Bringing awareness to addiction is so important and I can’t imagine what my life would be like if people like Josh didn’t speak up. I’ve always been told that addiction “runs in the family.” I’ve seen, first hand, what it can do, but wasn’t prepared for how easy it is to start.
Through the pandemic I started following Josh’s personal page and also started suffering from chronic pain. Late last year it got so bad I was prescribed tramadol for when the pain was at it’s worst. Then gradually my dosage was upped as my pain stayed longer. Two weeks!!! It only took 2 weeks of steady doses for a bad pain flare up and when I tried to stop, it HURT. I immediately knew what had happened, and knew that my body was dependent. Thanks to Josh, I spent Christmas in mild opiate withdrawal, and I thank my lucky stars that’s all it was. Because, without the recognition that it was that easy for it to happen, I’d have just kept taking them. I would have ended on the ever growing list of family and friends who are gone because of it, or are still here and struggling every day. I also realized that just because it didn’t get “bad” for me, doesn’t mean it’s over. I still have urges to grab that bottle of pills when things get bad. Please just know that this works – I’m proof that talking about it works!
