“Self-medication was the only thing keeping me alive. I sat outside, chain-smoking and chugging a bottle of wine. ’My boyfriend is an addict and I can’t get sober.’ I was never supposed to get pregnant.”
‘I can’t raise a child. I can’t even take care of myself!’ I had nothing left to live for. Or so I thought.’: Woman recovers from addiction for daughter, ‘All it took was a tiny shimmer of hope’
‘If you keep eating, we’ll have to buy you maternity clothes.’ I felt disgusted. Everything I hated about myself was because of food.’: Woman raises eating disorder awareness, ‘Don’t turn a blind eye’
“I scrambled to anchor myself and settled on the one thing I could control. Food. The high I felt stepping on those scales, malnourished, with fragile wrists, was like no other to me. It was an addiction.”
‘I don’t drink any more than my mommy wine friends.’ It was my reward after a hard day. I felt like I earned it.’: ‘Mommy Wine Culture Survivor’ says ‘sobriety was the greatest gift’
“I was the woman in yoga class joking about sweating out the booze. I was the mom who planned pre-drinks. I was also the businesswoman, completely hungover, giving a presentation in heels.”
‘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 Need To Love ALL Addicts The Same Way We Love Famous Ones
“Substance abuse isn’t just a celebrity problem.”
‘It’s nobody’s business!’ I’d tell myself. I was in survival mode. I dropped to 75 pounds. I thought I’d never wake up..’: Woman shares recovery journey from eating disorder, ‘I chose a life of fullness’
“I had to navigate the chaos alone. When I finally got to see my fiancé, he was hurt and confused. I was 75 pounds.”
‘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.”
‘He was homeless and I was embarrassed by him. Now he’s free, and I’m chained by all the grace I couldn’t bear to give.’: Woman urges forgiveness after losing dad to overdose, ‘My regret is stronger than all the anger I felt for years’
“I got mad when his food stamp card was denied and I had to cover groceries. It wasn’t about the money. He’d comment on my ‘new haircut’ and I was enraged because he’d already seen it many times. It wasn’t about my hair. I drove him from doctor to doctor, rehab to rehab, short tempered. My regret is now stronger than all the anger I felt throughout the years.”
‘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.”
‘I almost died on an airplane because I took too many shots with this old creep. I woke up on the floor with an oxygen mask on me and a frantic flight attendant trying to wake me.’: 27-year-old overcomes alcoholism, ‘I knew I had to change’
“I lived for the thrill of being a sneak. I thought I was doing a good job hiding my secret, but I wasn’t. I was in a toxic relationship with a drug dealer and I honestly didn’t want to live anymore. I was so ashamed. One night I went to church with a few shots in me, but I left midway through worship because I couldn’t fake it. That was when the miracle finally had happened for me. I walked into my first meeting half-drunk from the warm bottle of wine under my driver’s seat in my car, and I asked for help.”
