Santa Barbara

Basically I am going to talk a little about prescription drugs and some of the side effects as well as a little about addiction to them.

The drug I wish to talk about today happens to be the notorious vicodin. I say notorious because it is famous among adults and young persons as well for its easy attainability; in fact, it may even be over prescribed.

I say this because all one has to do is basically stub a toe and the Dr. will write a prescription for vicodin. This could possibly lead a person to vicodin addiction. I am not trying to be a physician here but I will say this anyway perhaps the pain could be managed just as well using a regiment of Motrin and Tylenol therefore one could refuse the vicodin prescription and avoid a possible vicodin addiction.

I also want to say that our youth are using this drug at an alarming rate.

Our youth pretty much believe that they help them to function better at sports, test taking, and many other things. They have learned from their predecessors how to get them and it is quite easy all they have to do is check out the family medicine chest or look where ever their parents keep their prescriptions.This could be avoided if the parents would use common sense and lock up all their prescription meds.

If you think your child or someone you know is abusing vicodin try to encourage them to go to vicodin treatment. If you choose to do this you can be medically detoxed from vicodin and let me assure you that it is quite painless. I have personally done this and this is one of the best things in the world I ever done. I would suggest that if you or someone you know need help that you give this a try today.

How you can stop addiction, and stop letting drugs control your life.

You have no control of your life when addicted to drugs, and YES, alcohol IS a drug, although you may think that you are totally in control. Stop addiction? “One might say.” I’ve got no addiction to stop.

Possibly you are thinking:

· I work at a good job making a decent salary.

· I have a home, and a family I am supporting.

· I am not standing on a street corner begging for

money and then buy drugs or maybe a bottle of booze.

Or maybe you are thinking:

· I do drugs because I want to, not because I have to.

· It’s a social thing.

· I can control it.

Well, here’s the hardcore truth…

Just because you are a functioning addict does not mean there isn’t a problem there. If you have to have a drink or even a glass of wine, or any mind altering drug just to have fun or socialize.

If you get up in the morning and you have to do drugs in order to make it through your workday. Then no, you are NOT in control of your life and there are issues to address.

You are just like other addicts who actually know they are addicts and feel trapped in their addiction seeing no way out.

Addicts need drugs just to function or to have fun. It doesn’t matter where we come from or what drugs we do or have done, or how good of a job we have. Addiction can happen to anyone.

Are you wondering who I am and how I know about these things?

I am a 47-year-old recovering drug addict. Drugs and alcohol had control of my life for 31 of those years. I was flying high on autopilot, in the self-destruction mode, and I found recovery just in time to save my life.

I have been clean and sober for almost four-and-a-half years now. Drugs and alcohol put me through a life of pain and survival through many traumatic events. In addition, I was in and out of jail more times than I can remember. Drugs and alcohol no longer control my life. I am living proof that recovery is possible for anyone who truly wants it. And I am living a life that I never thought would ever be possible.

I am now a published author and I have a future, without drugs. I escaped that trap and now I am living, not just existing. I lived in hell most of my life but I clawed my way out. And I want to share with anyone who cares to listen, how I got clean and have been able to remain so.

Believe me when I say, drugs do control your thinking. For example; they control who we think our friends are. In our addiction, our friends are people we only hang out with in bars, or that we sell drugs to, or buy drugs from. They are people who would sell their mother in order to get drugs. They are people we would have nothing to do with if we weren’t addicted to drugs. Drugs also control what kind of jobs we can get because when applying for a job most jobs do drug and alcohol testing before they will hire you. Most of us have criminal records that keep us from getting the jobs we want. Drugs and alcohol make us lie, cheat and steal. The list goes on and on.

In my addiction I felt trapped, I did not know how to survive without drugs. This reality was just an illusion. I only felt trapped because I knew no other way to live. I didn’t know how to put my hand out and ask for help. In my recovery however, I learned that we do have choices, and we do have the freedom to choose. Do we want to live? Or do we just want to exist and endure the painful life that we get from our addiction? There is a way to get out of the trap and stop addiction from controlling our lives.

If you have a problem with drugs and, or alcohol, and your feeling trapped in your addiction, I would like to give you some advice that worked for me and has proven to be very effective for millions of people to stop addiction and learn a new and wonderful way of living.

First of all, we must realize that we have a problem. Then realize that we cannot do this alone. For some of us, like myself, it is necessary to go into a residential drug rehabilitation program to get clean and continue recovery with 12-step meetings after we graduate. It is very important that when we decide we want to recover that we must go to 12-step meetings regularly. This is where we start to learn a new way to live and also learn that we are not alone.

We start making new friends, we learn that we must break all ties with our “friends” that use or drink. Please don’t fool yourself into thinking you can hang around “friends” who are still using or drinking and not have it cause you to pick up. This is just another illusion; it will be just a matter of time before you are using or drinking again. If you have decided that you want recovery and your “friends” do not feel the same way. You must stay away from them for your own protection and recovery. It is important to put recovery first above everything. If they are truly your friends they will be happy for you and will understand. Once they see how much your life is changing for the better they just might join you on your road to recovery.

However, if they get mad at you for your decision, and try to get you to have a drink or indulge in some drugs with them, then they do not have your best interests at heart and you will surely know that they were never your friends to begin with.

I have met some of the best people I know in recovery, and I have found friendships that will last a lifetime. I mean real friends that will be there for me no matter what. People who truly care about me, people just like myself who know where I’m coming from, and it will be the same way for you.

When you first start attending meetings you may feel a little uncomfortable. It is normal to feel this way but as you continue going to meetings, you will make new friends, and you will start looking forward to attending meetings. That is the way it is for most of us. If you continue going to meetings, do what is suggested, and don’t pick up no matter what, your life will get better. Once you start hearing other people’s stories you will realize you are not alone. We are all seeking the same thing. Freedom from active addiction. When I first got to the program I had trust issues. Most of my life in my addiction, I found myself trying to trust untrustworthy people and was convinced that I could not trust myself. In recovery however, I began healing from my trust issues and have since learned to trust again. You will begin testing relationships with other recovering addicts and you just might be surprised at how easy it is to find good friends, people just like you who are not using. Recovery has been a lot of fun for me. We do many activities together. I was welcomed into a new family in recovery, and I get love and support from all of them.

After we go to a few meetings we find someone of the same gender who inspires us, we ask them to sponsor us as we begin working towards recovery. Don’t be nervous about asking someone to sponsor you, when we sponsor someone it helps us as much as it helps the person who we sponsor. It is always an honor when a woman asks me to sponsor her. Many of us as we enter the program, have much pain and grief to get through. The 12-steps are the blueprints of our recovery. Our sponsor will guide us through working the steps. We learn a new way to live by applying spiritual principals to our daily lives. We learn to accept our past and let it go. As we begin our journey on our road to recovery we learn to live life on its own terms. We feel the pain, and we release it. We feel our feelings and we let them go. We heal from our past and move forward. Our lives become worthwhile and we lose the obsession to use. We move into our future and start living better lives.

If you have a problem with drugs and, or alcohol please get help and stop addiction from controlling your life. If you truly want to live a life free from active addiction. You can do it by making a decision and get into a 12-step program. Take back your life. Stop Addiction!

Does anybody ever actually set out to deliberately abuse drugs? That is a subject for debate, with the answer probably being as individual as the numbers of people who take drugs. What is known, however, is that drug abuse causes physical changes in the brain and alters a person’s response to perceptions of pain level. The result of this is a vicious circle with the drug user becoming more and more dependent on additionally stronger doses of their chosen drug to retain the same level of effect. At this point realization often comes that they are hooked: addicted to drugs and open to drug abuse. It is not just illicit drugs that people become addicted to. It is just as possible to become addicted to prescription drugs as the result of having them prescribed for a certain illness and then finding your body requires stronger and stronger doses just to maintain the same level of pain relief.

From here it is just a small step for these prescription drugs to start to be used for illicit purposes – the so-called pleasure aspect of drug taking.

Each drug produces a different response by the body, providing an altered experience and an alternative reaction. All the drugs which tend to be misused react on the pleasure centers of the brain. With some drugs you could undergo a concentrated ‘rush’, providing you with preliminary feelings of having limitless energy. These properties are experienced from methamphetamine and cocaine. You may experience overwhelming feelings of deep peace and relaxation, suffused with a wash of calm. These feelings are experienced as the result of taking benzodiazepines, Oxycontin or heroin. Regardless of which drug is being abused, as time goes on, the physical chemistry of the brain alters and, when this occurs, withholding the drug becomes distressing or even painful.

It is open to question as to why some people are prone to addiction and others are not. Many have attempted answers, with some people being less able to cope without the prop that drug abuse is perceived as. Some people are more self-reliant than others while a family history of addiction or history of mental illness, make some people more prone to developing an addiction. Regardless of the causes of drug abuse, it is insidious and, once it gets you in its clutches, it is very difficult to become fully free without considerable medical intervention and professional detox help from appropriate sources.

What do you think of when you hear the words ‘drug addict’? Do all kinds of scary images come to mind? In my 13 years of working with people who have addictions, each one of them has been an ordinary human being caught up in extraordinary situations. Not one of them has ever wanted to grow up to be a drug addict. These people come from all walks of life, all demographics and who may be functioning or non-functioning with regards to their lives, jobs, etc.

One group of addictions that have been underestimated is prescription drug abuse. There seems to be a different mindset with regards to this addiction mainly because prescription drugs are seen as helpful, not harmful and that they are given to us by doctors so they are safe. This could not be farther from the truth.

Prescription drug use is on the rise in the arena of drug abuse. This is mostly due to the improper use of these drugs and the type of drugs themselves.

Prescription drugs that most commonly become addictive are ‘narcotic’ based drugs. These drugs are painkillers mostly, but others are for anxiety, sleep disorders, muscle relaxers as well as stimulant and depressive drugs.

Two factors usually come into play when an addiction is formed by use of prescription drugs. One way being that the drug is taken improperly. This means that some people, especially the elderly or people suffering with cognitive disorders may forget if they’ve taken the pills and take more, or take them in a way that was not prescribed, leading to doubling and even tripling the amount that was prescribed. This can have devastating effects. They may take other peoples prescription meds that are not suitable for them, even though they have the same symptoms.

Another way is that people become addicted to the ‘effects’ and sometimes ‘side effects’ of the medication. They like the fact that they can relax without worries when they take their meds, or that the pain goes away and also gives them a euphoric feeling. They then start taking the medication whenever they want to reproduce those effects, regardless of whether they are in pain, can’t sleep, or whatever the original issue was.

If you or someone you know is addicted to prescription drugs, please call for help, or tell your doctor. This is serious and can be life threatening. You can call Telehealth Ontario 1-866-797-0000 for information about the drugs and their effects or you can call any drug treatment centre. The phone number for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) which can provide information and treatment is 416-535-8501 or 1-800-463-6273. Keep your face to the sunshine.

Life can be quite crazy sometimes and many people seek to hide themselves away from the lunacy of society by taking drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately there is only one conclusion to the downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse… more alcohol and drug abuse. Eventually the substance abuser must get real with themselves and try to figure out how to stop drug abuse in themselves. The longer the person has been taking drugs or abusing alcohol, a hard it will be to quit and get control of themselves once again.

First thing that you must do is make a commitment to quit. You can only stop drug abuse if you have first made the first move towards quitting, admitting that you have a problem and that you need to stop taking drugs or abusing alcohol. The next step is when you finally quit using. You will go through a period of drug or alcohol detoxification, during which time you will suffer from the withdrawal effects that are caused by the elimination of the poisons that you have allowed into your body during your time of substance abuse.

Once the drug detox has finished, you will now have to start facing the reasons why you have abused drugs.

Just because you are reading this article means that you are thinking in the right direction. There is nowhere else you can go from drug abuse, only upwards towards sobriety. This is a great world we live in a fantastic opportunities but all those opportunities will pass you by when you are drunk or high on drugs. It’s so easy to blame the substance instead of the abuser. The opportunity to live your life to its fullest is through figuring out ways of how to stop drug abuse within yourself.

For the past several months, the daily economic news has been grim. We hear about more job losses, foreclosures, home sales down, food prices soar, the stock market goes up and down. These are extraordinarily difficult times for everyone, and in some way everyone is affected by the situation. The never-ending stress taps into your energy and saps your strength; it tests your faith and leaves you confused. Families without the added stressors of alcohol or drugs will pull together; they will make some sacrifices as they grumble and complain, but in the end these families will more than likely survive the current economy.   

What about the alcoholic? More importantly, what about the children living with an alcoholic? Research has confirmed that alcoholics lack coping skills. When faced with problems, the alcoholic will turn to the bottle.

Most of us have seen the destructive dysfunction that results from alcohol or drug abuse. What happens when the alcoholic faces a job loss or pay cut, or loses the important health insurance? These situations exceed the “normal” stress of life and will most likely find the alcoholic turning to the bottle more often and in larger quantities.  

The National Runaway Switchboard has reported that there has been an alarming increase in calls over the past year. The callers have been increasingly younger. These victims have reported abuse and neglect with alcohol a common denominator in many cases. With the increased stress from the economy, there has been an increase in alcohol and drug abuse. With increased alcohol and drug abuse, we have seen more violent outbursts. The sad result has been child abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, the weak economy has also reduced the funding for shelters and self-help organizations.  

As we all know, eventually there will be more jobs and stocks will go up. We can all go eat lobster and see a movie. The economy will bounce back and up! In the interim, we need to ask ourselves a question: what about the children living in alcoholic homes during these tough times? Will their self-esteem ever be restored? What are the permanent lasting affects on these future leaders? We all need to be aware of the far reaching affects of a “bad” economy. Recent research indicated that children of alcoholics not only risk becoming an alcoholic but are more likely to abuse drugs.  

We must pay attention to friends and family members that may need some extra help, and possibly intervention, during this tough time. Teachers, church leaders and adults that come in contact with children, stay watchful and pay attention to children that may be living in an alcoholic home. The turmoil in an alcoholic home can create guilt, shame and confusion for the children. These children try desperately to keep this ugly family secret, yet more than anything they need a trusted adult that will listen to them. Encouragement and support will begin their journey on the road to recovery.  

We are all in this together, and we need to help each other. If we turn our backs on these children in need, the economy will recover but a huge segment of our society will not.