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What are the reasons you became sober?

slimvictor said:
Damn, Capt'n, I bet there are at least a hundred people on BL who think you are amazing.
I suggest listening to us when we tell you that YOU ROCK!
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Well said! There is an exercise I use when I teach to show people how they all share a lot of their self criticism and doubt in common with on another and that they are not alone this reminded me of. I say something like, "Stand up if you have ever felt guilty about something. [everyone always stands up] Okay now sit back down. Now. stand up if you ever felt like you were all alone in the wotld. [everyone stabds up] Okay now sit back down. Stand up if you have hurt someone you love. [everyone gets up] If you have been hurt by someone you love. [everyone gets up]" and so on and so forth. Makes people really realize how much their struggles are shared even though they feel like they might be the only one while everyone else just gets it some of the time. We need to remember that even people who look and act like they have their shot together struggle the same way and face the same kinds of challanges as someone who wear their difficulties on their sleeves.
 
Never posted here before, but have used BL as a means of harm reduction for quite some time. I'm just starting to think I want to get sober. Been on every opiate imaginable for the past 4 years. The high is no longer fun. Using has become a necessity to prevent the WD that I am so terrified of going through. I earn a very good living which only helps to keep me in my present state of using. I desperately wish I could go back in time and never touch that first opiate. I tell myself I can quit, but I don't think I have the willpower to. I don't know how to take the next step (maybe that's not entirely accurate), perhaps I'm not ready to. I don't necessarily hate myself, but I know that I am not living up to my full potential. Because of my profession, I fear going into treatment and somehow that will negatively affect my career. To you Captain Heroin, the posts you have made regarding harm reduction are phenomenal. I guarantee you have help to save at least one person's life.
 
I don't like the unpredictability of methadone and it's long half-life, but Suboxone I would be very interest in. Finding a doc that Rx's it is the biggest challenge.
 
I got sober, because all the hard work that I put in to build a great life was going to waste. That was at least the reason I came up with after I had gotten into rehab. The truth is I was given pretty much an ultimatum and I took it and ran with it. I was too stupid on my own to really want sobriety. I knew I needed it, but I wasn't gung ho about it. Now with 5 years of being sober unfortunately my old thoughts are starting to creep back in. But reading other people's reasons and writing m own have helped me stabilize my thoughts for the moment at least. I can do this. I can continue living a sober life "One Day at a Time"

Forgot to add.....Cool stuff I have done in sobriety, I went back to work at my rehab as an intern for hours to complete my Ph.D. That was pretty cool and definitely worth getting sober for.
 
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I had to get sober because it was playing havoc on my mental health issues. I was paranoid all the time. I could barely leave my house due to agoraphobia, but I had to cop. I guess I was constantly putting myself into situations in which my anxiety would be insanely high. It was like a feedback loop. The more I used to stop those thoughts, the harder they come.
 
chucky1432 said:
I got sober, because all the hard work that I put in to build a great life was going to waste. That was at least the reason I came up with after I had gotten into rehab. The truth is I was given pretty much an ultimatum and I took it and ran with it. I was too stupid on my own to really want sobriety. I knew I needed it, but I wasn't gung ho about it. Now with 5 years of being sober unfortunately my old thoughts are starting to creep back in. But reading other people's reasons and writing m own have helped me stabilize my thoughts for the moment at least. I can do this. I can continue living a sober life "One Day at a Time"

Forgot to add.....Cool stuff I have done in sobriety, I went back to work at my rehab as an intern for hours to complete my Ph.D. That was pretty cool and definitely worth getting sober for.
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When this happens to me I go to an AA meeting just to listen and remind myself why I quit. I am not gunho on AA/NA kinda guy but meetings are a good way to remind myself who I am and I am not a lone.
i have to re route my career. I have been at my job for 15 years. I work in the housewares industry from showing a couch to out fitting your kitchen. There is a lot of carrying, lots and lots of standing, etc. I want to work with addiction and addicts like myself.
 
I can’t stand the repitition and rather shallow sharing I hear at almost every AA/NA/12 Step meeting I’ve ever been to. Not all of them, there are some really great shares at some meetings and conventions. But still, the vast majority are just too petty for me to take, especially because the same themes are constantly being repeated over and over, and over and over again.

This all is so very person, but I find Refuge Recovery meeting to generally have more depth to them, but there are so few of these that the group is fairly cohesive and seems generally more insightful, with less generic and more meaningful narratives of recovery. Of course there is a lot of the same generic 12 Step style shares given that many people in Refuge Recovery either were formally involved in the 12 Step community or are still involved in the 12 Step community.

If you’re in LA, San Francisco, Portland (OR), Boston, New York City and other select cities I highly recommend checking out Refuge Recovery!
 
I chose to get clean for a few reasons but the main one was I was tired of being sick and tired. I was such a huge disappointment to my husband and my children. I wanted my life back and not looking over my shoulder non stop like I was when I was drinking and using. It took over a year to gain trust from my family. It wasn't easy but I've been clean and sober now going on two years. I must be tougher than I thought bc I have overcome so many tough obstacles in these two years. I have gotten through tough times bc I live one day at a time. In the beginning of my recovery I lived at times one moment at a time. I'm grateful for my sobriety.
 
^^yep, i was dopesick all the time from heroin..i was broke and couldnt keep living like that..i was so sick and tired of being sick and tired..
 
I was sick of the hard detoxes. Even when I was on subs I didn't change my addictive behaviors and ended up in withdrawal every month
 
cibrthugs said:
I don't like the unpredictability of methadone and it's long half-life, but Suboxone I would be very interest in. Finding a doc that Rx's it is the biggest challenge.
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I've been on methadone maintenance for a little over 5 years and I can definitely say that 'unpredictable' is most definitely NOT a word I would use to describe it. In my experience it has been not only solidly predictable and reliable, it has been nothing less than my lifesaver, as I'm sure I'd probably have had my final OD by now had I kept using....

Oh and BTW, the withdrawal from suboxone scares the shit out of me, personally. My ol man went the suboxone route and found the taper/ withdrawal from suboxone to be so terrible, he chose to get back on and taper/ WD from IV heroin instead, as it was like a walk in the park in comparison to sub....Best wishes, and I hope you find the treatment that works best for you and your situation.
 
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I trying to live a sober life but haven't quite gotten there. . I'm not sober yet but in due time I am challenging myself to this because as all of you reading this know that I'm just sick and tired! This has to be for me first and for most. Then comes the people I effect or could effect. I live a pretty darn good life. I need to stop the pain pills and I think I can do his before my body starts a process of hibituation/withdrawal (I pray to God ) or withdrawal that becomes very uncomfortable. I don't want to have to detox, use any meds to have to withdrawal or turn into a mess. I quit drinking 8 months ago and rarely crave Booz . The smell on someone's breath grosses me out. My story with Booz tumbled very fast. I was a social binge drinker but at some point I found myself drinking more and more. 8 am, I was drinking a six pack. By noon I was drunk off almost a twelve pack. It spiraled out of control with black outs, fights with my fiancé (verbal) , spending lots and lots of money and my rock bottom with Booz was 8 months ago while watching baseball on a weekend while the boss was out of town. Long story is I dont remember a thing.all I remember is waking up in a ghetto hospital in downtown LA with a broken collarbone , black eye, huge gauge in my forehead . The hospital was so ghetto as soon as the doctor said I was ready to be discharged I bailed when they left the room. I had to call later to give all my info because morally I couldn't ditch the bill which I could have. When I walked out of the hospital that early morning something in me new I was done drinking. My body and higher power just gave me a feeling. So I'm struggling a bit but there is always hope! Im not struggling with Booz but with the pain pills I've taken off and on since then. I have way too much to do to waste it on those. The normal dose doesn't seem to work so I need to take more. That is where I need to nip this because so far I've come out ok, at least I hope. It's a work in progress.as far a sober, booze is the only thing I've substain from. Next appointment I think I need to come clean with the Ortho doc about my addictive behavior. My primary doc knows about me being an addict,I feel good about that!
 
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