- Drugs
My story begins as a young child when I was sleepwalking and fell off an 18-foot ledge, which resulted in extreme back pain for the rest of my life. I was first prescribed pain medication when I was eight and over the years I was always intermittently prescribed pain killers. About two years ago, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder. I was prescribed anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications. This proved to cause a spiral downward because I would often use one or many medications to get a sense of calm. I ended up using multiple medications all throughout the day. I was also taking Adderall, which would make me need sleep medications since the Adderall made me quite jittery. So at one time, I was taking Adderall, valium, anti-depressants, Vicodin, and Ambien.
Some days, I would isolate myself and take 12 to 16 Vicodin pills, along with all the other medications. I went through withdrawal from Vicodin and I felt like I wanted to kill myself. I then began taking Nucynta because a pharmaceutical rep in my doctor’s office told me it was non-addictive. But I proved that theory wrong as I quickly became dependent on them. The days quickly became unbearable without some form of pill. I think my lowest point was when I considered harder drugs, even heroin. This is when I decided to check myself into an inpatient treatment center in Palm Springs, CA. I have now been clean for 83 days and am still trying to get into the habit of living life without the mind altering chemicals. But I know that going to treatment saved my life.