UniversesChild

Hi, it's been a while since I posted. To recap briefly, I was arrested for DUI in July and decided to get sober about a month later. Around three weeks into my recovery, I was sentenced to 90 days in jail (not the 1st DUI, that's why), so my recovery was kind of "forced" at that point. I was only able to attend AA meeting in jail, which to say the least, sucked. Around 40 days into my sentence, I was released to my home on a SCRAM ankle bracelet for the remainder of my sentence.

At first I thought "okay, no big deal, I'm not drinking anyway, right?" Well, here's the thing: It's uncomfortable physically, it's mentally draining knowing it's there (buzzing on and off every 1/2 hour or so, freaking me out when I'm trying to sleep, and, worst of all, I'm highly paranoid about accidentally setting the stupid thing off by inadvertently using any of the "nonapproved" products (anything containing alcohol, fragrance, etc.). That includes most soaps, shampoos, cleaning products, topical lotions, benadryl cream...on and on. I almost ate some mustard at dinner last night, and --guess what--there was wine in it. Someone handed me a wet-nap, and guess what? It's in there too. Couldn't wash my hands in the restaurant's bathroom--fragrance in the soap. What about the vinegar in my salad? I can't stand this!

The most bothersome aspect is that I wouldn't have been drinking anyway, so this is all totally unnecessary. Of course, the courts don't know that, and I understand that they have to show they're doing something, but still, the pressure to not touch anything on accident is driving me up a freaking wall.

Anyone else have any experience with this device? Any suggestions, stories, advice most appreciated!

Mark75

I would imagine that there is some kind of threshold... I mean, they know that it is almost impossible to avoid all alcohol in this environment.

Ask questions... They just don't want you drinking.

Mark

smacked

I'm sure not all of the discomfort is unintentional.



Welcome back!

UniversesChild

Thanks for your replies, it helps having some support.

As I said before, I have no intention of drinking; I'm just scared of making a mistake by using the wrong shampoo or something. I read online that this bracelet can monitor the difference between an actual "drinking event" and something topical; so I'm wondering why they are so adamant about what's in everyday products I might use.

I did go down to their office the other day and asked if they could loosen the tightness on my ankle since it was causing me a lot of pain, and they were pretty nice about it. I asked about their ability to tell the difference between ingesting alcohol versus trace amounts from some product, but they were pretty vague. I get the feeling it's just to cover them in case of a "false positive". And I agree with Smacked that some of the discomfort is indeed intentional.

PS-Yesterday was my 2 month mark not drinking! Going to a meeting tonight to celebrate and work on being thankful instead of fearful.

smacked

Congrats on 2 months!!

Actually, a lot of people have to live completely alcohol free, alcoholism caused or not (medications, etc), so even if it's a pain, I know you can work around it.. just never forget the discomfort you feel now lol..

Anna

Congratulations on your two months sober!

Believe808

I'm sure they can't tell you about using these items because some people in the throws of their addiction ingest soap, hair spray, shampoo, anything that has alcohol in it. I know this because I bring meetings into a detox and the people there have shared these things with me.

I think if it was me I would be grateful to have to deal with the discomforts you talk about rather than spending that time in jail. You need to focus on the positive and it will make your days so much better.

Congratulations on your 2 months sober, that is really awesome.