aftercare hype/********??

[Addicted2long]

I have struggled with addiction to opiates for 8 years now. I have been on them all from Oxys to Roxy lastly to a 2 year heavy IV heroin addiction. Over the years i have tried to quit hundreds and hundreds of times some resulting in months or sobriety but never longer. I have been to numerous rehab and detox facility's some of the best in the US. But I was always stubborn and thought that after going thru such bad wds i had learned my lesson. For years I had been coming to Med help too an always had people pushing aftercare on me like it was the bible. And i never bought it. I didn't think I needed it or that it was for me. And most of all..I never wanted to consume myself with addiction everyday week and just wanted to get on with my life. Well after failing over and over again and relapsing I decided that maybe I really needed to get to the bottom of this and i wanted my life back so **** i was gunna try anything at this point. So the last time I quit I started attending NA meetings 5x week and seeing a therapist. For the first tike in 8 years I broke down and cried. I learned so much about myself be doing all this and was able to come up with a better more successful plan for my recovery. I now attend meetings as much as I can usually at least minimum of 2 a week and see a addictionolgist once a week. In doing aftercare I have now even able to maintain sobriety longer than I ever have in my life. I have even gained alot of trust and relationships back with so many people in my life I thought were lost causes. For someone who hated the though of aftercare and thought it was some ******** that I didn't need j realized it was the missing peice to the puzzle to me. Addiction is mibdblowimg and you can never underestimate the power it has in the mind. We can't do this alone and we need all the help on our side we can get. For those of you that seem to be stuck in a rut I suggest u try new things. There is not just one type of aftercare and NA is not the only option. But u must work on relapse prevention because I don't care who u are and how strong h think u are your mindset changes. U must be able to work through it in your weaknesses. I am glad I joined this site because I would have never gotten the help I needed. U may say it ain't for you but why not try it first? Medhelp is a form of aftercare for me too but without my meetings and therapist I would be one lost puppy just playing the game of whens the next relapse. Good luck and keep up the fight for those of you fighting for your lives back!

[Addicted2long]

Thanks everyone I really appreciate it. I couldn't do it without yall

[lulu747]

Awesome job on your recovery..and thank you so much for posting this!  Wishing you nothing but the very best....Lu

[hellc@mst]

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under
robber barons than under omnipotent, moral busybodies. The robber
baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be
satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us
without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience....  To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not
regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet
reached the age of reason."

[Lewis, C.S. "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment," God in the Dock.
  William B. Berdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994.]

[gnarly_1]

CUDOS to you.....we beat aftercare like a dead horse but it is the difference of not using and truly living in recovery and recovery is a beautiful place I wish you many clean yrs ahead goodl luck and God bless........Gnarly  

[Addicted2long]

I guess i just came to realize that I was never going to b the old me again. I was now a new person that would have to keep my guard up for the rest of my life. I mean it ***** that I have to spend a good part of my week attending all this stuff but its the price I have to pay to live. And honestly I can't complain because it beats driving around a few hours a day going to cop and going from bank to bank to pawn shop and worrying non stop about how I am going to support myself any longer. It is depressing but I just gotta take one day at a time because I did this to myself nobody else. Yet so many people I have found are willing to help me and expect nothing in return. Recovering drug addicts and some of the most sincere caring people there are yet we are looked at as scum of the earth by many and never given the respect we deserve. We are one step ahead of the game and more prepared for life's everyday battles. Those who haven't been in our shoes can only watch movies and read stores about what we've been thru.

[kyle505]

Thanks. In day six of detox. Your post means a lot. Thank you.

[vicki595]

Wonderful!   I'm happy for you!  

It doesn't hurt to try SOMETHING if the old ways don't work!

[dominosarah]

This is just AWESOME!!!!  Way proud of you!!     sara