Clean Date: September 11, 2016

Age: 30

From: Fort Lauderdale, FL

David G's Humans in recovery story

My name is David, I am 30 years old and I’m from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

My clean date is September 11th, 2016, so I’ve been clean for about 2 years and 11 months.

I think that I am a pretty outgoing person, I like working on cars and I’m pretty funny.

My addiction started off with weed, then graduated to cocaine. Then, I got into a car accident and almost had to get my leg amputated, and that’s when they prescribed me prescription pain pills. Next thing you know, over the next few years I took more and more pills, stronger and stronger, and became a full blown pill addict. It then progressed to doing heroin.

Active addiction was hell. Towards the end I was 110 pounds, living in complete isolation in a house with no power, no electricity, and no running water. I lied to everyone and stole from my family, just living like a savage.

I got clean because my family was really distraught by my actions. I was really tearing them apart. In the beginning, I just really wanted to shut my family up. They begged me to go get help for literally the 5th or 6th time, and I knew that I was tired of what I was doing.

My life in recovery is amazing. I travel, I have friends and I eat good food. I can pretty much do anything I can put my mind to. I have goals and I achieve them, all because I choose not to use drugs. My advice to someone struggling is that when you are ready, stop, because life is way better without drugs. If you are a family member struggling with a loved one, just love them until they are ready to stop.

My biggest take away from being in recovery is that I’m not a slave to a substance that took away all of my other choices.