Deuce85

Do anyone believe that once an addict NOT always an addict. I just believe in change and overcoming addictions. I was addicted to oxycontin for a year, im only five months clean but i feel i am no longer an addict. I know people say be conscious and aware and trust me i am. I just do not think its healthy for me to believe that i have this disease and relapse is nevitable if i do not go to twelve step meetings. I know alot of people who were hooked on oxys and quit becquse of major events that took place in their lives with oxys. I never had a problem with any drugs before oxys and i became hooked on them. So how could i have this disease that i was supposedly born with(as told to me by my addiction doctor] if i tried and did not have trouble with any other addictive substances. Not bashing aa or the steps i just am personally not interested in them or a disease whih offers absolutely no physical evidence of a disease going on in my body. Not trying o get anyonemad just trying to see if anyone agrees with me. Peac to everyone

suki44883

I can't speak to pills, but, I can speak to alcohol. No matter how long I go without drinking, if I start drinking again, I will go right back to where I was prior to quitting. That is a fact for me and I'm sure it's a fact for others.

No, relapse is not inevitable, and many of us have managed recovery without the 12 steps, so both of those statements in your post are bunk. Could you take oxycontin if it were prescribed by a doctor and not abuse it? Maybe, maybe not. Not everyone who abuses drugs or alcohol is an addict. Those of us who are addicted, know that all it takes is one time to send us right back to hell.

nandm

Interesting question.

My personal experience is that like a cucumber that has been pickled it can never be a cucumber again. Just like that cucumber I went past a point where I can be that non alcoholic person again. I can not drink again as it will lead to the same pattern that has always been for me. I have no reason to believe it would be any different and lots of personal experience to show me it would be. So yes, once an alcoholic always an alcoholic is my experience.

I know many believe that a drug is a drug is a drug and therefore alcoholism is the same as addiction. That has not been my experience as drugs do not interest me in any way. So I do not consider myself an addict. But that is my experience and opinion.

Also I use AA to keep me sober and it has been successful to over 10 years now.

Sugah

Folks that become physically dependent upon a substance aren't all addicts. Addiction, as I have experienced it, is accompanied by obsession to use, and once I begin using, compulsion to use more and more. The obsession doesn't leave me as soon as I'm through withdrawals, and if I pick up so much as once, I will again develop the compulsion. I had to work hard to overcome the obsession, and I'm sure (after many years of proving it to myself) that I won't ever be able to use with impunity (without developing the compulsion).

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Zencat

I think your on to something! This business of naming ones...problems or even a perceived non-problem has absolutely no bearing on the awareness that maybe something needs to change...or not.

Am I an ADDICT!...or NOT!. What the hell dose it matter...I know for some it dose...cool...me...nope...I'll define my life. my beliefs, my way within this world...as I so damm please, thank you.

The point is I choose to live drug/alcohol free. What others think...and I have noticed that those in a large common recovery modality...think...well...funky to me.

Ah whatever with the rest...Ttal914...keeping true to yourself and your recovery choices will bring about the necessary change to be done with addiction once and for all.

Blessed be, you'll get there.

Deuce85

Thanks for the input it helps me so much with my sobriety. Everyone always has good things to say and does not judge. Sometimes my counselor at my rehab aggravates me because he says you cannot be in recovery without the twelve steps.

least

That is not correct. I'm 18 months sober without any formal program at all, not counting my addiction counselor and this site. So yes, it is entirely possible to recover without the twelve steps.

susanlauren

There are plenty of people who are in recovery without a twelve step program. There is a sticky with recovery resources -- take a look at it. I'm not sure how to add it as a link in a post, but maybe someone else will come along and do that. The twelve step programs do not have a monopoly on recovery or on therapy. I am in AA myself, but look around, there may be another path that suits you better.

I agree with Sugah that not all people who are physically addicted are addicts. It is important to look at the mental aspects (i.e., obsession and compulsion) and the spiritual aspects (i.e., restless, irritable and discontent) in order to make that determination. Ultimately, you are the one to decide if you are an addict and you are also the one to decide what you are going to do about it if you are.
Susan

Deuce85

Susan that was great advice. Some of the best i have heard while i was on here. I am going to copy and paste it to my journal.

neonxpolkaxdots

I personally think that each person should do what works for them. We have no monopoly on the steps.

First about it being a disease. It's centered in the mind, we have an alergy. An allergy is an abnormal reaction. Normal people would not use pills the way we do. So...ya it does show its effects in your body, in your mind. Depresson, anorexia, bulimia, scitsophrenia...those diseases don't show effects in your body per say...its in the persons actions and behavior.

I'm an addict, I've been clean for 1 year and 2 months. I lost my craving and desire after about 30days. I dont even think about drugs or alcohol until I go to a meeting because its in the name lol. I go to AA and NA to work on myself. Its not about reminising about my using days, its about a bunch of addicts working together to live each day successfully. We focus on the newcomer so we talk about our using so they know theyre in the right place and we can help. If you notice....only the first half of the first step talks about alcohol/drugs

Also, the pills were just a symptom. They aren't the problem...you are.

Anyway, if you think you can beat this on your own, go for it. If you do, my hat is off to you. If not, we're here if you need us.

Oh and no one can really say for sure when we became addicts. Doesn't matter. What matters is what we do about it.

By the way...EVERYONE thinks they're special/unique/different at first...I just hope it doesn't kill you.

Boleo

IMO some people do get sent into recovery prematurely by courts and employers who have a blanket policy regarding mistakes made while under the influence.

The key word here is "mistakes". I heard an Addictionologist (addiction specialist MD) say "Some people just makes mistakes while intoxicated. I see that all the time. The addicts are the ones who don't seem to learn from their mistakes".

Terminally Unique

I don't believe that once an addict/alcoholic, always an addict/alcoholic, and I don't use the label for myself.

Personally, I disregard anything and everything said by Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (CADC).

However, it depends on what you mean by "no longer" an addict. If you simply mean that you are no longer addicted, and that you can just go on about your life, provided you don't take any more opiates or derivatives, then I agree with you.

If, however, by "no longer an addict" you mean that you might be able to go back to popping opiates occasionally without serious risk of rapid re-addiction, I have to say that it would be a big mistake.

I would also strongly advise against drinking anywhere near any opiates or people who have them on hand. More than one has had a few drinks and then suddenly "forgotten" that they can't start popping pills again.

yeahgr8

I know lots of heavy drinkers who drank as much as me who quit after a major life event and drink every so often now...they are not alcoholics, would not be on this site, would never have gone to a docs, would never have seen a counselor and would wet themselves laughing at the thought of being an alcoholic...

I'm an alcoholic though and could never just quit and be happy with that decision for long...it took major inner change to effect to stand any chance of being happy and free from alcohol...

Terminally Unique

Those people who become physically dependent without being "addicts" generally do so because they have been prescribed a medication for a reason.

If someone became physically dependent by taking the substances ON THEIR OWN, I would seriously caution against ANY further use.

To the original poster: if you got hooked on those oxys on your own, I would advise ignoring any and all distinctions between "real addicts" and "not real" addicts, as well as any "harm reduction" advice about going back to occasional use.

It doesn't matter if you are/were an addict, a real addict, a fake addict, or what have you.

If you became addicted by popping those pills *for pleasure* (or, as people like to say, "to cope"), by your own hand, and not under direction of a doctor for a legitimate reason, such as, say, having surgery, the chances of you getting addicted again if you take them again are extremely high.

I strongly suggest never taking any opiates for recreational reasons ever again, and I also strongly advise against adopting "I'm an addict" as a last name.

Why? Because once you do that, someone, somewhere, will use that label, and your admission of it, against you.

NYCDoglvr

If I'm no longer an addict, then I can safely drink and take drugs.

Nope, I think I'm an addict until I draw my last breath. I fact I can't even imagine the concept of drinking without getting drunk. I mean, why bother?

Zencat

I didn't think that at first. I did however find that no one treatment modality with its particular slogans/jargon and such is appropriate for everyone. I'm not unique nor do I have a unique illness. Just someone overcoming a problem that once had me.

Deuce85

Hello all thanks for all the advice. I had a problem wih painkillers and could never go back to using them. Do i think i could take them occasionally. Maybe. But there is no way in hell i want to. To neonpolkadots i do not want to try to handle this on my own. If you read my post you will see im n a treatment center outpatient. Also, i run, i journal, i made an appointment with a schema therapist specializing in addiction. I do not want to do this on my own. Want i do want to do is live a normal life while controlling my addiction. Normal life as in meaning how i was before the addiction. Where i would live sober and about once every month have some drinks. I have been clean from opiates since february, but in may i went to my friends bachelor pary and had about five drinks. And this past weekend was his wedding and i had a few drinks. I never get he urge the next day to have a few drinks or for that matter ever get he urge. I do not believe it is a disease but hat is just me becuase it is too abstract to be a disease. There is really no concrete evidence.

stugotz

I like to remember that I can always go back to the way I was. Just sayin...

susanlauren

Ttal914: I do not believe it is a disease but hat is just me becuase it is too abstract to be a disease. There is really no concrete evidence.

That disease you don't believe is a disease doesn't care what your belief system is. It will take you wherever it wishes to take you once you are in its clutches. Be careful lest you find yourself a slave of "too abstract" and "no contrete evidence". The saying is: The man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man. It will be done with you when it is done with you and not when you think you are done or when you want to be done. Each of us has to have our own experience.
Susasn

1undone

If I have an addiction to any one substance I would have to assume that I have the propensity to become addicted (under the right circumstances) to any number of substances. Knowing this I would be careful in the future around anything that is "mind altering."

Due to the fact that we have a compulsion to alter our minds I am pretty sure we have headed down a progressive and destructive path. Just because this substance doesn't originate in our own bodies to destruct it doesn't mean it can't be called a disease. So goes the great debate.

The scientific community cannot prove some of our dysfunctions like Schizophrenia are a disease because we don't have the technology to show exactly what that means and how it looks. I don't believe people want to live this way nore do they want to hear voices telling them to hurt themselves.

I'm not trying to cause a great debate that probably happens here weekly but I am not willing to believe that just because someone can't show me something doesn't make it so. I am willing to believe that as humans we are not so smart and we have a long way to go when it comes to diseases in general. I would never be so bold as to say that addiction isn't a disease or is. I just know it is and like others have said, pick whatever program/WOL that works for you to live a healthy happy life that doesn't hurt anyone.

Ciao for now!