I'm either sober or I'm not. If I plan to drink tonight, I'm not sober -- even if I haven't had a drop for 20 years.
Same goes for relapses. A relapse represents a change in mental status -- nothing more.
The percentage of alcohol or drugs in my bloodstream has nothing to do with my sobriety. If I am in a car wreck and am given opiates in the ER, I am still sober because my intention continues to remain a non-opiate-user. There has been no change in my intentions. Accepting pain medication as needed does not make me an opiate user, unless I have a shift in my intentions. There is no clock to reset, no calendar to start re-counting days sober.
I simply do what other non-opiate-users would do in the same situation. These kinds of decisions require no planning, no calendar checking. They are what they are. I am what I am. I choose to simplify my life in that way as it requires no action on my part.
FT