Is there anyone out there who has successfully quit opiates? I need a little confidence booster. Im looking for someone who has quit, and is happy, like they were before they kissed the devil. Not on methadone, not on boxin or any other replacement. I mean, a replacement is necessary, but it needs to be a healthy replacement. Such as, work, exercise, a hobby...not methadone, boxin, so on...Not that I'm against those options, as long as they work for you. But I havent seen a single one of my friends actually quit. I tried suboxone, went to this small outpatient program put on by a couple doctors, about two months in, the goverment managed to shut down all the private clinics in town, for a couple months, so that everyone would be forced to either pick back up on their habit or go to the methadone clinic, which the government makes money off of. Messed up, I didnt go, I went back to buying opiates off the street. Its been years going back and forth, between wanting to quit and not wanting to quit. It doesnt help that Im the perfect candidate for being addicted to drugs. Im an artist, both freelance and tattooing. I come from two depressed parents, never known my real dad. My mom tried to commit suicide when I was in high school, due to cutting down on her anti-depressants and hitting rock bottom. My two best friends from childhood died in freak accidents, my best friend out of high school died from an overdose two weeks after I moved to Florida. I moved back from florida after 2 years cause my uncle shot himself, he had a life long struggle with opiates, decided to end it, so I had to move back to help my mom get through it. I was clean in florida, when I moved back, I dove right back into oxy's. Its hard moving back to the place it all began, I know too many people here, too many triggers. Now Ive been trying to quit for a year, Im the best Ive ever been. Finally realizing that the high isnt even that great, its just been a way for me to numb the pain of life. I havent ever dealt with all the bad things that happened in my life. My dealing with them was smoking a joint, or snorting a pill. So selfish, time to deal with everything life can throw at me. Like normal people. I know how it feels to get clean, you feel like a totally different person, ready to take on the world. You get a familiar feeling that you havent felt in years. Its amazing. But it takes some getting used to. Its like your on coke, the amount of energy you have. It takes a while for that to feel normal again. Being on downers for so long, after taking some you felt normal, not high. Then when you get off of them you feel high, not normal, but it just takes some time for your body to realize...you lost track of what normal really is, and how good it really is. I just got to my moms house yesterday, staying here for two weeks to get back on track. For the most part I have been on track, but I had a small relapse and lied to my girl about it, she found out and it seemed a lot worse than it was. So...here I am. I dont blame her for wanting me out for a little while. Its been a long road, for everyone involved. Im getting clean, and thats a fact. When I get back to reality, Im changing my phone #, Im letting my girl have control of my money, and at the tattoo shop Im wearing a sticker that says, "RECOVERING ADDICT, DONT OFFER ME S***!" lol, No joke though, I truly do want to quit and Im doing it cold turkey just to put an umph into it. Reminding myself that this ***** and I never want to go through this again. Every time you relapse you have to set yourself a new rock bottom. That bottom is when something terrible happens and you decide to quit. Every time you start up again something even more terrible has to happen to give you that wake up call you need. Dont wait, Do it now...before you end up destroying your life and hurting your loved ones beyond repair. Or worse, death. Life is beautiful, so sad for it to be wasted on such a stupid drug, whos high really isnt anything to die over. Love yourself, enough to be sober, enough to be happy sober.