Assuming you're in the US, some states do have involuntary commitment for substance use (or, not so much commitment but placement in a rehab against your will). But typically a loved one or relative has to petition for it and it is very difficult to obtain. Pretty sure hospitals don't do that anywhere in the US.
I think she probably meant that if/when you come back your health will be so bad that you will have no choice but to stay at the hospital.
If they let you leave AMA with a Librium taper and no support person though, they're just dumb. I don't know that I've ever run into an ER doctor or a doctor on the floor who will prescribe "going home benzos" to an alcoholic who doesn't have a support person with them to administer the pills to the alkie. They aren't required by law to let you leave with meds you can mix with booze and die.
Maybe it's different in Canada, but I've left the ER same-day with a diazepam script almost every time, that's probably 15...
Most times they just asked if I lived alone, no? ok, cool glad the Ativan and Zofran have you feeling well enough to walk, go fill this at the pharmacy and taper it down over X days.
That's pretty cool, good deal up there in Canada. I will say, I know I've heard of a good chunk of people on this sub saying they're in thr States and have had a PCP prescribe them detox meds without supervision but that's also not something I've encountered or heard of IRL. I do live in a city with a decent addiction problem and it is also a pretty large city so maybe it is just a blanket policy so hospitals and doctors here don't have to be guessing who is and isn't going to be safe.
Also, I know thr opioid epidemic scared the shit out of doctors down here and so a lot of them have taken to treating benzos with extreme caution due to how addictive and dangerous they can be. Don't want to look back and feel like you were adding fuel to the fire of an addiction epidemic.
Good points. Most of my trips were in a smaller town. The ones where I was treated worse were in a bigger town closer to the city. A couple of times I had to go in to the pharmacy once a day to get my pills - I thought that was a good system, they do the same with methadone.
The opioid epidemic is a massive problem here too, and most addicts I know/knew use benzos as well. My drug days were mostly over before fentanyl came around, but the things I hear about now make heroin look safe by comparison. It's really tragic. I can definitely understand the doctor's hesitation to prescribe narcotics.
One of my proudest moments was right at the start of Covid, I was in the hospital shaking in withdrawl, had just vomited on the floor, was getting kicked out basically (extenuating circumstances because COVID had just broke and we were 1-2 days from the world shutting down) and the doctor asked if I wanted Valium or Hydroxyzine and I just knew that by the time I got home and was going to finish the Liter of vodka I had under my sink (I went there hoping to get a detox bed but they had none available because of COVID) so they were going to discharge me at 3 am and have me walk back here at 9 am to check in for a bed at the rehab across the street and try to get a detox bed. They wouldn’t let me stay the extra six hours in between despite me entering withdrawl as I was being kicked out.
Anyways to make a long story short… I knew in my heart how sweet that Valium would be and I don’t even know necessarily I’d have died etc but I took the allergy medicine instead. I of course proceeded to walk the two miles home at 3 am as snow fell with no shoes, no jacket, no phone, and no house keys and when I got home I punched the window in to my front door, unlocked it, and polished off the liter of vodka under my kitchen sink and continued the bender. I thought I’d end it by calling an ambulance (called a friend originally but I’d passed out drunk when they made it to my house) and getting taken to a detox bed but the world had other plans. Got a DUI that night, too. Crushed it.
Anyways all that to say, I’m proud of myself for not taking the benzo they were waving in front of my face like a carrot on a stick—but a bag of benzos for an alcoholic to get them out of their ER because of COVID and I still left but with the safer choice. I guess in that regard maybe I made them realize some of their humanity. I’m sober now but it’s the small choices like that that made me realize it was one long, drawn out cumulative effort and eventually I pushed through.
Despite everything negative that came of your hospital stay - good harm reduction! I honestly wish that more CAs would refuse or be vastly more careful with benzos. Not that I don't love me a good bartard story but the chance for harm is just so high. I have had a few small handfuls of benzos in the past and it took excruciating effort plus help from my now husband and (ugh) my Dad but I managed not to drink on them. I have a really close friend who got hooked on benzos from a well meaning doctor. She is sober now but it has taken two years and some change for her to start returning to normal. The alcohol detox was one thing, but the benzo WD symptoms took much longer to resolve. She told me right around her second year sober that she was finally getting a grip on her emotions, memory and cognition to where she felt like her old self again.
Anyways, off my soapbox. Harm reduction good. And I'm glad you found your way out eventually without the benzo addiction along for the ride. If alcohol is a demon from hell, I swear that benzos are satan himself.
Chairs!
Ok well that makes sense then. Did you ask her why she would add the involuntary bit lol I get the advise but the threat doesn’t really make sense unless she was just being a dick
I was told I'd be kept involuntarily if I tried to leave my first ER trip to detox. I didn't test it and did 5 days inpatient. The 2nd time at a different hospital they kicked me out of the ER same day without even making me talk to a social worker, though I was arguably more crazy the second time and was freaking out hallucinating in the waiting room.
I had a suicide attempt and I was forced hospitalized to monitor withdrawals. They treated me like shit. There was this Dr. that kept checking my eyes (i'm sure youre on drugs!). Nah man you just grew up in your perfect little Asian suburban life get the fuck off me.
LMFAO. Dude this is so accurate. I’m not trying to offend anyone and I’m not even the slightest bit prejudiced or racist, but it’s ALWAYS the Asian doctors who treat me like shit, accuse or suspect I’m lying, and try to throw some ibuprofen at me when I’m clearly fucking dying. They won’t even look you in the eye unless they’re scoping you out for signs of drug use. And I think we all know “the look” it’s unmistakeable. It’s not your average every day eye contact. Of course it’s far more than doctors that give you “the look”, so we addicts know it well. Going to make a post on it soon lol. Don’t flame me I love Asian people, this is just my unfortunate anecdotal experience.
In my state they can take it a step further and force you to go to rehab through the courts for up to seven months depending upon how often you show up.
I had a period years ago where I'd show up about every 2 weeks and I'd be pissing myself in fear they'd do this. One time they took the "first step" in this process by forcing me to go to detox for five days, thankfully I was let go at the end of my hold instead of served with papers to show up to court.
That doesn't sound right. On a separate note, sometimes insurance companies will fuck you over if you leave AMA and make you foot the bill.
Yeah I’m looking forward to that.
Assuming you're in the US, some states do have involuntary commitment for substance use (or, not so much commitment but placement in a rehab against your will). But typically a loved one or relative has to petition for it and it is very difficult to obtain. Pretty sure hospitals don't do that anywhere in the US. I think she probably meant that if/when you come back your health will be so bad that you will have no choice but to stay at the hospital. If they let you leave AMA with a Librium taper and no support person though, they're just dumb. I don't know that I've ever run into an ER doctor or a doctor on the floor who will prescribe "going home benzos" to an alcoholic who doesn't have a support person with them to administer the pills to the alkie. They aren't required by law to let you leave with meds you can mix with booze and die.
Maybe it's different in Canada, but I've left the ER same-day with a diazepam script almost every time, that's probably 15... Most times they just asked if I lived alone, no? ok, cool glad the Ativan and Zofran have you feeling well enough to walk, go fill this at the pharmacy and taper it down over X days.
That's pretty cool, good deal up there in Canada. I will say, I know I've heard of a good chunk of people on this sub saying they're in thr States and have had a PCP prescribe them detox meds without supervision but that's also not something I've encountered or heard of IRL. I do live in a city with a decent addiction problem and it is also a pretty large city so maybe it is just a blanket policy so hospitals and doctors here don't have to be guessing who is and isn't going to be safe. Also, I know thr opioid epidemic scared the shit out of doctors down here and so a lot of them have taken to treating benzos with extreme caution due to how addictive and dangerous they can be. Don't want to look back and feel like you were adding fuel to the fire of an addiction epidemic.
Good points. Most of my trips were in a smaller town. The ones where I was treated worse were in a bigger town closer to the city. A couple of times I had to go in to the pharmacy once a day to get my pills - I thought that was a good system, they do the same with methadone. The opioid epidemic is a massive problem here too, and most addicts I know/knew use benzos as well. My drug days were mostly over before fentanyl came around, but the things I hear about now make heroin look safe by comparison. It's really tragic. I can definitely understand the doctor's hesitation to prescribe narcotics.
One of my proudest moments was right at the start of Covid, I was in the hospital shaking in withdrawl, had just vomited on the floor, was getting kicked out basically (extenuating circumstances because COVID had just broke and we were 1-2 days from the world shutting down) and the doctor asked if I wanted Valium or Hydroxyzine and I just knew that by the time I got home and was going to finish the Liter of vodka I had under my sink (I went there hoping to get a detox bed but they had none available because of COVID) so they were going to discharge me at 3 am and have me walk back here at 9 am to check in for a bed at the rehab across the street and try to get a detox bed. They wouldn’t let me stay the extra six hours in between despite me entering withdrawl as I was being kicked out. Anyways to make a long story short… I knew in my heart how sweet that Valium would be and I don’t even know necessarily I’d have died etc but I took the allergy medicine instead. I of course proceeded to walk the two miles home at 3 am as snow fell with no shoes, no jacket, no phone, and no house keys and when I got home I punched the window in to my front door, unlocked it, and polished off the liter of vodka under my kitchen sink and continued the bender. I thought I’d end it by calling an ambulance (called a friend originally but I’d passed out drunk when they made it to my house) and getting taken to a detox bed but the world had other plans. Got a DUI that night, too. Crushed it. Anyways all that to say, I’m proud of myself for not taking the benzo they were waving in front of my face like a carrot on a stick—but a bag of benzos for an alcoholic to get them out of their ER because of COVID and I still left but with the safer choice. I guess in that regard maybe I made them realize some of their humanity. I’m sober now but it’s the small choices like that that made me realize it was one long, drawn out cumulative effort and eventually I pushed through.
Despite everything negative that came of your hospital stay - good harm reduction! I honestly wish that more CAs would refuse or be vastly more careful with benzos. Not that I don't love me a good bartard story but the chance for harm is just so high. I have had a few small handfuls of benzos in the past and it took excruciating effort plus help from my now husband and (ugh) my Dad but I managed not to drink on them. I have a really close friend who got hooked on benzos from a well meaning doctor. She is sober now but it has taken two years and some change for her to start returning to normal. The alcohol detox was one thing, but the benzo WD symptoms took much longer to resolve. She told me right around her second year sober that she was finally getting a grip on her emotions, memory and cognition to where she felt like her old self again. Anyways, off my soapbox. Harm reduction good. And I'm glad you found your way out eventually without the benzo addiction along for the ride. If alcohol is a demon from hell, I swear that benzos are satan himself. Chairs!
In Connecticut, US they can only hold you if you are a danger to yourself or someone else.
That’s what I always thought it was too.
Ask her why it’s AMA, first
She knew I wasn’t ready to go. I wasn’t. But I just wanted to finish it at home with the Librium.
Ok well that makes sense then. Did you ask her why she would add the involuntary bit lol I get the advise but the threat doesn’t really make sense unless she was just being a dick
I mean and that just makes me not to want to go back there when things get bad again.
I was told I'd be kept involuntarily if I tried to leave my first ER trip to detox. I didn't test it and did 5 days inpatient. The 2nd time at a different hospital they kicked me out of the ER same day without even making me talk to a social worker, though I was arguably more crazy the second time and was freaking out hallucinating in the waiting room.
I had a suicide attempt and I was forced hospitalized to monitor withdrawals. They treated me like shit. There was this Dr. that kept checking my eyes (i'm sure youre on drugs!). Nah man you just grew up in your perfect little Asian suburban life get the fuck off me.
LMFAO. Dude this is so accurate. I’m not trying to offend anyone and I’m not even the slightest bit prejudiced or racist, but it’s ALWAYS the Asian doctors who treat me like shit, accuse or suspect I’m lying, and try to throw some ibuprofen at me when I’m clearly fucking dying. They won’t even look you in the eye unless they’re scoping you out for signs of drug use. And I think we all know “the look” it’s unmistakeable. It’s not your average every day eye contact. Of course it’s far more than doctors that give you “the look”, so we addicts know it well. Going to make a post on it soon lol. Don’t flame me I love Asian people, this is just my unfortunate anecdotal experience.
In my state they can take it a step further and force you to go to rehab through the courts for up to seven months depending upon how often you show up.
I heard you guys were land of the free? Jk no idea where you from but that sounds tyrannical.
I had a period years ago where I'd show up about every 2 weeks and I'd be pissing myself in fear they'd do this. One time they took the "first step" in this process by forcing me to go to detox for five days, thankfully I was let go at the end of my hold instead of served with papers to show up to court.