Positive UDS

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I tested positive for alcohol. Had a phone conversation with my case manager which was extremely negative. I was trying to be adult about it and own up to my mistake. I was met with her berating on my "lack of remorse". I simply said I could scream and cry and ask for forgiveness or just take responsibility, deal with the consequences and try to move passed it. She seemed very angry. I said I can't undo it, asked her if there was anything I needed to do. She said no, they will decide and let me know by the end of the week.

I suppose my question is, Is it the end for me? In Indiana is that it?

Was it after 7, 8 or 9 days after you went in to test, that you were notified by email & phone?

I'm not the OP, but I can tell you it took them 10 (ten) days to notify me of a positive Etoh. TEN days! After nearly 7 months and clarity since the incident happened, also knowing I did not drink, I'm convinced that one of 3 things happened: 1. The values were in the high incidental exposure range, so I either inadvertently ate something and my urine continued to ferment. Or 2., it took them so long that it fermented on it's own ( I have a slightly, only slightly elevated fasting blood sugar that I'm working on ), or 3. they tested someone else's urine. We had new workers who were making mistakes around the same time.

I had a fellow IPN participant just test positive, she got her positive back in 3 days. She also now has diabetes, so probably other indicators in the urine helped.

I'm still holding a grudge over how long it takes to get a positive back. I ran out and got a pEth, would've loved to have had it pulled earlier than on the 10th day. Not that it would've helped, but still. Ten days is just too long, imo.

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Was it after 7, 8 or 9 days after you went in to test, that you were notified by email & phone?

Also, notified by phone. A very nasty phone call! Why be nasty? To put an exclamation point on the positive? A positive isn't any more or less positive if you are nice vs-nasty. I digress... I guess I thought I was over it, but obviously I'm not. Don't mean to hijack Red's thread ( I made a rhyme!)

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Specializes in OR.

If these people were truly worried about safety to practice and a person tested positive for ANYTHING for any reason, you'd think you'd want them out of circulation immediately. I've had tests post to Affinity as quickly as 2 days. I should think that any program would act on a positive fast . Not a week later. Just goes to show you it's all about the benjamins.

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Oh my 10 days?! Was that including weekends as well?? Or 10 business days?? That's way too long & seems very dreadful!. How did you positive ETOH turn out? Was your license suspended? Did your case worker have any leniency towards you? Or did you have to jump through hoops? I'm so sorry this happened to you.

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Oh my 10 days?! Was that including weekends as well?? Or 10 business days?? That's way too long & seems very dreadful!. How did you positive ETOH turn out? Was your license suspended? Did your case worker have any leniency towards you? Or did you have to jump through hoops? I'm so sorry this happened to you.

I believe it was 10 days, total. It turned out ok, not because I handled it with grace or anything. I hit the roof. I have put myself and IPN through the ringer, in the past. I gave up because I honestly thought I would never again be clean. I waited 10 years, until I felt sure sobriety had taken hold. So, when I got a positive I flipped out. First off, given my history, I sure as hell wouldn't have just submitted a dirty urine if I was using/drinking. I would have submitted somebody else's clean urine. I didn't drink and I peed. Then, 10 days later I get this horrible message and call back with this mean lady telling me I drank. I can handle most things, but something about being accused of something I didn't do makes me really angry. I got an order and paid for a pEth, it was negative. I also had to do another eval, pEth, hair, urine, etc... again, all negative. Still, none of those tests negate that initial positive. So, it wasn't counted as a 'relapse' but I wasn't allowed to do Chemical Dependency nursing, which was what I had a job offer for. The special tests won't help you if you are telling the truth, but they will use them to hang you.

I'm completely sold on recovery. I feel so grateful everyday to be clean and sober. But, I can let myself get really angry if I think about that incident for too long. So, I try not to.

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So no word from my CM about "what they are going to do". I am conflicted about contacting her. I know she is very busy, it's a holiday weekend, and frankly I wouldn't know what to say. Are they waiting for my other test results? Is she just busy with other things? I suppose I'm not anxious to hear the negative possibilities...

So much for a happy holidays.

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So no word from my CM about "what they are going to do". I am conflicted about contacting her. I know she is very busy, it's a holiday weekend, and frankly I wouldn't know what to say. Are they waiting for my other test results? Is she just busy with other things? I suppose I'm not anxious to hear the negative possibilities...

So much for a happy holidays.

No sense stressing, and yes, I know that's easier said then done. I was so traumatized when I had a positive that I have very little memory of that week. The one saving grace is/was that Florida is a swift acting state. I had an evaluation and another pEth (besides the one I pulled on myself the day I found out I had tested positive for Etoh) within the 21 day look back time frame of the pEth. If I hadn't been able to take action in my own defense, it would have been unbearable. Just the few days I sat idle, hoping and praying that there was some mistake and my split screen would come back negative, was awful. So, I do get it.

In hind-sight, knowing what I know now, I might be able to chill just a little. I did what I could do, sitting back and letting things unfold was just not a comfortable place for me to be. I would still have pulled the pEth, it helped my case as much as my case could be helped. I just didn't know what to do, never faced anything like it before. I was scared.

You have told the truth. It might be the ugly truth, but the truth will stand when nothing else will. That you haven't been refrained from practice is amazing. The truth may just save your bacon, so you can spend it on some board ordered therapy, outpatient, increased urine screens, whatever. The point is, you have hope.

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I was tested again 11/15 and it came back negative. And I'm thinking the holidays are the hold up. Anyone know if Indiana does pEth tests? It doesn't seem like many IN people are on here.

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I was tested again 11/15 and it came back negative. And I'm thinking the holidays are the hold up. Anyone know if Indiana does pEth tests? It doesn't seem like many IN people are on here.

If you can get an order, you can have your own pEth test drawn. We have something called 'request-a-test' that works with Lab-corp. I went through them online and ordered my own pEth. They sent the results straight to my email on Lab-corp stationery. Official... you're running out of time though. A pEth does a look back over the past 21 days. The further you get away from that initial positive, the less a pEth is likely to help your case.

I have found that I have to be ready to bull-doze overtop of anyone who gets in my way. If I say, "I want a pEth" and they say NO, I get it anyway! NO? Apparently you don't understand... I AM getting a pEth!

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If you can get an order, you can have your own pEth test drawn. We have something called 'request-a-test' that works with Lab-corp. I went through them online and ordered my own pEth. They sent the results straight to my email on Lab-corp stationery. Official... you're running out of time though. A pEth does a look back over the past 21 days. The further you get away from that initial positive, the less a pEth is likely to help your case.

I have found that I have to be ready to bull-doze overtop of anyone who gets in my way. If I say, "I want a pEth" and they say NO, I get it anyway! NO? Apparently you don't understand... I AM getting a pEth!

Perse,

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I am fearful I will have a positive from my last UDS. It is seriously probably my last UDS of monitoring too. I ate Korean food the night before and although has crossed my mind to watch the soy sauce in the past, I did not even think about it that night. I also had kimchi which I read is a possible source for ETOH since it is fermented. I did not consume a ton of it, but there was a scoop in the bowl I ordered.

I may just be paranoid. Anyway, my question to you is how did you get your results of the Peth you ordered on your own to your monitoring peeps? Did they accept them as truth?

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Perse,

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I am fearful I will have a positive from my last UDS. It is seriously probably my last UDS of monitoring too. I ate Korean food the night before and although has crossed my mind to watch the soy sauce in the past, I did not even think about it that night. I also had kimchi which I read is a possible source for ETOH since it is fermented. I did not consume a ton of it, but there was a scoop in the bowl I ordered.

I may just be paranoid. Anyway, my question to you is how did you get your results of the Peth you ordered on your own to your monitoring peeps? Did they accept them as truth?

Lab-Corp sent them to me via email, once they were back. Be aware that it takes a while to get a pEth result back (10 - 21 days) depending on the back log.

The pEth I pulled only kept IPN from railroading me ( saying I had relapsed ). The positive urine for IPN will not be changed to a 'negative' result by the pEth I had drawn, or any of the follow up tests I had with the evaluation they required me to go to after I had the positive. They were all negative: 2 pEths, a hair, and another urine. It just kept IPN from making me start over from scratch. I still lost my ability to seek employment in Chemical Dependency, which is what I wanted to do. I have over 5 years clean and sober, but it's by IPNs account that it matters. So, according to IPN I have only 7 mos clean because I had a positive for Etoh in April ( I still have no idea why if it wasn't Apple Cider vinegar and they said it wasn't ).

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I found it extremely ironic that we as participants, are warned to treat our CM with respect but yet we are subjected to their mistreatment. Look, I know I messed up, I'm perfectly aware you hold my nursing career in "your" hands but that conversation made me sick. I wish I had recorded it. I certainly hope a person teeter on the edge in this program isn't treated that way. I've had some dark thoughts since I screwed up but it had been awhile...[/quote']

This is exactly the way I felt as well. The CM are not there for support. They only reach out to you when you've done something wrong then shove the contract rules down your throat almost what seems like an attpt to break you.

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