I never overdosed, but was an opiate addict for 7 years. Suboxone saved my life. If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, join us in r/opiatesrecovery.
My mom was an addict. She ate pills like candy for like 15 years. She wasn't the same person when she was using. From the time I was a teenager up until my late 20s I watched a slow but noticable change in her. She went from being my favorite person to this whole other mean spirited person inside my mom's body. She was always lying about why she couldn't do this or that, why she wouldn't go to family gatherings. She always "didn't feel good." She had some legitimate health problems on top of that, mostly her back, that kept her basically bedridden.
Then for about a 2 month stretch it got reeeeaaallly bad, and she fell a bunch of times because she was too high to walk. The last time she fell I was done. She had broken several bones from falling and required a bunch of stitches at one point. I was done. That was it, I was washing my hands and moving on, and I was never looking back.
And the next morning she admitted to me that she was an addict. That blew me away. I never heard her ever admit she was wrong, ever. But she poured her heart out to me and told me she wanted to be clean and wanted me to help her. So I did.
She was sober for a little over a year. She was getting up and around better than she had in years. Her back was getting better, she was gaining weight, and she was actually enjoying life again. I had my Mom back. Then one morning my Dad calls me and tells me she died. He found her on the couch one morning. Myocardial Infarction. It was quick, they said. But, the toxicology report came back clean. She promised she would never use again, and she kept her promise. I'm so proud of her for that.
My Mom became a bad person because of drugs and I hated her. But between the time she got clean and the time she died, I had my Mom back. As soon as I read that line in this post, all I can think of is my mom. Now I don't know how I feel about religion anymore, and I don't know if there is a God or a supreme being out there watching over us. But I can't help but feel like, maybe me getting my Mom back was a gift from someone, somewhere. It's like the universe knew how much I missed my Mom and how much I hated who she had become, so the universe let my Mom come back and visit with me for a while before she had to leave.
Now anytime I see someone in bad shape like this, I think of my Mom and know that the person they used to be is still in there somewhere. We should all remember that.
"I may have no one else to blame, but you and I were once the same."
TriesToBeKind on November 5th, 2019 at 17:50 UTC »
I never overdosed, but was an opiate addict for 7 years. Suboxone saved my life. If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction, join us in r/opiatesrecovery.
edit - Thanks for the gold!
THE_LANDLAWD on November 5th, 2019 at 18:45 UTC »
Okay so
My mom was an addict. She ate pills like candy for like 15 years. She wasn't the same person when she was using. From the time I was a teenager up until my late 20s I watched a slow but noticable change in her. She went from being my favorite person to this whole other mean spirited person inside my mom's body. She was always lying about why she couldn't do this or that, why she wouldn't go to family gatherings. She always "didn't feel good." She had some legitimate health problems on top of that, mostly her back, that kept her basically bedridden.
Then for about a 2 month stretch it got reeeeaaallly bad, and she fell a bunch of times because she was too high to walk. The last time she fell I was done. She had broken several bones from falling and required a bunch of stitches at one point. I was done. That was it, I was washing my hands and moving on, and I was never looking back.
And the next morning she admitted to me that she was an addict. That blew me away. I never heard her ever admit she was wrong, ever. But she poured her heart out to me and told me she wanted to be clean and wanted me to help her. So I did.
She was sober for a little over a year. She was getting up and around better than she had in years. Her back was getting better, she was gaining weight, and she was actually enjoying life again. I had my Mom back. Then one morning my Dad calls me and tells me she died. He found her on the couch one morning. Myocardial Infarction. It was quick, they said. But, the toxicology report came back clean. She promised she would never use again, and she kept her promise. I'm so proud of her for that.
My Mom became a bad person because of drugs and I hated her. But between the time she got clean and the time she died, I had my Mom back. As soon as I read that line in this post, all I can think of is my mom. Now I don't know how I feel about religion anymore, and I don't know if there is a God or a supreme being out there watching over us. But I can't help but feel like, maybe me getting my Mom back was a gift from someone, somewhere. It's like the universe knew how much I missed my Mom and how much I hated who she had become, so the universe let my Mom come back and visit with me for a while before she had to leave.
Now anytime I see someone in bad shape like this, I think of my Mom and know that the person they used to be is still in there somewhere. We should all remember that.
"I may have no one else to blame, but you and I were once the same."
seidinove on November 5th, 2019 at 19:12 UTC »
It doesn't answer the questions about the publication of the overdose photo, but here's a little more background:
https://www.today.com/parents/mom-heroin-overdose-photo-goes-viral-again-t166148