True Stories of Addiction: Kylie
Kylie started her journey of addiction at a young age. She thought she had her addiction under control but failed to stay clean and sober when she tried to clean up her act. At just 15 years of age she was introduced to the 12-step program. She was young and did not understand the importance of it all – she did not take the program seriously or take suggestion from people who have experience in recovery. Subsequently, she kept getting loaded.
Just because she was getting high and drunk didn’t mean she steered away from the 12-step program like many others do. She would still go to 12-step meetings to try and understand how the program worked. With the knowledge that she gained from the program Kylie came to her senses and tried to get sober many times but still couldn’t. The longest she stayed sober was about 4 months. During those four months, she was miserable.
She was miserable because she was not following the guidelines the 12-step program sets out for us. Kylie would isolate herself and stay away from people; she would still attend meetings but that only lasted a few weeks at most, because she would have panic attacks if she was surrounded by large groups of people. Since Kylie was not working the steps or attending meetings she ended up getting loaded again.
Addiction Took Over
It wasn’t until about a year ago she decided she was willing to do the work to stay sober for good. It was not easy for her to get to where she is today. During that year, she was still using but then detox immediately after because she was determined to get sober. Kylie did not get help from treatment centers or any detox facilities, she did it on her own. Not attending treatment made things more difficult for her and her sobriety.
Kylie went to her father’s house to detox from heroin and was able to stay clean off heroin for 6 months. Not having the heroin in her life made her go crazy- she didn’t know how to cope so she turned to cocaine and alcohol. She was not thinking about going to a 12-step fellowship and the alcohol and cocaine was the only way she knew how to stay off the heroin without the help of others in recovery.
Because Kylie was not working a 12-step program the day came where she was introduced to her old friend heroin once again. Using heroin would make Kylie sick, so she would get clean for about two days, but then returned to heroin as soon as the pain of withdrawal got too intense for her to handle. This miserable cycle went on for about 5 years. Finally, the day came where she was done and did not know what else to do so she went back into the 12-step fellowship.
Time to Fight the Addiction
Kylie was serious about her recovery. She started doing what was suggested of her and got a sponsor. When she got a sponsor, she did not hesitate to start working the steps right away. The steps call for honesty and Kylie failed to be honest on her fourth step and ended up relapsing.
Kylie finally gave up and told her sponsor all that was on her mind. Doing so allowed her to move past the fourth step and her recovery journey took off. She was able to have a spiritual experience and the mental obsession to use drugs and alcohol was removed. She was finally free from the thoughts that used to haunt her while she was using drugs.
Since she has been sober she has been able to get a job working in treatment. It is Kylies goal to use her experience to help others recover from alcoholism and addiction. She is more than grateful to be where she is in her life today. She can’t comprehend how she already had 9 months clean and sober- her life is just that good. She now has the sense of freedom she craved her whole life. If you know anyone that is masking their emotions with drugs or alcohol give us a call. We are here to help in any way we possibly can: (866) 578-7471
