At my worst, I was:
Broke, divorced, unemployed and facing 513 felony charges all related to writing fake prescriptions to support my addiction.

What worked for me:
Exercise was essential – I was encouraged to join a gym and start lifting weights – I still do so five days a week. 12-step meetings were a lifesaver early in my recovery. I found a group that embraced me and I did 90 meetings in 90 days.

I spent a week in detox, three weeks in an intensive outpatient program, and was on buprenorphine for about six months. I enrolled in my state’s treatment program for pharmacists. For a period of five years, I was required to attend at least four 12-step meetings per week, a professional support group once a week, see a therapist for at least two years, and submit to random urine drug screens up to 15 times a year.

Favorite recovery quote:
“Good men fall every day. It’s the great ones that decide to get back up.”

What I value most in recovery:
Recovery has brought peace to my life for the first time ever. Stress doesn’t bother me the way it used to . . . I am emotionally available for my family and my significant other. Things like money and titles are no longer important to me.

Rules I live by:

• Every morning when waking, remind yourself of the challenges you have faced and the progress you have made; identify what you need to do that day to stay clean
• Under any circumstances, don’t judge others – always try to see the good in them
• Live in the moment and don’t try to figure out what will happen tomorrow
• Do at least one kind deed each day
• Remind someone close to you that you love them every day

Stigma I faced:
Many of my friends and peers turned their back on me and to this day refuse to have any contact with me. I was initially treated as a criminal by my respective state licensing board. Although things have improved in the five years that I have been working in addiction medicine, we still have a long way to go.

Proud moment:
Reinstituting my pharmacy license (last summer) and being praised by the Board of Pharmacy for helping others suffering from addiction.

Best advice for newbies:
Your sole priority is finding your recovery recipe and acknowledging that you need to follow this without wavering. This may include medication, counseling,
12-step meetings, exercise, family therapy or any of the other numerous programs available. Put in the work up front – it will pay off in the end. Recovery truly is a gift.

Shed the Stigma:
If you’re a person in long-term recovery who wants to share your insights, please contact us at [email protected].