Tii

Hello all,

My first time posting here after I found this site last month. There's a lot of support and good advice here, think I'll stick around for a while.

Well, last 5-6 years have been a blur. It started innocently enough with one drink whilst playing poker online, then more..and more up to the point when I was downing a litre of whisky per day from first thing in the morning to the last thing at night.
I laid in bed practically all week, didn't eat, barely asleep for a few hours before jolting up again. Tried going cold-turkey but the withdrawals were severe, I was hallucinating, shakes, insomnia all of it. So I checked into A&E where they mercifully helped me detox over 5 days. This was end of august last year. I spent the best part of 4 months not drinking after that nightmare. Recently though I have had a couple of slip-ups, and I feel stupid doing it again after everything I went through. Currently on day 2 of sobriety. I will beat this stupid addiction. I guess it helps putting into words.

Anyway, I wanted to ask if any of you have experiences into inpatient rehab centres? Did it help you at all? Were they very costly? I just got quoted like £5500 for 28-days, Im aware there are many on the whole spectrum though.

Thanks for letting me share, and to anyone reading.

Babescake

I just got out of an inpatient rehab in the States yesterday after a 30 day stay. It helped tremendously because it was insular. I needed to be away from all of my triggers and from the easy access of alcohol. It was 12-step-based and very supportive. I learned many tools and know it will be a lifelong journey of recovery and vigilance. I still have cravings and even thoughts of drinking socially, but now have the power to not act on the thoughts. I'm sure they will ease with time and continued work on my recovery.

Mine cost me $6K with insurance. Without it I believe it would be $20K. One of the best things for me was the support from staff and like-minded individuals. I didn't feel so isolated with my disease anymore and found a great network for fellowship and support. That will be key for me going forward: knowing I don't have to go through this alone.

Tii

I've been looking around for info as well and it seems most programs follow the 12-step method? I've been few times to AA and was quite dubious as to it working for me personally.
I can definitely see how being in a calm organised space with like minded people who know about addiction would have great benefits. The price tag is quite off-putting though. I would love to attend just to see if it can help me.

Thanks for sharing

Dee74

No experience but I wanted to welcome you Tii

D

scccooter

I have unfortunately had a few experiences as an inpatient. Unfortunately in that I was too thick headed to get it. The experience itself was extremely helpful and after my last 28 day stay I managed over 5 years of sobriety. It gave me a period of time to be isolated and work on a lot of core issues. Sadly I got lazy and I am looking forward to celebrating only 2 weeks in a few days. Which is actually a huge accomplishment considering what the last couple of years have been like.

oldmate

I'm in australia and stayed in a detox center, not a rehab though.

A lot of people from the detox go on to a live in based rehab
program that usually last at least a month or more.

The detox itself is a 7day inpatient setup soley based on getting
off the alcohol safely. They have meetings that we had to attend,
food was supplied,all payed for by the government.

The meetings where helpful for some of the people but
youre not going to nut out deep issues in a week.

Berrybean

No, I couldn't see how the steps could make a difference for me either. In the end there didn't seem to be many options though. Just going to meetings helped while I was actually there, but still rattling the rest of the week. In the end, for one reason and another, I got desperate enough to at least give it a go. After all, it had worked for all those other people who I met at the meetings. Turned out to be the best thing I ever did (although I did also adjust which meetings I focussed in on to make sure there were solution-focussed ones).

Might be worth at least getting to some more meetings while you're deciding what route to take regarding the rehab. There are likely to be plenty of folk in the AA meetings who can give you their personal feedback on the various options available. At my home group I reckon about a quarter of the people there have had some experience of rehab.

BB

Ken0331

I can't comment on rehab experiences beyond mine, and mine was in the U.S.

The vast majority of the others there had been to rehab several times. It was my first. I can tell you that without after-care the chance that the alcoholic/addict will return to their substance of choice is very high.

When I was there, the 12 Step programs (AA & NA) were highly suggested. The Steps were on the wall, and outside groups came in to speak to us in the evenings. I didn't think they'd work, either.

But I didn't have anything left to try, my way failed. And I was desperate to get better. So I went to AA when I got home, began the Steps with a sponsor, and saw it working.

So, rehab isn't some sort of magical experience. It gave me the time I needed to work on myself and learn about some tools that could help. But that was only a beginning. The real work began when I got home and started working the recovery plan I and my counselor developed in rehab.

Tii

I just think a month out at the moment away from everything in a completely new environment will be good for me. Solely focused on recovery.

After my detox last year I was attending a local charity meetup 2 days a week, focusing on addiction. However I've not been attending so regularly lately. I'll definitely go to the next one. I will look into AA meetings as well I think. And maybe SMART recovery as well. As well as reading on this wonderful place.

Well, seems like I just laid out a rudimentary plan of sorts, now to act.


Thanks for all your insights.

Ken0331

Yup, nothing happens until we act on the decisions we make.

Let us know how it goes.

TheToddman

I went to rehab about six months ago and for me it was worth every penny. The cost for me was around what Babescake quoted and they would file insurance if you had it. You mentioned being in an insular environment with a 24x7 focus on recovery. I think at the end of the day that was the secret sauce--that and the daily trip to the gym. We had optional 12-step meetings but the majority of the focus was CBT. I haven't really had a strong craving since and believe that it was what put me over (after relapsing multiple times). For me personally going to 12-step meetings frequently early on after discharge helped the rhythm of accountability quite a bit; it was good staying engaged with the sober community. At the end of the day you have to decide what works best for you to maintain abstinence and grow personally in your newfound sobriety. Call me biased, but I think it would be an invaluable experience

Welcome!