To appeal this driving ban?

[GaiusHelenMohiam]

Around ten years ago I was very ill, later diagnosed with bipolar, I attempted suicide more than once. I surrendered my driving license.

After about four years I was stable, right meds, right lifestyle, working and all going well. So I reapplied and got my license back. I’ve then had to reapply every year, always successfully.

While in the throes of my illness I struggled a fair bit with alcohol and asked my GP for help. I attended a group for a couple of months, and left the group with the coordinators blessing after a progress review, she said I wasn’t really suited to it as it was aimed at dependent drinkers whereas I was a binge drinker.

This means that I have to have a blood test for my license. It’s always a bit insulting because literally all the literature that comes with the appointment is aimed at High Risk Offenders who drink drive.

I’ve never changed my drinking habits before the test and have always had moderate results.

Anyway Covid delays have meant my reapplication took nearly a year this time (I’ve been allowed to drive while waiting) and I went for my blood test last month.

The results came this morning, again moderate. But the letter says as I have a ‘history of alcohol dependency’ I am banned from driving for a year and have to be abstinent for a year before I can reapply.

What the fuck? Does anyone know if this is worth appealing? I’m not and have never been alcohol dependent, I think there is a mistake in my medical records. I have had my license renewed every year for the past six with no issues at all and this is the first time ‘alcohol dependence’ has been mentioned. They’ve never said I need to be abstinent, just not in the red zone.

I’m kicking myself for not abstaining for a month before the test tbh. But it’s always been fine. I’m fucked without my car, I work more than full time and finish very late, no public transport.

Does anyone know what my chances are of appealing?

I'm still really sorry. It must have come at a real shock and the numbers don't leap out as significant unless you know the thresholds. If you see 2.1% next to 2.3%, you will think they're very similar. Unfortunately, the test has a very narrow window and you are in the zone.

Fuck the driving license - aren't you more worried about your liver health and things like cardiovascular or breast cancer risks?!

Alcohol is terrifying in a way, as it's so easy for intake to creep up gradually over time.

Hi OP, as someone who works in the vicinity of healthcare medicals, if the situation is as you describe, this will be a remedial error. We see this sort of thing constantly with PIP payments; the initial decision is rushed and inaccurate; with my patients 80% who appeal their decisions are overturned. The DVLA tends to be a little more reasonable, as there are no financial incentives to fail people. This will probably be a lost in translation issue, where the water between dependence and previous misuse has been muddied and the wrong person has been holding the rubber stamp. I suggest speak to GP to confirm your alcohol misuse is historic and connected to a prior MH diagnosis, and get advice from CAB. You may find your appeal more successful than anticipated - good luck!

It might reassure you to know that it only takes 1-2 months of abstinence to bring CDT to normal levels <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.labnet.health.nz/testmanager/index.php%3Ffuseaction%3Dmain.DisplayTest%26testid%3D501%23:~:text%3DCDT%2520has%2520a%2520long%2520half,levels%2520to%2520return%2520to%2520normal.&ved=2ahUKEwifwNe8u6r2AhXOTMAKHRS_A-cQFnoECAUQBQ&usg=AOvVaw29kFoiRhXANcqJblAomv1F" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">source.

@CassandraCalled

Hi OP, as someone who works in the vicinity of healthcare medicals, if the situation is as you describe, this will be a remedial error. We see this sort of thing constantly with PIP payments; the initial decision is rushed and inaccurate; with my patients 80% who appeal their decisions are overturned. The DVLA tends to be a little more reasonable, as there are no financial incentives to fail people. This will probably be a lost in translation issue, where the water between dependence and previous misuse has been muddied and the wrong person has been holding the rubber stamp. I suggest speak to GP to confirm your alcohol misuse is historic and connected to a prior MH diagnosis, and get advice from CAB. You may find your appeal more successful than anticipated - good luck!

The OP has a level of 2.3%. That puts her in the red zone if she was considered alcohol dependent and beyond the license failure zone if she was considered just to 'misuse' alcohol.

Sounds like a justified ban and a year to get your life in order TBH.

Why are you drinking before a blood test for alcohol? If you can't go without before something you claim is vital to you, then I think you need to reevaluate your alcohol usage

You sound like you have a dependency to me. Using alcohol to unwind regularly.

Judging by the screenshots another poster shared all you had to do was not binge drink for 2 weeks.

If you count as binge drinking twice a week then that's at least twice a week you aremt safe to drive.

You say you dont drive hungover but clearly your levels are high and you said you drink to unwind from work and you need your car to commute so hoe does that work?

What alcohol have you drank in the last month?

So no more relying on a big glass of wine to unwind

If you have been relying on wine to unwind, that indicates there could be an issue with alcohol. The numbers also suggest it.

Sorry op.

@ThymePoultice you say “The revocation was due to alcohol related points”

But that isn’t what OP said. Nowhere does she say she ever drove while drunk. She voluntarily gave up her licence due to her bipolar!

I drink! I drive! But never together … that’s is normal.

Found this online, if it's any help. It says 2.3% is in the Amber, not red, zone.

Found something that specifically talks about binge drinking too, and how that can affect these levels.

[quote EvenTheReceptionStaffHaveLeft]@ThymePoultice you say “The revocation was due to alcohol related points”

But that isn’t what OP said. Nowhere does she say she ever drove while drunk. She voluntarily gave up her licence due to her bipolar!

I drink! I drive! But never together … that’s is normal.[/quote]
Oh my good lord. Rest the thread properly.

The most recent development is they’ve revoked her licence because of her blood test result.

We know it happened because OP told us it happened.

CDT normal is 0-1.6% binge drinking and you saying you don’t drink and drive doesn’t look at the wider picture. You might get home and have a glass to unwind - that is not going to take you out of the normal range is it?

Binge drinking can affect you the next day, the day after, the day after that and then there is the long term damage.

Please seek help the amount of alcohol you are consuming.

A score of 1.6 is normal

I can easily see how I’ve drank more than I thought I had, large glass of wine most nights and a night out in the two weeks before.

Stupid stupid.

I think I’ve lost sight of normal since before Christmas. I’ve just been a ball of stress.

[quote raspberrymuffin]@mummykel16 Are you seriously suggesting that no one who needs to drive should ever drink, just in case the DVLA gets hold of some incorrect information and thinks they're an alcoholic?

When I had a really stressful job I used to binge drink, I.e. drink a couple of beers and a whole bottle of wine on a Friday night, never when I had to drive the next day. Eventually I stopped doing that. I didn't have an alcohol problem and I was never a risk to anyone on the roads, I was just someone coping with stress in a way that wasn't particularly healthy. I think this is very normal, and not grounds for being treated like an actual alcoholic.[/quote]
Was this meant to be for me?

If you are only drinking one glass of wine a night then you shouldn't be getting these numbers.

So either

1. You are underestimating what you are actually drinking. Or

1. You have a problem with your liver and need to see a gp

@GaiusHelenMohiam

It just seems ridiculous to me that I’m being penalised for absolutely no wrongdoing.

All because of a bipolar diagnosis.

Punished for continuing to drink

@Bromse

Please do appeal. You are not alcohol dependent. It's a ridiculous decision.

Why isn't she, if you know you have a test coming and still drink that's being dependent

Large glass of wine meaning half a bottle? Maybe 3/4 of a bottle? Every night?

Plus more at weekends. It’s too much. You know it is. You’ve done so well to put your life back together. Please don’t throw it away now!

You're not being honest with yourself, OP. I say this as someone who drinks very very heavily myself, and my husband is a (three years' sober) alcoholic.

You don't get into the second highest of four categories for having the occasional glass of wine.

The stupid wanky replies with the hackneyed shite about "OOOOHH MUMSNET FINKS YOU'RE AN ALCOHOLIC IF U DRINK A THIMBLE OF SHERRY LOLOLOLOL" don't help.

[quote EvenTheReceptionStaffHaveLeft]@ThymePoultice you say “The revocation was due to alcohol related points”

But that isn’t what OP said. Nowhere does she say she ever drove while drunk. She voluntarily gave up her licence due to her bipolar!

I drink! I drive! But never together … that’s is normal.[/quote]
Do you also have bipolar disorder? Do you understand the difference that makes?

You know you have these tests and even then you cannot moderate your drinking, thank goodness you are having them and they are showing that you do have a problem, that you are in total denial about, keeping other drivers safe. You're not managing your psychiatric illness if you aren't managing your drinking. Your mh diagnosis is a red herring, you are drinking too much, all the time and its showing in your results. You can fix this.

@GaiusHelenMohiam

It might be that someone has seen the referral and taken that to mean I’ve been diagnosed with dependency. That’s the only thing I can think of. But tbh the GP just looked for a local support group and sent me to the nearest. I certainly never said I was dependant, but I was definitely self medicating with booze. The group was literally people having whisky with their cornflakes, with the shakes and having to wean off. I just cracked a bottle of wine a few (too many) times a week.

Sorry, but I think you’re in denial. Self medicating is a dependency. You said you were a binge drinker, then say you cracked a bottle of wine a few too many times a week. That’s not binge drinking. Government have this to say: *Guide to definition of misuse There is no singular definition to embrace all the variables within alcohol misuse – but DVLA offers the following: A state that causes, because of consumption of alcohol, disturbance of behaviour, related disease or other consequences likely to cause the patient, their family or society present or future harm and that may or may not be associated with dependence. The relevant classification code for alcohol misuse is World Health Organization F10.1 (ICD-10)*

You’ve had these tests very regularly and appear not to have not been completely clear of alcohol. If I’d been in your shoes, I’d have made damn sure I didn’t drink any alcohol if I needed my license for my job but you appear to have continued drinking to a greater or lesser degree.