Medication and Riding

[Littlepeahead]

Originally Posted by Blapper

Interesting thread. I've had one of my three day migraines which I managed to beat into the background for my birthday with a cocktail of Migraleve, Ibuprophen and Paracetamol (lots). I drove too (I felt absolutely fine) but this thread makes me wonder if I would have shown up on a test as DUI.

Sorry to go off topic but have you asked your doc to try Proprananol the betablocker along with a hefty dose of Solgar Roboflavin every day. So far I'm finding this is working for me having tried triptans, Topomax, Naproxen and every other drug they can think of.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Blapper

Interesting thread. I've had one of my three day migraines which I managed to beat into the background for my birthday with a cocktail of Migraleve, Ibuprophen and Paracetamol (lots). I drove too (I felt absolutely fine) but this thread makes me wonder if I would have shown up on a test as DUI.

Like I said earlier there are two parts to the offence. It's not actually illegal to drive or ride whilst under the influence of a drug. If you think about it lots of people take all kinds of medicines (even an aspirin for a headache) and hopefully it does something for them (i.e.: they are under the influence of it).

You have to be "unfit" to drive/ride, which means that your ability to drive/ride has to be impaired, and there needs to be evidence that this is the case, in other words you need to be driving or riding badly....

Having established that you are driving/riding badly they then need to prove that it is down to drugs (and not just that you a rubbish rider.... ho hum). There are several ways to do this, most commonly is is done with medical evidence of opinion (the doctor who examined you at the police station) combined with the results of blood tests or your own admission (and possession) of a drug. Unlike alcohol there is no legal "limit" for drugs, you can test for as many legal (or illegal) substances as you like but provided there is no evidence of your ability to drive/ride being impaired there is no offence committed.

Oh and any halfway decent GP will tell you not to drive if you feel even the slightest bit affected by anything they are prescribing, not giving you a statement saying you can.....

[NTECUK]

Or if you get pulled for a light out and get a the attention because any half decent plod know what weed smells like even if your passenger was the naughty one...

[Blapper]

Originally Posted by Littlepeahead

Sorry to go off topic but have you asked your doc to try Proprananol the betablocker along with a hefty dose of Solgar Roboflavin every day. So far I'm finding this is working for me having tried triptans, Topomax, Naproxen and every other drug they can think of.

Hi Lph, no she gave me Naproxen but I stopped taking them because they made me feel weird (out of body sort of feeling). At the moment we are trying a food diary as I am a bit naughty with cheese.

[Blapper]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Like I said earlier there are two parts to the offence. It's not actually illegal to drive or ride whilst under the influence of a drug. If you think about it lots of people take all kinds of medicines (even an aspirin for a headache) and hopefully it does something for them (i.e.: they are under the influence of it).

You have to be "unfit" to drive/ride, which means that your ability to drive/ride has to be impaired, and there needs to be evidence that this is the case, in other words you need to be driving or riding badly....

Having established that you are driving/riding badly they then need to prove that it is down to drugs (and not just that you a rubbish rider.... ho hum). There are several ways to do this, most commonly is is done with medical evidence of opinion (the doctor who examined you at the police station) combined with the results of blood tests or your own admission (and possession) of a drug. Unlike alcohol there is no legal "limit" for drugs, you can test for as many legal (or illegal) substances as you like but provided there is no evidence of your ability to drive/ride being impaired there is no offence committed.

Oh and any halfway decent GP will tell you not to drive if you feel even the slightest bit affected by anything they are prescribing, not giving you a statement saying you can.....

I find that all a bit 'grey' for me to get behind it? For instance I wouldn't call 35 in a 30 rubbish riding or an indication that any prescription drugs are impairing your judgement, but it would give them a reason to pull you over and give you a routine breath-test in case you had a few too many the night before. The question then is does their breathalyser pick up these prescription drugs and/or give any indication of level? I don't know, but I doubt it.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Blapper

Hi Lph, no she gave me Naproxen but I stopped taking them because they made me feel weird (out of body sort of feeling). At the moment we are trying a food diary as I am a bit naughty with cheese.

Naproxen are horrible, I had gout once (over-indulgence in bacon baguettes LOL) and the Naproxen they gave me also made me feel very weird. My wife used to have migraines, turned out to be fresh orange juice (only drank it when we went to cinema, she originally thought it was flickering of the screen that triggered the headaches).

Foods are a well known trigger, nuts, red wine, chocolate, cheese (and fresh orange juice apparently ).

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Blapper

I find that all a bit 'grey' for me to get behind it? For instance I wouldn't call 35 in a 30 rubbish riding or an indication that any prescription drugs are impairing your judgement, but it would give them a reason to pull you over and give you a routine breath-test in case you had a few too many the night before. The question then is does their breathalyser pick up these prescription drugs and/or give any indication of level? I don't know, but I doubt it.

It is all indeed very "grey". I used the term "badly" because it's the easiest and most understood expression, weaving or driving inaccurately, hesitating unnecessarily, sudden or erratic movements may all be signs that someones driving/riding is impaired, however they could just as easily mean they are an inexperienced driver or on the phone! Having stopped them the job then is to investigate and often an exchange of words is all that is needed. If the driver or rider appears intoxicated (and trust me, after a while you become fairly good at spotting such things) the first check is for alcohol. Breath tests only detect alcohol so if that's negative you consider drugs. There have been trials with patches that are supposed to detect certain narcotics, but as I explained earlier the mere presence of a drug doesn't necessarily complete the offence, you need to prove that the impairment was due to the drug. From my experience with them the patches were an operational waste of time, if anything they caused more problems than they solved. Their real value was in the publicity they generated, people thought the police could now "test" you for drugs at the roadside so there was a certain deterrent value in them.

Now that I'm retired I'm allowed to have a far more practical view about people who ride motorcycles whilst potentially impaired through alcohol or drugs. I say feel free to do so. In the vast majority of cases it is the rider who comes off significantly worse so let Darwin's law apply.....

[ethariel]

Cheers for the comments all. My poor bike is stranded in the back garden at the moment, im being moved up to the 10 microgram/hour patches and still popping DF's and naproxen too. Better safe than sorry for now, least till i can kick the oral meds into touch.

The 5microgram patches have dropped my chronic pain by about 30-40% so doubling the dose may just do the trick (well I'll find out in a few days they are going on in an hour). Half of last year on the train and all of this year so far is a killer

[NTECUK]

Naproxen isn't good for you liver.
Plus there's a reason why your taking the stomach protection.its nasty.
I have stopped my Naproxen and just using the Capsaicin. And acupuncture

[Blapper]

I have just come out (I hope) of a few weeks of migraines during which my Ibuprophen dose was a bit high/prolonged. Not by medical standards excessive, but my liver hurts at the moment.

I tried Naproxen, but I felt like I was 'spectating' when I took it so I stopped.