's so confusing. The articles I read from research / doctors etc say:

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, known as “%CDT,” is a blood test to detect heavy alcohol use (five or more drinks a day) over the past two weeks.1 This alcohol biomarker can provide clinicians with an objective way to screen and monitor clients in treatment for alcohol use disorders

Over the past 2 weeks? But I read elsewhere up to 12 weeks.

Im in my mid 30's and healthy (when not drinking) I go to the gym etc. So worried they'll say no to my licence all over a binge.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Please don't hate on me I'm so ashamed but everyone cracks sometimes. I was hanging around with the wrong people who knew about my test but basically said ahh do it anyway. I will not be going out over Christmas that's for sure!

Thanks again x
 
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Well it really is how long is a piece of string. On average a CDT lasts in the body for two weeks and almost all are gone after four weeks. So you are in a stronger position, but nothing is guaranteed.

If you don't mind me saying blaming your mates is pointless. The DVLA are testing you, to give you a licence. If they gave you a licence and you are pressured into drinking by friends and drink drive then the police aren't going to arrest your mates.

It is normal to go for a night out and have a skinful every so often which is why the CDT level allows for moderate drinking, but you should be in control of it. That is the whole point of this medical, to check you have self control so that you won't drink when you know you may have to drive.

That's not to lecture, just a reflection working in healthcare that most people with alcohol problems blame someone else for making them drink.
 
Mate, listen. You have said so many things that should tell you your problem. And this isn’t a lecture, as I blew way more than you, and have over a year to go before getting my licence back.
As an HRO... the point of the test is to find out if you have drinking under control. That you won’t hit a situation that will make you do the same thing again.
- Asking how long you can keep drinking before a test, shows you are still high risk.
- Stating that there are situations that will drive you to drink, PROVES that you don’t have control.
- You already know that some sources state the CDT test can dedect drinking over the last 6 months. And some say less... But you chose to ignore the worst case scenario and are hoping for the lesser.
- You still enjoy a “good old binge drink” despite desperately wanting your license back.

You are Absolutely not going to pass your CDT test if you have binge drinked over the last few weeks. And if you are really saying you can’t afford £80 to check, then you don’t even care. If you do your CDT test, and fail it... then there is another 1 year extension to your ban. Find the 80 quid.
 
People on here will not hate you, but there is no point in saying “never mind, it will be alright.” If you want sympathy then go and talk to your mates at the pub, they will tell you how unfair the system is.....
You have give us plenty of reasons why you drink, but no reason why you should not drink except that you want your licence back which, quite frankly, will only put other road users at risk.
To me, the drinking, followed by the shame and the drinking to cope with the shame, shows that you have the signs of being an alcoholic. They do not necessarily drink every day, like people think alcoholics do, but they do drink they do it to the extent that it takes over their life. At the very least you come under the category of a problem drinker.

You do seen to have an understanding of your drink pattern but lack the determination to do something about it. Go on, prove me wrong, go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and tell them how you drink and see what they say. After all what have you got to lose? Is is anonymous and if they say that you are not an alcoholic then you can just walk away and message me to say I got it wrong. On the other hand, maybe you will find the support that I think you need to deal with alcohol in your life.
 
Oh dear Marrisab, nothing that has been said by myself, TipsyNurse or DonkeyKong is nasty, just maybe a reality check.
You can either accept the advice in the spirit it was provided or return to your ‘friends’ for their advice to carry on regardless.
 
“In some cases, there are alcoholics who will go weeks or months at a time without drinking, but when they do drink, they tend to binge, and get into all sorts of trouble. So this can be difficult to self-diagnose, because the person can and does maintain abstinence for long periods of time, even though they always return to the bottle.”

https://www.disabled-world.com/medical/pharmaceutical/addiction/alcoholic-test.php

Try AA, prove me wrong........
 
I hope you come back to the forum as there is a wealth of info and experience on here - but some wont sugar coat it for you and some are totally anti drink driver (throw away the keys)

I would ask to delay your test if at all possible and get some weeks of abstinence under your belt - i believe you have a 6 week period from the date on the letter to take it.
 
What advice did you want? Your mates sound like a right laugh, if you fail the test don't worry, just explain to the DVLA it is their fault so they can still grant your licence?

There is no point blowing smoke up your arse here because no-one at the DVLA has any friends so they won't appreciate your unique situation.
 
Marrisab said:
Horrid ****ers. I go 4 - 6 weeks without drinking. ****s. ban me.
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To be honest, youve been given some sound advice here.. its up to you whether you take it.
I think your reply alone shows that some of the replies youve got has hit a "nerve" with you.

If you pop along to an AA meeting (plenty of people who are not alcoholic actually do) you'll be greeted warmly, offered a cup of coffee and they would usually do a "foundation meeting" to give you an insight into alcoholic traits. They will never tell you whether you are/are not an alcoholic, but offer support and empathy and pretty soon you'll find out whether youre either a social drinker, a heavy drinker or an alcoholic.

If anything, attendance at the meetings,12 months abstinence, letter from GP whilst you have to undergo a further 12 months ban from the roads will go in your favour once the year is up.

Try and stay positive, all the best :)
 
Yup it's all a bit harsh! Binge drinkers can never see themselves alcoholic as they can control the tap whenever ! , But here we have a poster only 2 weeks away from a full DVLA medical(after 24mth ban) cannot resist another binge drink poster has no issues despite a previous DUI despite posting arrogantly can manage 4 weeks without alcohol but yet within a simple timesacale frame from the DVLA (giving 2yrs to sort yearse out)you simply failed,, it's very harsh the truth sometimes but I would also agree with above you have Alcohol issues like once we probably all had! But do seek help best advice from already posted.
Take care Marrisab nobody is having a personal dig @ just you.
 
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Marrisab said:
Wow what a nasty forum. Thanks
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What you need to look at is what is really important to you. Do you need your licence but want a drink or want your licence but need a drink? You seem to fall into the 2nd category and that is precisely what this process is designed to identify. Is some situation going to put you in a position where you drink and then drive? From what you are saying; highly likely. I used to be in what rufus describes as the 'throw away the key' camp because of personal circumstances. My attitude has softened slightly as (rightly or wrongly) some people have the best of intentions by only 'having a couple' before driving and find they blow 40 and get done. I have no sympathy with anyone who blows 50, 60, 90, 100+. The breathaliser was introduced over half a century ago and there have been countless anti drink drive campaigns so anyone who says, "Oh I didn't know" or "Oh, my mates made me" has no excuse.

What you will get on this forum is sound advice. It may come across as harsh but if you want a tea and sympathy exchange then you need to look elsewhere.

Evaluate what you need and read through the comments again. If you still feel the same way then no amount of advice will ever change your attitude to the situation you find yourself in.
 
Hi again,
Just another thing to point out that it was said by the OP that they couldnt afford the CDT self-test... but if you think about what could have been saved from a couple of 3-4 days binge drinking then you could have probably afforded a test a few times over!

Ive never understood binge drinking, as I used to be a "problem drinker", ie someone who drinks on problems "its been a bad day, I'll have a few", but I do have a friend who had been hospitalised due to a 5 day bender and I asked out of curiosity how much financially it had cost him and he said it ran into a couple of hundred pounds.

It really made me re-think lifestyle choices and for every day or week that goes by that i dont buy that bottle of wine or that packet of cigarettes, or that pizza or kebab, I made a little chart and was amazed at how much i had saved! So much so that I sometimes treat myself to a taxi into work in bad weather... sometimes its the little things and little rewards that give you a huge boost and has a knock-on domino effect into other areas of your life :)

4 months left to go for me.. after a rather long 3 years without a car.. I often wonder if Ive "forgotten" how to drive lol...
 
attitudes and drinking levels have changed over the years

currently you are classed as a binge drinker and therefore have an alcohol problem if males who exceeded 8 units on their heaviest drinking day (around 4 pints of normal strength beer or three-quarters of a bottle of wine) and females who exceeded 6 units on their heaviest drinking day (around 3 pints of normal strength beer or 2 large glasses of wine).

not quite sure why there are different levels for male and female as they recently brought the safe levels down for males to equal females over the week

this includes anybody who does it for whatever reason - happy sad celebrate commiserate etc etc - it doesnt matter to them

personally 95% of all people I know exceed these limits in one session so would be classed as binge drinkers or over the weekly harmful levels when you add them all together but the thing is we have been caught drink driving
 
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on a side note - the private CDT advertised on this site - how is the blood taken , do you do it yourself ?
 
rufus said:
currently you are classed as a binge drinker and therefore have an alcohol problem if males who exceeded 8 units on their heaviest drinking day (around 4 pints of normal strength beer or three-quarters of a bottle of wine) and females who exceeded 6 units on their heaviest drinking day (around 3 pints of normal strength beer or 2 large glasses of wine).
that includes anybody who does it for whatever reason - happy sad celebrate commiserate etc etc - it doesnt matter
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under those guidelines that kind of rules pretty much 90% of people in my city as having an alcohol problem, as the people here tend to go out on a saturday aft/eve and consume much much more than 2 glasses of wine or 4 pints a night.
Quite scary to think really!
I think if queried on it though, they would be likely to say "well ive worked hard all week, im entitled to have a few pints on a saturday night..." It does seem to be the norm around this area of the UK I live in.
TBH its never really appealed to me and much prefer to meet up after work, have a glass of wine on a friday then go home, cook dinner and watch a bit TV, go to bed with a cuppa, but everyone is different I guess.... I just dont like the noise and environment of pubs or clubs.
 
rufus said:
on a side note - the private CDT advertised on this site - how is the blood taken , do you do it yourself ?
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apparently yes, Ive never done it myself, but Ive clicked on the links provided and it seems to be only a pin prick is required, then you post it back to them (obviously someone correct me if im wrong about that).
 
I think you will find the vast majority of the uk would be classed as binge drinkers today

but I am with you - cant stand going "down the town" much prefer a drink in the house or round a friend but that still counts
 
I rarely go out on a night... maybe once or twice a year to the theatre... too many people/noise for my liking. Thats why the 2month 7pm to 7am curfew didnt bother me at all, never noticed it apart from missing my midnight mass on Christmas Eve in 2015!
 
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