Bottlecappie wrote the other day about how sometimes when you’re on vacation, you get tempted to get loaded when you wouldn’t even consider it at home. There’s something about being somewhere different; the rules have changed. You are encouraged to indulge yourself. There’s no such thing as wasted time or diets on vacation. So does detox hit the skids once you exit the city limits, too?

It’s All Legal in Mexico

I recently spent about a week in Mexico and as I was walking through a crowd of stands selling metal jewelry and tshirts, a woman stepped in front of me displaying a sign that looked like a menu. But the menu wasn’t offering enchiladas or horchata. Rather, the choices included hydrocodone, OCs, codeine, Vicodin…. I suddenly felt like a starving person in front of a churro stand. Yum!

I didn’t indulge. I did get caught in a momentary dream state, but I managed to shake myself out of it before I bought anything or took anything. How did I do it? I don’t know. I didn’t even think about it. I was blindsided by the opportunity, I stumbled and I didn’t even let myself entertain the idea. I shut it down and didn’t let it become a real possibility.

A Bad Ex

Have you ever been out wandering around and suddenly run into that ex who is just so hot but so bad for you? That’s what it felt like. Exactly like that: sort of busted and unprepared but also kind of flushed and excited. And then when the encounter is over, you can’t stop thinking about it, what you should have done or said and you’re mad that you felt anything at all much less anything remotely near happy, wishing you could hate this [addiction] that was so bad for you. Being strung out is awful. There’s really just nothing there worth holding onto. So why are those little pills, that needle so freakin’ pretty?!

Brava, Bottlecappie!

I just want to make it clear that I think anyone faced with a menu of painkillers, an unmanned bathroom medicine cabinet, or an unwatched blank prescription pad, et cetera and walks away is a strong, strong person indeed. Yay, Bottlecappie!

Sometimes getting through the first part of detox is easy in comparison. Physically, it may be difficult but mentally, you’re focused. Once the physical aspect of addiction is a little bit behind you and you get to turn your mind to other things, it’s easy to get caught off guard. You’re on vacation. You’re in a different country. You’re worried about getting the right change back and making sure you have enough sunscreen on and out of nowhere, an opportunity to get loaded slams into you. It’s like a car coming out of nowhere.

Will you have the presence of mind to jump back up on the curb to safety? 

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"Strength in Opiate Addiction" posted in Addiction Recovery, Outpatient Rehabilitation, Painkillers.
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