How Drug Addicts Transform After Getting Clean

A few months ago, I was on the streets. I had given up hope and was dying from an infection on my heart as a result of shooting up. Today, I have found recovery. I had open heart surgery and triumphed through the darkest time of my life. I now have 107 days of sobriety. We do recover!

Almost six years sober and finishing up my bachelors degree next month. We do recover!

This is reality. On the left, I am running from the cops, strung out on heroine, and getting arrested. I hated my life. I hated myself. I wanted to die. Some days I’d wish I’d just OD and get it over with. Maybe then I’d stop letting everyone down and hurting everyone I loved. I felt like I had nothing to live for.

I wouldn’t eat for days at a time. I’d steal money, food, and anything just get that next high. Most of my friends and family had given up on me. I was in and out of rehab several times. I ended up on the run, leaving state, and running from the cops. It was bound to come to an end one day. Nobody can live like that forever. Eventually I ended up getting pregnant. When I found out, I cried for hours on end. How was I supposed to take care of a baby when I couldn’t even take care of myself?

Fighting addiction has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my entire life. I believe god knew I needed something bigger than myself to believe in, which is why he brought me my daughter. She gave me something to believe in — something to fight for. She saved my life and I am now celebrating a little over 2 years clean!

A lot can change in a matter of a year! If you are stuck in a rut or thinking there’s no way out, I’m here to tell you that IT GETS BETTER! The truth is, everybody will quit using drugs at some point. The question is, will you still have a heartbeat or not? I am so grateful for the people who have stuck by my side through all of this, and the new people who’ve came into my life helping me get through all of this.

The photo on the left is my second arrest only 20 days after I just did 6 months in jail. As you can see from my booking photo, I hit the ground running. I was struggling with heroin and methamphetamine. In the last year I caught 9 charges. I did 212 days in the county jail and by the grace of god I was placed into an inpatient rehab.

I’m 100% sure that saved my life. The right photo is me today and I have been sober for almost 7 MONTHS now! I am free and I couldn’t be more proud! The day I took the right photo, I was waiting on my ride to go to a NA meeting. I work the 12 steps with my sponsor, attend meetings regularly, and pray daily! If i can do it, anyone can!

My name is Meghan and I’m an addict. I always used to say it took me about 4 years to lose everything to heroin, but that isn’t true. It took me exactly 30 seconds to lose it all. That’s how long it takes to pour a bag into a spoon, mix it into a shot, and jab it into your arm. It was all over from there. All I ever wanted was another hit.

My lowest point was when they took my daughter away. I couldn’t settle for that so I fought back. Getting clean was the most difficult thing I ever did. It takes a long time to undo all that damage, but I’ll get there. Clean and sober since 3-12-19.

On this day two years ago, I made the ultimate decision whether I wanted to live or die. I chose to live. I called my mom to let her know that I wouldn’t be home for Christmas because I would be busy kicking a heroin habit.

I spent four days on the toilet while simultaneously puking my guts up — sweating profusely while freezing cold. A voice in the back of my mind kept telling me to hold on. That I could do this. I kept thinking about the love and affection from my family that I had craved for years. I wanted it back.

My mom said I could come back home if I went to rehab. So, on Valentine’s Day 2018, they dropped me off and I checked myself in. It was hard work, but I did it. I never gave up. I beat a heroin and crack addiction. So many of my friends aren’t lucky enough to say the same.

On this Christmas, I realize how blessed I really am. I have a reason to live today. And that love and affection from my family that I craved — I have it back!

This is Misty Loman. She is internet famous for meth progression. A lot of you probably recognize her and have seen the post to the left. What you didn’t know is that Misty was diagnosed with Lupus, bone cancer and scleroderma (hardening of the skin). She also suffered the deaths of not one but three children, which was ultimately her reasons for turning to drugs.

What hasn’t been shared is the picture on the right. This woman, in all her hardship, has been in recovery for a few months now. If she can fight this fight, there is no worldly reason we can’t!

My name is Erin and I was a lover of meth, crack, pills, and any other type of speed. I have been in recovery for seven years, since 2012. For someone who has been in and out of jail her whole life, I got my felony record expedited and am now a certified welder in the state of West Virginia. My daughter is my strength and wisdom. I got sober for her but I stayed sober for us.

Today I celebrate 3 years free from the bondage of addiction. In the end the doctors were telling me they were going to have to amputate my guitar playing hand. Somehow I made it out alive and retained the use of 4 of my fingers and interestingly enough I’ve written more songs with my new handicap than I ever did in the past.

The picture on the left is me completely broken, hopeless, full of the shame and regret that one acquires in addiction. A mug shot of me after being arrested for a petty drug possession charge. I’ve now made it my life‘s work through my music to help show anybody that has had to deal with addiction that there really can be hope and maybe bring a tiny bit of light to such a dark and evil epidemic.

My name is Christina Bean. Today I am a mother of two, I’m a wife, I’m a daughter to two amazing parents, I’m a friend, and most importantly, I’m an addict.

To the left, I was under the influence of the drug fentanyl. My drug abuse took me to an all time low of which I never experienced before. To say my addiction brought me to rock bottom would be an understatement — my addiction brought me to what felt like hell. By the grace of God, my fellowship, and the support of my loving friends and family, I no longer have to wake up everyday with a monkey on my back. Whoever sees this needs to know that recovery is possible for ANYONE who desires it. Turn your mess into your message! We do recover!

I went from being the girl who was addicted to crack, meth, and opiates who lost her children, stole from her friends, and ended up in jail all the time — to a confident woman with over five years of sobriety. I changed my thinking and then I changed my life. Today, I have my children back and I am a peer support specialist who helps other women who were in the same struggle that I was in. I want them to always know that if I can do it, they definitely can!

I hid this picture for a very long time. I was so ashamed. But for the hope for others, I am ready to share. I got pregnant while I was on drugs. It forced me to change my life if I wanted to keep my child. It was the first time treatment actually worked for me. I’m now going to school to become a dental hygenist. If I can do it anybody can.

I went from a junkie nodding out inside Walmart stealing for their next fix to a recovering addict, a productive member of society, and a responsible mother. This April I will celebrate 3 years clean!

I’m completely blown away as I compare how I looked four years ago in active addiction to how I look today. If anyone is suffering from drug addiction, just know there is light at the end of that tunnel. You can be happy with yourself again. You just have to believe in yourself!

After ten years of heroin and crack addiction with over 40 attempts at treatment I thought I was a lost cause. But miracles do happen! I’m not where I want to be but I’m on my way. I’m back in school and back in my child’s life. I have 18 months sober today!

For years I was the guy who couldn’t get it right. After 15 detoxes, 25 rehabs, 12 arrests, 1 time in prison and several psych wards from failed suicide attempts—I found myself homeless, and hopeless. On 1/1/19 I checked into a state run detox to try one more time. Today, I own a tattoo shop, work for Bang Energy, and celebrate one year clean!

6 years. 6 years of not having to put a drink or drug in my body to change the way I feel. This year has by far been the most challenging, emotional, painful and exhausting year. There have been times that I’ve broken and times I’ve been knocked down so hard. But through all of it, the people in my life have carried me.

If you are struggling with addiction, please speak up. Grasp the remaining amount of hope & humanness you can and do something to change. You have to want it. There are people all over the world who can help you, myself included.

I had no idea that on January 7th, 2017 I would walk for the last time. It was like any other time I went to get high. For years I had used cocaine. I loved to party, but one day the party was suddenly over. I caught an infection causing my body to go septic. The abscess formed around my spine, and eventually wrapped around my esophagus and heart. It would end up rupturing and fracturing 3 disks in my back. We all know that you can overdose and die.

What if I told you that you could live but you could never walk again? What if your next high led you to an 18 hour surgery where they scraped the infection from around your heart and spine? What if you spent the next 7 months rehabbing in a run down nursing home because nowhere else wanted to deal with an IV drug addict? I will have two years clean on January 7th. It’s a bittersweet day for me. January 7th is the last day I ever walked without assistance. I had to lose it all to finally be free. So next time you think you’re just going to get high remember me. I was just going to get high too.

To the left is me at 160 pounds in the midst of an 8 year heroin and fentanyl addiction. To the right is me today at 210 pounds and 1 week away from celebrating my first year clean!

Drugs took my daughter from me. Recovery gave her back to me and blessed me with 2 more kids. Drugs took the love from my heart. Recovery gave me a husband to love and who loves me in return. Drugs took my job. Recovery gave me a career I love and so much hope for my future. Drugs took my apartment. Recovery gave me a place to call home. Drugs took my possessions. Recovery gave me more than enough and everything I need. Drugs took my self-respect. Recovery taught me boundaries and how to love myself.

Drugs made me selfish. Recovery has taught me to think of others, and how my decisions impact everyone around me. Drugs took everything from me. I was completely empty physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Through God, recovery has given me back EVERYTHING I lost, and more than I ever dreamed of having before addiction. I am so grateful that my addiction didn’t take my life for good, and today I humbly celebrate 6 years of sobriety. If you’re buried in your addiction, please get help! Life is so much better on the other side. Not perfect, but so much better.

On January 1st, 2019, I woke up in a jail cell on suicide watch ready to be done with life. On January 1st, 2020, I woke up to my beautiful family, one year of solid sobriety and a brand-new career as a Licensed Medical Esthetician/Laser Technician. Shakespeare once said, “I cried when I had no shoes, but I stopped crying when I saw a man without legs.” Life is full of blessings and sometimes it takes almost losing life to value it.

Here is a side by side of my Dad two years apart. Same spot in my house on Thanksgiving. He turned 67 years old in November. Prior to that he struggled with drug addiction for nearly 50 years. He has been clean for over a year now. He’s living proof that it’s never too late. I used to have to show up unannounced and call repeatedly to track him down. Now, he not only calls me daily but repeatedly if I don’t pick up.