SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS

[junebug68]

HI I'M A 46 YEAR OLD MALE. WHEN I GOT MY FIRST SUMMER JOB AT AGE 15 IN CYPRESS GARDENS IN WINTER HAVEN, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA I WORKED IN A RESTRAUNT COUNTY FAIR AS A BUS-BOY. ONE OF SEVERAL RESTRAUNTS WAS A DESERT RESTRAUNT. WE SERVED ALL KINDS OF DESERTS WITH AND WITHOUT WHIP-CREAM OUT OF AIRISOL CANS. THESE EMPTIED CANS ADDED UP REAL FAST. WHAT I FOUND OUT WAS THAT INHALING THE FUMES FROM THESE CANS GAVE AN IMMEDIATE HIGH. NOW LET ME TELL YOU THAT DOING THIS AFTER CLOSING TIME WE HAD DOZENS OF CANS. THERE WERE SEVERAL OF US INCLUDING 1 BOSS DOING THIS AND WE EACH HAD SEVERAL CANS TO INHALE. I DID THIS ALL THROUGH MY SUMMER JOB. I KNOW THAT IT'S DANGEROUS BUT I'D STILL GO ON DOING THIS EVERY DAY FOR 2 YEARS. I'D HEARD THAT EVERY TIME YOU DO THIS YOU FRY SO MANY OF YOUR BRAIN CELLS THAT COULDN'T BE REPLACED. KNOWING THIS I KEPT ON DOING IT ANYWAYS. I NOW FIND MYSELF WANTING THAT FIX. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS IF IT'S TRUE ABOUT THE BRAIN CELLS AND COULD IT HAVE LED TO MY MENTAL PROBLEMS. I'VE BEEN DIAGNOSED BY A PSYCHIATRIST AS SCHIZO-AFFECTIVE BI-POLAR. I ALSO HAVE SEVERE HEADACHES AT TIMES. I WAS UNABLE TO STAY PAST 1 1/2 YEARS IN THE MILITARY BECAUSE OF MENTAL PROBLEMS. JUST A NOTE HERE. I ATTENDED COLLEGE AFTER DIAGNOSIS AND NOW I'VE GOT 2 DEGREES (ASSOCIATES AND BACHELORS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE) WORKING ON A 3RD DEGREE (BACHELORS IN HOMELAND SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY). I'D APPRECIATE ANY ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE ME. I 'M NOW FINDING MYSELF THAT TO GET THAT HIGH FEELING AGAIN I ABUSE MY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. I'VE BEEN TO THE HOSPITAL 5 TIMES FOR DRUG ABUSE IN THE PAST 1/2 YEAR. 2 OF THE TIMES BLOODWORK SHOWED ME POPPING POSITIVE FOR PCP WHEN I NEVER HAVE DONE PCP IN THE FIRST PLACE.

[junebug68]

THESE TRIPS WERE TAKEN TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM TO GET CHECKED OUT. I WAS WHERE I COULDN'T EVEN WALK STRAIGHT AND EACH TIME I SWORE THAT IT WAS THE LAST TIME. I WAS HOSPITALIZED EACH TIME FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS UNTIL THE DRUGS WORE OUT OF MY SYSTEM AND I'D HAVE NO WALKING TROUBLES.

[AnnieBrooke]

Just saw a reference to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration hotline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).  That might be the next place to call.

[AnnieBrooke]

You've been to the hospital five times for drug abuse in the past, does that mean you have gone to get checked, or you have been in a residential program?

It sounds to me like without getting into some kind of focused and long-term help, you will use, whether it is whiffing or pills or whatever, and it can't be blamed on the original method of getting high but on your original desire to get high.  The only way I've heard of that sticks, for people wanting to get off the user treadmill, is to work on what it was in your psyche that drove you to want to get high.  I assume that for some people there is a biological trigger, but for most users who do honest assessment, it is about a psychological need that drove them to use in the first place.  In other words, without working on your head you will not solve the problem of always craving to use something, anything.  See what kind of program you can find that ties psychological work with the physical work of getting clean.