I need some advice. I was recently in a rehab and was told that my urinalisis came back positive for drugs. Benzos I think is what they called the drug. They took a second test and this also came back positive. I an a true alcoholic, but did not take any drugs while I was in rehab or out of rehab for that matter. I spoke with every counselor, all other staff members and all agreed that they believed that I had not used drugs. Since I paid for this rehab out of pocket and I was only there for 2 weeks rather than 30 days I feel as if I was mistreated. I truely believe that if the urinalisis was correct then someone slipped something to me. (We all put our drinks in the fridge with our names on the bottles.) This was a relapse for me and if I ever learned anything in AA over the last 20 years it is that I must be honest or I will not truely recover. I am being honest when I say I did not take any drugs.
When they asked me to leave the rehab I argued with them, I cried, and then I pulled myself together and thought....this is the will of God. A lot of the women in the rehab thought that I should have fought back, but decided I should leave it to God. Now that I have been home a few days and have been thinking back over the first week I was there I remember feeling dizzy at times, like my equalibrium was off, and very depressed and sad and couldn't shake it. (Not really my nature, I'm upbeat most of the time.)
So here is were I need the advice, should I persue this matter with higher authorities at the rehab. I am concerned that if someone could slip something to me that it could happen to others. I also put a lot of money (just about all I had) into this rehab, should I ask for some of it back. Or should I just leave it go and think of it as God's will.
That to me is the important question, I can't help you with the details, you know?
One way to pursue this is to work the steps and after you do a fourth step, a fifth step, six and seven, eight, and get to nine, you will have a clear unmuddied idea how to approach this, and it could be as simple as letting go, not trying to get your money back, and appraoching it in such a way they change their policy of leaving urine in the fridge so switches can't happen to others you know?
Once you have written it out in columns, seen what parts were affected, seen your part, discussed it with another human being and laid it out for your god, prayed to have your character defects around it removed, and approached it in such a way your only motive is to help others, strange things happen.
When I have approached things like that in the past things have happened like I get ALL my money back, I mean miraculous things come to pass when I get out of my own way.
But, the answer is, I don't know and have no direct advice to give, but I know how I find my answers
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Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a night, light a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life
Hi jazzyblue, Well that sucks to say the least about the pee test. I know weather I drank or drugged or not.So I trust so do you. So if I ever had to take the test and it came back positive for anything I did not use I DID NOT HAVE A RELAPSE. It bums me out that you had to suffer that stuff. I do not have any advice on what you could or should do about the center. Maybe some one else on the site has suggestions for you. I do know it ain't the end of the world and you can continue on with your recovery. Hold on to the program Girl, Toad
Aloha Jazzy...Might be something to settle with administration of the program about the financial part and if counselors also believe you didn't use that is support however in the end you're still going to have to let it go because we can ill afford resentments. I've worked rehabs as a Behavioral Health Therapist...a faulted piss test was always concern in regard to success in the program but it was also not much of a stunning expectation either considering the cliental so after saying that if they didn't use all of the money you paid to help and keep you sober...ask for it back. Say please.
Sorry that didn't work out for you. It's good that you came back here and I hope also to your AA meetings and suggestions. (((((hugs)))))
hI jAZZY .Yes its the pits..My son a 24 year old Heroin addict in recovery has used so many Benzo's SSRI'S pschotropics etc that AT TIMES HE ALSO CAME UP DIRTY.Was tested again and was clean??He was in Drug court until let go for about 5 months and then a TC(THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY FOR 6 MONTHS) AND WAS TESTED REGULARY.there were quite a few case of bad readings.My thoughts would be 1st)I know im clean/no drugs Im sober didnt drink so that is my first bit of knowledge for me.Would I be mad,?probably ,but for me I HAVE THIS 'real bad "need to be right ' thing that I have to be careful with or it could take me to the edge again.i WONT ALLOW THAT.The money you lost may have to be a learning lesson and only you can search with Gods help what the heck that lesson could be.Whatever like it was said,dont let the resentments start steering the ship.You know where that will bring us..not much suggestions I can give you hear but for me I would be in much prayer to ensure I am keeping my focus on my recovery "one day at a time".there are always gonna be monkey wrenches thrown in the gears ,but with God's help,concentrating on spiritual principles and sharing your feelings more will definitely be revealed.We should not be punching bags for the world but humility and walking away sometimes can bring us into a new light.Things happen for a reason,believe the reason was God based and keep moving forward.no advice here,(i only suggest)just some of my stuff.I wish you peace
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Thanks everyone for the imput. My initial reaction was anger and fear, but then I gave it over to God and even thanked all the staff for what I did get out of the time I was there. I guess what scared me was the possiblitiy that someone could slip something into my drink. I thought that rehab would be the one place I should feel safe. But from what you all have posted I guess there was more of a possiblity that my test would be positive in error, rather than that someone slipped me something.
I'm going to let it go. Toad you said it right, I know I didn't use and so does my HP and that is all that matters. And Ago you are so right about the financial part. Everything comes back tenfold when I am working a program. Thanks for the reminder. And yes I am sober and going to meetings. I am out of town at the moment and don't have a cell so I couldn't really make a lot of long distance phone calls from where I am at. But I have the internet and my HP lead me straight to this site. My HP never stops amazing me.
sorry to hear about that JB. File it under "things that I cannot change" and move on. I wouldn't dwell on the how, what, why and when, just keep plugging along on your sobriety, that's where the fish are biting, and in the long run, that's what counts.
jazzy, this happened to me years ago when I was in rehab. Urinalysis is not 100%, although close. But mistakes do happen and usually the culprit can be something like you mentioned, or a regularly prescribed medication giving a false positive for something else, or a mislabeling and other human processing errors. (Just for the record, some non-narcotic, non-benzo, non-addictive muscle medications test positive for benzos). When it happened to me, I let it fully bring me down back then. I held a resentment over it for years. I used it to justify drinking, and to fill my self with self-righteousness and pity. I naturally drank, because at that very young stage in my life and NO experience with recovery to speak of, I felt cheated, and I had no recovery tools to cope.
If you know in your heart and soul that you are innocent, then chalk it up to Human Error, and perhaps your HP sees another way for you to get and stay sober. Meetings and Steps are key.
If you have access to a laptop when you are out of town, it is a great idea to download Skype. I have friends in AA who are also on Skype, so if I ever have a problem with the phone, I can log on and talk with them just like on the phone for free. I only have to pay when I call a landline or cel phone, which I don't. I can CHOOSE whether to make it a voice call to other Skype people, or video (which I steer clear of when my hair is whacked out lol).
Take care and glad you are here and posting.
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~Your Higher Power has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.
Joni, Thanks for the info on Skype. I do have a laptop at home, but have been using my brothers desktop and don't want to do anything without his permission. But I will definately check into skype when I get home. Even though I am out of town I am getting to meetings and have met a lot of really great people. But this message board has been a lifesaver. I really needed the fellowship and the feedback. Thanks everyone!
Hey Jazzy, sounds like you got lots of great responses, and I agree with them and am glad to hear you have such a good attitude about it. I was never in rehab, but I can share some ESH from a story of my early sobriety. I was a thief and a liar, and when I was newly sober I was accused of stealing some money that I didn't steal. I was accused soon after having made amends for stealing from this person. It upset me to the core, and it took a while and some work to realize that I had set myself up for that because I'm a drunk who stole and lied in the past. But the good news is that over time that slips away. There will be much less reason (or no reason!) for others to NOT believe you in that situation, as you continue to work the steps and stay sober. So...hope that helps.
You know, in Oregon, I was told that rehabs can't get a license unless they incorporate AA meetings, especially in aftercare, but also in their treatment. I think it's the same in some other states, too. The reason is that the success rate with AA has proven to be higher than anything else. And it's free! So you're able to access the best treatment/rehab program there is for free and we don't even give you UA's, either. You can't get more affordable than that! :)
Some food additives and even poppy seeds can throw a UA off. But if you signed a contract, it probably stipulated that a dirty UA required them to terminate your rehab, so even if they believed you hadn't used, they couldn't do anything else but kick you out and I think that probably also would mean you can't get a refund of any of your money.
Just keep faithfully with the AA program and turn it over to your Higher Power. You're in the best rehab there is.
