River Source Website Article
Houston, Texas
Daniel’s Story: Addicted to Pills
The following story depicts excerpts of a pill addict’s life. It includes real life examples of the insanity experienced by these addicts daily. In order to adhere to Privacy Policy, the author has changed the names and, in some cases, the location to protect the identity of the individuals associated with the cases.
Injured Skateboarder Becomes Addicted to Pills; Gets Help from Holistic Treatment Facility
(Houston, Texas) – My skills on the skate board were well known throughout my Houston, Texas neighborhood. At 20-years-old, my friends nicknamed me “the little dare devil” for my high-level antics on the skate board. Within my age group, I was ranked in the state of Texas. I had everything going for me until that ill-fated day in July during a competition. I was in the midst of a routine stunt that required me to be airborne. Everything was unfolding according to plan until I landed awkwardly on the board and went crashing into the barrier at a high rate of speed. I remember breaking out in a cold sweat and then feeling an excruciating pain racing from the top of my neck to the bottom of my right leg – then everything went black.
I spent five days in the hospital, heavily medicated. I had broken my collarbone and my right tibia in three places. Upon my discharge, my doctor prescribed 325/15 milligrams of 90Percocets for a 21-day period. He also warned me to take the pills as prescribed – one every six hours. Initially, I followed my doctor’s instructions, until my curiosity got the best of me. If one pill could put me in such a pain-free and mellow zone… then what would two pills every six hours do for me?
I gave in. I exceeded the recommended dosage and found the answer to my question. Two pills launched me into a dream-like stupor. I was filled with utter contentment and apathy. I instantly fell in love with the feeling. I became my own doctor, administering the medication as I saw fit. I did not want my prescription to run out – but it did in just 10 days. Taking large amounts of ibuprofen for the remaining 11 days, I was able to get by. On day 22, I made a visit to my doctor’s office to inform him that my pain persisted.
My doctor rewrote the prescription… and this time… he added one refill. I left his office brimming with joy. I could hardly wait to get to the pharmacy to have the prescription filled. For the next twenty days I was in the zone. I was popping two pills every six hours. The opiate high made me feel complete in my life for the first time. I loved every moment of my experience. The inevitable once again occurred… I had consumed all the pills including those refilled. It was time to try something new in order to continue my newly-acquired habit.
I figured if I went to a pain management doctor and let him know that I was suffering immensely from my past injuries… I would be granted more pills. It worked. My pain management doctor prescribed a higher milligram level of Percocets and gave me two times the amount of pills per prescription – 180.
For the next year, I was able to get my pain management doctor to prescribe what I needed to get by. It got to the point where I started selling these pills to my friends and their friends to further support my habit. I got as much as $10 for one Percocet. I was pulling in about a $500 every two weeks. I was sitting pretty. The more I sold the more I was able to use. Finally, on the eve of Thanksgiving 2007, something hit me. I don’t know what. My pill popping got the better of me. I was tired of feeling the way I did and wanted to stop using pills.
I left Texas and headed to Pittsburgh in order to start my life anew; but that didn’t work. My struggles with pills continued – as well as indulging in other drugs and alcohol. I became the proverbial dog looking for a comfortable resting place. I returned to Texas and resumed my visits to my pain management doctor to get prescription for leg pains that still lingered.
My disease progressed to the point where my life became unmanageable. Eventually, I was evicted from my apartment. I had to live out of my car for a three-week period.
I was broken.
I called my mom and bawled on the phone. I confessed, telling her that I couldn’t do this anymore – I needed help. She asked me if I wanted to go to a treatment facility in Texas or out of town. I opted for the latter because I thought I would have a better chance to recover if I were away from the familiar surroundings of Texas. I wound up in Arizona for a 30-day stay at a holistic treatment center. While there, I opened my mind, my body, and my soul to the program of recovery. I was able to get a solid understanding of my illness and effectively apply the tools I had gained from the counselors. Since graduating the program, I have not looked back. I have fully immersed myself into my recovery and now have the privilege to work with other pill and drug addicts who seek to get sober and live a better life.
River Source Website Article
Dallas, Texas
Christopher’s Story: Alcohol and Marijuana
The following story depicts excerpts of a young addict’s life. It includes real life examples of the insanity experienced by these teenaged addicts daily. In order to adhere to Privacy Policy, the author has changed the names and, in some cases, the location to protect the identity of the individuals associated with the cases.
Alcohol and Marijuana Addiction Sends Texas Teenager to Holistic Treatment Center
(Dallas, Texas) – I got my first true taste of alcohol at 13 years old. It was right after my mom’s 40th birthday party – a big bash with just about every member of the family in attendance and many friends and neighbors. I was a part of the crew charged with cleaning up after the event. There were many crates of empty liquor bottles and wine glasses to handle. Some of the bottles were not fully empty and my 21-year-old cousin and I helped ourselves. In fact, I was mimicking what I saw Elgin do. He would pour the dregs from two or three bottles and eventually yield a full glass of wine. In total, I had the equivalent of two glasses of wine that evening; and I floated through the night, feeling a calmness that I had never felt before. I was on a merry-go-round – spinning ‘round and ‘round. I fell in love with the feeling and vowed that I would fill my palate in the very near future with the sweet taste of alcohol.
Three days later I snuck into dad’s wine cellar and downed a bottle of wine.
This time, the going got rough; the merry-go-round delivered a bumpy ride – inducing intense motion sickness. I spent the night in the bathroom vomiting. I was sick. I told my mom I felt feverish and that I thought I had a stomach virus. She fell for it, acknowledging that some kind of flu bug was going around. She tucked me in bed with a hot bowl of chicken soup by my bedside.
Within the next 12 months my drinking intensified. I would use the money from my paper route to buy my own liquor – my favorite – wine coolers. I would pay an older person a couple of dollars to buy it for me. Mr. Jenkins, a retired school teacher who had transformed into a wine-o was my primary contact for getting me what I wanted from the liquor store. All I had to do was to give him $2 to buy a small bottle of his favorite drink -- Georgi Vodka.
Near the end of my freshman year in high school, I was introduced to marijuana after making the varsity football team. The captain of the football team, Craig, was the most popular guy on the campus. He never seemed to travel alone. He always had an entourage by his side. I made it into that circle of people through my football skills. I was on the invite list to attend weekend parties at Craig’s parents’ mansion. These parties had everything: jell-o shots; beer; marijuana cigarettes; pills; and more.
At my first party I downed a couple of jell-o shots and stood in the corner with a can of beer in my hand. Within a few minutes, I was joined by Craig. He asked me how I was doing, as he pulled a joint from his pocket, lit it up, took a drag and then passed it to me.
“If you are going to be a star on the team you need to know how to toke,” he said. “This stuff is natural; it comes from the earth; it mellows you out and makes you a real man.”
That Craig would even invite me into his personal circle was an incredible honor. I wanted to be a part of his circle and here was my opportunity to get into that space. I pulled on the joint, held it in for a few seconds and then exhaled. Within a minute I was floating. I took another puff...this one deeper than the first. Suddenly, I was laughing and embracing everyone in the room. Everything and everyone around me seem to operate in slow motion. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it meant nothing to me. I had no perception of time. I was on a trip. The last thing I remembered was heading to the bathroom to heave.
The following day at a team meeting, Craig and a few other guys pulled me aside and recapped some of what I did the previous night. I did not remember dancing on top of the bar; I did not remember wanting to pick a fight with the bartender; I did not remember pulling on my tongue repeatedly; and I did not remember falling asleep on the bathroom floor. I had lost my mind, and I loved it.
Over the next 3 years, from my sophomore year to my senior year, I smoked marijuana and drank alcohol incessantly. I was constantly in the zombie zone. I didn’t make it to my classes half the time and was late to almost every football practice. I have no idea how I was able to graduate from my high school―but I did.
After high school, my whole life seemed to revolve around getting drunk and getting high. I was a mess. I did not have the impetus to do anything constructive. If I weren’t getting high, I was asleep.
Finally, mom and dad intervened.
They saw my life spiraling and they checked me into a Texas-base treatment facility for 14 days. There, I went through the motion. I did what I was told and received my certification of completion. This piece of paper meant nothing to me. Within 24 hours of leaving the facility, I was sucking down a six pack of wine coolers and pulling on a joint. I was back to square one, and I felt no remorse. My tolerance level seems to increase this time around. I needed to smoke more weed and drink more alcohol to get a buzz.
Finally, on my 19th birthday things came to a head. On my way home from a house party in my honor, I crashed my dad’s car into a retaining wall as I came around a curve. I thought I saw a dog in the middle of the road and swerved to avoid hitting it. Within minutes, law enforcement was on the scene. I was cuffed and spent the night behind bars. My parents had had it. If I didn’t commit to getting some serious treatment they would cut me off. Through extensive research, my mom found a holistic treatment center outside of Texas. She spoke with a counselor there and pre-committed me to a 90-day stay. After the consequences of my last drinking episode, I had no choice but to consent to making the trip to the Arizona treatment facility. I was more willing to go to treatment this time around because I did not want to lose my family… nor did I want to lose my driver's license. At 19-years-old, I had finally hit what I believe to be my bottom. I was ready to get sober.
When you're suffering from a drug or alcohol problem it can be a very difficult point in your life as well in the lives of your family and friends.When you have reached the point with your addiction when you want to get some help, then you need to start looking for drug and alcohol addiction treatment in Texas.This will be the best way that you'll be able to gain control over your bad habits and have your addiction under control and not controlling you.
When you're looking into getting drug and alcohol treatment in Texas one of the first things that you want to do is look into the staff that will be providing treatment in a facility.You want to make sure that the people that will be providing you or your loved one treatment for their addiction are properly licensed to perform the therapy that will be done at the treatment center.
The next thing that you one of look at when it comes to drug and alcohol treatment and Texas is what kind of methods are used to treat patients and the facility. A lot of times when it comes to drug and alcohol treatment simply treating the problem with medications is not enough.A facility that can provide a wellness program to help improve patients' level of fitness as well as individual and group counseling and life coaching will show a higher success rate than a facility that does not.
Another important thing to look into before you or your loved one enters a drug and alcohol treatment facility is whether your insurance be accepted?Since this kind of treatment can be incredibly expensive, you want to make sure that your insurance will cover all or most of the expenses involved.If your insurance cannot cover all or part of the drug and alcohol treatment expenses and inquire if some kind of payment plan can be arranged between you and the facility.When someone needs drug and alcohol treatment in Texas it is incredibly important, just as finding the right facility, to make sure that you're going to be able to cover the expenses.There are many good facilities that will offer financial assistance to those in need but you need to be sure to inquire this assistance is available.
At the you have to get out the basics of looking into the staff that works at the facility, what kind of programs are offered at the facility and how you'll be paying for the treatment you'll want to look into the possibilities of any follow-up program once treatment has been completed.There many treatment facilities that will offer additional treatment and therapy once someone has exited a treatment program should they find things difficult once they have left the facility.Be sure to inquire about this before making the commitment to undergo treatment.
When you or a loved one of going through problem with drug and alcohol addiction, it can be a very difficult time for all involved.However, with the support of family and friends of the proper research done to find a quality treatment facility you can find great success of with drug and alcohol treatment and Texas.
