My name is Carla and I am newly recovering from being chemically dependent. I have 90+ days of clean time and have not had this for about 10 years. It feels great to be a new person again and love when others can see the change in me. I attend 2 meetings for sure each week and am currently working the steps. Just taking it one day at a time and letting go and letting God. I hope to learn alot more by becoming part of this group!!!
Took me a bit to figure out ESH....experience, strength and hope. Welcome Carla. I have only been here a few days but I have found all three in spades from the people and posts. Congrats on 90days....working on 30 days myself, but I'll take today. Peace
Welcome. I too was chemically dependent, aka addicted. Chemical depedence was for me nurse-speak for addiction. Yes, I was a nurse. There is lots of support on this site.
I am also a nurse. I haven't worked for about 5 years now due to my health issues. I have sphincter of oddi dysfunction that causes chronic pancreatitis and also my digestive system is not functioning properly so I am in pain 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. That is what ended me up on the pain meds but now just trying to deal with the pain in healthier ways.
you will learn alot from these groups just remember to take it one day at a time and stay strong it will help you alot if you dont go around anyone who still uses keep yourself busy and work your steps.i have 6 months clean i dont hang out with anyone who uses i go to church and attend as many meetings as i can. keep comeing to this group you will learn that everyone has the same struggle as you do and just thank god that you finally got away from your addiction.
As nurses, we learn and many of us see first hand what addiction can do one's physical self, still many of us fall into it's grips as well. Some of us lose our careers to "chemical diversion", in other words, our inability to stop ourselves from taking the multitude of medications we have access to. Some of us work in jobs where this is not an issue or we have no access to medications in the first place. I have found personally that the shame and guilt of my being both a nurse and an addict were immense, as "I should have known better". As an addict, I am no different from any other addict. I have a disease for which there is no cure. I did not choose to have this disease. Gratefully, I can choose to recover from it and learn to lead a happy and fulfilled life again. I am learning that I am going to be an addict for the rest of my life, and I will have to work daily to keep my recovery. I can do that. But not alone. Through NA I have found that I do not have do. Nor do any of us. Peace.
