How do people even make it through the monitoring program?

Lunacat28 · Apr 7

I eat whatever I want. The only thing I avoid is poppy seeds because I got slammed for that in the beginning and I've never even done drugs ever in my life. (don't ever buy Thomas everything bagels btw, that's what made me pop positive). There's alcohol in literally everything, and just don't take medications that aren't prescribed to you.

NurseJackie69 · Apr 7

You stated you see "all kinds of stories online." I read online yesterday where a person's Mustang GT had engine failure at only 10,000 miles! The person wrote, "don't buy a Ford Mustang because the engines are bad." What I did NOT read online yesterday was the thousands of people posting online about how solid their Mustang engine is and that it's still running well with over 150,000 miles. Guess what else I did NOT read online yesterday? I never read about the nurses in monitoring, (thousands) that pretty much eat what they want and have no issues with drug or alcohol tests? Want to know why? When things are Good or Normal, we don't hear those stories and they make up 99.9 percent of all the stories. We only hear about the 0.1 percent of when things go bad and people love to post it, so when this happens, many people reading such as yourself assume that the 0.1 percent is "50%" and you believe it is nor.al or happens all of the time.

Don't buy into the "hype." Yes, I avoid poppy seeds which is how hard? Of the hundreds of things to eat on planet earth, is it really that hard to not eat poppy seeds? I use alcohol sanitizer at work, but twice per shift, when I start and when I finish. Is it really that hard to use soap and water for the rest of the time? No, it's not. As for makeup products, I use some with alcohol products on weekends, but I have plenty of non alcohol based alternatives throughout the week. It's not tough. Remember the statement below and don't forget it.......

If you don't drink alcohol and don't use drugs, 99 plus percent of nurses will finish monitoring and for the 1 percent that didn't do drugs or drink alcohol, these people are missing check ins left and right or having dilute samples left and right or missing meetings or turning in their monthly or quarterly reports late. A TINY, TINY, TINY fraction actually don't finish monitoring due to some weird alcohol based product, but you can darn be sure that we will all hear about it and it will incredibly, "become the norm" in the minds of many people reading. Fact is, you are NOT reading the posts of thousands of nurses in the USA who use alcohol based sanitizer and eat vanilla extract and occasionally have a couple of poppy seed muffins and wear alcohol based makeup because It's Not a Problem, so they don't post. These people are actually The Norm, not the 0.1 percenter who will blast it everyone online about their poppy seed or UTI story which in reality of how many times it actually happens is....RARE.

Healer555 · Apr 7

It's anxiety provoking. I avoid poppy seeds and read ingredients for everything. I don't use cleaning products that contain alcohol. I don't wear perfume. I am careful when I put gas in my car. I don't use hand sanitizer. I don't want to be the person who has a positive test due to incidental exposure I'm miserable in monitoring and want to finish without Time added

NurseGray · Apr 7

NurseJackie69 said:

You stated you see "all kinds of stories online." I read online yesterday where a person's Mustang GT had engine failure at only 10,000 miles! The person wrote, "don't buy a Ford Mustang because the engines are bad." What I did NOT read online yesterday was the thousands of people posting online about how solid their Mustang engine is and that it's still running well with over 150,000 miles. Guess what else I did NOT read online yesterday? I never read about the nurses in monitoring, (thousands) that pretty much eat what they want and have no issues with drug or alcohol tests? Want to know why? When things are Good or Normal, we don't hear those stories and they make up 99.9 percent of all the stories. We only hear about the 0.1 percent of when things go bad and people love to post it, so when this happens, many people reading such as yourself assume that the 0.1 percent is "50%" and you believe it is nor.al or happens all of the time.

Don't buy into the "hype." Yes, I avoid poppy seeds which is how hard? Of the hundreds of things to eat on planet earth, is it really that hard to not eat poppy seeds? I use alcohol sanitizer at work, but twice per shift, when I start and when I finish. Is it really that hard to use soap and water for the rest of the time? No, it's not. As for makeup products, I use some with alcohol products on weekends, but I have plenty of non alcohol based alternatives throughout the week. It's not tough. Remember the statement below and don't forget it.......

If you don't drink alcohol and don't use drugs, 99 plus percent of nurses will finish monitoring and for the 1 percent that didn't do drugs or drink alcohol, these people are missing check ins left and right or having dilute samples left and right or missing meetings or turning in their monthly or quarterly reports late. A TINY, TINY, TINY fraction actually don't finish monitoring due to some weird alcohol based product, but you can darn be sure that we will all hear about it and it will incredibly, "become the norm" in the minds of many people reading. Fact is, you are NOT reading the posts of thousands of nurses in the USA who use alcohol based sanitizer and eat vanilla extract and occasionally have a couple of poppy seed muffins and wear alcohol based makeup because It's Not a Problem, so they don't post. These people are actually The Norm, not the 0.1 percenter who will blast it everyone online about their poppy seed or UTI story which in reality of how many times it actually happens is....RARE.

Thank you, this is a good reality check

jadedRN04 · Apr 7

My issue was alcohol. I ate whatever I wanted, used alcohol based hand sanitizer, hair spray, hair dye, I used whatever cleaning products I wanted to use. I did not use mouth wash with alcohol but then I never did before monitoring. Honestly, the only thing that I changed for monitoring was I didn't drink alcohol. It's a pain but it's really not that complex. Make sure you read your monitoring agreement thoroughly and follow it to a T.

NurseGray · Apr 7

jadedRN04 said:

My issue was alcohol. I ate whatever I wanted, used alcohol based hand sanitizer, hair spray, hair dye, I used whatever cleaning products I wanted to use. I did not use mouth wash with alcohol but then I never did before monitoring. Honestly, the only thing that I changed for monitoring was I didn't drink alcohol. It's a pain but it's really not that complex. Make sure you read your monitoring agreement thoroughly and follow it to a T.

That's good to hear that you were able to make it through just by not drinking alcohol. It makes me feel a bit better.

NurseJackie69 · Apr 7

NurseGray said:

That's good to hear that you were able to make it through just by not drinking alcohol. It makes me feel a bit better.

The story by jadedrn04 is actually the Norm. It's Much More common for nurses in monitoring across the country and then they finish the program and do fine. If you avoid alcohol and drugs and turn your reports in on time, don't miss check ins, and you will be fine.

Common sense stuff here. Like I told you, I use alcohol sanitizer twice daily. In the beginning and then the end of shift. Some nurses use it multiple times per shift. Here's the common sense stuff. If I get selected tp test that day, then obviously, I skip the hand sanitizer in the morning for that day just as an extra precaution. I eat vanilla extract-rum cupcakes 2 timed a week. I love them, but again, when I do, I avoid them after 6pm in the evening in case I were selected to test the next am simply as an assurance. It will still likely be fine, but just simple common sense. If you live poppy seed muffins, fine. Just common sense. Limit them to 2 days per week and don't eat them in the morning before you test. If you do get selected to test, have 2 of them after you test on the way home. Common sense stuff, but in reality, are there any major ground breaking life changes other than no drinking alcohol or drugs? No, not really.

What is 100 times more dangerous than any of the stuff above and something that can actually get you into some trouble or cause problems is cough syrups, Antihistamines. They will cause problems. Poppy seeds and vanilla extract are laughable and actually no big deal. Taking something other than Motrin and Tylenol without a script is dangerous. Taking any cough syrup that contains Dextromethorphin and/or Benadryl (which is the majority of cough syrups) is 100 times more dangerous for causing you trouble compared to alcohol, poppy seeds, and using hand sanitizer (conservatively). Not updating your current prescription into the Affinity or Recovery Trek Portal is far more dangerous than the food stuff.

NurseJackie69 · Apr 7

4 things to finish and if you do them, 9,999 out of 10,000 times you finish the program and they are...

1. Don't drink and no drugs and that means, no drugs without a script other than Tylenol, Motrin, and if it is a cough syrup, be 100 percent sure it has Zero Detromethorphan and No Antihistamines such as Diphenhydramine which is Benadryl. Finding cough syrups without at least one or both of the ingredients above is hard to do. Dextromethorphan is amphetamine and you WILL test positive. It's not like the 1 in 1000 Chance of poppy seeds triggering a positive for opiates. Dextromethorphan is literally an amphetamine and if you get tested within 48 hours of taking it, you are turning up positive. Try to avoid the hell out of cough syrups and just go straight to antibiotics if you are that sick.

2. Don't miss check ins. If you do, go test that evening if it's still open and if testing sight is closed, test the very next morning and call your case manager. Don't Wait. Go Test! Want to be super sure you are in the clear? Do a urine and a hair test. That makes it clear to your case manager that you have nothing to hide, especially if you do it BEFORE you are told to. Want cool points and trust from your case manager? Miss a check in, but test that same evening with a urine, Hair, and nail test and then notify your case manager. That person will be like, "Holy ***, this nurse is not playing around and is dead serious." Obviously, I can't recommend purposely missing a check in, but you get my point. If you ever do accidentally miss one, then Be Aggresive! Test that evening if still open and if not, as soon as the place opens the next morning

3. Don't turn in monthly reports, meeting lists, and prescriptions late. There is no "forgetting. Turn them in. Do NOT be the nurse that has to have the case manager track her down. You Do not want yo be that nurse.

4. Don't have over 2 diluted urines in 1 year and this is another farce that many hype up and that is diluted tests. To get a dilute, you actually do have to drink lots of water. It's nowhere near as common as what you would think by reading stuff on here. I've had 1 in 4 years and 10 months out of over 100 tests and there were many times where I was worried, but it's actually not common. I have peed probably 20 times out of 110 or so tests where I thought to myself, this is way to clear and while peeing, I knew I could probably pee another 300 cc's more, but they still turned up normal.

You will be fine. Take a deep breath, relax, and keep up the good work you are doing because You Have Got This.

Purplenurse123 · Apr 8

Another voice popping in to say I don't abstain from anything... other than alcohol 😉 and ANY meds other than what I already have permission for. I use hand sani dozens of times a day, I don't limit any beauty products (including nails/hair dye), and I eat whatever I want. Tbh, I'm too lazy to be on constant watch LOL so I just don't drink and the rest has been a bit tedious but ultimately pretty dull 🙂

I missed two check ins in the first few months and didn't remember until afternoon/evening; both times, I immediately went and did a urine test and emailed my contacts to explain. After the second time, they actually told me not to do that again and that the programs have some understanding of human error. That is NOT me recommending you don't take a proactive test if you forget to check in, that's just one story of how (some) programs will give some grace.

A lot of times, the loudest voices claiming innocence or unfair treatment in a group of addicts... just aren't to be trusted. Dishonesty is a major part of sobriety for a lot of people, and taking responsibility isn't always easy. So take those stories that sound like horrible luck with a big grain of salt 🙂

Abgirl · Apr 9

Anyone have or heard of any issues of menstrual cycle affecting test results? Sometimes blood can make its way into urine stream while on cycle. My question is has anyone had any issue with it affecting results?

NurseJackie69 · Apr 9

Abgirl said:

Anyone have or heard of any issues of menstrual cycle affecting test results? Sometimes blood can make its way into urine stream while on cycle. My question is has anyone had any issue with it affecting results?

No, and it's not about "what's heard." It's about data, science, physiology, and not nurse breakroom or reddit gossip. Blood is Not Illegal. It's naturally in every human body. Drug and Lab Testers have known since drug testing and urine specimen collections began many decades ago that females have menstrual cycles and they easily account for that and blood does not effect the test whatsoever.