[johnf22881]

I've been leading a terrible life for so long. I am now 31 and have nothing to show for it. I am finally taking responsibilty for my life. I don't see the point in telling my war stories, but there are 17 years of destruction.

Has anyone had success with rehab?

[madisgram]

well john i am very happy for you. you've made a good decision. you are giving yourself the gift of life. here's what rehab did for me:
educated me about the disease of addiction and alcoholism.
kept me sober long enough for me to remember how good life can be clearheaded.
introduced me to the literature of AA.
gave me hope i could get sober.
fed me a balanced diet. when i drank i didn't eat or had any liquid other than alcohol. this could be days.
taught me the importance of staying away from ppl, places and things pertaining to my drinking career. it is/was too much of a temptation.

these are only a few benefits i had. there are so many.
i wish you well on this journey and please let us know how you're doing.
between my experience at rehab and attending AA thereafter i have 23 yrs. sober. there's hope for you too.

[johnf22881]

Thanks madisgram!

[equive]

I have been to inpatient rehab three times. The first rehab I went to, I actually got discharged unsuccessfully from ("kicked out", if you will) for relapsing while in treatment. The second two times, I completed successfully, but was unable to stay sober after leaving.

However! They did provide a lot of education about addiction and the disease and the treatment process. They introduced me to AA/NA meetings, although they aren't really my cup of tea. They gave me space to detox from my drug of choice and to take a break from the outside world and think about what I wanted to be doing. Although I didn't maintain sobriety immediately completing rehab and still struggle today off and on with substance abuse, they definitely had a lot to offer and improved various areas of my life significantly.

Good luck with whatever you decided to do. As a side note, on rehabs, I wish I had known when I went there the first time that you will only get what you put in.

There aren't a whole lot of chances to get it right. If you don't want to be there and don't want to follow the program, they often won't play around with you. It only took one mistake for me to get kicked out of the first program - no warnings or anything. So make sure you are ready to commit to their rules and follow through with what they ask of you.

[johnf22881]

I'm actually going to go for sure, just working on the steps to get into the program and I am doing everything I can do to keep it moving forward. It is totally my decision and I want to do it. I cannot live this way. There is no way I will put up with looking in the mirror and hating myself anymore. Something inside tells me that there is so much more planned for me, that I can make a difference or do good things. There is more missing in my life than I know and I know I am missing out on living. I am very hopeful.

[gemineye]

I'm 25 and went to once here in NH and had success and havent used anything in 2 years. Its of course hard at first but it was soo good for me to be in a place for the first 30 days where I was secluded and far away from my environment. The first 30 days are a strugle and its good to be in a safe place at that time. Im now going to school for addiction counseling so my horrible drug addiction led me to the path I needed to be on. You have a purpose too , you just need to get clean long enough to find out what it is. I found it helped tremendously to not return to where I was living previous to rehab, It makes it a whole lot easier when that access that your used to isnt at your finger tips. I dont know if you have that option but it really was successful for me..and meetings of course. Hang in there and have faith you can do it. If I did it , you can do it.

[Leed]

I'm SOOOO happy you're going John. You won't regret it. I didn't go but i should have. I really took a big chance by not going. I could have had seizures & dangerous DT's, etc., but I got lucky. God was watchng over me for sure.

Most people i know have gone, and were very pleased and did exceptionally well. My late husband went and he stayed sober until the day he died. The guys he went thru treatment with are STILL sober and they have 24 years sober now.

I wish you the very best John. Please keep us posted on how you're doing. And for sure, let us know when you get out. We'll be here waiting. God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee

[splitimage]

John, Good for you. You're giving yourself a chance at having a life. I've done both inpatient and outpatient rehab (a few times actually).

I've always found the rehab experience to be useful, in terms of having a safe space and support to build up a base of sober time, as well as learning about the disease and coping strategies for living life without alcohol. I've had multiple relapses over the years, but I've been sober more than I've been drunk since 07, which was after 20 years of hard drinking, and I'm currently just under 7 months sober again & am hopeful this time it will be permanent. I couldn't have done it without my rehab.

splitimage

[johnf22881]

I am so impatient. I took action to get myself into rehab. The particular rehab I am working toward is a free, christian, bible-based rehab in NJ. I did the pre-screening application on Wednesday, called to get the application, and now I am waiting on the application. It is possible I am not being impatient, maybe the disease is trying to talk me out of it, but I am getting concerned. After I get the application I have to fill it out, write a letter saying why I want to go there, get a letter from my doctor saying that I can come off my medication (they do not allow mind-altering medications at all), get it back to them, and then wait for up to 8 weeks (I have to call every week to stay on the waiting list). I guess I am scared to go, but know I want to and need it. I just hope this time starts to fly by and I get there soon!

[madisgram]

thanks for the update, john. consider this...it took years to get you to this point where you want to get clean and sober. if you really do want to go to this rehab the wait is far shorter than the time it took for you getting messed up...not busting you. been there and bought the t-shirt.

also if you're up the NJ way....livingrin in bensalem, pa is a wonderful rehab. http://www.livengrin.org/ i got sober there and it also has a strong alumni group. in addition they have open meetings there where the "outsiders" also go. their meetings are awesome.

and yes the disease will literally beg you to return. if you need to wait to get in you can always start going to meetings regularly where you live. can't remember if you're drug addicted or alcohol related. here's the site to find meetings in your immediate area for AA..
http://www.aa.org/lang/en/central_of...m?origpage=373
you can google NA and get a meeting list too. i know a lot of drug addicts who go to AA and stay clean so it doesn't matter which one you choose to go to.
hang with us here meantime...loads of great people in this forum. we're here to support each other and your having the willingness and desire to stop is one of the most important key elements for success.

[johnf22881]

I was on everything: almost every drug and booze. I've been clean and sober for 5 days now. I've had as long as 4 years under my belt, but I did it my way and it caused me to lose who I was, still. Doing it my way was almost as painful as drinking and drugging because I just withdrew from society, losing touch with everything imagineable.

I've done meetings, mostly AA. I did 90 in 90 and then stopped going. Now I have no license and really no way to get around. For some reason I feel like I need to go to NA meetings, but I don't know how the heck to get to one because they are a bit far to walk to (I used to have the drugs delivered to me and am not calling the dope man for a ride).

[madisgram]

if you contact the AA/NA district offices in your area there is a volunteer list and they'll give you phone numbers to call to catch a ride, john. and how bout the phone numbers you got from others at meetings when you were going? we're willing to do service work and giving a ride to someone is carrying the message. if you don't have phone numbers now's the time to ask if you get to a meeting.
also when i was a drunk i would go thru heaven and hell to get my booze. snow, sleet or hail. use the same behavior to stay sober.
hope this helps.

[gma45]

Hang in there! You are worth it! Just wanted to say NA is helping me. Hope you can get to a meeting and I wish you the best.

[johnf22881]

I'm hanging in there, have 7 days under my belt so far. I'm going to rehab because I have lost touch with life in general and need to learn how to function, deal with every-day life, and learn how to become a productive member of society again. I know I will also need to do NA and many other things to keep on the right path.

If I call NA I can get a list of numbers and someone will just pick me up to go to a meeting or meetings?

[thickntired]

Originally Posted by johnf22881

I was on everything: almost every drug and booze. I've been clean and sober for 5 days now. I've had as long as 4 years under my belt, but I did it my way and it caused me to lose who I was, still. Doing it my way was almost as painful as drinking and drugging because I just withdrew from society, losing touch with everything imagineable.

I've done meetings, mostly AA. I did 90 in 90 and then stopped going. Now I have no license and really no way to get around. For some reason I feel like I need to go to NA meetings, but I don't know how the heck to get to one because they are a bit far to walk to (I used to have the drugs delivered to me and am not calling the dope man for a ride).

Until you get a ride - N.A. has online meetings:

http://na-recovery.org/Narcotics_Ano..._Schedule.html

Good Luck!

TnT

[johnf22881]

Thanks for letting me know. I'm just going walk a few miles to an NA meeting, probably would have walked much further to get my fix anyway.