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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Euphoria & Greed –  

Oct. 10, 2020 – People who have achieved sobriety from other substances can easily fall into opioid addiction.

On Sept. 21, actor and comedian Dax Shepard released to the public that after 16 years of sobriety, he had relapsed with Vicodin. Shepard was prescribed the painkillers after surgery for four broken ribs following a motorcycle accident in August.

Like many people who are prescribed opioids, Shepard didn’t initially feel like taking the prescribed medication would be a problem.

During the episode of his podcast, “Armchair Expert,” Shepard explained that he was taking eight 30-milligrams pills of the drug every day while hiding his addiction from friends and family.

“I know that’s an amount that’s going to result in a pretty bad withdrawal,” he said on the podcast. “And I start getting really scared, and I’m starting to feel really lonely. And I just have this enormous secret.”

more@GreeleyTribune

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Compassion and Understanding –

Oct. 14, 2020 – Dry January, Sober October, no longer full of shame Thursday. I have been in recovery for three years and nearly three months and haven’t had a drink since that last pint of gin. Compared to some of my sober friends, I am a rookie; compared to the person trying to wrap their head around the idea of sobriety while not quite ready to admit to themselves they have a problem, I may seem like an impossibility. Staying sober felt impossible for me too, but I found ways to string 1,171 days together as of writing this. I am the person who makes a choice every day to not drink. I don’t always love that choice, but I don’t love the power of addiction either. Sobriety means something different to each person in recovery, but here are a few things I’ve learned along the way when it comes to being the sober friend.

From playdates to date nights, alcohol is usually the center of most people’s activities. Mommy wine culture and “Daddy needs a beer” sentiment starts at the baby shower and wraps its way through all aspects of parenting. I used booze as a joke and crutch to get through my early parenting days, too. And, parent or not, plenty of people imbibe to add a layer of enjoyment to an evening alone or with friends.

more@ScaryMommy

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – Paying it forward –  

Oct. 15, 2020 – As Chris Bilyk pulls a shipping label off the printer he says, “I’m a one man show.” Moments later Bilyk slides a gray t-shirt into a bag and seals the end.

“This one is going to Miami Beach,” Bilyk says proudly. “I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve never worked for myself.”

Bilyk is the founder of State of Gratitude USA, a t-shirt and apparel company whose corporate headquarters resides in a closet in the spare bedroom of his home.

Not bad when you consider the company was started just a few short months ago using Bilyk’s government stimulus check.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Bilyk said with a laugh. “ I just bought $1200 worth of shirts.”

The closet is stocked with shirts, hats, water bottles and decals. Everything has a State of Gratitude logo.

Bilyk is learning on the job and trying to take a bad situation and help others at the same time.

“COVID and the pandemic kind of gave me the time to work through an idea that maybe would have only remained and idea had this pandemic not occurred.”

Bilyk’s idea was to market a brand around the concept of gratitude and give part of the profits back to the addiction recovery community.

“I used to tell people to live in a state of gratitude as I was getting sober myself,” he continued. “Okay, things aren’t going the way you planned but remember the positive things.”

Bilyk lost his job in the hospitality industry when the nationwide shutdown occurred.

“So many times in my life I’ve been like ‘doing something like this would be cool,” Bilyk remembers. “But when you’re living a fast paced lifestyle it just kind of gets in the way.”

Bilyk reflects on how that lifestyle brought him to this point.

“I just threw up my hands in surrender,” Bilyk said. “I didn’t even have the energy to deny the fact that I had a problem with alcohol and drugs. That was the moment everything changed for me.”

more@ClickOrlando

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Challenging –

Oct. 10, 2020 – Getting through those months was tough. I came up with every excuse I could think of to go back to drinking. I considered throwing in the towel and resigning myself to a life as a drunk.

The one thing that kept me going was hearing that tons of other recovering alcoholics had experienced the same thing. Although there’s still a dearth of academic research on the topic, Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) is a common experience among people in their first two years of sobriety.

PAWS is characterized by feelings of depression, a lack of mental clarity, and feelings of exhaustion. As the name suggests, it sets in after the immediate, acute symptoms of withdrawal have passed. Unfortunately, it can last for up to two years.

The one good thing about PAWS is that it does eventually end. My first year sober was an awful year, but I am forever grateful that I stuck with it. Although it felt like quitting drinking hadn’t helped me at all, I actually just hadn’t given it enough time.

During my second year sober, I stopped feeling as depressed and even became optimistic about my future. I started to notice some of the positive changes that sobriety had made in my life: losing weight and saving money, for example. I also realized that I finally had the free time and clarity of mind needed to start pursuing even more meaningful changes.

more@Medium

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – Trouble in Shangri-La –

2020 – She noted that “it was a totally non-time. I just existed. It took away all my wonderful drama, my tempestuousness, my compassion, my empathy – all those things that drove me to my piano. I say to myself now: ‘How did you survive eight years without your wonderful drama?’”

Nicks added that she “always look back and think: What could I have done during that time? Made a Fleetwood Mac album or a solo record. I could have gotten married or had a baby or adopted one. Let me tell you, if anybody ever tries to put you on Klonopin, run screaming out of the room.”

In 2018, Nicks instigated the dismissal of Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, which led to a legal battle that was later settled. She recently revealed that she had written to him after he suffered a heart attack last year. Asked if she might ever share a stage with him again, she replied: “Probably never.”

She added that people often ask the band members if they got along. “We’d go: ‘Not really.’ They’d say: ‘Are you friends?’ And we’d go: ‘Not really.’ ‘Do you see each other when you’re not on tour?’ ‘Er, no.’ It has been like that since 1976.”

more@UCR

The post Stevie Nicks’ Only Regret: Eight Years of Klonopin Addiction appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

It all comes down to the steps –  

Oct. 12, 2020 – The star revealed that drinking started becoming an everyday habit for her. Her addition might have been brought on by her upbringing as she also shared that her family had a history of alcoholism. Burke revealed how her father had been an alcoholic before. She admitted that she wasn’t sure if the illness was genetic but she knew that it ran in her family and she didn’t want to go down that same path.

Two years ago, the DWTS dancer made the tough decision to finally get sober. She made the decision at a very significant moment in her life – her engagement party to then-fiancé Matthew Lawrence.

more@AmoMama

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Big Shot Busted at LAX –

Oct. 16, 2020 – Cienfuegos, arrested at Los Angeles airport on Thursday, took bribes in return for protection that included warning cartel members about U.S. investigations, according to prosecutors in New York who have charged the 72-year-old with four counts of drug trafficking and money laundering.

“In exchange for bribe payments, he permitted the H-2 Cartel – a cartel that routinely engaged in wholesale violence, including torture and murder – to operate with impunity in Mexico,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

The H-2 Cartel is a name for a remnant of the Beltran-Leyva gang.

Cienfuegos served from 2012 to 2018 in the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto, several of whose aides and party members are now accused of high level corruption. Pena Nieto has denied allegations he took a cartel bribe.

The detention comes less than three weeks before the U.S. presidential election. President Donald Trump, seeking a second term, has made clamping down on drug cartels a priority, though without major progress since he took office in 2017.

The arrest of Cienfuegos – nicknamed El Padrino, or The Godfather, in an August 2019 indictment that was sealed until he was in U.S. custody – marked the first time a former Mexican defense minister has been indicted and detained.

more@Reuters

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Leader Leaving –  

Oct. 12, 2020 – DASPOP’s decision to select Tieman as this year’s honoree was unanimous, Deb Beck, president, said in a news release.

“His insight and skill developed Caron into a leading provider of services in the addiction treatment field that has paved the way for first steps to recovery for thousands of those suffering with the disease of addiction,” Beck said. “Doug’s 25 years of guidance and leadership in the field has made all of us stronger and better.” Tieman advocated for substance use disorder to be regarded as a chronic, treatable disease. Under his direction, Caron expanded its education, prevention and research initiatives and became the only free-standing treatment center to have an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or ACGME, accredited fellowship for addiction medicine.

Tieman also oversaw the transformation of Caron’s medical department, creating the Carole and Ray Neag Medical Center on Caron’s campus in South Heidelberg Township and developing a second medical center, the Keele Center, which is currently under construction in South Florida.

In December 2017, Tieman testified before Congress on behalf of patients and their families to increase access to ethical, quality substance use disorder treatment. He also remains committed to helping families from Caron’s home base, Berks County, access treatment.

more@ReadingEagle

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Going to any length –  

Oct. 14, 2020 – According to The Daily Telegraph, the 57-year-old’s struggle got so bad that when alcohol was unavailable as she competed in the South African jungle, she resorted to drinking hand sanitizer.

Fiona is set to reveal new candid details about her battle with the booze in her book, Truths From An Unreliable Witness – Finding Darkness In the Darkest Of Places, which is set for release next month. “I freaked and planned to do it. In the middle of the night I just f**king did it. I waited until everyone was asleep and I drank hand sanitizer,” she said.

“It was disappointing because it kind of gives you … first the taste is so vile, it takes so long to get the taste out of your mouth, and then I think you get about 10 minutes of numbness, which is what I was after and then you sleep. I wish I could say it only happened once but that would not be the truth.”

While the incident was not screened on TV, I’m a Celeb producers cottoned on to what was going on with Fiona when she began slurring her speech and stumbling around camp.

more@NewIdea

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – Glenn Close up-close –

Oct. 16, 2020 –

Ron Howard: The whole time, even in the roughest parts of the movie, you’re still just rooting for the mom. That’s all I wanted in the movie, and I think I definitely got that. It’s good to hear that you got that, David. Most people who watch it, hopefully, will get the same thing … that this is a fundamentally good person trying to find a way in a pretty complicated world. This is not a black hat/white hat kind of narrative. It’s about life, and life is pretty messy. 

It’s really a rescue and survival story. It’s not exactly about self-actualization, which J.D. is very open about. Of course he had to have the strength, ultimately make decisions, and have the ability to pull himself out of some patterns within his family and culture which could’ve entrapped him. But he didn’t do it alone.

David French: The actor, Owen Asztalos who played young J.D., did just a really great job portraying him as a kid with a good heart and instincts. However, this is not an up-from-the-bootstraps story, because of that rescue element you mentioned, Ron. It’s kind of like he was yanked up by Mamaw and, and sustained by [J.D.’s sister] Lindsay and [J.D.’s wife] Usha. It was an incredibly true-to-life-portrayal about how lives are really changed. It’s not that there’s a huge number of kids who have this incredible ability to withstand all of these headwinds.  Somebody’s got to reach in and yank them out. 

more@TheDispatch

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