SadSavant

hello all, im new here but i dont know where to turn. i just turned 22, and i live in chicago for my whole life. i have been fooling around with drugs since i was 15, smoking weed, then i moved to pain killers. i just use them now and then, but i now some times i want them so badly that i think about the alot like all day. i have been stealing them from my friends girl friend for a long time every now and then when she gets here scrip filled. its vic ES, so 10 mili hydro per shot plus insane telynol. i dont take alot of them, just a few, at most 6 a refill. but sometimes she gets a different kind that has a capsule and the other day i emptied out 2 of them and but ground up telynol in there instead and the is really ****** up becase she takes them for really bad headaches and i stole them any way. i dont know what to do becase i love them alot, but i cant seem to stop taking them. i wont go to NA, so please dont tell me to go i know its stupid but i really wont go so dont try please i just need a little advice. thank you all for reading this i hope someone will reply.

-Sam

Gooch

Hi Sam! Ok so you don't want to go to NA.. and maybe you won't ever have to. how about a rehab or counselor? It helps to have some kind of plan. I coud tell you to just don't take them anymore but that never worked for me. I needed straight people that when I had 2nd thought sI could call and talk to them about things. They reminded me why I felt lousy doing drugs in the first place. The support network I found happened to be in NA and I liked the way it worked for me so I kept going.

There are other ways to get straight and stay that way. A few people I know have found religion helped them, some have seen dr's and psychiatrists to figure out why they got high. Another option that some younger people I know have tried is "Straight Edge".

Nobody here will "tell" you you have to go to NA to get straight but since this is an NA board many here will "share" with you that it has worked for them.

I hope you can stay open minded and look around through the substance abuse forum too. Don't give up no matter what there is life beyond drugs.

Dan

Hi Sam.
Nothing to add to Gooch's words...
Only a welcome to you, and hope that you stick around.

Jarhead

Hi sam,

You've taken the first important step, you asked for help. There are alot of good people here with alot of clean time, so you have come to the right place. I agree with Gooch, it may not be a big problem now but if you let it go it can only get worse not better.

Welcome to SR, I hope and pray that you reach out and get some help before this destroys your life.

Jarhead

ashley80

Sad, Gooch pretty much said it all, but just wanted you to know that I started out like you, and stole vics and percs from people. I felt awful about it, but I did it anyhow.
It's tough to live with that.

Sadly, though, I got a lot worse, and few stolen pills here and there didn't do it for me anymore. Sooo, I found other ways to get more, more often, stronger, etc. That took me to a really bad place, and I'd hate to see you get that low.

I hope you can find a way to stop now, because, I promise you, it does NOT get better. Rehab, therapy and NA are what is working for me.

One suggestion: try to find a way to make it impossible to steal those pills. Maybe, at this point in your addiction, if you don't have easy access, you might be able to break free. Tell your friend to lock the pills up? Can you do that somehow without admitting what you've done?

I know how it feels to want them so badly. Gooch is right. You need to talk to SOMEbody who can help. Other addicts understand, and "normal" people don't.

I wish you the best!
Ashley

margo

Hi Sam, and welcome! You're in a good place here. NA isn't the only way to get clean, but it's been the only way that's worked for this recovering addict. There are links at the bottom of the main page that have info about other groups, etc. I think it's important that you get honest with your friend and tell her what you did with her pills - if I read your post right, you replaced Tylenol in the capsules and put them back in the bottle? What if she's allergic to Tylenol, or if there's a reason she can't take Tylenol? It's possible she could have a reaction, so it's important that you tell her. Our secrets tend to make us even sicker, so try to find the courage to do the right thing.

In the meantime, read through some of the posts and keep posting. We're here to support you.

Keep coming back!