Most of us know that addiction is a serious matter with serious consequences, but it can be easy to forget that it can be a life-or-death matter. Not only do people suffering with substance use disorder often lose the ability to maintain relationships, jobs, finances – but it can often elevate to a place where losing your life is a very real possibility. Read on to learn about Austin C.’s near death experience.
I’m 25 years old and have been addicted to opiates since I was 10 years old. I started off by taking 10mg hydrocodone pills. I took these everyday for about 7 or 8 years. Around 17 or 18 years old I had successfully quit with the help of my best friend of 10 years and my current girlfriend at the time. One day when I was 19, I got a call saying my girlfriend got in a car accident and didn’t make it. I started doing heroin shortly after and had completely given up. Six years later I decided I didn’t want to live this kind of life anymore, so I decided to go to the Austin, TX Cenikor Rehab. In addition to my addiction, I’m currently dealing with probation, so I had the extra motivation to go. Due to my drug abuse over the years, my teeth have gotten really bad, so before I came, I was dealing with extreme tooth pain, and I didn’t want to rely on heroin to help. So instead I got what I thought were oxycodone pills. Normally, I would have taken 8 or 10 of them to attempt to get some euphoric feeling from them, but for some reason, something told me not to take any more than 3. I took 3 of the oxys at 8am that morning on my way to treatment. At about 8:30am, I OD’d in the back of my grandmother’s car from the 3 pills I had taken. I later found out they were not oxys, but Fentanyl pressed pills. We arrived at Cenikor around 12pm. That’s when my grandmother realized I wasn’t asleep, but I had OD’d. She quickly ran into the building and called for help, which I later heard about. The nurses on staff pulled me from the car and Narcan’d me then started CPR because I wasn’t responding. When the EMT got there, they pulled me in the ambulance and Narcan’d me again. When I first woke up, I had no idea who I was or where I was, I just knew I was in excruciating pain. Once I got to the hospital after about 3 hours, I was coherent again and the pain finally subsided. That’s when they informed me I had actually taken Fentanyl not Oxycodone. After having experienced all that and not being able to deny it’s a miracle I’m still alive, I learned that you never know what you’re getting when you buy drugs off the street, and thankfully, for the first time in a long time, I have no desire to use again, and I pray God will allow me to remain in that mindset and guide my path.
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