• Welcome Guest

    Forum Guidelines Bluelight Rules
    Fun 💃 Threads Overdosed? Click
    D R U G   C U L T U R E

Functional Addicts...Are you one? Have you met one?

BlackOut said:
JFK is a textbook example of an arguably functioning user. He received daily injections of amphetamines, administered by his physician. Some historians believe this addiction was the reason for several major screwups, in particular his meeting with Kruschev that almost ignited WW3.
Click to expand...

You call that a screw up? So much for the virtue of peace talks. There's a big difference between legitimate consumption with guidelines and 'helter-skelter its-up-to-you kind of drug use, though im sure many would debate me on that.

Functional addicts...many people addicted to tobacco, because yes, they are functional and yes they are (quite strongly) addicted.
 
actually yes. my girlfriend who i usually pick up from is totally functional, shes attending night school to be a computer tech, and shes a straight a student. she got 2 b's last semester, and she was very upset about that. she smokes alot of ice, and she totally pulls it off. shes also never late to school and she never fucks it off either. i dont know how she does it, but i really admire that in her. i wish i could do that.
 
kelemon said:
I like the stuff way too much to jeopardize either- 1) my ability to use it as I want to or- 2)my reputation at work. I work in the restaurant/bar business - lots of long term users there - you learn from experience over the years how to incorporate it into your life without negative consequences. You can't treat it like a party drug and stay up for days all the time. If you eat and sleep every day even for a couple of hours it keeps you from needing those 24 hours in a row of catch up sleep. There are way more "career users" than anyone suspects. I still get taken by suprise by some of them. Moderation and discretion are the keys.
Click to expand...


Restaurant business is full of it. The amount of speed/coke that gets done in every restaurant I've worked in is absurd.

I function pretty well when I can, but I'm not sure if I'd call myself an addict. I'll go through the several days of hell when coming off opiates or a binge, and take a break when I'm beginning to become unfunctional.
 
There are doctors that use stims & opiates all the time. Plenty of other professionals use drugs to take the edge off or need it to get by & are very functional. Seems the functional druggies all have something in common, they balance their drug use with the rest of their life commitments while the addicts that are out of control focus on one thing in their lives, just drugs.
 
i would consider myself a functioning addict. though i am prescribed a ton of controlled drugs (i only see a pain doc and psy doc. i dont "doctor shop or anything, but i am physcally addicted to benzos. i am on 6mg ativan/day and 45mg tranxene (each 3 times day.... 2 of ativan and 15 tranxene). the thought of coming off of them is scary, though i know one day i'll need to, or at least decrease drastically. i'm also rx'd focalin IR 10mg four a day but don't tke that much. i get 120 per month but take maybe 1/4 of it. uppers just don't do anything for me unless i need to study.

my true addiction is opiates. i almost always take more than i'm spposed to but still manage to function. i am rx'd 120 lortab 10s/month and dilaudid 4mgs #120/month. plus soma.

im also on lexapro, phenergan, trazodone, ambien, and a few others that i take as needed (except the lexapro).

i don't drink at all. but i think many people need meds TO FUNCTION... tho it's a fine line

i can't speak for "hard" drugs... ice/meth, heroin, etc. ii think it'd be difficult for most but i'm sure some people can function on them. i know i couldn't. depends on the individual i'm sure. i honestly wish i easn't so interested in pharmacology, esp. addictive drugs. i know it makes meds less effective and i feel a constant need to increase dosage.
 
I know a guy that is in his 40's that is a machinist. He has not missed a day of work in the last five years. His bills all get paid, sometimes late, but this is because of his procrastination and not a shortage of funds. He is well liked at work, gets along with everyone, but other than his fishing buddy, has no real friends. Its really just him and his wife.
He has been using meth for 18 years. On a daily basis for 15. He does some when he wakes up, has a cup of coffee at lunch with some in it, then smokes some 2 or 3 times before going to bed and sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night.
His hair has a lot of gray for his age, and his teeth are getting bad but other than that, no indications of his use.
I am not sure how he will get by if something happens and he doesn't have access to any for an extended period of time, but I am sure he will figure something out.
 
I've been both, an addict unable to function, to now being what i consider a "functional addict". I've got Doctor controlled rx "dependence" or addiction, which i've had for about 16 years. Opiates & benzo's.
There was a time when i couldn't or wouldn't function unless i was high. Didn't care about anything really, just getting gear and hitting it hard. I was also in a very good financial position at the time, so would forget or just not go to work, so had i don't know how many jobs. I really don't know why i bothered though, never spent more than a month or 2 at any job then. i think it was a token thing to try and make myself seem somewhat more together than i was. Yep, worked well!! After a day or 2 without, i turned into a psycho, full on insanity.

Now, I have a very good & respectable job, earn my own great coin, own a few houses, married, always pay my bills, always loan $$ to mates if they need it, I have great family support & love. I use most days. amps are my doc, and although i use most days, if i can't get what i want, i'm ok, can go a few days or a weeks and be ok, no WDs, no insanity.
 
Functional?

I've wondered this for ages, but how many of the IV users on here are not depressed tramps living out of a box, but completely "normal" people? I just feel like heroin gets kind of a bad rep.
 
Just about everyone who posts here is functional in some way if they werent they wouldnt have computers and internet access. But IMO we represent a very small crosssection of the heroin using population most people who get deep into it end up losing everything.
 
Yeah I suppose- People on here are obviously much better informed, and The Dark Side must be really helpful... It's scared me away from opiates, that's for sure.
 
Crystalline said:
I've wondered this for ages, but how many of the IV users on here are not depressed tramps living out of a box, but completely "normal" people? I just feel like heroin gets kind of a bad rep.
Click to expand...

I merged this with an existing thread. You might also want to check out this thread.
 
we are creatures of habituation. everyone has habits; whether these habits prove to be malevolent or beneficial is dependent on the individual.
 
I am still a very functional drug user after six + months of steadily increasing IV Meth use.

Good job, high pay (funds drug habit), successfully hiding weekend drug use from family, friends and work colleagues. There are differences in my personality, some good, some bad but the main thing anyone has noticed is that I am more tired early in the week.

As I have monthly blood tests for monitoring blood thinner dosage, the biggest issue has been hiding needle marks (especiallly as I bleed and bruise more than most) from the trainee doctor who takes my blood. Other than him, the only other people who know (outside the handful of people I use with) are two people who picked it because they are also users, one guy at work and my personal trainer.

Am I addicted yet? After this morning when I was fiending really badly because I could not register a vein, I would have to say yes. Am I still functional? Absolutely. Am I heading in the wrong direction on both counts, probably.
 
I guess you could call me a functional addict. I have been taking heroin daily for over a decade now and I have worked in the same place all that time and even had several promotions also.
I think if any of my work colleagues found out then they would be very shocked by the news. The sad thing is that I think that even they have known me for years if they were to find out I was a junkie then there attitude would probably change towards me and they would probably think of me as a 'dirty junkie'.
All I can hope is my secret stays a secret.
 
I'm a stay at home mom of one. I'm perfectly normal. I function. I'm an iv'er. I use drugs on a daily basis. You wouldn't have a clue I used drugs if u met me or even passed by me. Most are shocked when they find out I'm a drug user no less iv them! I'm in no way proud of it but hey I'm me. I'm on methadone 90mg but I still use morphine and oxys daily. I'm also rx'ed Xanax 3x a day and usually use more than I'm supposed to. I pay all my bills on time, my house is spotless, I have normal relationships even tho they haven't a clue I still use, I drive a decent car, ect. I used to be a non functioning addict but over the years I've found a way to balance out normal life and using. I don't get high when my child is home or around. I wait till he's at school or sleeping. I don't work bc my husband rathers I be a stay at home mom and not bc I'm an addict either. He is the only one that knows I'm an addict and is ok with it bc as long as I do what I'm supposed to I can do what I want when I'm alone. Or As I call it "off duty". I know exactly what happens to my life if I get out of control so I choose to have my cake and eat it too. I use to where it doesn't affect my family. I live by that there's a time and place for everything.
My dad was a functioning alcoholic. He would go to work pay his bills, ect. But he was an alcoholic. I guess that's where I get it from. But I had to learn the hard way. I wasn't always able to limit my use to a certain time of day. It actually gives me something to look forward to. In a way that's kinda sad but I enjoy my life now. I'd rather be able to live a happy life and use at the same time than just having one or the other. And there's many ppl out there just like me.
 
I am a poly-drug abuser. I'm in college now; I make B's and C's. I work part time for a Fortune 500 company in their New Product Development Department. They work around my school schedule and it's28 hours a week. Once I complete my degree, I should move on to higher position in the company. Right now, I a Tier-II Data Analyst; I make 11.50/hour which is more than a lot of my other college buddies make. I think I'm the right track; I keep my drug use mostly on the DL; my girlfriend just thinks I drink.

I wake up --> my mission is to be high all day. I accomplish that, as well as life well. I'm rather intelligent and have a glowing future ready for me.
 
Definitely not! The funny thing is, that I always try. I keep telling myself "just maintain, you can do it" only to fail. I cannot hold a job because once I start getting money, the intense cravings set it. I pretty much will get whatever I can get my hands on, so once benzos enter the equation.

bye job.

My best friend Josh is a functional addict. He struggles, yes, but he has not been without a job in 10 years. He maintains, in that aspect. He still fucks shit up, don't get me wrong, but at least he keeps the job, which is the most important. Benzos, opiates, psycs, alcohol, you name it, he maintains. That fuck.

That is pretty much my goal. If I can just manage to hold a job, I'm set.
 
Im sort of functional now. But I sure wasn't 3 or 4 months ago. I was wrecked out of my mind for about 2 years ! Yea I know a lot though my best bud got his phd and he was pretty much on IV dilaudid the whole time. I went through 4 years of university on lsd (the real lsd) and mushrooms and pot. It can be done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top