What steps do i take to live a opiate free life

addicted25,  You need to do a slow taper so you don't get sick.  See your doctor for help.  The doctor will give you a safe tapering schedule so it will be a lot easier than going cold turkey.  You don't want to give yourself seizures.  Please do this the right way and you will have a much better chance of staying off of those pills forever.  Good luck.

Sparky's Mom

That's a good beginning. After you clean up and de-tox, you need to get into counselling just as fast as you can. There is an organization called Narcotics Anonymous that will help you stay drug free, and will also help you find counselling. People often become chemically dependent as a way to cope with problems in their life. If this is one of the reasons you are using, some sessions with a psychologist may also be a big help.

addicted 25- If you're afraid of becoming addicted again, there's a variety of ways to help you out. You already have two days clean, it seems like forever, but withdrawl only lasts for 5 days at most, unless you were taking methadone. That's considerably stronger and longer in leaving your body. I quit it after almost 30 years of daily useage, slowly cutting my dose until I had no met in my body. I still felt a little something, but was able to deal with it. I didn't go to rehab, attended no NA or AA meetings, but had a great support system. The funny thing was I didn't need them for that. I was done, burned out on the trips to the clinic, seeing the 'clinic rats', and it now seems like another lifetime.

There are other less potent meds to try, Subcutex or Suboxone, both administered by local doctors, that ease withdrawl pains. I don't know how much, or even what you've taken over the past 3 years, so I'd put those meds as your last option. I'd try to do this detox on your own, keeping in mind that's it's not much worse than a very bad flu, and when you finally get clean and feel well, find a good rehab program that lasts at least 90 days. The 28 day programs don't give you enough time to re-learn everything you've suppressed thru doing the opiates. You need both group and individual counseling to help give you some insight to why you began with opiates in the first place.

NA or AA won't treat your problem the same way a rehab will. They like to swap old stories about being high (a real trigger for a newly sober person), they also have a lot of long formed cliques that are hard to connect with. The only good thing I can say about them is you'll get a sponsor, who'll call and check on how your doing, and will ask you to call him if and when you begin to get the urge to use again.

Try the 90 day rehab first if you have insurance to cover it. If not, look into Subutex or Suboxone treatment. Use it for a fairly short time, go through their counselors for help, then cut the med loose when you feel strong enough to stay sober. You're gonna have to cut any druggie buddies loose, delete their phone numbers, and forget about trying to innocently see them. That's a surefire way of slipping back into the opiates again. Lifestyle change is a must. Find some new sober friends, learn how to enjoy life sober, and live. If you have any follow up questions for me, I'll check back and be glad to answer them. I stopped an extremely hard synthetic opiate after 30 years of daily useage. So can you. Best of luck!!

you can stop what ever you want if you put your mind to it. I BELIEVE IN YOU