Medication and driving

Yes, it is definitely possible that the tramadol would show up on a drug test. The gabapentin and the amitriptyline would not. However, plenty of people have a drug test which shows positive for some legitimate medication. Generally the first-level drug test which is done might be a urine test. These tests are good at picking up substances but not precise at saying what the substance is. For example lots of legitimate medicines such as codeine painkillers will test positive on the opiate test but it doesn’t mean the person is taking something they shouldn’t be.
At that point the company should arrange for a second level test done in a laboratory which is much more expensive and only done if the first screening test shows up something. This test will identify which particular substance is present. At this stage it will become clear that it is tramadol in your case and so long as you have declared that in advance and so long as the quantity of tramadol showing up on the test matches someone who is taking a proper prescribed amount, then you will be in the clear.
Unfortunately sometimes people end up being suspended from work for a day or two until the result of the laboratory test comes back.
You need to remember that there is nothing illegal about taking proper prescribed drugs in the right dosage even if they are something which shows up as a positive test. It’s just important that you can prove you’re taking them legitimately.
Of course in your case, it is possible that the company might be concerned about you doing a safety critical job if you are taking all of those three medicines which can potentially be sedating. Most of the bus and the logistics companies we work for would routinely refer you to us for an assessment if you were driving on that medication, although provided we were satisfied that the person wasn’t having harmful side-effects we wouldn’t generally stop them from driving on the medication.
When we are doing a routine DVLA driver’s medical the main thing we want to know about when someone is taking strong medication is whether it affects their safety and concentration, rather than the actual name of the substance.
Hope this helps.