It CAN stop.....There IS hope!

[IwillDoThis]

Hey Everybody - I just wanted to take a minute and pop on to let those people just starting their journey or those of you continuing on the journey that there is hope and to NEVER give up.  Today I'm 247 days clean off my pain meds and I feel soooooooo great.  I've been off the forum for a while just getting back to regular life and moving forward but I'll never forget any of you who gave me so much support back in February when I was in so much pain and struggling.

I was taking:  4-6 Hydro 10-325s, 2mg xanax nightly, ambien, soma & fiorcet for several years and had been living about a year from chronic withdrawal because I didn't want to up my dosages and I just didn't realize that was why I felt so awful all the time.

I started on this path seeking alternative ways to relieve my pain and if you want to know specifics I have journals about it all, what I tried etc. in my profile - I hope it helps someone.

This is a hard road for sure but going through withdrawal made me never want to go through that again.  We all come to this place through different experiences, realizations and time - everyone has a different catalyst that brings them to sobriety.  If you haven't found yours yet PLEASE don't stop trying, never stop trying.

I just can't believe how different things look to me today.  If you are in the beginning stages just try to remember that sometimes you have to get through the next 5 minutes, hour or day and then find the strength to do that all over again.  One foot in front of another knowing one day in the future if you can NOT pop that pill you will feel normal again.  It takes time for your natural endorphins to return your body has to heal just like a broken bone would.  Stopping pills isn't the instant fix, stopping was the easy part - it's the mental torture and brain zaps that will be the challenge and if you can just make it through the first 30-60 days then every day after that gets a little easier.

Always be on guard and keep yourself from situations or people who may cause you to relapse if you can - remember where you are coming from and move forward in a guarded but positive way.

I did it and you can too - hang in there and don't give up!

Thanks again to everyone - IWillDoThis - Did this!

[smiles4eva]

You were very active on this forum when I first joined.  Your screen name are words I say daily so I often think of you.  So happy you checked in and congratulations!

[dominosarah]

What a great post!  Nice to see you checking in.  Congrats on your clean time!  

[cleanguy]

What a great post... i know im not out of the woods yet. Thank you for the update... i will be doing the same when I get there!

[kyle505]

Good to see you again. You helped me a lot; helped me get to my 9 month mark, something I've never done before. I don't have the words to thank you enough. I hope you stick around - there are a lot of new people logging on - lots of heart breaking stories - so your wisdom and experience is needed.
Congrats.