Kicking My Methamphetamine Addiction – A Reader’s Story

Sober doesn’t Suck!is a safe place for people to share their stories of drinking, addiction and recovery openly and honestly. There is no requirement of sobriety for posting, if you’re concerned about your using I want to hear from you too.

I recently received the following article from one of my readers who would prefer to remain anonymous. I’m proud to share their words, hoping someone will find comfort and hope in them.

If you’d like to tell your story, your feelings about your own addiction or that of someone else in your life please head over to the Sober doesn’t Suck! page. Addiction affects the people around us, I’m interested in sharing all sides.

Please show your support to our reader who has submitted the story below. 

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It was never meant to happen like this.

But it did.

Somehow, somewhere along the line,

I turned into a Drug Addict

I was 29 before I ever sought treatment and sobriety. I had some how progressed from social drug use, to full-blown addiction. 7 years of using Methamphetamine. And boy did it have me by the balls.

I never used a needle. I never had to steal to supply for my habit. But I was a ‘Junkie,’ just as much as the next guy.

From the ages of 21-23 I was a moderate to heavy

Ecstasy user. But Ecstasy got boring and  from then I moved on to the world of Methamphetamine. I had my first pipe when I was at a party when I was 21. It didn’t do much for me and I kinda forgot all about it, until I met *Bob. *Bob was what I was to later on discover, a meth head. We dated for a few months and spent almost every weekend getting high. Things progressed and after a few months I broke up with him. The one thing I took with me after our break up was his love for Crystal, which was now, Mine.

Three years of social use turned to four years of pretty heavy use. I was hooked. I later, into about my fifth year of using, met a guy who was a bit of a ‘mover.’ He had a lot of money and a meth habit to match. We spent almost the whole year that we were together, getting high. It was a match made in ‘heaven.’ I quit work and most of our days and weekends were spent together, taking drugs. Until things around me started to really fall apart …….

I broke up with him after he went to jail for unrelated matters. There were many other reason’s why we split, but I started to see that me being with him, was enabling me, to use more drugs. Over the years, I had lost jobs, lost friend’s and lost family members as a result of being unreliable, unable to fulfil expectations nor cope with ‘life on life’s terms,’ and almost lost my Mind. At the ‘rock bottom’ of my drug use I found myself locked in my own bedroom, lost, alone and very scared. Every time I went on a meth bender I found myself strung out, paranoid and experiencing severe meth induced psychosis. I continued on like this, alone, still craving and using meth as much as I could, for about a year. Once every week, two weeks, or as long as I could go without. The thought of never using again frightened me, but not as much as the psychosis I too began to suffer.

Could this be the end of me and my romance with Crystal Meth?

I was lucky to meet a recovering user (who I still thank to this very day) for helping me tun my life around. She introduced me to the rooms of ‘Narcotics Anonymous’ and held my hand through crisis. Narcotics Anonymous changed me, and it was to change my views on using after the very first meeting I attended. It somehow destroyed the relationship I had with Meth. I would never be able to use again without feeling guilty, without knowing what I had become. I attended meetings for 4 months before I relapsed. And I relapsed 3 times before I was to finally decide enough was enough. I was over the turmoil, the ups and downs, constantly having to lie to my friend’s, my family and more importantly, lie to Myself, that I didn’t have a problem. I went back to the rooms, broken, embarrassed and very disappointed in myself. My relationship with Meth had changed. It no longer gave me the high I was looking for. It made me ‘crazy’ and I knew that at this stage if I didn’t quit, I would end up mentally ill and most likely, institutionalized.

I can’t go back.

I am now almost clean 4 months (again) and have been on the path to sobriety for almost 9 months. I have been battling against this demon for so long, but this time I know I can never go back. I still miss getting high. I am constantly triggered by what it seems is almost anything. A place, a person, a smell, a mere memory …. the list goes on. Now though, I have to remind myself that my sobriety is more important. I remind myself of all the negative things that Meth brought into my life.

Nowadays I don’t go to many meetings, but I still seek help via other mediums. To come out of the dark and bring my addiction out into the open, was so scary. I luckily have the support of my family, which truly means the world to me. I also have the support of my friends and I have the support of other N.A. members. More importantly though I have a burning desire inside me now to Never Give Up and never give in to the grasp of Methamphetamine, Ever again, or at least, ‘Just For Today’.