Question by : I am recovering from an addiction. Need some experienced recovery advice.?
OK here is my abridged story –
Had back pain from strenuous job. Was prescribed hydrocodone 7.5 and increased to 10 mg after several scripts.
Two years of taking 10mg hydrocodone and was then prescribed Fentnyl patch called Duragesic at 50 microgram per patch every 3 days and still taking hydrocodone pills at about 3 – 4 per day.

Two years later –

6 hydrocodone a day and patches weren’t working as good so I used it every 2 days on some occasions. Finally just quit the patches after hearing of deaths due to accidental overdose. It was tough going but hydrocodone helped.
After a while I reduced the hydrocodone due to being sick of feeling withdrawls in the morning. At this time I was taking 4 a day as prescribed.
Now after 4 years of taking hydrocodone 10s I got the news that my prescribing doctor lost his ability to write the scripts due to a patient getting caught selling pills. I had 15 pills left and decided to ration my intake to 2 a day then I went to 1 a day. After seeing another doctor to get more, he refused. He said “You are only taking one a day, so put them down all together”. HAHAHAHAHA Is it that easy Doc? I then went to 1/2 a day for a week and finally took the leap of faith – literally!
I got on my knees and asked God to walk with me. I knew I needed the Holy Spirit to lift me up because there was no turning back. I went one day with ZERO opiates for the first time since 2004.
One day turned into a week and now its been TWO WEEKS free of opiates!!!!
I feel better of course but I told NO ONE! Not even my loving wife who never knew I was addicted. I just didn’t want to trouble anyone. Afterall, we have money problems after me being laid off from my job of 10 years at General Motors. Still have money problems but I am not addicted to anything except coffee and Grizzley longcut wintergreen snuff. LOL The snuff is next to go.
I understand if you aren’t Christian. This is what I did and what got me through. Just wanted some advice from others because going through all this alone since 2004 was strange but God was my rock.

Best answer:

Answer by darren w
congrats for reducing and hopefully beating the addiction. any addiction, if you dont try to curb and take a hold will beat you, it will take everything around you from you and leave you in a hell hole…. luckily for you you have started to climb out , but it is a long road to recovery , and they do say once an addict always an addict….. for me, beating alcohol was the toughest fight i ve had to win in my life and ive been dry now for a long long time, you will find youll have good days and then, theres the bad days where you feel tempted just to have 1. i beat mine without the help of religion, was pure willpower and determination along with counselling
people in the know and something i know now is that theres always a reason a person becomes addicted to something and its dealing with that reason that helps you win in the end
a lot of substance abuse is down to the fgact that the person wants to blank out past experiences which have affected them, unfortunately sometimes these substances take hold and over power the person
i was a severe drinker for more years than i can “literally” remember but once you start to control your life starts to get better , more peole want to know you and best of all… you get to live.
gl with your journey .

Answer by D.D.
The basic premise of the 12 step self help groups is , of course, what ever one believes their spiritual source is.
That is what you need now, to consult with a rehab place, come clean with your wife (yes) and attend some kind of group, and there are self help 12 step groups everywhere. AA, narcanon, alanon.
Without facing that you ahve an addiction, and are deceiving yourself, your wife, your doctors, and everyone, you are not going to get compeltely well. You need their support also.
You can also look into things like the back to life machine for back pain, and the best pain killer that lasts and really works is a TENS machine. It works, the pain doesn’t come back. You can buy a hand held one with a perscription, or go to a spinal decompression center, that works and they have giant TENS machines.
But you still need to face , disclose , and deal with your addictions.
Your wife is in this for the long haul, and is contributing to your well being and all she is able to , to the relationshipk with your emotions and well being in mind all the time. The least you can do is be honest and do the same in return,for her. Otherwise, it isn’t fair, and it will eventually be ruined.
Have courage, and do the right things. lahacienda.com
best wishes.

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