ARC/GP

Well I think I know more what I'm doing more than the guys at ARC Robin .It's totally bizarre ..Nat

Well Nat, what can I say but bravo! Good on yer for following it thru.

It could be said that ARC's have issues nationwide, not just locally 😁 I wonder what kind of evidence ARC's have to give, to continue receiving funding?

Pleased to hear your GP had another patient requesting Nalfamene (hopefully with TSM)

Thanks for the update. Keep on rockin.

Thinking of everyone as always

PS hubby still taking Campral 👍

Yep keep rockin as you say JulieAnne.Good to hear hubby is still on his Campral journey , hope all  is going  tickety boo xx

Cheers! Yep February drawing to a close phew! xx

I probably misworded that RHGB , the doc is going to call me next  week  and if he doesnt I shall certainly be contacting him 

Yep I think you are exactly right in what you say that there is no financial incentive for the ARC;sto deal with AUD people.I am giving up on them !

Yeah I'm convinced too RHGB. AUD ppl are the Cinderellas of the ARC's

As I was told, at one ARC. Heroin use is funded by street crime. AUD people tend to fund alcohol by legal means and pay taxes as well.

One steals money, the other makes the Exchequer money, which is why money is thrown at druggies.

Too true unfortunately 

unlike drug users, AUD sufferers don't rely heavily on crime to fund their addiction. Muggings, house robbery tend to be carried out by drug users rather than AUD sufferers.

Nat, I'm not surprised about your experience with your ARC. I had exactually the same thing happen to me. It appears to be nationwide, not just locally.

By what I have read on here is does  definitely  seem to be a nationwide thing , Well I am avoiding the ARC game now as its not  going to be of any use anyway . I should have gone to the GP in the first place but then he might have been obliged to refer me to ARC .its like a bloomin merry-go-round .Not so merry though is it lol, How are you bearing up Vicks ?

Hi Nat.

Your thread filled me with pessimism this morning and quite rightly so.

Last week I went to Gp in desperation. Despite explaining my circumstances and feeling like "I want to be dead" she point blank refused to prescribe anything including tranx to get me through the worst "horrors". Referred to ARC again. Went to ARC waited 2 hours to be told no one available by volunteer. I Kicked off at poor volunteer whom meant to be leaving whom buy t hen did primary assessment and booked me in for today for comprehensive assessment. Today was breathylysed (74) was told that I need to be 0.5 or less to continue. Pointed out that this was a stony sober reading and therefore no need for detox and I can just about function at 74 and can feel the "horrors" creeping in. The Service manager was involved, i asked if they meant 50? I might be a drunk but I can appreciate the importance of a decimal place.

Nonetheless been told to come back next week in order to get my blood alcohol levels down to 50 (they conceded this point). I mentioned Nalmefene, Naltrexone might help me achieve this, to be met with blank stares.

Told to go to CAB to enquire about any benefits entitlement, went there to find only open Mo

If you mean 74, as in over twice the driving limit of 35, that is a fair amount. Probably the quivalent of five pints prior to going in. Is this correct?

I asked them what is the driving limit in order to be able to interpret what 74 means as that figure means nothing to me. Was told 14. I'm sure that is wrong also as I still could hold coherent discussion and certainly didn't feel that drunk. I asked if they could use thier own judgement when assessing if someone was too drunk to benefit from help as I'm obviously very tolerant. Big fat NO.

The nurse in the detox ward said that every 5th bed in the hospital was the result of alcohol abuse in some way. If the government have got these statistics, why aren't they investing in giving AUD sufferers more support?

Inspite of 'forward thinking ' and modern tolerance there is still such a massive stigma with AUD and probably always will be . I agree JulieAnne if the government invested more into AUD it would it would be time , money and resources well spent and the rewards would be great 🤔

Because the government gets in Duty & tax from alcohol, more than the NHS spends.

2011/12 total alcohol tax/duty 14.6bn for government

Cost to the NHS 2.7bn

Do the maths.

What price human misery huh? It's not just the nhs though is it? Every agency is affected Police, Courts, Prison, Social Services which is huge ie schools, family services on and on. What is the real cost of AUD? We have been told today that our local hospital is going to close it's detox centre. I despair.

We are not allowed to talk politics here, so all I will say is, welcome to the ugly side of government and corporatism.

👍 As an SS employee, I see the ugly side everyday

Kelly

i had to attend a weekly group at a local ARC. Everyone was breathalised before the meeting started. Anyone showing a trace of alcohol in their system wasn't allowed to attend the session and was sent home. It was a condition of a drink/drive court case that I attended weekly sessions for 12 months. Had I failed the breath test, I would have been in breach of the ruling.

Being over twice the legal drink/drive limit is obviously more than one drink. They appear to be allowing you some alcohol which is more than I got.

I was sent to the ARC to be detoxed. If I was sober and able to function sober I wouldn't feel the need to go. Fact is I am a dependent drinker and find it an irony that I need to sober up to access any resources that are meant to help people with alcohol issues..

As regards blood/alcohol levels at ARCs, I've seen first hand the results of turning up having been drinking. Two blokes came one week, both clutching a can of special brew. Receptionist told them no alcohol allowed, they kicked off, trashed the waiting area, upset other service users and then the police came.

On the other hand, it could be argued someone suffering from AUD, no help available from gp, going through withdrawal and told ARC is the only place that can help, would have alcohol in their system. If you're told not to go cold turkey and have no benzos to help with withdrawal, what do you do?

Far more is spent on drug rehab than alcohol rehab, due to reasons already mentioned, 

Duty and tax being the main one.

 

Very ironic Kelly!

RHGB is right and I always thought it was 35mg. NHS website =

80 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of blood in your body

35 micrograms of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of breath

107 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of urine

Regards Robin

"If I was sober and able to function sober I wouldn't feel the need to go"

?personally I would have thought that was the right time to go. You can still be sober and function sober whilst feeling absolutely sxxt. Having the equivalent of five pints would prevent them giving you any benzos to help with withdrawal. I was only able to have a home detox once I was clear of alcohol. Having said that, it was years ago and probably the criteria for detox has changed.  I'm surprised your gp referred you for detox as there is normally a huge waiting list

I think I've misread your post Kelly. I thought you were saying you went to your gp and even though you'd been drinking, he/she sent to straight to an ARC for an immediate detox. I could not edit my above reply, so my apologies if I misread your post.

 

Yep we experienced similar, Vicks. We had to disguise hubby's wine by putting it into a coffee cup (one with a lid) luckily they did not breathalyze him. He had to have this with him as he was in danger without it.

I never want to go back to an ARC again if I can help it. They are soul destroying places, they leave you without hope

Campral still working x

My sentiments exactly JulieAnne and my experiences have been minimal compared to yours and that of others ..No good vibes there ! 😑x

Yes JulieAnne, that is my fear of ARC.  Leaving you without hope - and as for sitting with folk witr drug habit problems, I could not hack it.

I have just read every one of these posts re Vicks friend and I am exhausted.  This is reality and certainly bangs home the truth.  It totally  unnerved me and has made me more sure than ever that I want to remain doing it the way I am doing.  It is Friday 5ish here and is normally my full bottle of wine evening for my much needed zzzzzzs after a week of tossing and turning and reading and listening to the radio all night long; got to say though, I am torn between my little diddy bottle as per Monday to Thursday/Friday or the biggie.  Normally I would not hesitate but this reading makes me feel quite sick.  I say who needs AA or ARC of a dozy doctor and hypnotherapy (which did didly squat) when you have posts which just TELL IT LIKE IT IS.  Terrifying reading but boy it hits the spot.  Good job and thanks to all you guys for your honesty.  We are all as one.

Keep safe all x

Hi Gwen hon. I am scared as all avenues of help are getting smaller and smaller. No wonder Paul Turner is very busy having to fly all over the country. I am not a religious person, but I am praying my heart out that Campral will continue to work for my husband. I am praying for everyone on here that they can get help from somewhere. The truth rings out in ppls experiences.

Thinking of everyone as always

Oh hell bud - u are in an impossible situation - I also considerd Paul to my home to help me - but I will do it my way as they say.

Hate that word scared - you have us  always - no not religious either but do believe in Angels ????

I don't know what to believe in hon. I think that it is the closure of our local detox ward that has put me in a bit of a tizzy. That would mean all we have now is the ARC, which, means we haven't got anything.

I sincerely hope that the Campral will continue to work. Hubby has told me it is, so am crossing everything x

I know I have you all to help me. That means so much to me. Definately having a wobble today x

JulieAnne just keep holding onto the fact that hubby says the Campral.is working for him at the moment, ...Other than your own observations it's all you can do. I do so hope this continues for him. Blimey it's no wonder you get a bit of a wobble though,what with resources being pulled in and ARC's not interested we are all becoming more and more isolated in our battles with this AUD ...I just feel blessed that we have forums such as these for support and advice. And where would we be without our technology to access them ..a scary thought x

Hi Nat. Thanx for that. Yeah this forum is a lifesaver. What a worryer I am. He is lying on the settee, watching a film. Says he doesn't understand why I am worrying so much, g*t. Butter wouldn't melt 😳 xx

Hope you are ok xx

Ha ha , that made me laugh , I can imagine the scenario lol him all chilled and you constantly on on red alert 😃😃Not fair is it ! x 😣

That is our born natural innate ability.

It doesn't matter what size or looks we come in, your (female) natural instinct is to nuture us, just like you would a baby.

And don't think we play on it, oh no...

??👍👍 xx

I love men, I hate men heh heh x

Give me a baby any time! Far easier and a lot more rewarding, plus they don't leave the toilet seat up or use the last piece of toilet paper without replacing it!!

Hahaha! Poor old RH. Hang on RH you are quite able to defend yourself and the rest of our better halves 😳 x

I wasn't saying RHGB was like that lol! After living with two sons and a husband, my daughter and I got used to it!

No I meant he was the only male in this thread bless him xx

Haha😄😄

I'm used to being ganged up on. I am one of the few male regular posters on here (discount Paul because he is in the industry, and not with a problem). There are far more female posters than men, something I have commented on before, because it has surprised me, I always felt that men were in the majority with a drink problem.

Obviously JA you are posting on behalf of someone, not for yourself, as it were.

I am subscribed to 11 forums, all to do with things I have had or been suspected of having. I am no where near as busy in the other forums (apart from perhaps the liver forum). I can say that this is only forum where it is not 50:50 roughly.

I have also contributed like RHGB and also one of the few men. 2 yrs but not nearly as technical and long replies as RHGB. My experience was completely different and I never took any medication but simply stopped. Did drink a LOT for many many years.....Robin

High fives to our guys x

OMG Robin, I am so sorry. Why did I think you were a woman? Must be your feminine side coming out! Deepest apologies 😳 xx

I have no idea why that should be so on this forum. I am on another thread on patient for hypothyroidism. Seem to be mostly female on that one, as you would expect

All our experiences and thoughts are so valuable on here Robin aren't they .It's what gives us our universal brain🤔🤔😶😶😏 ..It's a fantastic achievement to just stop drinking ..well done you .Happy Days 😊!

JulieAnne you naughty naughty girl LOL 😋😋😋I always thought Robin was a man xx

Here Here Gwennie, I'll go with those high fives lol ! So glad to read your doing so well ! Keep going hun and enjoy a few zzzzz 's tonight 😴😴😴😴x

I am so thick sometimes. Hope Robin forgives me ☺ xx

My hat off to you Robin, for being able to stop x

4 yrs 2 months since I would have destroyed my family otherwise...and small children I was looking after.....Robin

u r forgiven..names are funny...double meaning.... 

❤❤❤