Inpatient treatment
 

Hi. I am seeking inpatient treatment after relapsing from being sober for 2 months. I've had a problem for 3 years and came out about it about 2 months ago and tried going to meetings and seeing a therapist to stay sober. I then relapsed (at work) last week and was found by my boss on the bathroom floor. I have been under lock and key with my girlfriend who works at home until I can get into a program. I've had the run around with insurance and finding a place to take it for a week now, and now have not had a drink in a week. The reason I have not is bc I am unable to drive anywhere but I would drink if I could, for sure. But the rehabs I've spoken to are saying SINCE I have not drank in a week that my insurance will prob see that as me not needing inpatient and may only cover outpatient. I, myself do believe I need inpatient at this point even though it seems to them that I am 'staying sober'. Has anyone else run into this issue or know a way around it?

The only way they are going to take you inpatient is if you are DRUNK....Inpatient is required "medically" for detox for most people.

I feel like you are in a bind because even now..if you got drunk today...Medical could give a hard time because questions "intake" asks will be how long have you been drinking...people usually drinking for 2 weeks or more and large amounts who state they can not stop without help could be in danger if they tried to stop on their own which is why "medical" will then approve a stay.

Wondering if there is another place you can call that doesn't already KNOW your story..and you would have to get drunk....to get in....you also would have to tell them you have been drinking for the last 2 months and the job siutation etc.

Or you could just get drunk and tell them that you were drunk the first time you called but you didn't think they would take you in drunk.

Like I said you are in a bind for being SOBER for a WEEK....IMAGINE THAT?

I would prefer inpatient too because of the attention and the therapy and how they set you up on the outside with possibly the right Drs to get you on the right track.

Not every rehab works this way, and for most people rehab does not include medical detox. Mine did out of necessity, but many had been sober for a time (usually days) and insurance covered them. It's more about getting a referral from your doctor for the insurance, it's harder for them to argue coverage when it's been medically indicated. A good friend of mine who I call Nurse Jackie (she is a nurse and was caught using IV dilaudid on the job) did a week in medical detox first and then came in to a completely different rehab.

I know that years ago a friend's boyfriend had been sober for a week or so and had to do some heroin so he'd test positive on intake. I've not heard that commonly, but that's what he did. I guess you could do the same.

Try another rehab. I agree that inpatient is a preferred solution for some. I also don't know where you are, from what I've read the UK has very different rules.

Get a referral to a doctor that specializes in addiction and get them to refer you to inpatient. That will carry more weight than whether or not you are drunk at intake.

FWIW, my outpatient rehab helped me far more than inpatient, but I don't think it would have without having some distance from my drugs of choice. I got sober 5/9/17, last drink was a bottle of wine right before my ride to rehab that day. I stayed 5 weeks, then outpatient was 8/5/17.

Also message one of the mods/admins for help. This site is more than just the forums, it also functions as an aid to finding rehabs and such.

Well I can only speak of my own experience but I have been to a 28 day program that did not include detox. They send people to an outside hospital or you can detox in your own way, then arrive at the rehab. They just have to 'clear' that you are out of any danger as far as DT's go. And yes, my insurance paid for it.

Have you called your insurance company directly? They usually have a resource for drug and alcohol dependence, usually under the mental health umbrella. They can tell you exactly what rehabs they are contracted with in your area. You can also tell them that you don't need to be medically detoxed but that has no bearing on the fact that you are addicted and need help. If anything, this will save money as detox is generally the most expensive part of rehab. Finding a facility that does not medically detox is possible. I have also seen rehabs that take people in, whether they need to detox or not, and put them on detox protocal....which is criminal in my opinion. But, that's another discussion.

This is the second thread I've seen about this. Believe me many rehabs won't take you IF you're drunk...so you should be able to find something.

And please, do NOT get drunk in order to enter rehab. That is um a very bad idea.

Just to clarify - the forum staff knows as much, or as little, as anyone else who accesses the rehabs that advertise here.

That part is outside the forums and is not our responsiblity :)

I've never been to rehab and I live in Australia Abraham but like most people are saying here, I'd keep trying til you find a rehab that will accept you and your insurance.

There is a searchable national database of U.S.A treatment facilities here:
https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov

and they have a hotline to help as well.
1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Dee
Administrator
SR

I don't understand this. If you've been dry for a week, why can't you control your cravings some other way? You're not going to die. You know what happens if you drink. SO JUST DON'T DRINK. It's not rocket science. Find other things to do. Get a therapist. Go to meetings. Rehab isn't some magical cure.

You're halfway out of the woods, past physical withdrawal. Do you know how lucky you are! Just. Don't. Drink.

See my signature? Say that out loud 100x a day every day until it sticks.

Sorry for being kind of a jerk about it, but I just don't understand why you feel you need to be locked away. There will always be bars and liquor stores. They'll be there when you get out of rehab. The problem is not outside in the world, it's in you.

Personally I think that we all have to decide for ourselves what we need.

If that's rehab, do it. If that's AA, do it. If that's 'just don't drink, its not rocket science' awesome. Unfortunately for me my addiction is one powerful MF and it took what it took. And I had to be the one to decide what that was, and be willing to do it. I so wish I was a 'one and done', hey just don't drink this is easy, kinda gal. But I wasn't. Just glad I'm sober today and have been for a bit now. Very grateful. Rehab wasn't magic, but it was part of my plan to stay sober.

I feel very fortunate that I could go to rehab. I wish this not drinking stuff was so easy for all of us. But if SR is any indication, it can be pretty challenging. Totally doable with complete commitment and willingness, but real hard none the less.

Never been to detox or rehab,but just wanted to say; Drinking(not that you're going to) to get into either would be crazy IMO. Call your insurance provider and ask them what route you should take to get a feel from them and like mentioned, you may need a MD's refferal,but i'd think the ins carrier will be happy they won't have to pay for a medical detox on top of the cost of rehab. I'd also be as proactive as possible in my early recovery in the meantime. be that therapy,AA,here,ect..

if only it were this easy! Simple yes, easy no!

You "tried" going to meetings? What does that mean.?

Get back to those meetings. Go every day.. twice a dat if you have to. Fibd a programme to get into. Come into sober recovery and post daily. Take it one day ar a rine and just dont drink for TODAY. . Being locked away and not having a car is not going to keep you sober. Programmes, meetings, posting, reading, praying, will.

If controlling cravings was that easy then no-one would suffer from alcoholism and this site would not need to exist so maybe go easy on the tough talk. Reaching out is really hard to do.

I put myself in rehab, simply because I couldn’t cope with everything going on in life as well as trying to learn new coping skills. It was too overwhelming and I just couldn’t focus on staying sober. I stayed for 7 weeks, having daily counselling, daily meditation, mindfulness sessions, classes on different coping mechanisms, classes to understand the medical part of addiction and how it works, regular meals and being around people who understood the struggle to be able to talk to at anytime of the day was a godsend for me. I learnt so much in that time and are nearly a year sober so rehab was a great choice that I made for me.

I don’t know much about the insurance stuff as I am in the U.K. and had to go to another country for rehab as I had to pay for it myself and couldn’t afford treatment in the U.K. I also did not require a medical detox but I did require a mental detox and that is what rehab gave me.

I hope you find somewhere suitable, just keep researching and looking and somewhere will come up. Best of luck and take care of yourself xx

"Different paths. Living in the solution."

Hi Abraham,

I'm not alcoholic -- I am in 12 step recovery for other things (alcoholism is a family disease) and have many friends who are winners in various programs who've taken different paths. Whatever it takes!

Good luck.

I think that this is a fairly commonplace occurrence, Abraham.

I don't have the answer, but I would keep persisting in your efforts.

Inpatient treatment sure helped me a lot.

But I would take whatever you can get (e.g. outpatient and AA).

If you believe in God, I would also ask God for help - I do this everyday.

Please keep us posted with your progress.

We're always here for you.

Your experience sounds similar to mine.

I stayed for 5 weeks.

I was grateful for every day that I stayed, for the reasons that you site in your post.

BTW, we're all excited about partying (from our various perches around the world) on June 11.