tough time staying away

[kimt]

Hey everyone. I am Kim from Southern California. My friends and I have been doing coke constantly for the past two years. At first it was just during the weekends but for the past few months it has been 4 or 5 times a week. I am a disaster at work and decided that I had to get away from it. The only problem is that everyone that I am friends with still does it all of the time. They are always calling me to go and I keep making excuses. I know I have to avoid them and all the old places I used to go to but it is hard because I feel I will be alone.

[1234Greg]

What you are going through is often seen on the road to recovery. Get rid of an addiction is also a lifestyle change. I know it seems hard but you do need to stay away from bad influences that will drive you back into you using coke again.

Have you told your friends that you want to be sober? Some times people realize that their friendship centered around an addiction. Do you have other things in common with them? Do any of them want to get sober?

[cabwebb]

it's oh so very hard when u realize u have a problem but r afraid. i knew a long time ago i was an alcoholic, but i loved my friends and i we had fun together. the only problem with that was they didnt have addictive personality like i did. they when to say when, but not me so eventually i ended up running them off anyway.
its a tough thing that everything has to change but it is a reality. pepole ,pplaces and things will get u high if u dont change them. part of going to meetings is to meet sober people that will take the place of old friends. a sponsor that can guide u along in the programs steps, it teaches u that being sober can be fun!!
stand up for u, let them kno u sont want to use any more, that its messing things up for u.......if they are truly ur friends they will respect that decision and leave u out if they dont they werent too good of friends in the first place.

[Shelby]

I remember a story a doctor told me. He said when someone has a certain illness or disease they have to change the way they live or eat or exercise etc. I feel that addiction is the same way. I also had to get away from my old circles and I have met so many wonderful new friends bit at meetings and even more so online. It is a comforting feeling that you will never be alone.

[kimt]

thank you thank you thank you for messaging me.

I know its what I hav eto do but I just feel so alone sometimes. I have thought about just moving away and starting over.

I don't know.

[Shelby]

Hey Kim,

I wanted to check in and see how you are doing?

[kimt]

Shelby,

Thanks for thinking of me. I guess I am doing okay. I went to my first CA meeting yesterday. I know its not much but for me its a start. I am just trying to stay away from my old circles Just taking it one moment after the other.

[busykins]

the day i decided to live, is the day i called all of my very super cool, fun friends and told them to stay away from me. at the time, it was the hardest thing i had ever done. these are friends i grew up with all of my life. we did everything together, including diving head first into meth. we had dabbled with other substances( coke, crack, h) but meth was unlike anything i had ever encountered. no matter how much i wanted, i "couldnt" get away from it. i didnt have any support systems in place, and had no money for rehab. i did the only thing i knew how. handed my bank account over to my husband, locked the doors, shut off the phone, and white knuckled my way through it. i lost my job, eventually my husband, my family, and what i thought were my friends. i had to move, and lost my vehicle. i contemplated suicide 100 times over. but then something sort of dumb happened that actually triggered something inside of me. during my whiteknuckle period, i had a horrible toothache. it got so bad that i finally went to the hospital. they gave me a referral to a dentist who charged on a sliding scale. when he pulled out the tooth (that was rotted and absessed in the middle), he showed it to me and asked me "if your tooth looks this bad, how do you suppose your insides look"? i cried all the way home at what i had done to myself, and made the conscience effort to start my life over. i kept the tooth out in the open for months as a reminder of what my life and my body should mean to me. in december i will be clean 11 years.