Substance Abuse Stories on positive tests

Usually at working at a treatment center, you as a counselor need to perform urinalysis tests with a five panel screen to test for opiates or vicodin, heroin, oxycontin, percocets, codeine, benzos or valiums, cocaine or crack or freebase, methamphetamines, and THC or marijuana. There are two lines and if they are red, it is positive test for the substance. These test strips can be bought in the pharmacy and usually clients test themselves to check if they are positive for drugs which can be expensive. So, when I test them for 14 years, I usually find out the results quickly from the color of urine which is yellow is normal or clear as in adulterating the sample which is not normal. Clients usually try to drink a lot of water to get a negative test or drink a potion from the internet that is costly. In addition, the clients try drinking baking soda to alter the test which might get away with one test and then test positive on future tests. They may use clouding agents like vinegar but that tastes horrible and using these thing on the internet that is questionable. Clients will try anything to get away like the whizzanator which is a contraption with fake urine and a battery pack. Testing procedure is strict and observation needs to be in place to get a perfect sample. When a client tests positive for drugs, they usually come out with a story which does not make any sense. One client told me that meth was placed in his slush puppy drink. Another ask me if he could get it by having sex. Another told me that he was in the car with his friends smoking the meth and became positive. Another client told me that he was touching it and somehow got absorbed through his skin. Another client told me that he was kissing a women that was smoking it and that is how he got the positive urinalysis. Another client told me that it could have been the supplements he was taking from the pre work out formula or other medications. All in all, there are the possibility of doubt and kind of makes you wonder how can you find out the true answer. Well, the treatment center usually sends out the sample to a laboratory to have it tested thorough rigorous final conclusion with nanograms of the drug or drugs tested. The Lab test would say something of a cut off level which is the minimum raw score and the test result of positive test that is above the cut off limit of 200ng. So if the person goes beyond the 200ng level then he is positive for the drug. This is for false positives that can happen and usually test the sample two times to get a confirmation. Some clients will lie and say all kinds of things can alter the test result but the second confirmation from the lab usually will be positive and a definite answer. Methamphetamines needs to be inhaled and can be absorbed through the skin if the person is handling the drug. The lab test will show small amounts in the system and will not reach over the cutoff level. Urine is the fastest way to detect drugs using the urine tests in the store but some of the brands can be flawed and inaccurate at times. Research on finding the best urine panel needs to done to get accurate positives and even that you can get a bad batch of the panels that causes false positives. The lab results are accurate to test and costs from $500 using medical insurance coverage maybe a co-pay? Well finding a lab to run accurate tests is another research project. Nowadays, companies invest in the random drug testing which is expensive but helps reduce liability especially when operating machinery like a commercial driver license that is regulated by the Department of Transportation which follows federal guidelines. Testing positive for alcohol and drugs with this type of license will get you fired, suspended, having to go treatment until you finish and obtain a clinical discharge will get your job back or terminated and license downgraded to a car. These days the laws for alcohol and drugs are changing to stricter rules and drinking under the influence can be devastating to others and yourself. Insurance companies will charge you in the thousands, with lawyers fees in the thousands, and having to go to court, losing the job, no driving, 10 years on the abstract, breathalyzer, monitoring bracelet, probation, jail, cell block, divorce, financial ruin etc. So try and think of the options and make the right choice to be sober without drugs or alcohol and life will be simple without the drama. Alcohol and drug addiction is tough nut to crack but it can be done if you want it. Recovery is there if you ask for help and sometimes we feel shame to ask because of the stigmatization or realizing the fact that maybe we might have a problem. In order to define something, it needs to be confine. To work on an unknown thing is to give it a name and then we can be comfortable with it. Sometimes, we think it is our problem that no one understands but low and behold there are others that understand us and found a solution to get out of the rut with addiction and alcoholism. Is there a difference between the two? A drug is a drug and the difference is they follow tolerance level that goes up and side effects when a person abuses it, and withdrawal symptoms when the person goes down or crashes when the drug is stopped. Alcohol creates a hangover which is a withdrawal symptom. If a person drinks more then he will not have a hang over as with methamphetamines with addicts avoid the crash and keep on using the drugs until they pass out. Recovery time takes a long time and the person needs days to recuperated themselves. Losing weight with sunken eyes looking like the walking dead. Being irritable and angry over everything in life and getting to a normal state takes time when all the dopamine, adrenaline serotonin, endorphins are depleted from the brain. Drugs forces these chemicals in the brain and causes an instability which in the long run can end up in drug induced psychosis, delirium tremens, and wet brain etc. Sometimes, I heard that from clients that addicts that were normal was exposed to a bad batch of drugs and now how mental problems which might not be able to fix. It appears from the stories from clients that these people have gotten worse over the years from drug use and cannot take care themselves wandering the streets without shelter. So the time is to stop the drug use and try something new like therapy, treatment center, psychologist, psychiatrist, hospital etc. Get help and ask for suggestions. Keep trying and don’t give up.

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