The struggles and triumphs of an addict

The CDC asked more than 60 fentanyl overdose survivors and witnesses to share details about their experience. Overdose deaths related to synthetic opioids have skyrocketed in recent years,  rising 72%  between 2014 and 2015—driven in large part by the widespread use of the drug, fentanyl. Now, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are hoping to understand more about fentanyl overdoses by interviewing people who have overdosed on the drug or who have been present during a fentanyl overdose.  The CDC  recently released a report  in which researchers interviewed 64 people from Massachusetts—95% had witnessed an overdose in the previous six months, and 42% had overdosed themselves.  Researchers asked about fentanyl in the drug supply. Respondents reported that they often did not know whether the heroin they were using contained fentanyl. Some people specifically went looking for fentanyl, while others said they tried...

I wrote this when I began down this road. "First, I thank you for taking the time to look at my page. Thank you very much for your recent like or share of Prodigal Sons free teen Counsel. This is the beginning of this adventure that God has called upon me. I have an inspiring and powerful testimony that can be a warning to our children about the real cost of drug and alcohol use and how easily and quickly it can have you in it's grip. I can be of much assistance to those of our youth that are already experimenting or addicted. I've come to learn they are more willing to open up to someone that has been there and really gets it. It can also be a warning to Christians about going against the plan God has for us. Right now, as a start-up, I'm trying to find places like churches or schools where I can share my life story and possibly save some lives. Again, I thank you for the like or share and would just like to let you know where assistance is needed. One is places wher...

Coming off anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazepines) Secrets to Success Thinking about trying to taper off any of the benzodiazepines and worried about the withdrawals, your anxiety and your odds of success? Well, a poorly thought out or overly quick taper can be agonizing but it doesn’t have to go that way – a methodical and patient benzo taper makes things much more manageable. Need some advice on how to make sure your taper goes smoothly? Well here are 11 great tips and strategies to a successful benzodiazepine taper from Professor C Heather Ashton. Oxford educated Professor Ashton is considered a leading expert on benzodiazepine withdrawal based on her experiences running a benzo withdrawal clinic over more than a decade. She is also the author of ‘Benzodiazepines: How They Work and How to Withdraw’ which is now more famously known as The Ashton Manual. 11 Tips for a Successful Benzodiazepine Withdrawal 1. Get Confident You can do it! Millions of people have gone before you...

My name is Rev JE Allen. As a young man I was in two very serious  car accidents. I lost a friend in one of these accidents. I suffered a broken neck and spinal injury which led to doctors putting me on heavy narcotic pain killers. I was told I would need the drugs the rest of my life to function. I developed a dependency and then ultimately an addiction to opiates. The drug I was on was no different than heroin when it came to being without. The withdrawals were the same. My life was destroyed and my goals and dreams were dashed. My life centered around drugs for almost 20 years. Then in late 2014 I decided to take my life back. It took a solid year to get over the drug but I did it and never looked back. Since this time I became an ordained Minister and I focus on mainly teen addiction and prevention. I lived this life for 20 years. I have insight as to what addiction truly does to someone and my mission is to save lives. Teens and young adults that I talk to easily open up to ...

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, nicknamed “The Punisher,” has called for the executions of drug users as the latest measure in his unmerciful efforts to cut down crime. “These sons of whores are destroying our children,” Duterte said earlier this month in a profanity-ridden speech in front of a crowd of 500 at a Manila slum, the Guardian reported . “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful,” he said.  Duterte, who has been called the “Trump” of the Philippines for his penchant for profanity, announced his severe crime-fighting measures a day after he was sworn in as president on June 30 with a promise that 100,000 would die in his war on drugs. Before he was president, he was known for cleaning up crime in the Filipino city of Davao, known as the "murder capitol," where he was the mayor for more than two decades. Within the first week of Duterte’s presidency, at least...

                                  America: Addiction by the numbers 1. 21.5 million: The amount of people aged 12 or older in 2014 had a substance use disorder in the past year. 2. 1 in 5: The amount of young adults in 2014 who were users of illicit drugs. 3. 7,800:The daily number of people 12 and over who tried an illicit drug for the first time. 4. Marijuana: The drug most new illicit drug users begin with. Followed by prescription pain relievers and then inhalants. 5. 700 Billion: The amount the abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs costs to our Nation annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care. 6. 3x: The amount the business of recovery has increased in the last 25 years. 7. 14,000: The amount of addiction treatment facilities. 8. 35 billion: The an...

A fetus was discovered inside a San Antonio woman's purse while she was being arrested for drugs in a park Thursday night. Bernadette Rivera, 32, had several felonies worth of narcotics, including heroin and methamphetamine, on her — reportedly near her private area, sources told KENS-TV. During the search, Rivera openly told officers of the fetus in her purse and explained that she recently had a miscarriage. "Rivera left the hospital with the remains deciding that she would determine” the disposal of them, said San Antonio Police Department Public Information Officer Romana Lopez. Officers discovered decomposing tissue about two inches long inside a small plastic Q-Tip box covered by napkins inside Rivera's purse, San Antonio police reported. The fetus was estimated to be about 8 weeks old. Detectives determined that Rivera's possession of the fetus was not a criminal case and she is only being charged with possession of narcotics. The Medical Examiner's...

I'm going to speak from the heart and it may sound harsh or rude. I don't know exactly what I'm going to say. I've noticed not too many people are comfortable with even "liking" a post about addiction which I could care less about the "likes".  That's not what it's about. It's about the fact we have an absolute epidemic on our hands and most are oblivious until they are forced to deal with the issue when they realize their teenager is hooked on heroin. You upper middle class in the suburbs and you parents in your nice gated communities this is for you because this is where the epidemic is. You think no way not my child. Well, let me tell you it's going on right under your noses. It started with pain pills recreationally, but it doesn't take long (less than 1-2 months) to become chemically dependent and then the sickness begins and it is absolute torture. So, the government cracks down on doctors and pharmacies and now the pill...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says America is in the middle of an opioid addiction and Alabama is no exception. Experts say overdoses are spiking in part because dealers are cutting or mixing heroin with Fentanyl, a drug that's about 100 times stronger than heroin. Now while that's bad a new drug called W-18 is also being used to cut heroin and many say it's an instant death sentence "We're hearing that the heroin and Fentanyl overdoses are 200 times as much this year already," George King said. He is the director of Royal Pines, a men's rehabilitation center in Alabama. King says a lot of the guys who come through the center are getting a second chance. But with the news of a deadly new drug out there being used to cut Heroin. King says there won't be any second chances to give if you put it in your veins. "To the common man that does simple math, that's almost certain death," King said. The drug is called W-18...

Her fiancé gave her heroin. She overdosed. Does that make him a murderer? When Jarret McCasland and his fiancee decided to celebrate her 19th birthday with heroin, it meant the end of her life and the end of his freedom. Flavia Cardenas, who worked in a nightclub, died of an overdose the next morning in Baton Rouge. After a prosecutor convinced a jury that McCasland administered the fatal dose, the 27-year-old pipe fabrication shop worker was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison in February with no chance for parole. With deaths from heroin and opioids at their highest level in U.S. history, prosecutors have begun charging those who supplied the final dose with murder, even when that person is the deceased’s friend, lover, sibling or spouse. The new initiative is sometimes in direct conflict with good Samaritan laws, which protect addicts from being charged if they call 911 when a fellow user is overdosing. The tougher approach also is in m...

People Are Getting High on This Drug For Diarrhea, Study Suggests To stop jonesing, they stop up something else. What lengths will addicts go to in order to get a fix? Desperate ones, according to a report in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The report claims that opioid addicts have been increasingly turning to oral loperamide – the main ingredient in Imodium A-D, a common, over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medication – to get high. The surge in popularity is attributable to the drug's low cost and ease of procurement, the study says. Dr. Scott Krakower, a physician who specializes in addiction disorders at Northwell Health, told CBS that an addict would have to take a huge amount of medication to get high – addicts reportedly pop 50 to 300 pills a day – but it gets the job done Original story at http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-05/opioid-addicts-using-anti-diarrhea-medication-to-get-high-study-suggests

So, life is actually good for the first time in my life. I'm still dealing with chronic pain and a chemical dependence on a very powerful narcotic, methadone, but my life is in order. A wonderful job at Citibank and my family life, although, chaotic at times was good because I had what I truly wanted and that was living with my son. I was making the most money I had ever made and it was a easy job sitting at a desk reviewing our customers credit reports. I think back now and it's hard to believe I could even function on 140 mgs of methadone a day. That's like going to work high on heroin every day. There really is not much difference between the two. As a matter of fact I think the Methadone was worse. At least that is what the detox center told me when they flat out refused me admission because of it. During the 15 years of dependence to methadone I tried to get into detox three times and was told by the admitting nurses all three times I would have been better off shooti...

Prince died amid frantic plans for drug addiction treatment California doctor specializing in opioid addiction had been called to help with a 'grave medical emergency.'  Balloons, flowers and other mementos were attached to the fence and trees surrounding Paisley Park in Chanhassen in honor of the memory of Prince. Prince was found dead one day before he was scheduled to meet with a California doctor in an attempt to kick an addiction to painkillers, an attorney with knowledge of the death investigation said Tuesday. Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a national authority on opioid addiction treatment, was called by Prince representatives the night of April 20 because Prince “was dealing with a grave medical emergency,” said William Mauzy, a prominent Minneapolis attorney working with the Kornfeld family. Kornfeld, who runs Recovery Without Walls in Mill Valley, Calif., could not clear his schedule to meet with Prince the next day, April 21, but he planned to fly out the ...

                                                           Opioid Addiction Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illicit drug heroin as well as the licit prescription pain relievers oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl and others. Opioids are chemically related and interact with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the brain and nervous system to produce pleasurable effects and relieve pain. Addiction is a primary, chronic and relapsing brain disease characterized by an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. Of the 21.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2014, 1.9 million had a substance use di...

You know an addict constantly struggles with their brain. You can absolutely overcome your primary addiction like I have. You know there is not a chance in hell of going back, but as you puff your chest out feeling so proud your brain is constantly trying to feel that void where the lack of dopamine is really messing you up inside. For me it's love. That's the dragon I chase now and it's got it's own kind of withdrawal. Instead of running to the bathroom every five minutes, cold sweats, terrible body pain, a host of others this withdrawal is just a crushing emptiness where the tears won't stop flowing and the grand canyon in your chest is washed away with just one hint of love, She comes into your life it seems out of nowhere and your dysfunctional brain  is telling you YES this is the one. It's got to be your turn. Maybe yours is food or maybe even food, but even though we definitely have some due recognition these replacement addictions can be just as destru...

Check out "Children of Addicts Mentoring Program" on Indiegogo http://igg.me/at/V1UsplZbM5k/shre/13723299 Most people seem to look at addicts like lepers. The kind of social stigma that Christ searched for to help. You may feel that way but the children of addicts are completely innocent. Please help me with program I'm starting. I'm looking for partners and donations. If you want to get involved message me and if you can just help a little click the link

This is the epidemic I have been screaming at the top of my lungs is here. I saw it first hand many times. Experimenting with painkillers doesn't take long to develop a dependence and once you're there you can't function without the opiates because of the terrible withdrawals. Let me tell you opiate withdrawal will make someone that has never even thought of suicide feel as though they would rather be dead. It is torture.  The feds cracked down hard on doctors, pharmacies, and especially pain clinics commonly known as pill mills. The crackdown made the pain pills harder to find which led to dealers raising the prices of the pills. The obvious and natural progression was heroin. It's an opiate just like the pills therefore it takes away the withdrawals. This is an opiate addicts main purpose for using. To stop the withdrawal. At first it's all fun and games and getting high. That does not last long. It becomes a daily battle to just not be dope sick.    When 20-y...

I named this blog the struggles and triumphs of an addict because an  addict in recovery wakes up each day not knowing which one the day will bring or if the day will bring both. Sometimes your greatest struggles are really triumphs in disguise. A situation that may seem a terrible struggle could be something that is a part of recovery and you just can't see is a triumph at the time. As a recovering addict one of the greatest struggles is psychological. When you spend years flooding your brain with chemicals that constantly release the body's natural feel good chemical Dopamine your brain, as a defensive mechanism, begins to shut the dopamine receptors down in a way. You also deplete the dopamine in your system. So, when you stop introducing the unnatural chemicals to the brain the dopamine seems used up. The point is with the depletion of dopamine the normal things that make life pleasurable like eating food you enjoy and sex, there is no pleasur...