I just had a positive test for Alcohol. I didn't drink.
I'm almost 3 years in to a 5 year contract in Fl's IPN.
I'm not a delicate flower. I didn't dissolve into tears, I was LIVID. Immediately upon hearing what she had to say, I asked for a pEth test. I was told 'no' and that the protocol for a positive etoh is to test specimen B of the split screen and go for an eval. I have NEVER in my entire LIFE tested positive for alcohol. Alcohol is just not my thing and never was.
I told her I would think about it and hung up on her! Immediately I got my own order for a pEth test and self urine tested, just for overkill. I have support systems in place and discussed all of this with my group, we met the same night for our regular weekly group. I kept raging and got a lot of good feedback on how to keep this in perspective and to remember that it was my actions that put me here. That helped me, because despite how angry I am, staying in a 'victim' spot is never a good choice for me.
I've been at this long enough so that although I do carry a degree of guilt and shame, I don't let it keep me from standing up for myself when I truly feel something is not right. One of the suggestions I got from my group was to go ahead and have the split screen tested. I was operating with the notion that if I hadn't drank, it must be contamination. And if they retested, would they use a second specimen to try and hang me. Then I learned about 'incidental' exposure. And I had taken Apple Cider Vinegar for joint pain and inflammation. There is no ALCOHOL listed on the label. A friend of mine in group had tested positive for etoh in treatment from red wine vinegar. I contacted my case manager who always very kind ( she's not the one I hung up on ) and deposited the additional $55 dollars in Affinity to cover the cost of the split screen. Spent $249 in less than 24 hours attempting to prove my innocence.
I was told later to do any test I wanted, no test result from this point on was going to negate a positive etoh. Which is fine. I'm not looking to negate the positive, I'm looking to establish a 'look back' through a pEth so that the time the specimen was submitted is surrounded by other days, before and after. If I didn't act then, that time would elapse and it would be easier for them to try and say I'm drinking. And, I'm in the process of setting up the eval. They will request a hair test, another pEth, fingernail and urine. That is all a ok. I am one of the fortunate that can withstand the cost of anything they throw at me. And I'm convinced that's what it takes.
I had an email war going. I asked them why it took 8 days to report a positive urine? Weren't they supposed to be protecting the public from me? I asked them what has my urine been doing for 8 days, fermenting? After that last message, I was given THAT day only to retest the rescreen. I didn't get the message till 6pm. So, I missed the window. What was my urine doing for 8 days? Why did it take them so long to notify a nurse who had a positive for etoh? I could've been on an 8 day bender! I wasn't, but that's beside the point. And, they wanted to retest the same urine. Something is weird about this.
I'm in the process of setting up the eval. I started calling THAT day, the person in my area has yet to return my phone call. So, I'll probably have to go a city away. It's impossible to do this stuff quickly. Then, once I get an appointment, I have to give IPN 72 business hours to fax the info to the person I selected. SO glad I had that pEth test done myself, mind you. Time is ticking away... Time to let them look back during the time the positive screen was collected.
Can you think of anything else I can do to be proactive? I do not mind being tested, I do not mind another evaluation. But I would be devastated if I lost my time in monitoring. I would like to say here that the person who is my full time case manager is very kind. Just the battle axe who covered for her on her day off was not and I gave as well as I got. The way I see it is, I'm required to comply. There is nothing in my contract that implies I'm a whipping boy. So, I stood up for myself and I always come out swinging.
Being able to afford the storm just happens to be my only defense. And at least it's something... When I was first informed and the email war began, one of the things the lady said to me was, "you said you were having financial difficulties and not working." I did say I wasn't working when she told me to refrain from practice, but I didn't say I was having financial difficulties. She assumed I was having financial difficulties because I was not working. And, I'm sorry if I sound a little jaded, but I think she was banking on that. Participants with limited resources are more likely to take the least expensive path, which may or may not turn out in their favor. I don't know, this is my first time ever fighting the results of a drug screen.
There have been two times since I began this ( almost 3 years ago ) when I have behaved poorly. My very first ever drug screen came up dilute and I didn't behave poorly towards IPN, I was just upset and didn't want any trouble. I adjusted my fluid intake, made sure I did not void for 2 hours prior to any drug screen and never had another problem. And this...
I can withstand the troubles I've had finding employment, I did this to myself. I withstood the hell of trying to locate a facility to do my clinical, I did this to myself. But when I submit a drug screen, that's my insurance policy. I count on that above all else. So, when I popped positive for Alcohol ( of all things ), I reacted. My 2nd time reacting badly in IPN. My regular case manager would have handled this in a more professional manner, even if she thought I was full of ****. The fill in case manager was deliberately provocative. If she had taken the approach of a more seasoned case manager I might have proceeded differently, just given my explanation of what I had eaten, ingested, whatever. But, she didn't and I went on the warpath. Maybe it was a good thing, who knows. We'll see...
I go this Friday for an evaluation. My split screen results still are not back yet. When it first happened I started calling the providers they had given, there was one really close to home. I would prefer not to have to drive two hours, if possible. My case manager asked if I didn't want to wait until the split screen came back? I tried to relax, I've been having chest pain over this. The provider I wanted to go with couldn't see me till the first of June, IPN said too long. I drop down to the next, only one hour away. He can't see me until first of June. I asked what the big deal was? I have had a PEth test pulled on myself, if mine doesn't mean anything why is the provider's so important? So, I keep going down the line, this time 2 hours away. He can see me Friday ( split screen not back yet ), I said if I hear ONE word about this being TOO soon. They accepted it.
They aren't going to find anything in my hair, but whatever.
What's going to happen on Friday when the split finally comes back, regardless of what it is, AFTER you've spent all this money and worry and the evaluators stuff comes back negative? Will there be any apology? Doubtful. Will there be any admittance that someone jumped the gun on demanding an 'evaluation' (such a stupid name for nothing but a $$ grab, sorry) and now butts must be covered to avoid there looking as though there could de disagreement among CMs, at your expense?
I keep obsessively checking to see if my PEth has come back. I ordered it through requestatest.com, still nothing. It was done on the 18th, the day I found out I had a positive. It's says 6-10 business days and when I called the company this AM they have a record of it being 'in-progress.' I really don't know much about this stuff. In my 'heyday' (using term loosely as it was definitely no fun ) they tested for drugs. The screening for metabolites is something I know a little about, but I don't really fully understand everything involved. That's why I asked for my ng/ml, which I am not allowed to know. I just did the only thing I knew to do, test. I keep getting selected for screens, I've been selected twice since this happened. I live in abject terror of a dilute, hold it until I'm about to explode. Can you imagine a positive and then a dilute? I just keep my head down and pee.
As of this moment I have no result to my split screen and no PEth results. I do know that once I'm evaluated there will be an IPN clinical team meeting on my case. That will at least give me time to get the PEth back and send it to my case manager. I pray it's back by my evaluation.
I cannot describe how traumatized I am. And Cats, there will be no apology or restitution. At this point, I'm just hopeful that all of my tests can prove what I have said since this happened. I don't know why it came up positive, I only know I didn't drink.
I keep thinking about my poor liver, pancreas and kidneys and willing them to do their job. Show me healthy, process my toxins accurately ( no weird **** allowed ) and whatever. We will see...
This is my last stand. My husband feels we are throwing good money after a bad investment. I haven't even been able to secure employment. Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted and hope that my 'experience' can help someone else, if the process does indeed work the way it should. I'll probably turn out to have DIABEETUS! Ha, just kidding. Not really, I am fat and a slug. But, I'm working on that.
That's why I asked for my ng/ml, which I am not allowed to know. I just did the only thing I knew to do, test.
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Let me get this straight..... You have to PAY for these tests, but are not allowed to know the ng/ml, or EXACT results? I mean, isn't it your pee sample? Did you not pay these people to test it? And they have the audacity to state you are not allowed to know the outcome?
Wow this blows my mind and make me angry all at the same time. They forcing you to do an evaluation just so they can get more money out of you. They making you do more test which I'm sure going to come back negative. You did a peth on your own and that's still not enough for these people?! It's like they see a mistake and know how to squeeze every dollar out of you.... I hope that you don't have to do an evaluation.
I don't know what to say except you have the support of many in this corner of the internet and truly "there but for the grace of God go I". Any of us could be put in this outrageous situation and we would all pretty much have to react the same way you are. You have every right to be enraged. I am!!!! Just reading this nonsense makes me want to scream. I'm hoping for the best. Please keep us all informed
I'm not allowed to know my results. Everything I have read says specimen A belongs to 'them,' I guess them is Affinity/IPN. Specimen B belongs to me. I don't want to take possession of the specimen, I just want to know what it says.
I have still been obsessively checking my urines, my latest came back fine ( not dilute ). Briefly today, the retested split screen showed 'positive' but then went right back to 'retest' within 2 hours. I was actually checking just to make sure the newest was not dilute. When I checked at around 10:30 am the newest was not back yet, but the split test showed a positive result. Then when I go back 2 hours later, the 'positive' result is gone and says 'retest' again and the newest 'negative' is up.
This is terrifying. I have been eating rice milk and slim fast, because I don't know what I ingested. If it's not the vinegar and nothing I've read says vinegar can cause positives, despite the fact that my friend tested positive in treatment for craving red wine vinegar when she was pregnant. I'm scared to say, 'I think it was the vinegar' anyway, because you know what they think... "Oh yeah, trying to convince me she didn't drink." So, I've just decided I'm going to say I don't know. I don't know what I have eaten/ingested that could've caused this, I only know what I didn't ingest: Booze/Beer/Wine/Saki/Sterno, wtf ever.
Unless I get that wonderfully vindicating phone call prior to 11 am EST, I'll be headed 2 hours east for my evaluation. My urine has been in the possession of this entity since 4/10/18 and they are testing it.
They've had your pee for over 2 weeks now? Stuff has to have evaporated by now. Test, retest, positive, no wait, don't know, yeah positive, maybe not, oh here this ones negative. Can't these people just make up thier minds and stop with the ******* around.....
I went for the evaluation. The man was very nice. I finally got to know my results from the UDS : they were 800:100. I don't know what that means, but he said they were very high. And he was interested to see my PEth results ( the ones I wasn't allowed to draw, but advocated for myself and had drawn anyway ). He told me that with a UDS that high, I was drinking for days. And the PEth results should bear that out.
We'll he's wrong, but I can't scream that too loud yet because the results aren't back. Today is day 7 of the 6-10 BUSINESS day wait. I got in to an evaluation early, as it will help my case by having their labs collected as close to the positive UDS test as possible.
It's his job, so I don't want to come down too hard on the guy. He's 'one of us' too, so he operates accordingly. We lie when we are actively using. That being said, he devoted about %15 of the interview to trying to extract a confession out of me. I didn't confess because I didn't drink.
As time progresses, I will be able to document what to do if this happens. I still have no idea what the outcome is going to be, but so far these decisions have helped my cause:
1. these tests are for the most part good, but they are not %100 infallible. I don't even know exactly what went wrong, because if it wasn't the vinegar ( which he says it wasn't ) I still don't know what, if anything I ate to make the test positive.
2. If you get a positive for alcohol and you know you didn't drink, go immediately for a PEth. They will tell you that it's unimportant, that you can't have it, that it doesn't negate a positive UDS. But when you show up for the eval, they are going to be very 'interested' in those results. And it's FINE that the PEth doesn't negate the positive UDS, you just want to establish a 'lookback' during that time frame.
3. Do not get scared. Yes, we have sketchy pasts. But, that's not who we are anymore. Just because we did things we are not proud of doesn't mean we can't stand up for ourselves. Proceed in an organized fashion to go about collecting your own objective evidence to support your claim of innocence. Just having people testify in our behalves is not enough. There must be evidence. It feels kinda scary relying on lab tests, when a lab test got me into this. But, the majority of the time these tests are helpful. I have to believe that I'm not going to win the defective test result lotto twice.
4. If you know you didn't do anything wrong, do not confess. I am an 'action' person. When there's a problem, I fix it. This is one of those cases when patience is a virtue. I am not a patient woman. But, I'm forced to wait, let the results trickle in and build my house of evidence.
This is all I can think of at this moment. As this evolves, I will add more and make a summation at the end. I do not want another nurse who is trying to change her life for the better going through this.
Persephone Paige, ADN
1 Article; 696 Posts
Being able to afford the storm just happens to be my only defense. And at least it's something... When I was first informed and the email war began, one of the things the lady said to me was, "you said you were having financial difficulties and not working." I did say I wasn't working when she told me to refrain from practice, but I didn't say I was having financial difficulties. She assumed I was having financial difficulties because I was not working. And, I'm sorry if I sound a little jaded, but I think she was banking on that. Participants with limited resources are more likely to take the least expensive path, which may or may not turn out in their favor. I don't know, this is my first time ever fighting the results of a drug screen.
There have been two times since I began this ( almost 3 years ago ) when I have behaved poorly. My very first ever drug screen came up dilute and I didn't behave poorly towards IPN, I was just upset and didn't want any trouble. I adjusted my fluid intake, made sure I did not void for 2 hours prior to any drug screen and never had another problem. And this...
I can withstand the troubles I've had finding employment, I did this to myself. I withstood the hell of trying to locate a facility to do my clinical, I did this to myself. But when I submit a drug screen, that's my insurance policy. I count on that above all else. So, when I popped positive for Alcohol ( of all things ), I reacted. My 2nd time reacting badly in IPN. My regular case manager would have handled this in a more professional manner, even if she thought I was full of ****. The fill in case manager was deliberately provocative. If she had taken the approach of a more seasoned case manager I might have proceeded differently, just given my explanation of what I had eaten, ingested, whatever. But, she didn't and I went on the warpath. Maybe it was a good thing, who knows. We'll see...