Recovery in Indiana/IPRP

chadprepton, ADN · Mar 1, 2020

3 minutes ago, holyguacamole said:
Just to be clear - yes, I'm an alcoholic. The platitudes of just "focusing on quitting" and "it's a choice" are not helpful. I came here to get advice on how to get sober and keep my license. I don't need to hear from some stranger that I just need to stop.

not sure when I said its a choice. If you need help on how to get sober I'd start with AA. Also everyone here is a stranger.

Indiana RN, BSN · Mar 1, 2020

I had an "abnormal" about a year ago, which meant ( if I can remember) my creatinine was abnormal. Me and my caseworker think it was from my bp med. No repercussions but I did notice an increase in testing for a few weeks. I wouldn't recommend having more than one and I do believe they consider a dilute a positive.

I've been in a little over 2 years, so it was ISNAP when I started. I have different UDS's with ISNAP but since it went to INPRP I always get the same test but I'm not sure what they test me for. I'm not a drinker though, I was a pill popper.

And DEFINITELY download the affinity app. I have my notifications on for affinity and I get a notification every morning to remind me to check in.

Good luck! let me know if I can answer any questions for you. This is hard and costly but you CAN do it!! These 2 years have flown by!

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2020

If you can't stop without medical detox, you need to be open about that and then go to detox. Etoh was my drug of choice when I entered my state's monitoring program. (I was drinking on the job.) I went from a 2 to 3 pint a day habit to total abstinence for almost six years. Not driving myself to the liquor store for more alcohol was probably one of the easier aspects of recovery.

rn1965, ADN · Mar 2, 2020

On 2/29/2020 at 9:00 PM, holyguacamole said:
Just to be clear - yes, I'm an alcoholic. The platitudes of just "focusing on quitting" and "it's a choice" are not helpful. I came here to get advice on how to get sober and keep my license. I don't need to hear from some stranger that I just need to stop.

Quitting is hard, I know. I am an alcoholic in recovery for 15 years now. You can do this. Do not allow negativity to keep you from your goal.

In the beginning for me, it was one second at a time, then one minute, one hour, and so on.

If you need to talk, PM me, if you wish. If AA is your thing, go, and go as often as needed. In my first 90 days, I went to about 120 meetings. Seek therapy or a clergy or anything to help you.

I'm sending good vibes your way!

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Mar 2, 2020

Yeah they expect you to quit immediately. I’m pretty sure that all my tests were etg. If I remember right that goes back 90 hours. They can also Peth test you that goes back much further. I really emphasize with your situation. If you simply cannot quit please check into detox and take care of yourself. Continued drinking at any level will lead to you getting caught as I’ve seem this plenty. The only way out of this pit is complete compliance. Good luck

K. Everly, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2020

Just based off of what I’m hearing from you and the impression I’m gleaning, I’m wondering if inpatient rehab may be the best option for you? Or perhaps a partial hospitalization program. Quitting cold turkey for someone with a sustained h/x or alcoholism is extremely uncomfortable at best, and dangerous at worst. You deserve to be safe and also not faced with relapsing while on monitoring contract due to this discomfort of quitting cold turkey. Would you consider talking to your case manager about more intensive treatment?

I am in recovery for maladaptive binge drinking (you could call me an alcoholic, but I don’t like that word), and I know the struggle. I am in sobriety court so I am mandated to attend AA but I like SMART Recovery way more. I liked SMART so much I became a trained volunteer online meeting facilitator. If you are interested, check out a SMART meeting (smartrecovery.org). They have real life pen to paper tools to manage urges and cope with stress. They have face to face and online meetings. They even have online meetings specifically for health providers in recovery. You might be able to get your case manager to accept SMART meetings for verifications as well. I have no reason to recommend it aside from how much it helped me and truly believing it could help anybody.

I believe you can do this with the right support. It’s hard getting sober but you will feel so much peace once you do, and so much less worry about being in this program if you aren’t white knuckling it and trying to avoid dropping dirty.

Subee2, BSN, MSN, CRNA · Mar 4, 2020

On 2/29/2020 at 9:00 PM, holyguacamole said:
Just to be clear - yes, I'm an alcoholic. The platitudes of just "focusing on quitting" and "it's a choice" are not helpful. I came here to get advice on how to get sober and keep my license. I don't need to hear from some stranger that I just need to stop.

You don't need to stop..only if you want to keep your license. Sometimes we.need this hanging over our heads to learn how to have a life without drinking and all the drama that follows. Please take this opportunity to learn all you can about why you need to self- soothe to your detriment. I know the process is extremely painful in the. beginning.

Betterdaystocome · Sep 25, 2020

What type of alcohol test was it?

K. Everly, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2020

@holyguacamole How are you doing?

cher00 · Sep 29, 2020

intherooms.com has zoom meetings.aa and getting a sponser was life changing for me!

candace hiigli · Jan 3

I would like to say that I am so sorry that you have to go through monitoring. It is extremely financially stressful. It is sad because it does not matter if you were on your own time, got in trouble, reported yourself, you will still get the same sentence of 5 years as someone who used at work, stole from work, or didn't self report. Something needs to change with this. Non addicts should not have to go through this program. It is redundant and money seeking. Adds a ton if emotional and financial stress. Not sure who decoded that all fit in the same bubble to have to endure 5 years no matter the issue. We are not all the same and everyone's situation is different. None of that is taken into consideration with monitoring. So basically a thief and a murderer will get the same sentence. Good luck and I hope you have money saved for this sentence

Healer555 · Jan 3

holyguacamole said:

Hi, I just signed an RMA with IPRP (formerly ISNAP) in Indiana. I have 2 alcohol related criminal cases and texted positive for etg at my assessment. I feel completely overwhelmed by the requirements...3 self help meetings a week, 20 UDS a year, quarterly reports etc. My case manager gave me no guidance on how to do everything - she just gave me a ton of paperwork and said to ask if I have any questions.

Does anyone know how often etg is tested (like every time, or just sometimes)? And what happens if my first drug test is positive for ETG? Do they really expect someone to quit cold turkey at the drop of a hat? I'm so worried that I'll have my RMA extended or lose my job. Any advice or experience would be appreciated.

What does your agreement say? The powers that be expect you to abstain from anything that could be mood altering. I'm in a different state so I can't speak to your questions as much as I'd like to. If I were you, I'd consider seeing an addiction specialist or IOP. we test 5x a month.