Staying clean takes recovery care

Recovery care is not discussed nearly as often as it should be on here .Once you have gone threw the physical withdrawal its time to get recovery care ...Getting clean is the easy part staying clean is the hard part ..The forum is GREAT but it is NOT recovery care it will not keep you clean .The only one that can keep you clean is ourselves and the program we get ourselves on to stay that way ... For some AA/NA is what they choose for others an addiction specialist or a therapist  others see there pastor what ever works for you .Just make sure you get something if you don't chances are you will find yourself relapsing ...Dont do that to yourself

[Greatgreebo]

Touche'


Greebs

[slapperman]

so true..............................
I quit NA for 2 weeks but like they say.............time to go back with your tail between your legs

starting tonight, I hate going back after being out for so long. ugh......

time to do the dirty

hi ho hi ho off to da meeining I go

[FibroMissa]

That's true.  I know for me right now I need to focus on the physical part while still having a part in the back of my head planning my aftercare.  I have a therapist that I just told yesterday about my addiction to oxy and will def follow up with her.  Am considering NA but haven't decided yet.  appreciate the info.

xo D

[avisg]

Fibro sounds like you are thinking about it are u in wd now ?

[FibroMissa]

Yup thinking about it lots....I am in wd right now...day 3 is coming to a close :)

[avisg]

miss ,
few more days and you will be over the worst of the physical wds .... keep posting so we know how you are doing .

[dominosarah]

We just cant stress aftercare enough.  Seems after the wd's the pink cloud effect comes into play and people think addiction is over.  They are happy and life is great.  Reality sets in and relapses happen.  Recovery is a process and it takes work.  For most of us there is a reason why we numbed our bodies and minds up for so long.  Gotta face those demons head on.  Gotta keep your guard up too.  You get to big for your britches and you will set yourself up for disaster again.  I am and always will be a work in progress.  I protect my sobriety with my life and i do whatever it takes to keep me healthy and clean....Today i had a few issues and a good friend of mine who is in the program told me straight up to get off my pity pot.  She was dead on and i did.  Recovery works if you work it~~~~~~~~sara

[catmagnet]

You guys are right on... when I got out of detox, I thought everything was going to be just peachy...WRONG! I was only in for 10 days, but the physical w/d's are not entirely over with. I still can't sleep more than a couple of hours if I'm lucky. The mental part is killing me now, but I need to stay strong. I've come way too far to screw things up now...it's been over 7 weeks...

[avisg]

Sara and Cat you are so right ,

It is really sad when we have members that relapse multiple times and wonder why they cant stay off the meds but when you suggest recovery care they have all sorts of excuses as to why that wont get it ....They continue to do the same thing expecting different results .If you want different results you need to do things differently ...

[catmagnet]

I learned in a meeting that is the definition of insanity...so true!!!

[guv338]

True, True, True.  In August '09, after fighting the battle alone for 7 months,  I managed to stay off pills but it just wasn't all coming together for me.  I had resisted
any after care because I wanted to think I could keep it out of my head, but that is impossible.  So finally I gave NA a try and man what a relief it was to finally be able to be around people that got IT.  We are all so different in NA but we are all so much the same.  The benefits of one addict helping another is unbelievable to those who haven't tried it.  Do yourself a huge favor and dont wait until you are about to break.  Get involved in some type of aftercare asap.  Its truely the winning edge that you need. guv

[avisg]

guv,
I totally understand that the first time i quit for over 6 months I thought i could do it all on my own with the forum of course I relapsed I made sure not to make the same mistake again now i have 2 1/2 years it really makes so much of a diffrance.

[guv338]

I hear ya, I told myself from day one that I was going to keep this strictly physical and that no way could it get in my hard head.  Boy was I wrong.  by about months 3-4, I was beside myself.  I was going thru so much anger and anxiety that I was going to do something stupid if I didnt get help.  I knew relapse was not an option, it never was, so I started to check out other options.  First did a MD, Phychiatrist, who tried to put me right back on the pills I fought so hard to get off of, he said I can tell your hurting so bad, that your just setting yourself up for relapse,   Wrong Answer, so then I tried NA.  So much better and at a much better price.   Thanks for all you do.  guv

[gnarly_1]

Hi first off im no expert like some of the posters here...but I have learned one thing in life
if you want to do something there are 2 ways of doing it...learn it yourself from the school of hard nocks....or model yourself after someone that has walked in your shoes
and has been there and is now successful  its a choice we all have to make...after 16 1/2yrs of addiction I need to learn how to relive life on lifes terms..its nothing your going to teach yourself ..knowing you need help is the first part in it...getting that help is up to you....I chose to lissin to those that had the experience and im so grateful they still take time out of there lives to help others like myself out...I got 97 days clean today and without aftercare I would have crashed and burned along time ago..I see a drug conslor once a week to vent on...im involved in a few church activity's
and if I get cravings im off to an N/A meeting ..I have a close friend thats also an
an x/user and a couple of close friends to shair my life with available 24/7 I take my sobriety very seriously and know it will always be a work in progress I pray that God gives me the strength to make it thew each day...I also pray for everyone on this forum weather they be one of the rocks that keeps this forum running or just someone starting there journey out ...I have learned that prayer is a powerful weapon on addiction and use it to help others as well as myself....so if your just starting out or if you feel like a million bucks cause you just detoxed....do yourself a favor and put some aftercare in place it is just one more part of the long road out of active addiction ..good luck to all and may god bless each and every one of you abundantly ...Gnarly        

[worried878]

DING!  I know i need to save that site to my tool bar cos it rox...sometimes we need to take care of ourselves as recovery is forever..thanx for reminding me avisg

[dominosarah]

I know some people think some of my comments can be brutal.  People come on and say i am so many days clean and i have this licked.  I just cant sit back and not bring up aftercare.  I am in no way trying to rain on anyones parade and i am proud of everyone of you who are doing this.  This is addiction people and it isnt pretty.  It takes us places that noone should ever have to see.  I remember the day i posted about feeling like a million bucks.  I remember the responses that followed and i was just floored.  They told me i was floating on a pink cloud and it wouldnt last and was very common to feel this way but reality would kick in.  I sat back and realized these people had gone before me and they knew what they were talking about and my way hadnt worked.  They were brutally honest with me and started asking about aftercare right away.  They told me things i needed to hear, not what i wanted to hear.  I go to meetings and meet with some other recovering addicts for coffee.  Facing my demons with people who understand has been a life saver.....your never alone.   sara

[dominosarah]

Avis and worried, you 2 always drilled it in to me about aftercare......Thank you from the bottom of my heart~~~~~~~sara

[guv338]

There is a time for sugarcoating things, when newbies are trying to get started and then theres a time for tough love, when someone needs to know the truth.  My experience with your postings, are that you care about the recipient and try to give the needed response.  Life is not always pretty and neither is reality.  Some of the posts that helped me the most, back in the early days, were the ones that told it to me straight.  The 3-5 day detox was not in order for me, so I needed to know that after being such a f...,  up for so long, that I was going to have to pay the piper for a longer period of time.  It was that tough love and Truth, that gave me the knowledge I needed to push forward.  You just keep on being dominosarah and all will be well.
Thanks for all you do.  guv

[worried878]

we were just messaging today bout the time we spend on this forum reaching out...and u r right..we need to also do work on ourselves..more and more work...i am bad about being a caregiver cos i guess that is my profession and my so called role in life..but i need to also take care of myself//and i do know how quickly life can close in around me and hit me off guard
u brought up the "i feel like a million bux" at 8,12, 18 days thing...i read these posts and dont wanna say u may not always feel so great..I hate to burst bubbles and I nevr want to sound negative on a positve post//and sometimes i avoid posting what may happen..but since it happened to me too..feeling great then taking a nose dive into depression..it is hard not to sometimes..the pink cloud is real for most of us...and being positve is so very important to recovery///but being realistic is also part of life,,,so i will say realistic vs negative when i mention everyday is not a good day//cos it is not//life doesnt always dish out good days//and without bad days there would be no good days
Aftecare is the only way most can hang on/at yr and 1/2 clean my life came crashing down around me and where did I run? Not to my DOC cos thought that would be too dangerous  LOL..turned to alcohol///talk about dangerous!./but having posted here and realizing what i was doing i pulled out///for a month i just didnt care and dint even post here cos i was lost//again..at over a yr clean..I WAS SO LOST...and realized my work on myself was not even near completed cos i ran to my old coping mechanism..ESCAPE!

great post..-

[dominosarah]

bump

[catlover8]

I have a question for you all. I am embarking on detox this Thursday. I am trying to decide which aftercare is best for me. I want to keep posting, but I understand I need aftercare as well. I was thinking NA. How do I figure out where to go and when meetings are? Also, what are some other aftercare options that do not cost much money?

[avisg]

cat if you are low on funds aa/na either one honestly can do the job I believe if you go to either the aa or na web sites you can put in your info about where u live and they will give a listings of meetings in your area ...Not every meeting is suitable for every person you may need to go to a few different places in your area until you find one that you feel is a fix for u ..We have several members that found themselves more comfortable in aa meetings so if na meetings dont work for u dont be afraid to try the aa meeting s

[dominosarah]

Google NA meetings in your area.  Some people talk with their ministers also.  

[wanttobeclean]

Great thread.  After getting off the drugs only to be sucked into a new addiction (alcohol), I wisened up and realized I was honestly back to square one.  SO then I started yanking, pulling and banging my head against the locked door, missing the open window right beside it...the one sara and Avis were waving and hollerin' from ...aftercare with AA

;-))

Thanks again

[dominosarah]

Nice to see you waving and hollerin with us now!!!  You go girl!!    sara

[sweatinit]

Thnaks for that post. I will post shortly about my aftercare and how much it has helped me. If it weren't for you guys, this site would have been my before, during and aftercare. Thanks so much!! Day 22...sweet freedom. xxoo

[dominosarah]

bump

[avisg]

sweatin,
what were you on before you got clean? I dont think I have ever read that LOL

[SophieShine]

Our addiction has roots that we have to be aware of and the roots are very deep for some, there's no way to recover without some type of aftercare.
It's when we become clean that the real work begins. Staying clean is an everyday job.
Thanx Avisg and sara for reminding us what this is all about...
Best of luck to all of you.
xoxoxo. sophie

[narla]

avisg and dominosarah-I'm 151 days clean I still haven't been able to get myself in aftercare, here there is such a stigma attached to addictions I'm worried someone will see me.I do see a counsellor,not for the addictions though,But we do discuss it every week,we are also discussing cross addictions, I see my Dr regularly too is that enough.  

[angelmaybe2u]

This is the first time I have posted here. I have been clean from painpills since Halloween 2008. I went to aa meetings almost everyday, got a sponsor & actually talked to her, got another just in case 1st one wasn't available. read my big book everyday & prayed alot. I begun to feel peace for the first time in a long time-I felt like my life did matter. I got a pt job at night * stopped going to meetins & doing things I listed above. My whole attitude changed from positive to negative. I started getting depressed(I'm also bipolar & take meds). I then got it in my head that I could smoke weed. I've done so a couple of times but it didn't really do anything except make me focus on all the neg. I know I need to get back in the swing of things, but for the life of me I can't make myself! I don't want aa people to know I relapsed-I know honesty is everything in recovery. My depression has gotten so much worse & i'm going through med changes for that. I am also on suboxone but almost out of that. I HATE starting over. I've done it so many times!!  I just don't understand myselg-guess I just wanted to be "normal" Sorry for the long post!!

[avisg]

angel,
you know you have  be honset .You are not the first to relapse they will not judge you they will support you..it will be ok

[dominosarah]

angel......This is exactly the reason you need to go back to your meetings.  I am willing to bet that alot of them have been in your shoes at one time or another.  Its more than okay to walk in and say I need help, I cant do this alone......

Narla......when you are ready to go to a meeting you will know.  You are going to a therapist and working your recovery.  All this takes time and you are working thru your demons slowly but surely......You are doing just fine girl.......sara

[tellit2her]

Greetings avisg, great topic that you have brought up, and speaking from experience I know that if you do not have an aftercare plan, recovery is nothing more than a blurr and relapse is inevitable. This topic, like you stated, is not much of a discussion on this site. All I read is how people have been clean for 4 or 5 days and all the misery that takes place during that time, but NO comments on what the healing person has plans for the future at all. I tried this so many times myself and it the end results were always the same. I finally took some action after so many failed attempts with "white knuckling recovery", and attend therapy sessions, see a councelor, outpatient treatment, groups and a good dose of AA. So far after 54 days, things seem a little more clearer with purpose and meaning. You can only drop and apple on the floor so many times without it getting bruised up to the point where its no good. I am glad for recovery programs that are available to those who suffer from this grave disease. Thanks a million, mike in nc

[dominosarah]

Great post tellit2her.  Congrats on 54 days!!  It really does work if you work it......sara

[Beccabeccalynn]

I rock AA 3-5 times a week . Sometimes my family will even say hey why don't you hit a meeting looks like you need it. True story.
Becca

[JohnnyDanger]

NA was a life saver for me... Just a month ago I was posting on here about all the terrible withdrawls from OXY. For those going through it...HANG IN THERE!!!! It gets better! And PLEASE go check out a AA/NA meeting. It really helps one understand addiction and its damages. Now 36 days clean... I  slowly forget the hell I went through just a month ago. BUT with NA by my side... It reminds me why I will never go back!!!!

[dominosarah]

Now that is what we like to hear!!  way to go on 36 days clean!!!         sara

[dominosarah]

bump

[SophieShine]

bump for the newbies out there!

[JohnnyDanger]

Thanx Sara! :)