“I entered the life-changing, magical world of motherhood. I had no clue what I was doing. Breastfeeding vs. formula feeding. Crib vs. co-sleeping. It felt like there was nothing we moms could ever agree on. Well, except for one thing… wine.”
‘When people asked me for gift ideas, I’d smile and say, ‘Just wine and diapers!’ How else could I unwind? It never stopped at just one glass.’: Mom shares sobriety journey, ‘I’m a better mom’
‘That’s just the coke talking!’ I shook 5 Ambien into my hand. It had become a full-blown dragon.’: Former addict celebrates 20 years of sobriety. ‘I made the mess into a lesson’
“I didn’t think of prescription drugs as ‘drugs.’ I washed pills down with Amstel Light. I thought I was doing what I needed to do to sleep.”
‘Girls like her don’t come back from this.’ I left home when I was 15. I found my oblivion in the form of a needle. I always wanted MORE.’: Recovered addict shares sobriety journey, ‘I am FREE’
“I took my first drink when I was about 14 years old. For the first time, I felt okay. I needed more. On my fifteenth birthday, I took my first hit of acid. The probation officer told my parents, ‘She’ll be dead in a few years.’ My bottom was near.”
‘I’ll do it, but just this once.’ Famous last words. My body NEEDED them. I HAD to get high every 6 hours.’: Recovering addict shares sobriety journey, ‘All you have to do is SHOW UP’
“If I didn’t get high within an hour, I’d start throwing up. I’d sit in the bathroom for hours trying to hit. My veins were ruined. My probation officer was calling everyone I knew, threatening to send me to prison. I was at an all-time low.”
‘I couldn’t get ‘high enough’ anymore. I went from a meeting to my dealer. Then I almost died.’: Woman recounts sobriety journey, ‘I finally accepted help’
“I remember waking up the next morning ashamed. I panicked. I wasn’t ready to be done using yet.”
‘We caught each other’s eye on the way to addiction recovery. Two hopeless addicts, from completely different sides of the world.’: Couple beat addiction together, ‘There is always hope’
“It’s strange how love works.”
‘My parents broke the news. ‘You were adopted at age 2.’ For the first time, I understood my parents had left me behind, forever.’: Adoptee overcomes addiction, ‘I needed to fall in love with myself again’
“I felt unloved. I tried to prove my worth and acted out to get attention from loved ones. At 14, I started experimenting with drugs. I continued on a rampage until I found heroin at age 15 with the help of an older boyfriend. ‘Please let me come home,’ I begged. I tried to stop many times. Then, one day, I found out I was pregnant. That little heartbeat was the sound of a chapter of my life closing forever.”
‘You’ll never get out of this hole. Just go back to your old friend, heroin.’ I spent the night in jail, tying bedsheets around my neck.’: Man who battled addiction 9 years now owner of state’s largest recovery center
“I put the sheet around my neck and waited. I just couldn’t let go. I could hear the voices in my head saying, ‘You can’t even do this right.’ When I was released from prison, my family wouldn’t take me in. After too many broken promises, they were done with me. I owed $33,000 in child support and $100,000 for my crimes. ‘You’re going to be okay.’ My prisonmates saved my life. They took me in when I was too far gone.”
‘I began violently shaking. Through my locked jaw, I muttered, ‘I’m addicted to heroin.’ My family had no idea.’: Woman overcomes addiction, ‘I am so thankful for this new life’
“I was living two separate lives. ‘Just this one time,’ I told myself as I inhaled my first line of cocaine one month after my best friend’s funeral. I would wake up, do a line. Go to class, do a line in the bathroom. Go home, do a line. Then came the needle. I felt the warm release of the heroin shooting through my veins. My stepdad found me. I couldn’t move, my body instantly got cold. ‘Oh, sweetheart. You don’t look like an addict.’ I lay there for what felt like forever, fading in and out of consciousness.”
‘I woke up in a hospital bed. There was a $100 bill on the bedside table with a note that said, ‘GO HOME.’ My miscarriage left me almost dead.’: Woman quits alcohol and drugs ‘cold turkey’ after addict husband’s death
“I had never smoked a cigarette, never drank a beer, never had a real boyfriend. I was a naïve, 17-year-old virgin. I went to a party with my friends. I paid the guy at the door $5 dollars. ‘The punch is in the kitchen. Don’t lose your cup.’ I was found on steps, lying in a pool of vomit. I fell off the Dean’s List. Then I met the man I would marry. I had a front-row seat to the most terrifying horror show imaginable. I was penniless, homeless, trickin’ on Main South for a 40 piece.”
