5 Years Sober

[Prince 👑 Harming]

now if you could just stop stealing people's organs and selling them on the black market 😒 ... baby steps 😐

 

[Gone crazy back soon]

Who says quitters never prosper? Keep up the good work!

 

[(G.O.A.T.) Tubemonkey]

Congratulations, fellow Tube! I'm glad when I see others overcome their addictions, like I have. I know from experience what a challenge that success entails. Only one thing in my life ever brought me to the point that I spoke the words " I can't " And I truly almost couldn't put the shit down. It was just something my mind believed that I couldn't live without.
On the bright side. Hitting such a hard deep bottom left no room for doubt that I would ever escape if I chose to pick up again. October 6th 2025 will be 9 rewarding years clean and sober.
None of you would ever believe what an asshole I was when using....... Or perhaps you would believe.

 

[Dr Deacon]

 

[Bostonjohn]

FUCK YES! Was almost 3 years but I had a lapse in judgment. Just the one time. But had to start over. SOBAH!

 

[hedgerow]

congratulations, FT.

I was a binge drinker from day one, and suffered a lot because of it. Expelled from high-school and kicked out of summer camp as a teenager, for starters, but i never missed even a day of work because of drinking (some tough mornings though). It got worse after i retired, and had no more immediate responsibilities, till the time arrived i got completely pissed and collapsed onto a sidewalk in the West Village and slept the night away, hearing people walking by but not being able to get up.

I hate not being in control of situations, and this was a major fuck-up for me, so i resolved to ban alcohol from my life. So it became the new me. It's going on three years now, although i cheated somewhat by moving to marijuana full-time. I still look forward to my fun time, even if it's a lot more subdued now. Life is also a lot more boring...i actually enjoyed getting drunk by myself. Trouble is, it crept out of private into public, and that's a huge no-no for me.

keep up the good work, Doc!

 

[Satanic]

5 years ago today, I was being admitted to a 6-week inpatient centre for opioid and alcohol detox and rehab. So it’s my 5 years sober check point today.

Prior to this, I was taking enough oxycodone or morphine each day to give 300 patients the higher of the two starting doses. I could down a whole bottle of Oxynorm just to feel normal for an hour or two. Being a doctor makes it too easy to get these drugs, and too easy to hide it. Waking up each day in cold turkey and sneaking the normalising dose I’d hidden was fucking awful.

On the run up to rock bottom, I practiced aiming my Golf GTI I had back then at walls on a local country road at 100mph to work out where I could kill myself and make it look like an accident. This was because my insane addict mind thought my family would cope better with my accidental death, than finding out I was an addict. I didn’t go ahead with it because I couldn’t detox myself long enough to get a clean blood set for the Coroner, and that would prevent my wife getting my life insurance. Addiction has oddly creative insanity.

So I got to the point I told my family as a last resort. Amazingly, they stuck by me and got me help. I was put into rehab by a service that cares for NHS doctors with mental health problems, and also got my later ADHD diagnosis via them too.

I joined GG a couple of month after rehab, and it’s been a big part of my recovery journey. I mean a big part as you guys have truly helped me get to being clean, and the happiest and strongest I’ve ever been. This is a place I can let myself be myself around like minded nutters.

I owe my life to my family, the team at rehab etc, hard work on my part, but also you guys. The gratitude I have for my support network is infinite, even though infinity is a doddle for me to count to.

I wholeheartedly thank every one of you for being part of my recovery journey. I really mean that. You guys are fucking awesome, and I hold a lot of love for you all.

Special thanks for the staff for keeping the site running for us.

Thanks for reading this soppy and serious post. If anyone is struggling with addiction, it is possible to beat even if it’s painfully difficult. Be honest and open up, to yourself first. Don’t be afraid to speak up here. Learn to let love in, and let go of the past.

Again, my sincere thanks to you all.


Here’s the meditation tent at rehab.

View attachment 904522

And a dry sand portrait of my mum’s horse I did in art therapy on the hottest day of the year.

View attachment 904523View attachment 904524

Congratulations have a drink to celebrate

 

[Ramres]

Thanks.

The rehab was a converted farm in the countryside. We had meditation timetables in each morning as well as anytime later on.

This is the inside of the tent.

View attachment 904528

Looks cozy as hell. Good job, man, that's not easy work. I'm real proud of you.

 

[ZeroK]

now if you could just stop stealing people's organs and selling them on the black market 😒 ... baby steps 😐

His specialty is the bicornuate uterus

 

[Harumph]

I am very grateful indeed that you are here @Flatus Tube, my friend, not only merely in gore, and among many other categories thoroughly enjoyed by we the living, but also for the tremendous fountain of information with which you always bless us. Get it, cate-GOR-ies? May you continue "cheating me" and may you enjoy more of this most treasured gift for a long, long time to come. After all, you have promises to keep. Speaking of, in order to celebrate, kindly enjoy one of my many favorite collections of words in our shared language ever assembled on this Earth. Here's to your promise to yourself!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening​

By Robert Frost (1923)

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Your friend,
H

 

[Sgt.Stupid]

Thanks for sharing your story. Congratulations! , my friend.

 

[Lord Gutsy]

@Flatus Tube You're a good dude...the medical input both you and @ZeroK contributed on this site is very much appreciated by everyone. This post will be featured.

 

[Sauerkraut]

Good going @Flatus Tube . Keep pounding…

 

[savgbeast]

Good on you man. 👍 And a timely post, too; last week, my family got my older brother to check into a 28 day addiction treatment center. We noticed he was alarmingly zonked at a family reunion; turns out he's been buying benzos online for years. His office was littered with empty pill bottles and blister packs. It's been hell on his wife (my sister-in-law).

Question: He's saying the worst part of rehab is having a roommate, lol. Did you have a roommate? How did you get along?

 

[ZeroK]

Good on you man. 👍 And a timely post, too; last week, my family got my older brother to check into a 28 day addiction treatment center. We noticed he was alarmingly zonked at a family reunion; turns out he's been buying benzos online for years. His office was littered with empty pill bottles and blister packs. It's been hell on his wife (my sister-in-law).

Question: He's saying the worst part of rehab is having a roommate, lol. Did you have a roommate? How did you get along?

The detox I work at is county funded so there’s 3 to a room with one bathroom. There have been instances of stealing from each other (I had my wallet stolen one time) or fighting over silly things because of the irritability caused by the withdrawal symptoms.

BNZ withdrawals are tough and can be life threatening. We use a phenobarbital protocol to help with the symptoms and prevent seizures

 

[K.I.T.T.]

Congratulations! I know first hand how difficult addiction and recovery can be. If you haven't already, read The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star.

That book taught me a valuable lesson. You can have the world in the palm of your hand and still be perfectly miserable.

 

[Andy.]

Congratulations! I know first hand how difficult addiction and recovery can be. If you haven't already, read The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star.

That book taught me a valuable lesson. You can have the world in the palm of your hand and still be perfectly miserable.

There are thousands of self help books out there, but his one really worked for me...

 

[Interregnum]

i will write you a beautiful poem woven with love and tenderness flowing straight from the deepest corners of my heart, piece of my soul, just for you
but first i have to masturbate to some scat porn

 

[K.I.T.T.]

There are thousands of self help books out there, but his one really worked for me...

It's not self help if one needs a book...

 

[Hellvis]

Right on man right now I’m celebrating my 20th year sobriety. I didn’t think I’d make it 20 minutes 20 hours or 20 fucking days but here I am it will be official on November 29 of this year. Keep it going you can do it.