My story starts where it ends, I guess you could say. I was taking 60 Norco 10s a day for quite some time.
I had never been physically addicted to something before, but those damn pills grabbed a hold of me fast. It all started with an injury, and a script of Vicodin to get me back to work. Before I knew it, I was needing more and more to feel normal. It didn’t take long before I was up to 20 a day, then 30, and so on. I hated every minute of it, but just couldn’t stop.
I own a business, so I knew I couldn’t just up and leave for rehab.
Well, one day my wife caught me taking a mouthful of pills in the middle of the night just to make it through until morning. (Yes, it was that bad.)
Anyway, she was going to leave me if I didn’t quit, so I began doing some research and I ended up coming across an ad for Workit Health, an online therapy and MAT treatment center. This seemed perfect for me and my situation, so I called to make an appointment.
Within 24 hours, I received a call back with an appointment to get set up in the program.
My appointment was on 12/10/18, and it went great. The staff were all very warm and welcoming, and made me feel comfortable. I had a bunch of pills left, so I told myself I would finish what I had, and give it a shot. On 12/13/18 at 11 pm I took my last Norco, and then when I woke up the next morning I started my Suboxone. Still to this day, I haven’t touched another pill since. I have been free from all illicit opiates for just over 5 years now.
I started with 2 8mg Suboxone strips a day, and am now down to just 1mg a day or 6 strips total a month. The groups and courses really helped me, and still do. Working together with my care team, I am trying to get off the Suboxone altogether. But I will say, this point seems to be the toughest. I slowly tapered myself down, with support from the community, and never had a single issue.
I could have never done any of this without Workit Health—they literally saved my life.
I would highly recommend anyone who is struggling to reach out. If I can do it, anyone can.
~James
