Well, a recovering addict to be sure, but… Yes. Normally I wouldn’t post something like this here on ELR but if I can help someone get clean or if I can be an ear or if I can help in any way then I think it’s worth it.
For anybody that wants to talk but not to me, we have a thread for recovering addicts and any one of the good people there will be there for you. So please leave a comment. If you don’t want to make a public comment on the left click on my Avatar (photo) and then click message.
HDS (Heavy Duty Shit) @Dan_the_Man. Takes a lot of balls to put this stuff up and out there. I’m sure it WILL help others out there. Your story is like so many other stories I’ve heard, some in my own family. Vicodin, crippling costs, (insert next few phases here…).
I have NOT gone through a similar situation, but I have witnessed first hand, how it starts, where it goes, and how it CAN end many times.
I appreciate you taking the time to make, and share this video, AND, the balls (IMO) that it takes to do just that. Stay strong, and clean brother. We’ve got your back.
Yay for you!! I’m a recovering alcoholic. Been sober 4 years as of nov 4th. I liked to splash some drugs in too drink longer. Meth, adderall, pills. It was a brutal 12 years of use. Lots of missing time.
At first recovery was hard. I have been in and out since I started using so I could talk the talk…when i was 27, a light bulb went off.
I can only be sober for myself. Everything is secondary(kids, husband, ect.)
Without my sobriety I will lose all of that! It’s happened before.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. One day at a time…sounds lame at first but rings true as recovery goes on…
Thanks for this thread!! Rock on bro @Dan_the_Man
Amen to that, brother. It’s easy to look at “addicts” with self-righteous judgement and contempt, but addiction is incredibly painful and destructive. And it takes a BIG helping of self respect and motivation to become a recovering one.
Twenty Six years now. Glad to meet you. I don’t talk about it because I don’t like dealing with the reactions I get. No, I’m not telling you not to drink. No, Alcohol isn’t “bad”. I don’t want to hear about you being worried about drinking. If it’s a problem fix it. No, I don’t want congratulations for simply doing the right thing for myself. No, pitty is a non sequitur. Nothing to pity. I’m doing great, how are you? What do I miss the most? Having to recycle the cans. I enjoy missing that too.
The only “addiction” I’ve had was that of smoking. And oddly enough, I never thought it was an addiction until I stopped and realized how dangerous it was and how long I ignored that. While I am not interested in lighting up ever again, I do miss the collateral aspects of it. I miss going outside for a smoke break and forgetting about the stress of work for a few minutes. I miss hanging out with the other smokers and shooting the shit. All of that melted away with vaping. Yes, I know that pales in comparison to true addiction, and I’m not trying to stand in your shoes at all, let’s get that straight. Your statement just triggered a thought.
Same in my mind. Quitting smoking was harder for me than alcohol. Vaping was a God send just like AA was for me. In time all of the tangential enjoyment was replaced. I take breaks at work usually chatting it up with the owner. Obviously it helps that we are in the same band. We do happen to have a lot of common interests. I hang out with other folks but smoking and or drinking is not a criteria for the relationships. It’s been long enough that I don’t care if they’re drinking. The folks that do drink in my presence are not getting slammed. That is a turn off for me. People who drink in my home do have to BYO as I simply don’t have any. Smoking is different. I have to stay back a distance as the oder gags me. I have friends that smoke and I’ll take a vape break while they take a smoke break, again at a distance. They don’t have a problem with my vaping, that I simply won’t tolerate.
Smoking is probably one of the addictive habits on the planet right now. More people are addicted to smoking than any other chemical, except caffeine, in the world. So I don’t belittle it at all bro. I think that is the big reason the Vaping Community is mostly kind-hearted and givers. I was a preacher in my past life and Christianity can only hope to have the kind of goodness and community we have as ex-smokers.
@Dan_the_Man
Kudos brother. For getting clean. For finding the fortitude to admit it. For finding the strength to deal with it head on. For having the guts to talk about something that so many are afraid to talk about.
No need for the quotes in my opinion.
The vast majority of smokers ARE addicts. The vast majority of them, also don’t want to admit it.
That’s why it has always been referred to as “a nasty habit” in “polite” company. It’s a way of keeping it taboo in essence. It’s seen by many as being more “confrontational” (something that has become a dirty word, because of being [IMO, incorrectly] associated with aggression, when it’s always been another way of saying: deal with something head on/direct) to talk about smoking as being an addiction. JMHO…
They’re the same IMO as well bud.
Addiction is not just limited to drugs. Or alcohol. Or sex. Or…
The key is, taking control back from it.
Success to all who strive to do so, and well done for those who experience success. Very well done for those able to continue to maintain control over it!
I guess I see the stories of narcotic addicts carrying narcan in case they overdose, people living on the streets begging for drug money, losing families and careers to their addictions, etc. and think of myself compared to that. But you are right; inability to control the consumption of your addictive agent is the same across the board.
I have not yet been able to overcome my sex addiction, but the wife does her part to keep it in check. (Sorry, a little humor to lighten the mood).
Well done @Dan_the_Man! You definitely have the right name you are the MAN!!
Great video, I’m a Registered Nurse and found it very insightful from the patient perspective and this will make me think differently.
We use those pain buttons where I work and I have seen a big difference in how they are prescribed in the last 5 years. The same goes for the pain tablets, not as freely given out. You are also right in that addiction is poorly understood in the medical profession, but slowly improving.
Now I’m a big believer in pain relief and I have always encouraged it to aid the short term recovery that I see in the acute phase. Until watching this video I never really thought about the long term risks of addiction. I never see that part.
Thank you! Your short video has changed my views that I have gained in over 10years.
What surprised me was (and I completely “get” the rock in a hard place, that both the patient and doctor are in, in such situations that Dan described in the video) that there’s no phone number to call to put be put on a “temporary list” of (let’s call it) “do not prescribe…” that the patient can call, and that physicians have to honor.
I know there’s a similar ‘technique’ (or tool) available to gamblers (as I’ve seen the billboards (in years past). I think it’s 1-800-BETS-OFF.
Not sure how it works (whether it prohibits entry into legal establishments, or if it just denies them access to gamble) but it got me thinking…it’s a tool that effectively enables the call for help to be acknowledged at least!!
If politicians really wanted to do something about the ‘opioid epidemic’, you’d think they’d start with a national help-line to “hear” the call from those who are at least TRYING to ask for it!
There should be avenues to quit, as well as an avenue to provide guidance to an alternative (during the removal of dependancy), but either should involve competent medical professionals.
That is something I have been thinking about for a while now.
Yes, and more needs to be done but you have changed my thought a little too. I never considered your side of it. Seeing someone suffer and wanting to help and knowing that button will help, at least a little. I have gotten over my bitterness years ago and now think about teaming up with Doctors and Nurses to better educate the patients.
The problem I have now is; “They” see the problem now and their solution is to **take away the “medicine” they need to stay healthy. ** IMO that is the wrong way to go about it. Now, most of these folks are gonna go to the city to get heroin and that is just a bad idea. There should be programs. Not only that but most of the old folks that get Pain Meds have to sell them to supplement their income and now that’s gone too. It’s just a big giant cluster f#ck.
Me too. Short Term being the key. I honestly think that if they would have put me on some milder pain meds while I was still layed up. I would have gone through the withdrawal without really knowing what was happening but then I think about how painful rehab was and change my mind LOL
Awesome. Alcoholism has got to be one of if not thee hardest one of em all but I can’t really make a statement like that because everybody addiction is there own.
