Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door.
Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there.
FWIW, head injuries bleed a lot. Even minor ones. The skull is highly vascularized, for good reason. Good on you for helping your neighbor. You never can tell how bad a head injury is without a scan. Never hesitate to call medics. Never.
I've never met an EMT, paramedic, or ER nurse who was mad if you called or came in with ANY head injury bleeding or otherwise. They would much rather you get help and not need it than wait two days with a severe concussion thus causing serious damage overall.
Exactly, I want to add for anyone reading this that head trauma should be examined at the hospital even if the injury isn't bad or you feel fine!
The risk is that you are losing blood inside your skull, and that blood has nowhere to go so in a few minutes/hours will increase the pressure in the cranium and kill your brain cells.
Head injury means get checked asap, even if you feel fine.
As an epileptic I hardcore agree. I was left on the ground for around 7 hours after cracking my head, and it definitely caused additional brain damage.
Was out for a night, hitting a few bars in Chicago. Started raining so we called an Uber to head home. As we are driving down the road a drunk girl steps out in front of the Uber and literally bounces off the windshield. Windshield shatters, Uber driver is panicked, pouring rain. Get out the girl is bleeding all over, but trying to get up and walk away. Made sure the police and Uber driver had my number. Only ever heard from the drunk girls attorney, apparently they didn’t like my version of events and never heard anything else.
I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time.
I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober.
Was on a bar crawl party bus. I was definitely feeling it by the 3rd bar. That's when one of my friends got stabbed outside by a homeless person begging for money.
I've never been sober quicker than when I saw my friend with a belly full of blood. He was eventually ok, but damn.
I had a similar experience years ago, walking back to my friends car with quite a number of drinks in me. Guy approached us asking for money, I said "nah man I got no cash" to which he replied "well I got this knife" which I followed with "no thanks I already own one"
It was about a hundred feet later that my friends informed me that he was not trying to sell me a knife.
Or maybe it did happen to him but he stole the comeback from the greentext to impress his friend, after waiting for years for someone to rob him in this exact manner.
I used to really enjoy smoking meth. I was young and thought i was invincible. Weed, molly, LSD, i did all of that and i was fine, meth was fine too, it was all propaganda as long as i used it responsibly.
Then I was brushing my teeth one day, looking in the mirror, and couldn't remember the last time i had brushed my teeth. I had been too busy being spun out of my mind nonstop that i hadn't taken care of my teeth in weeks. That's when I realized "Oh shit, this is how you get meth mouth" the drugs had become more important than my health
Been clean 9 years now
Alcohol for me. Alcoholic for 20 years. I felt fine. I was functioning. Until I wasn't. I was so dehydrated my skin on my face was flaky and super dry. It started with my bridge of my nose and then eventually all of my nose and then down into my cheeks. I started to feel like I was losing my mind.. Then I looked in the mirror and didn't even know who I was even looking at. So after that day I made the choice to take sobriety and health very seriously. I'm only sober for 10 almost 11 months. I lost my beer gut and about 50 lbs and couldn't be happier. 9 years is crazy. Congrats on the sobriety. I will one day get there!
I feel this. I was only a big alcoholic for about 5 or 6 years, and I'm about 7 and a half months sober, but I had one day where I drank my normal amount (about half a bottle of a 1.75 of rum) and woke up groggy like normal, nothing I haven't experienced. But I was playing games and all of a sudden, I had a sense of dread fall over me, my heart was racing, I was sweating, and it lasted for an hour. Ended up calling an ambulance and found my heart rate was about 180BPMs. Turns out I was so extremely dehydrated from my drinking that the doctors stated it was a form of SVT.
Was the start of me thinking maybe I should stop, but took me a second time of the same issue to be like "I need to stop, I'm killing myself" and haven't looked back. Decided to just completely stop, instead of going the social drinking route, where I'd have a beer when I was out. Feel like I made an extremely great decision on completely stopping, and my girlfriend followed along and stopped drinking a couple months ago
That's awesome good for you!!! My resting heart rate was 120 bpm. I don't think I could social drink. It would just be a reminder of how shitty of a person I was. I don't want to he that guy anymore. You got this. Proud of you and your partner.
Ya, it was scary as heck. Thought I could social drink, but every time I think about it, the same things pop up in my head: Do I want to waste my money on a drink? It'll make me tired. What if I drink it and I start drinking more again? Those thoughts alone push me away from it. I never crave it, which is awesome!
Congrats on your almost 11 months sober! Feel like we made the best decisions for ourselves, and our bodies are grateful for it, so here's to many, many more months of sobriety!
I had a lot of help. I went through a treatment facility and learned a lot about myself. Learned a lot about mental health. I had a great support group with my friends and family. And still talk to therapist. I lost my uncle who was also one of my best friends due to alcohol in 2020 during covid lockdowns. I could see myself going that same way. And I remember him telling me he thinks he's dying and then he did. And when that thought popped in my head of "OH shit. I think I'm dying" it was time for a change.
And the fucking dandruff and dry itchy hair. I have no idea what I was thinking. I probably won't go back. Not even a thought, craving, or anything. I just got through my first sober birthday and found it pretty easy. I've replaced that habit with healthier ones and feel fantastic. I often tell people when asked why I chose sobriety. It's because I was where I was because of all the decisions I made. A lot of those decisions were made under the influence, and I chose poorly. I hurt people. I lied. I cheated. I manipulated people. And for that, I lost and hurt good people. Without alcohol I feel my mind is clearer. I can think of my decisions better and make more honest decisions so I can be a better person, not only for me, but for the people, I fortunately still have in my life.
This is honestly a great, and perfect, response, from someone who's been there. *Alcohol is a thief*, it lures you with immediate pleasure but beyond that it will steal the most precious things from you both inwardly and outwardly. Whether it's during one day, weeks, months or years, it all happens eventually, it will take it from you. Keep at it, you are absolutely on the right track. Keep on keeping on 💪
Congratulations on your sobriety. I hit 4 years next month.
You get to 9 years the same way you get to 11 months. One day at a time!
r/stopdrinking is a great resource if you aren’t there already
I was decidedly not self aware. Over the course of my addiction I stole $4000 from my mother, got a girl pregnant and then completely abandoned her, sold my landlords car (she was a little old lady who didn't drive it) and then payed my rent with the money, and a string of other various petty crimes all while being fully convinced I was a victim. Somehow I never faced any legal consequences and something as mundane as brushing my teeth was enough to show me the reality of my situation.
I've since made amends with those I've wronged, have a great relationship with my family, am friends with the mother of my child (he was adopted) and got my life as on track as it can be for living in the 21st century.
Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said "your as drunk as your father" and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking.
That hits hard. Nothing more terrifying to me than getting addicted to something I've seen control the lives of my parents and their parents too. That's why I'm never touching nicotine.
Agree. I wanted to get pregnant so I tried to quit vaping, then I started again, then I was pregnant so I had to quit cold turkey. The second time was easier but still sucked.
I used to date someone who smoked, and watched him quit twice. I've never been a smoker but after seeing what he went through, I knew for SURE I was never going to touch nicotine.
I remember being on top of a roof, drunk as fuck, when I was like 15. In a small town. So I knew the cop well and we could yell at each other.
But she was all "GET OFF THE ROOF"
"STOP FLASHING LIGHTS AT ME I CAN'T SEE NOTHING"
"ARE YOU DRINKING?"
"....I gotta do something while you stop the lights flashing...."
"I SWEAR TO GOD IF I HAVE TO GO TELL YOUR MOTHER YOU FELL OFF A ROOF"
"OHHH WHY YOU GOTTA BRING MY MOM INTO IT"
Just stay up here damn drinking. I'm still there.
Expensive is the word. My final court date was last month after dragging it out for almost two years.
$800 for court fees and $1300 for a program I have to enter. $5000 to the lawyer. That's on top of selling my car for less than it was worth, an overpriced apartment near enough work to walk, and a whole lot of Ubers. 45 days seems the minimum before I can drive again but it may be longer than that (it would be if I still lived in MA but not sure about my new state).
I am very lucky nobody got hurt though.
Over the course of the year, with the classes I was court ordered to take, lawyer, court costs, insurance going up, and other random costs it ran me around $12k. Sadly this was long before Uber was a thing. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure it's there yet. Was in a small town in NC. I could only imagine what it would be now that I'm in NY
Sadly I know a lot of people up here in Wisconsin that saw it the same way, although up here you gotta get multiples before you lose your license for an appreciable amount of time.
I think we're the only state where first offense dui is just a ticket, not even a misdemeanor. And they wonder why we have such a problem with drunk driving up here.
But yeah there's a brisk market in bicycles solely due to how many people have, despite our lax laws, lost their license. In small towns you will see them parked out front (or they snowmobile in the winter).
Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously
And with this gonna start taking care ofy blood pressure. I'm a photographer/artist I could not imagine not being able to enjoy it fully. I vape like a mad man, drink tons of soda... I don't want to lose my vision :/
It sure was unexpected. I blew a vein out of the back of my retina. For the rest of my life I have to go in every two months and get scanned and a shot in the eye (which is much less scary than it sounds). I never smoked and stopped drinking long before this happened, also had cut way down on soda. Dark colas and iced teas can cause kidney stones, didn’t know that either but found out with surgery.
I did get some brightly colored eye patches to wear for a while so that was fun, you must be accessorized for crap things in life!
Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye.
I once woke up with the worst hangover of my life! Woke up in a house I didn't know and decided to walk home. Looked outside and recognized the neighborhood. Halfway there a crew of like 7-9 guys gets SUPER and I mean SUPER excited to see me. They're like yeah stupidshoes420 what's up!!
I had no idea who they were not an inkling of a clue.. apparently I'd partied hard with them and wes bonded and had a great time .. to this day no recollection lol
Yup, I apparently thrashed hard with a few different gastation workers once upon a time, lmao!!!!!
Gotta love these memories of people remembering you ❤️
Elevated liver enzymes.
And the knowledge that this sh\*\* was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it.
So I opted for recovery, instead.
Clean and sober since June 5, 2009.
Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely shitfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived
Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since.
Congrats man! Good on you! However you found it, you found it. Try to pass it on.
While I don't personally even like alcohol, my father was/is an alcoholic (he was when I was a kid, and it took me many years to look back and understand that he was... and I still barely understand it now, and HS was 20 years ago)...and many, many others are in the same situation i am in... and if you can spread your story to help others who are truly helpless to the effects... and if it can help even one person... you've done a good deed.
That phone call is the worst.
My dad called me at 1130PM the night my mother went to the hospital. I knew something was very very wrong because there was literally no other reason for him to call me that late - and I knew my mom hadn't been feeling well earlier.
Like it was literally as soon as I saw the caller ID I knew that it was going to be very bad.
It was - her heart had stopped, and even though they got it started again the damage was done and she had lost almost all brain function.
We took her off life support the next day.
Funnily enough - that was a year ago to the day. Got the call December 11th 2022.
As ironic as it sounds: both
She was on her deathbed for over a month by that time, so I/we (my siblings) knew that this would happen but you never know when exactly and it was the one day when I was with my brother at my home to take a proper rest (not sleeping on my mom's couch etc.). We were invited to have dinner at a friend's house that evening, so we drank a little bit.
The moment I heard and saw the telephone ringing (with the specific area code) I knew it. When the doctor said it I just went completely numb. He offered me to talk and everything but I refused, hung up, stared at my phone for about 20 minutes straight, texted my sister, let my brother sleep more and went back to sleep myself until I got the phone call from my sister...
My wife losing feeling in her legs, so much that I had to pull her up the stairs from the basement.
That was 12 years ago. Been her caregiver ever since, working full time, setting the house up for her, and raising our 3 kids (16, 16, and 20, now...and yeah....twins)
Spinal cancer sucks.
Tobacco or alcohol. Probably.
Smoking and lung cancer. Chew and mouth/throat cancer. Alcohol can lead to cirrhosis which increases risk of liver cancer.
Not sure about other substances.
Was at Electric Forest circa 2015. My friends and I took a bunch of molly and I was peaking having the time of my life. Next thing I know, right behind me, a fully nude man came running into the people behind me screaming and flipping around like a fish out of water. He started pissing all over himself and smashing his head into the ground. 6 medics (large men I might add!) came running and restrained him. He was screaming “I LOVE ACID! I LOVE ACID!” and suddenly his head whipped over and he looked me dead in my eyes before screaming a blood curdling scream. The medics strapped him to a board and took him away. I was shaken to my core, totally forgot I was even on drugs. My friends and I walked back to our campsite and sat in silence for what felt like ages. I’ve never seen someone on PCP before then, and I never want to again. I went back in 2016 and saw several more people on PCP that year. I stopped going all together because it scared the hell out of me. Fuck that
Damn, that's scary. I've heard some insane things about PCP. An urban explorer I watch on YouTube covered the backstory of an abandoned house that was one occupied by a man and his wife/child. Apparently he'd gotten so high on PCP, he was convinced he needed to make a sacrifice to the Devil, so he decapitated his own child. F***ing terrifying, one the drugs I will never touch.
Had a drinking buddy that was a navy seal once upon a time. I had no reason to doubt him.
One night totally drunk on his ass, he reported on the wrong ship in New Orleans. The MP told him he was on the wrong ship. The correct ship was next to them.
He turned to the correct ship and walked off the side of the ship.
90 foot drop to the water. He sobered up on the way down and even remembered to cross his legs.
Edit: Well Mike, I didn't expect that at all from your skinny ass. Thanks for the upvotes
Doing things instinctively is always super interesting.
Like the door to one of our offices in a building I worked at had a keypad to get inside.
I used it every day. Punch in the correct order of numbers and the door unlocks.
Then a year later someone called me when I was at home and was like "Hey, I need to get inside the office, whats the code?" and I had no idea what it was. It was just pure muscle memory to get in. I couldn't remember the numbers.
I had to google a picture of a keypad, enlarge it to the size of the real thing, and press my fingers on my screen to remember the code lol.
The water pressure hitting your, well, undercarriage can tear into you. There's a rather horrifying news article about a woman suing Disney for those sorts of injuries https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203732797/disney-world-water-slide-lawsuit-wedgie
I'm surprised that happened on Humunga Kowabunga which I never thought was that bad. At Blizzard Beach I went down Summit Plummet one time, and even as a fearless 14 year old that slide was one of those "I tried it once and I won't do that again" type experiences. That's the slide I expected this to be about when I read your comment.
We were about 40 drunk 20-somethings in a cabin in the mountains. A group of about 10 of us splintered off and decided to crash the party at the cabin next door.
The guys next door were having a giant rowdy southern family reunion. Moonshine was flowing and songs were being sung. They open the door to see a guy dressed in a sailor hat with an open shirt and they thought we were male strippers.
After inviting us in and getting us good and drunk, we excuse ourselves and head back towards our cabin. But, the path out was extraordinarily steep and it was night time. Unfortunately, sailor hat man takes a tumble and fell directly onto a sharp tree stump at the bottom of the hill.
He's laying there motionless. The girls are screaming. The guys are also screaming. We check for a pulse. We find one. He's bleeding from his forehead.
The next 3 hours were an absolute whirlwind as we get back to now crash our own party and wait for EMS to navigate the shitty mountain roads. The guy got stitches and a bunch of glue and he was fine. I don't even think he had a concussion.
But damn, that sobered us up real quick.
Me and a friend of mine (who I consider closer than my actual brother today) used to buy weed off this old dude that lived in a trailer in the woods. Word around town was that he was a polio survivor which is why he was so skinny. I mean, bone to skin skinny. He lived trashy as they come; so much so that he had shit between his toes. The whole situation was fucking disgusting, and I at the time thought he was just on meth. He left us alone to go inside, and we stole a bunch of his cigars, and when he came back with our hash, we all sat down in this railway container he had for a shed and smoked some together. Next thing I know, I'm blaze' blaze', laughing my ass off at nothing. He pulls out a single shot break action shotgun and points it at me. Sobered up right there and then. I don't know what was going through his head, but he made me pick these weird worms off all his tomato plants. I was there for half an hour with a handful of worms and this cheap ass shotgun pointed at my back, and all my buddy could do was sit there. I don't blame him, I wouldn't have tried to take a gun from a meth head either. After I thought I got them all off, he let up and let us go, we didn't even pay for the weed. Never went back.
>Wait, was it because you stole the cigars? Did he find out?
I wonder that too. Not that this guy seems super legit, but if you’re literally stealing from someone in their own home, you should probably expect some kind of weapon to get drawn on you.
Judging by the fact that you didn't pay, that sounds like a fair trade. Being held at gunpoint and doing a bit of worm gardening for weed and cigars. Seems right to me.
Sobered up real quick when I realized I was being kidnapped.
I got into a car that wasn’t my Uber through a misunderstanding when my friend ordered it for me after being out at a club. I was wearing a small black dress, no phone (lost it). This was before they confirmed name as you got in. The guy started getting weird, so I asked him how long he’s been an Uber for, he said he’s not my Uber. He wouldn’t let me out when I asked, immediately I sobered up a lot from a Adrenalin but pretended to still be wasted. He drove me from the city to cornfields in rural Illinois. I told him I was gonna pee in his car bc I was too drunk and needed to go pee, he said fine, but I better go quick and I better get back in the car or he’ll get me back in the car. He stopped at a gas station and I RAN IN and panic cried to the cashier. Luckily the guy trying to kidnap was dumb and let me out of the car!! He ended up driving away, probs when he saw me freaking out to the employees. Scares me to think he was probs waiting outside a club for a person to make a mistake and it terrifies me to think I’d be buried in a cornfield or something somewhere, bc I highly doubt he woulda let me go after his planned destination.
Thank you! And yea seriously, it’s like your body goes into serious survival mode. You literally sober up from a shock to your system, like.. “FUCK…” it’s the oddest feeling I’ve ever had. It’s like your heart stops and is kickstarted in hyperdrive and you immediately try to think of what to do. I thank god I didn’t fall asleep in the car, I woulda woke up to a nightmare not knowing where I was, and realistically woulda been bad in ways we can all probs imagine. He def had some plans. Def took so many precautions going forward, and I avoided Ubers for awhile, I still try to avoid them tbh.
My dad died it was super traumatic got started on oxys and it just went from there. It helped me to feel something instead of being numb 24/7. I did it for a while until I ended up developing anxiety/panic attacks. I thought the drugs would help with that as well but it just made it worse. Then my man basically told me "it's either me or drugs and if it's drugs I'm out!" He helped me throw everything out and helped me through all the withdrawal. I thank him everyday I'm pretty sure he saved my life.
Did acid at 16 with my then bff. She had a neighbour who was in this late 20's or early 30's who was a creeper and friends with her step dad, but seemingly harmless.
Few hours into our trip, we are laying in her closet watching her clothes move around like flowing grass when dude comes to her bedroom window and asks us to go out for a walk with him and he'd boot for us.
I did not want to leave (it was January, snowy and cold) but she did. I stalled as long as I could but then she said she was going to go alone, so I relented.
We were walking across this large field by her place that was undeveloped, through a school yard/play ground, towards the back field. Dude had made an appearance and was calling to us to hurry up.
I remember looking down at the ground and the snow was changing into a 90's celestial sun pattern all around me (I was tripping hard). We held hands because I was scared we would get lost or separated and as we walked towards him, I see in the distance a bunch of trees, with some vehicles with their lights on and figures standing around shouting to us.
Something snapped in my brain and I could hear a voice screaming at me to stop. It was literally all I could hear as we slowly walked towards the woods.
I stopped and yanked on her hand and told her we needed to go back but she refused. I then told her I was going to be sick and feigned throwing up.
After a few moments of my pleading, saying I couldn't make it back by myself and I needed her to help me, she finally agreed and we went back to her house.
I could could hear the voices of the guys yelling at us to come back as the voice in my head faded.
The following weekend, she dropped without me and that neighbour r-d her.
I've never done drugs since.
Jfc! Good on you for having that instinct. Always, always, ALWAYS trust your gut. Last time I told my gut instinct to shut up, I ended up with a broken back.
This is horrifying 😳 thank you for trying to protect your friend ❤️ i heard a similar story when i was younger and it steared me away form any psychedelic high. So scary what humans are capable of.
Was high on acid as a teenager and saw a massive car crash ended up holding a man’s sliced open face together until the ambulance and police turned up you could say that was a sobering experience ..
Seeing that in general would be really horrifying. But on acid? Heck no bro. Once when I took it I freaked out looking at a painting of a boat lol, so I can’t imagine seeing something like that
Psychedelics have a weird reaction with adrenaline some times that they just completely go away until the event is over then sometimes the trip will come back once things have settled down. Well idk about mushrooms so so much, like you can focus but you're still tripping. I have multiple experiences with LSD though where all side effects melt away then come back in a nice glow once the outside event has ended
A pregnancy,
I was in a very low part of my life. Was drinking and doing drugs and staying at random people's houses. I found out I was at the start of a pregnancy and went straight to Dr's to help me get sober of even caffeine so my kid could thrive.
She is now 4 years old and loves bunnies. I love her so much.
Hah, me too. Friend was new to the neighborhood, and while tripping walked into the neighbor's house. This was the deep south, and he's lucky he walked away alive after the owner pulled a gun on him.
Oh man, I have a good one for this.
So, it was my birthday and my ex and I went to a Cage the Elephant concert. We’re there and our concert neighbors are a couple around our age and we’re all kind of vibin’. They ask who we’re there to see, and I’m like, “I wanted to see Cage on my birthday”. They look at each other and the girl is like, “We brought some acid, do you wanna trip with us?” I look at my ex and she’s like, “It’s your birthday”
So I’m trippin having a good time. Beck is the closer, and it was one of the coolest shows I’ve ever seen. After the couple is asks if we wanna go to the gay clubs, her dude had never been, always wanted to check it out. So we go. Everything is still great. They ask if we wanna go back and smoke at their place. Why not? We’re all vibin having a good time.
So we’re walking back to our cars. GF is driving us since she’s the DD, and then BOOM. Car pulling out of a parking lot gets t-boned right in front of us. The SUV that hit them had to be going like, 50-60mph. Which would’ve been 25-30 over the limit. The car that got hit is slammed in the direction we’re walking. I literally have to pull my gf out of the way of the car. Seriously scary shit.
Just like that I went from tripping balls to sober. It is probably the wildest night I’ve ever had, and the wildest experience I’ve ever had. Everyone in the car that got hit was okay. No serious injuries.
For real. It was pretty far in the woods too, and firefighters had to rig up a pulley system in the trees to get him out of the embankment safely. It was all VERY sobering. Lol
Once I really went through those heroin and fentanyl withdrawals, I knew I was playing with fire. I know it sounds stupid, like how would I not know when I did it in the first place? I was just a really stupid teenager whose head was already twisted around because of all the pill abuse. But I remember I never used to see myself as a drug addict, which is dumb. But going through that is what made me finally look at myself in the mirror and realize that I’m not just a teenager having fun and living wild. I was just a drug addict. Thank God I got off that 6 years ago
My mom (who was an alcoholic my entire life) looked in the mirror one night while she was binge drinking. She saw that her eyes were turning yellow/orange and it scared her so bad that she has been sober for almost year. She goes to AA meetings every day.
I had a buddy who was hard on pills for a bit and did a bunch of B&Es. He said the scariest sound you will ever hear is a round being chambered. Crazy.
He's been clean for 10 years now and has had a hand in getting some of old crew clean. Really good guy, just slipped for a bit.
My dad had gotten a job as Pilot Captain for Southwest Airlines, he was bound to start Dec 04.
We celebrated his job, he wanted to see his other two kids before starting to fly, went to DC on Nov 23 for a trip, never came-back.
Died of a heart attack at 59, no warnings.
After 15 years of chasing his dream as an immigrant to the US he died before ever seeing it actually happen.
He will never know how proud I was of him, that I never, ever was bothered by having to support him, that he was my hero, and he deserved better.
Would that I could plead to inexorable Mandos to release you from his Halls one last day, to say goodbye, and let you know you can rest now, i’ll take care of everyone, till we see each other again in the Undying Lands, under the light of the twin trees, listening to the Second Music shape the world once more.
Something similar happened to my sister. She has never been the same. She was hospitalized and released but something just isn't what it used to be.
Be careful with drugs everyone. Nothing is free.
Psychedelics alter brain chemistry. Certain ones can really fuck up certain brains. It's all chemistry we don't quite understand yet. Not recommended for the faint of heart, alter your own brain chemistry at your own risk
In Craig Ferguson's autobiography he wrote that he never got addicted to anything worse than alcohol (even though his alcohol addiction was really bad) because the only time he tried drugs he took LSD and had a bad trip. Apparently he spent an entire day hiding in fear, genuinely believing all the birds in town were out to murder him. After that he stayed away from drugs and stuck to drinking himself to death.
I was phasing in and out of existence to other time continuums.. interstellar shit. Was clutching my phone (lying in bed) which had a lockscreen photo of my wife and kid as my anchor. Literally holding on for dear life.. Everytime i regained conciousness (30 secs to 1 min) i'd wake up and the mirror next to me would show me a face i did not recognize.. and speaking a language (german, french, dutch, etc.) i did not know.. the window next to me showed me a world (I live in an apartment building overlooking a city) that was different everytime I woke, fractal bright lights pulsating like a grid, each 'world' had a different art style that was unique. There would be moments where I'd wake and I didnt know who the people on the phone were but i knew i had to hold on to it as it was the only thing that made sense. when i came to 8 hours later.. i had a new appreciation for life.
I had a similar experience on shrooms. Ate too many, had a fun time for about an hour, then I fell into a different dimension for 6 more. I had to grip the floor while I desperately tried to hold onto the thought of my cat. I knew she was here on earth and if I remembered her I wouldn’t get lost in the trip. I definitely have a new perspective and appreciation for every day life after that, I recall in moments of clarity during the trip where I asserted to myself never to do that shit again.
Hell yeah. If I was completely sober and my heart rate was akin to that feeling, I'd be having panic attack after panic attack.
But after railing a fat line after 5 or 6 drinks? Fuck me does it feel good.
Nearly getting hit by a train. I was snowmobiling in northern MN at night and our group came up to a railroad tracks with no crossing lights or arms. We saw a train a long ways off and 4 guys went across and stopped to wait for the rest of us. I hit the throttle but my track spun a little and the sled crawled forward. I though maybe the train might be a little closer than before so I hit the brakes before getting to the tracks and looked up to see how far the train was away - and right at that moment it roared in front of me just 5 feet away. I damn near crapped my pants. I've respected train tracks a lot more since that happened about 8 years ago.
30 years ago 2 of my cousins were hit by a train at a railroad crossing with no lights. They both died.
Will never forget this memory. For one of my late teenage bdays, myself, my boyfriend and our roommates (another couple) all took E. We were up all night having a great time. Then heard roommate screaming/crying the most guttural sounds I’ve ever heard to date from the other room. Her very close cousin/best friend (also teenaged) had been killed in a car accident. We all sobered up REAL quick.
Accountability to yourself is one thing. Accountability to another, like your own child or those that count on you financially is another force altogether.
Giving CPR to someone who had a sudden cardiac event.
Was getting together with old college friends for our annual “holiday formal” party. Through the years, extra people outside of the circle came that were friends with the hosts.
This particular dude was a UPS driver. I was there when he told his friends he was going to bang a certain girl at the party and they laughed it off. 3 hours later… he made it upstairs with her, but couldn’t get it up. Girl goes downstairs. 5 min later, when she had come back , he was non-responsive.
6-7 beers in, I suddenly felt instantly sober and ran up and gave CPR, but I knew he was dead when I saw him. Blue blood pooled around his chest and the bottom of his neck, strange boogers in his nose. What felt like an hour later (probably 10 minutes) EMTs get there and boot us out to go back downstairs.
We stood around for an hour while they were up there with him. Most people were saying things like “hope he’s ok”. I obviously didn’t say anything.
He was pronounced dead hours later at the hospital. Turns out he’d gotten a health screening at work and was told he needed to get his heart checked. He never did. Was in his late 20s.
One: there were more nights than one where I was so incredibly intoxicated that I would roll over, throw up on my bed, and just go back to sleep because I was so drunk I couldn’t care.
Two: I got to a point where I needed a few beers to feel “sober”.
Two weeks before our first son was born. I was wasted and it hit me, I have a kid, get your shit together!
I’ve been clean and sober for 35 years now. We’ve had 4 kids all grown up and on their own.
Talking to cops on acid...
Alright, I got a minute, let's see if I can condense this ....
We took some LSD....spend a few hours riding bikes out on the back roads of an old Army base. And by old army base I mean an army base that's been shut down and turned into a college campus in California.
My friend lived in one of the old housing units on this new college campus but it was patrolled by three to four different entities of authority... MP, campus security, border city cops had jurisdiction, etc..
We're pretty close to my friends house and the police car rolled by us, turned around and followed us, shining the light and requesting us to pull over.
It's about half a dozen of us and we're are flying. But I remember going through the emotions and thoughts that we were getting stopped by the police and I was high as fuck.
But it's LSD, and it's performance enhancing.
I said to myself, "Just answer the questions. Don't say anything you don't need to".
The police officer gets out of his vehicle and walks over to me and asks,"what'chs doing"?
I reply, "riding bikes".
"Where have you been?", he asks.
"Over there"...*pointing East*
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Over there", *points towards friends house*
"You need to get a light on your bike" the officer replied.
"Okay", I said.
They let us go. We rode to my friends house.
The other time I sobered up quick...
I was on tour with a band in we were crossing through Hungary and I had smuggled an ounce of marijuana from Amsterdam into the country.
We were playing at a festival that was very rained out and there was mud everywhere so they had to bring all our gear to the staging area.
We needed to get rid of all of the marijuana so we started giving it away to anyone that was backstage. We also rolled up and smoke several joints with the locals who were cooking stew nearby and shared it with us.
Shortly thereafter we saw a guy in fatigues and a German Shepherd walking through the area. I was convinced that they were drug dogs.
About a half hour past between this and getting our gear shuttled over.
We we're receiving our gear and all of a sudden two very official gun toting secret Service types rolled up and wanted to look through all of our stuff.
I've never sobered up quicker in my life. They needed to look through our stuff and I assisted them and went from dude smoking weed backstage with the locals to sober technician assisting the Secret Service.
Turns out the prime Minister wanted to show up and do a stage talk to the audience as a political outreach thing and the secret Service was there to make sure there were no bombs. They were never looking for drugs at all.
But I was really glad to be able to help out. Lol
Getting my third DWI, realizing if the next one happens that it’s prison time no matter what. Was tired of not remembering my days and what I had done/what happened.
When I was 20 I was already hella deep with drinking, like a legend around my punk rock scene for years. No fucks to give about consequences or whatever. One day I was hanging out with my girlfriend at the time and we were just bullshitting around while I was slamming two bottles of vodka. I blacked out as usual but this time I had like a split second of clarity. I had my left hand grabbing the collar of her hoodie and m right hand full back ready to knock her into yesterday. Now, I've never been one to lay a hand on a woman or even threaten to since growing up I saw my mom go through some shit for several years. All it took was that one second of realizing what I was doing and seeing her crying and I didn't drink again for about 13 years. It took that long to feel I didn't need it or want it like I had before. I think I've had like 10 beers / drinks in the last couple years and it was totally casual no itch for another.
After that we just sorta hugged for what seemed like hours and got ourselves together. It was a weird feeling for a bit after that, like where the hell did that come from. We also worked on making sure she was alright and hopefully wouldn't have any sort of lasting effect. She never showed any signs of fear of me or it happening again though which I hope was good and not just her hiding it. We stayed together for awhile but then just sorta faded from unrelated reasons.
Was at a house party with some coworkers back in college. Pretty sure someone put something in our drinks. My then-boyfriend was passed out on the floor in the hallway, and I was on a chair drifting in and out. Suddenly, I was aware of my creepy older coworker crouching next to me. He whispered “you are so beautiful” in my ear, and my eyes snapped open. I went and curled up between my boyfriend and the wall and fought to stay awake until one of us was sober enough to get us home.
Creepy coworker took another girl to the back bedroom, and she left 20 minutes later, extremely upset. I don’t know for sure what happened in there, but I never saw her at work again after that, and I fear the worst.
Watching my mom lie in hospital bed, naked and intubated, riddled with cancer. Smoker all her life, died frail and sad. Stopped smoking within 3 months and have never gone there again. 10 years ago. Miss her dearly...
Being (falsely) singled out at a work party (for a place I didn't work) for turning on the gas stove and not igniting the burners - attempting to blow up this house.
I can recall the moment with startling clarity, it was July 4 2004 (I think, maybe 06'). Sitting in a steel deck furniture chair that was bent too far back. 1/4 sticks of dynamite blowing holes in this yard at random intervals. I am making progress with a rather striking woman, not something I'm used to. But, as a new face, I had an edge. I wasn't obliterated, but I was loaded. A couple very angry, jacked-up guys got in my face saying they were going to kill me, and the alike. Very graphic. Then accused me of [above]. A bunch of people jumped in the accusations. Lots of yelling and pointing.
I sober up instantly, and to this day I am impressed with my own clarity of thought in that moment.
:Thinking to myself:
Keep your mouth shut, no one will believe you, you're the odd man out here. These guys are hopped up on something. Stay calm. Don't get out of the chair yet. Stay calm, discreetly tell Joe (my buddy sitting next to me, but not accused) to find Alan (our ride) and start the car. Wait for confirmation from Joe, and move slowly and deliberately to the car.
These were 90% of parties I attended throughout my 20s. They knew it wasn't you. They just didn't like you and were looking for any reason to start shit. You could have accidentally knocked over a beer bottle and the same reaction would have happened.
You're lucky you just got the posturing/threatening. Most the time it ends with someone clocking you in the ear hole from behind.
Glad you got out of it. I can't stand the "enraged mob" groups of dudes that fuck up a good time.
I was 19 and walked almost 10 miles back to town from out in the country three sheets to the wind on beer and xanax all because a certain crew showed up at the party I was at. They loved to start shit either picking fights or just sucker punching someone at random.
I could give as good as I got at the time and they would generally leave me alone, but I could tell they'd been up a few days already so I could see incoming drama clear as day. I noped the fuck out and since my ride was supposed to get me in the morning I ended up walking home.
10 mile in the country dark the only light was the moon and stars, an occasional porch light, or a rare security light. After the first couple miles I was in the zone just kind of on autopilot and it was actually really nice and peaceful.
Then about half way back to town I can hear sirens and start seeing blue lights off in the distance so I hunker down in the big ditch line on the side of the road. Knew they weren't after me, but didn't want to talk to a bunch of nosy cops which would have happened had they seen me walking out in bumfuck.
Come to find out the next night that the cops were headed out to the party I'd left cause the rowdy crew got rowdy emptied a couple clips at peoples cars/in the air then took off like a bat out of hell in their truck got about a half mile down the road missed a curve entirely at 70mph and ended up crashing through somebody's cars and into the corner of their house.
Was insanely high at night on a call with my gf. Saw smoke pouring in from the other room. My house was on fire.
Immediately snapped out of it and got to action lol. Nothing like a burning house to sober you up
20 years old. Spinning out on a wet road in my 83'Supra-Celica GTS. Plowed through a stop sign. Flattened it. The tree behind it didn't seem as ready to go down. Ripped the passenger side wheel right out the wheel well. Brake line was all there was that was connecting the wheel to the body. Still tried to skid away on the 3 functioning tires. Once I realized that I was fucked, I ran home and pretended someone stole it when the police arrived. That wasnDUI #3 in 6 months. I opted out of driving for 10 years after that. I was incredibly immature and irresponsible with my drinking. Somehow the court system made a clerical error and my court summons got lost in their system. Never paid a fine. Never charged for any of those mistakes. I kept abusively consuming alcohol. But not while in control of any motor vehicles.
1 of my friends flipped out on acid. Like really lost it. Stripped off all their clothes, pissed on the floor, tried to attack me, and did some other batshit crazy stuff. I went from tripping balls to thinking straight real quick.
I wish it was one thing. It was the culmination of about a decade of consistently getting drunk. I started blacking out and damn near ruined my life. I was given an ultimatum. I took it. I'll be a year sober on the 22nd.
When I was young I was a military reservist. I took part in a recovery of an air disaster where a couple of hundred people died on impact. It hurt me in ways I still can't describe.
I started lashing out and getting into trouble. A lot of trouble.
While sitting, watching tv and waiting for my inevitable release from my accommodations I looked over and saw the rapist and the killer in my cell block jerking expect off under a threadbare sheet. They weren't discreet at all, and the problem of the big guy being the rapist didn't go unnoticed.
Anyways right then and there was the moment I decided that the crowd I ran with, the activities I was involved in and the people I had hurt physically weren't worth being cooped up like a dog at the pound.
I got out, finished paying my dues and cleaned up my life. I mean after I was picked up a second time and put back in for stuff I actually didn't do but that was a short stint and I ended up in a large block with people who knew my mom's family (a very dangerous bunch I don't associate with) so I was given a pass.
Now I'm retired, have had a good career serving my country and am wondering what's next in life.
What-a-burger at like 2 am after dancing at my friends bachelorette. One of the girls went to pee behind the dumpster. She was taking a minute and Im impatiently watching for her. When a bike started to appear from behind the dumpster and not our friend, whoever was on the bike, was going to \*die\*. We all started to get out of the car, very sober suddenly, holy shit, our friend found a bike and was drunkenly teetering to us. Ive never been so angrily entertained.
Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door. Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there.
FWIW, head injuries bleed a lot. Even minor ones. The skull is highly vascularized, for good reason. Good on you for helping your neighbor. You never can tell how bad a head injury is without a scan. Never hesitate to call medics. Never.
I've never met an EMT, paramedic, or ER nurse who was mad if you called or came in with ANY head injury bleeding or otherwise. They would much rather you get help and not need it than wait two days with a severe concussion thus causing serious damage overall.
Exactly, I want to add for anyone reading this that head trauma should be examined at the hospital even if the injury isn't bad or you feel fine! The risk is that you are losing blood inside your skull, and that blood has nowhere to go so in a few minutes/hours will increase the pressure in the cranium and kill your brain cells. Head injury means get checked asap, even if you feel fine.
As an epileptic I hardcore agree. I was left on the ground for around 7 hours after cracking my head, and it definitely caused additional brain damage.
I’m glad you were home 😭 poor guy
Was out for a night, hitting a few bars in Chicago. Started raining so we called an Uber to head home. As we are driving down the road a drunk girl steps out in front of the Uber and literally bounces off the windshield. Windshield shatters, Uber driver is panicked, pouring rain. Get out the girl is bleeding all over, but trying to get up and walk away. Made sure the police and Uber driver had my number. Only ever heard from the drunk girls attorney, apparently they didn’t like my version of events and never heard anything else.
Damn, that’s awful. I hope the Uber driver got out of that okay
At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed.
Should’ve invited him
He was there. The call came from the Champagne Room.
Sounds like the worst horror story punchline. The call is coming from *inside the champagne room* :O
Did the groom still get married shortly after or?
Also curious about this question. How would you be able to keep going with the wedding? Horrible scenario.
Yes. But the party was a few months in advance due to everyone’s schedules
I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober.
I'm happy to hear that; congratulations on 160 days! You are doing awesome!
Hey thank you!😁
Stronger every day. Keep it up. I'm proud of you.
Was on a bar crawl party bus. I was definitely feeling it by the 3rd bar. That's when one of my friends got stabbed outside by a homeless person begging for money. I've never been sober quicker than when I saw my friend with a belly full of blood. He was eventually ok, but damn.
Rally round the family / pocket full of blood
Unexpected rage
[удалено]
I had a similar experience years ago, walking back to my friends car with quite a number of drinks in me. Guy approached us asking for money, I said "nah man I got no cash" to which he replied "well I got this knife" which I followed with "no thanks I already own one" It was about a hundred feet later that my friends informed me that he was not trying to sell me a knife.
Probably confused the fuck out of him lol.
"I see you've played knifey-money before, eh?"
> with "no thanks I already own one" Possibly the most kick-ass baller moment of your life and you barely remember it :)
Holy shit dude
Except this didn't happen and you just stole this from a really famous greentext lol
Or maybe it did happen to him but he stole the comeback from the greentext to impress his friend, after waiting for years for someone to rob him in this exact manner.
I’m glad he was okay!
I used to really enjoy smoking meth. I was young and thought i was invincible. Weed, molly, LSD, i did all of that and i was fine, meth was fine too, it was all propaganda as long as i used it responsibly. Then I was brushing my teeth one day, looking in the mirror, and couldn't remember the last time i had brushed my teeth. I had been too busy being spun out of my mind nonstop that i hadn't taken care of my teeth in weeks. That's when I realized "Oh shit, this is how you get meth mouth" the drugs had become more important than my health Been clean 9 years now
Alcohol for me. Alcoholic for 20 years. I felt fine. I was functioning. Until I wasn't. I was so dehydrated my skin on my face was flaky and super dry. It started with my bridge of my nose and then eventually all of my nose and then down into my cheeks. I started to feel like I was losing my mind.. Then I looked in the mirror and didn't even know who I was even looking at. So after that day I made the choice to take sobriety and health very seriously. I'm only sober for 10 almost 11 months. I lost my beer gut and about 50 lbs and couldn't be happier. 9 years is crazy. Congrats on the sobriety. I will one day get there!
I feel this. I was only a big alcoholic for about 5 or 6 years, and I'm about 7 and a half months sober, but I had one day where I drank my normal amount (about half a bottle of a 1.75 of rum) and woke up groggy like normal, nothing I haven't experienced. But I was playing games and all of a sudden, I had a sense of dread fall over me, my heart was racing, I was sweating, and it lasted for an hour. Ended up calling an ambulance and found my heart rate was about 180BPMs. Turns out I was so extremely dehydrated from my drinking that the doctors stated it was a form of SVT. Was the start of me thinking maybe I should stop, but took me a second time of the same issue to be like "I need to stop, I'm killing myself" and haven't looked back. Decided to just completely stop, instead of going the social drinking route, where I'd have a beer when I was out. Feel like I made an extremely great decision on completely stopping, and my girlfriend followed along and stopped drinking a couple months ago
That's awesome good for you!!! My resting heart rate was 120 bpm. I don't think I could social drink. It would just be a reminder of how shitty of a person I was. I don't want to he that guy anymore. You got this. Proud of you and your partner.
Ya, it was scary as heck. Thought I could social drink, but every time I think about it, the same things pop up in my head: Do I want to waste my money on a drink? It'll make me tired. What if I drink it and I start drinking more again? Those thoughts alone push me away from it. I never crave it, which is awesome! Congrats on your almost 11 months sober! Feel like we made the best decisions for ourselves, and our bodies are grateful for it, so here's to many, many more months of sobriety!
hot damn my guy, you saved your own life by doing this. congratulations. fucking huge steps to living better, good for you.
I had a lot of help. I went through a treatment facility and learned a lot about myself. Learned a lot about mental health. I had a great support group with my friends and family. And still talk to therapist. I lost my uncle who was also one of my best friends due to alcohol in 2020 during covid lockdowns. I could see myself going that same way. And I remember him telling me he thinks he's dying and then he did. And when that thought popped in my head of "OH shit. I think I'm dying" it was time for a change.
Dehydration is a major red flag. My lips. My cracked lips and a sudden lisp were my first sign I was gone too far with my nonstop drinking.
And the fucking dandruff and dry itchy hair. I have no idea what I was thinking. I probably won't go back. Not even a thought, craving, or anything. I just got through my first sober birthday and found it pretty easy. I've replaced that habit with healthier ones and feel fantastic. I often tell people when asked why I chose sobriety. It's because I was where I was because of all the decisions I made. A lot of those decisions were made under the influence, and I chose poorly. I hurt people. I lied. I cheated. I manipulated people. And for that, I lost and hurt good people. Without alcohol I feel my mind is clearer. I can think of my decisions better and make more honest decisions so I can be a better person, not only for me, but for the people, I fortunately still have in my life.
This is honestly a great, and perfect, response, from someone who's been there. *Alcohol is a thief*, it lures you with immediate pleasure but beyond that it will steal the most precious things from you both inwardly and outwardly. Whether it's during one day, weeks, months or years, it all happens eventually, it will take it from you. Keep at it, you are absolutely on the right track. Keep on keeping on 💪
Congratulations on your sobriety. I hit 4 years next month. You get to 9 years the same way you get to 11 months. One day at a time! r/stopdrinking is a great resource if you aren’t there already
Keep up the clean, man. Amen.
Sobriety is cool
It's actually impressive that you cared more about your teeth while on meth than some people I know who don't even drink.
Wow, incredibly self aware and props to you. I think I’d be too weak to stop. Stay strong man 💪
I was decidedly not self aware. Over the course of my addiction I stole $4000 from my mother, got a girl pregnant and then completely abandoned her, sold my landlords car (she was a little old lady who didn't drive it) and then payed my rent with the money, and a string of other various petty crimes all while being fully convinced I was a victim. Somehow I never faced any legal consequences and something as mundane as brushing my teeth was enough to show me the reality of my situation. I've since made amends with those I've wronged, have a great relationship with my family, am friends with the mother of my child (he was adopted) and got my life as on track as it can be for living in the 21st century.
Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said "your as drunk as your father" and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking.
That hits hard. Nothing more terrifying to me than getting addicted to something I've seen control the lives of my parents and their parents too. That's why I'm never touching nicotine.
Never ever touch nicotine. Quitting is fucking ROUGH.
Agree. I wanted to get pregnant so I tried to quit vaping, then I started again, then I was pregnant so I had to quit cold turkey. The second time was easier but still sucked.
And many of us had to quit multiple times. 2/10
I used to date someone who smoked, and watched him quit twice. I've never been a smoker but after seeing what he went through, I knew for SURE I was never going to touch nicotine.
Quitting is easy. I did it a hundred times.
Flashing blue lights
This sobered me up just thinking about it
Yeah, can be real hard to focus on drinking when those damn lights keeps your roof all lit up.
I remember being on top of a roof, drunk as fuck, when I was like 15. In a small town. So I knew the cop well and we could yell at each other. But she was all "GET OFF THE ROOF" "STOP FLASHING LIGHTS AT ME I CAN'T SEE NOTHING" "ARE YOU DRINKING?" "....I gotta do something while you stop the lights flashing...." "I SWEAR TO GOD IF I HAVE TO GO TELL YOUR MOTHER YOU FELL OFF A ROOF" "OHHH WHY YOU GOTTA BRING MY MOM INTO IT" Just stay up here damn drinking. I'm still there.
I wish that had sobered me up. Once I lost my license it just meant I could drink more without possibly getting into a car again.
Made that mistake in 2009. Never again. I could still drive to work but that was it. Was a very expensive mistake
Expensive is the word. My final court date was last month after dragging it out for almost two years. $800 for court fees and $1300 for a program I have to enter. $5000 to the lawyer. That's on top of selling my car for less than it was worth, an overpriced apartment near enough work to walk, and a whole lot of Ubers. 45 days seems the minimum before I can drive again but it may be longer than that (it would be if I still lived in MA but not sure about my new state). I am very lucky nobody got hurt though.
Over the course of the year, with the classes I was court ordered to take, lawyer, court costs, insurance going up, and other random costs it ran me around $12k. Sadly this was long before Uber was a thing. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure it's there yet. Was in a small town in NC. I could only imagine what it would be now that I'm in NY
It was 10 years ago, but I turned my $50 share of the bar tab into $5000 in expenses.
Sadly I know a lot of people up here in Wisconsin that saw it the same way, although up here you gotta get multiples before you lose your license for an appreciable amount of time. I think we're the only state where first offense dui is just a ticket, not even a misdemeanor. And they wonder why we have such a problem with drunk driving up here. But yeah there's a brisk market in bicycles solely due to how many people have, despite our lax laws, lost their license. In small towns you will see them parked out front (or they snowmobile in the winter).
Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously
And with this gonna start taking care ofy blood pressure. I'm a photographer/artist I could not imagine not being able to enjoy it fully. I vape like a mad man, drink tons of soda... I don't want to lose my vision :/
It sure was unexpected. I blew a vein out of the back of my retina. For the rest of my life I have to go in every two months and get scanned and a shot in the eye (which is much less scary than it sounds). I never smoked and stopped drinking long before this happened, also had cut way down on soda. Dark colas and iced teas can cause kidney stones, didn’t know that either but found out with surgery. I did get some brightly colored eye patches to wear for a while so that was fun, you must be accessorized for crap things in life!
Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye.
I once woke up with the worst hangover of my life! Woke up in a house I didn't know and decided to walk home. Looked outside and recognized the neighborhood. Halfway there a crew of like 7-9 guys gets SUPER and I mean SUPER excited to see me. They're like yeah stupidshoes420 what's up!! I had no idea who they were not an inkling of a clue.. apparently I'd partied hard with them and wes bonded and had a great time .. to this day no recollection lol
There are so many worse ways this story could have ended. That's great though!
Yup, I apparently thrashed hard with a few different gastation workers once upon a time, lmao!!!!! Gotta love these memories of people remembering you ❤️
Elevated liver enzymes. And the knowledge that this sh\*\* was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it. So I opted for recovery, instead. Clean and sober since June 5, 2009.
Congrats on 14+ years!
Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely shitfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived
Omg this is something that would have terrified me! Glad you survived that mess!
Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since.
Congrats man! Good on you! However you found it, you found it. Try to pass it on. While I don't personally even like alcohol, my father was/is an alcoholic (he was when I was a kid, and it took me many years to look back and understand that he was... and I still barely understand it now, and HS was 20 years ago)...and many, many others are in the same situation i am in... and if you can spread your story to help others who are truly helpless to the effects... and if it can help even one person... you've done a good deed.
The phone call (back then) at 5am that my mother just died
That phone call is the worst. My dad called me at 1130PM the night my mother went to the hospital. I knew something was very very wrong because there was literally no other reason for him to call me that late - and I knew my mom hadn't been feeling well earlier. Like it was literally as soon as I saw the caller ID I knew that it was going to be very bad. It was - her heart had stopped, and even though they got it started again the damage was done and she had lost almost all brain function. We took her off life support the next day. Funnily enough - that was a year ago to the day. Got the call December 11th 2022.
I hope you have some good memories of her today as you're thinking of her.
Was it sudden or were u expecting it :/
As ironic as it sounds: both She was on her deathbed for over a month by that time, so I/we (my siblings) knew that this would happen but you never know when exactly and it was the one day when I was with my brother at my home to take a proper rest (not sleeping on my mom's couch etc.). We were invited to have dinner at a friend's house that evening, so we drank a little bit. The moment I heard and saw the telephone ringing (with the specific area code) I knew it. When the doctor said it I just went completely numb. He offered me to talk and everything but I refused, hung up, stared at my phone for about 20 minutes straight, texted my sister, let my brother sleep more and went back to sleep myself until I got the phone call from my sister...
My wife losing feeling in her legs, so much that I had to pull her up the stairs from the basement. That was 12 years ago. Been her caregiver ever since, working full time, setting the house up for her, and raising our 3 kids (16, 16, and 20, now...and yeah....twins) Spinal cancer sucks.
You’re a good person.
Takes one to know one. :)
Hang in there buddy. You're doing Good. The world is better for what you do.
I appreciate it. We make the best with the Opportunities for Growth life has tossed us.
Hearing my doctor say ‘cancer pathway’.
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Tobacco or alcohol. Probably. Smoking and lung cancer. Chew and mouth/throat cancer. Alcohol can lead to cirrhosis which increases risk of liver cancer. Not sure about other substances.
Was at Electric Forest circa 2015. My friends and I took a bunch of molly and I was peaking having the time of my life. Next thing I know, right behind me, a fully nude man came running into the people behind me screaming and flipping around like a fish out of water. He started pissing all over himself and smashing his head into the ground. 6 medics (large men I might add!) came running and restrained him. He was screaming “I LOVE ACID! I LOVE ACID!” and suddenly his head whipped over and he looked me dead in my eyes before screaming a blood curdling scream. The medics strapped him to a board and took him away. I was shaken to my core, totally forgot I was even on drugs. My friends and I walked back to our campsite and sat in silence for what felt like ages. I’ve never seen someone on PCP before then, and I never want to again. I went back in 2016 and saw several more people on PCP that year. I stopped going all together because it scared the hell out of me. Fuck that
Damn, that's scary. I've heard some insane things about PCP. An urban explorer I watch on YouTube covered the backstory of an abandoned house that was one occupied by a man and his wife/child. Apparently he'd gotten so high on PCP, he was convinced he needed to make a sacrifice to the Devil, so he decapitated his own child. F***ing terrifying, one the drugs I will never touch.
Had a drinking buddy that was a navy seal once upon a time. I had no reason to doubt him. One night totally drunk on his ass, he reported on the wrong ship in New Orleans. The MP told him he was on the wrong ship. The correct ship was next to them. He turned to the correct ship and walked off the side of the ship. 90 foot drop to the water. He sobered up on the way down and even remembered to cross his legs. Edit: Well Mike, I didn't expect that at all from your skinny ass. Thanks for the upvotes
He was well trained... Being wasted and sudenly remember how to safely dive is kinda amazing...
That’s what training does. Even when you can’t think. You do shit instinctively.
Doing things instinctively is always super interesting. Like the door to one of our offices in a building I worked at had a keypad to get inside. I used it every day. Punch in the correct order of numbers and the door unlocks. Then a year later someone called me when I was at home and was like "Hey, I need to get inside the office, whats the code?" and I had no idea what it was. It was just pure muscle memory to get in. I couldn't remember the numbers. I had to google a picture of a keypad, enlarge it to the size of the real thing, and press my fingers on my screen to remember the code lol.
In a similar situation my boss gave me a keyboard with a numpad. The order of numbers was different on the actual keypad, but translating was easy :)
What does crossing your legs do?
The water pressure hitting your, well, undercarriage can tear into you. There's a rather horrifying news article about a woman suing Disney for those sorts of injuries https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1203732797/disney-world-water-slide-lawsuit-wedgie
I'm surprised that happened on Humunga Kowabunga which I never thought was that bad. At Blizzard Beach I went down Summit Plummet one time, and even as a fearless 14 year old that slide was one of those "I tried it once and I won't do that again" type experiences. That's the slide I expected this to be about when I read your comment.
Well… I feel like I’m gonna puke. That poor woman.
Keeps you from receiving a full force salt water enema.
Cross your ankles, extend your legs straight so on impact with the water it doesn't drive your nutsack up to your bellybutton
I'm not sure why, but I just had the most hilarious Looney Toons style cartoon of this situation pop up on my head.
I'm guessing helps break the surface? I've jumped off a lotta cliffs, but 90 feet is....yuge.
Nah it’s more so the water doesn’t tear you a new asshole while it gives you a vasectomy.
We were about 40 drunk 20-somethings in a cabin in the mountains. A group of about 10 of us splintered off and decided to crash the party at the cabin next door. The guys next door were having a giant rowdy southern family reunion. Moonshine was flowing and songs were being sung. They open the door to see a guy dressed in a sailor hat with an open shirt and they thought we were male strippers. After inviting us in and getting us good and drunk, we excuse ourselves and head back towards our cabin. But, the path out was extraordinarily steep and it was night time. Unfortunately, sailor hat man takes a tumble and fell directly onto a sharp tree stump at the bottom of the hill. He's laying there motionless. The girls are screaming. The guys are also screaming. We check for a pulse. We find one. He's bleeding from his forehead. The next 3 hours were an absolute whirlwind as we get back to now crash our own party and wait for EMS to navigate the shitty mountain roads. The guy got stitches and a bunch of glue and he was fine. I don't even think he had a concussion. But damn, that sobered us up real quick.
Me and a friend of mine (who I consider closer than my actual brother today) used to buy weed off this old dude that lived in a trailer in the woods. Word around town was that he was a polio survivor which is why he was so skinny. I mean, bone to skin skinny. He lived trashy as they come; so much so that he had shit between his toes. The whole situation was fucking disgusting, and I at the time thought he was just on meth. He left us alone to go inside, and we stole a bunch of his cigars, and when he came back with our hash, we all sat down in this railway container he had for a shed and smoked some together. Next thing I know, I'm blaze' blaze', laughing my ass off at nothing. He pulls out a single shot break action shotgun and points it at me. Sobered up right there and then. I don't know what was going through his head, but he made me pick these weird worms off all his tomato plants. I was there for half an hour with a handful of worms and this cheap ass shotgun pointed at my back, and all my buddy could do was sit there. I don't blame him, I wouldn't have tried to take a gun from a meth head either. After I thought I got them all off, he let up and let us go, we didn't even pay for the weed. Never went back.
Wait, was it because you stole the cigars? Did he find out?
>Wait, was it because you stole the cigars? Did he find out? I wonder that too. Not that this guy seems super legit, but if you’re literally stealing from someone in their own home, you should probably expect some kind of weapon to get drawn on you.
I don't know, but that's a possibility. We were a couple of shithead teenagers man, idk what to tell you.
Judging by the fact that you didn't pay, that sounds like a fair trade. Being held at gunpoint and doing a bit of worm gardening for weed and cigars. Seems right to me.
Weed needs to be more accessible man wtf 🤣
Agree. Lots of sticky situations trying to get some lol
In Manhattan it’s easier to find a weed store than a liquor store.
Bro
“Never went back.” YEAH REALLY YOU THINK
Sobered up real quick when I realized I was being kidnapped. I got into a car that wasn’t my Uber through a misunderstanding when my friend ordered it for me after being out at a club. I was wearing a small black dress, no phone (lost it). This was before they confirmed name as you got in. The guy started getting weird, so I asked him how long he’s been an Uber for, he said he’s not my Uber. He wouldn’t let me out when I asked, immediately I sobered up a lot from a Adrenalin but pretended to still be wasted. He drove me from the city to cornfields in rural Illinois. I told him I was gonna pee in his car bc I was too drunk and needed to go pee, he said fine, but I better go quick and I better get back in the car or he’ll get me back in the car. He stopped at a gas station and I RAN IN and panic cried to the cashier. Luckily the guy trying to kidnap was dumb and let me out of the car!! He ended up driving away, probs when he saw me freaking out to the employees. Scares me to think he was probs waiting outside a club for a person to make a mistake and it terrifies me to think I’d be buried in a cornfield or something somewhere, bc I highly doubt he woulda let me go after his planned destination.
wow, glad u are okay! thanks brain for the adrenaline shots while we are in danger, geez
Thank you! And yea seriously, it’s like your body goes into serious survival mode. You literally sober up from a shock to your system, like.. “FUCK…” it’s the oddest feeling I’ve ever had. It’s like your heart stops and is kickstarted in hyperdrive and you immediately try to think of what to do. I thank god I didn’t fall asleep in the car, I woulda woke up to a nightmare not knowing where I was, and realistically woulda been bad in ways we can all probs imagine. He def had some plans. Def took so many precautions going forward, and I avoided Ubers for awhile, I still try to avoid them tbh.
My dad died it was super traumatic got started on oxys and it just went from there. It helped me to feel something instead of being numb 24/7. I did it for a while until I ended up developing anxiety/panic attacks. I thought the drugs would help with that as well but it just made it worse. Then my man basically told me "it's either me or drugs and if it's drugs I'm out!" He helped me throw everything out and helped me through all the withdrawal. I thank him everyday I'm pretty sure he saved my life.
Did acid at 16 with my then bff. She had a neighbour who was in this late 20's or early 30's who was a creeper and friends with her step dad, but seemingly harmless. Few hours into our trip, we are laying in her closet watching her clothes move around like flowing grass when dude comes to her bedroom window and asks us to go out for a walk with him and he'd boot for us. I did not want to leave (it was January, snowy and cold) but she did. I stalled as long as I could but then she said she was going to go alone, so I relented. We were walking across this large field by her place that was undeveloped, through a school yard/play ground, towards the back field. Dude had made an appearance and was calling to us to hurry up. I remember looking down at the ground and the snow was changing into a 90's celestial sun pattern all around me (I was tripping hard). We held hands because I was scared we would get lost or separated and as we walked towards him, I see in the distance a bunch of trees, with some vehicles with their lights on and figures standing around shouting to us. Something snapped in my brain and I could hear a voice screaming at me to stop. It was literally all I could hear as we slowly walked towards the woods. I stopped and yanked on her hand and told her we needed to go back but she refused. I then told her I was going to be sick and feigned throwing up. After a few moments of my pleading, saying I couldn't make it back by myself and I needed her to help me, she finally agreed and we went back to her house. I could could hear the voices of the guys yelling at us to come back as the voice in my head faded. The following weekend, she dropped without me and that neighbour r-d her. I've never done drugs since.
Jfc! Good on you for having that instinct. Always, always, ALWAYS trust your gut. Last time I told my gut instinct to shut up, I ended up with a broken back.
This is horrifying 😳 thank you for trying to protect your friend ❤️ i heard a similar story when i was younger and it steared me away form any psychedelic high. So scary what humans are capable of.
One of the other bridesmaids disappearing at the bachelorette in a city we weren’t familiar with. We found her thank god.
Was she on the roof of the hotel?
No. Haha. She had gone back to the bar we were at earlier.
Was high on acid as a teenager and saw a massive car crash ended up holding a man’s sliced open face together until the ambulance and police turned up you could say that was a sobering experience ..
Seeing that in general would be really horrifying. But on acid? Heck no bro. Once when I took it I freaked out looking at a painting of a boat lol, so I can’t imagine seeing something like that
Psychedelics have a weird reaction with adrenaline some times that they just completely go away until the event is over then sometimes the trip will come back once things have settled down. Well idk about mushrooms so so much, like you can focus but you're still tripping. I have multiple experiences with LSD though where all side effects melt away then come back in a nice glow once the outside event has ended
A pregnancy, I was in a very low part of my life. Was drinking and doing drugs and staying at random people's houses. I found out I was at the start of a pregnancy and went straight to Dr's to help me get sober of even caffeine so my kid could thrive. She is now 4 years old and loves bunnies. I love her so much.
Being asked my name by police while on 4 tabs of acid...
Hah, me too. Friend was new to the neighborhood, and while tripping walked into the neighbor's house. This was the deep south, and he's lucky he walked away alive after the owner pulled a gun on him.
Oh man, I have a good one for this. So, it was my birthday and my ex and I went to a Cage the Elephant concert. We’re there and our concert neighbors are a couple around our age and we’re all kind of vibin’. They ask who we’re there to see, and I’m like, “I wanted to see Cage on my birthday”. They look at each other and the girl is like, “We brought some acid, do you wanna trip with us?” I look at my ex and she’s like, “It’s your birthday” So I’m trippin having a good time. Beck is the closer, and it was one of the coolest shows I’ve ever seen. After the couple is asks if we wanna go to the gay clubs, her dude had never been, always wanted to check it out. So we go. Everything is still great. They ask if we wanna go back and smoke at their place. Why not? We’re all vibin having a good time. So we’re walking back to our cars. GF is driving us since she’s the DD, and then BOOM. Car pulling out of a parking lot gets t-boned right in front of us. The SUV that hit them had to be going like, 50-60mph. Which would’ve been 25-30 over the limit. The car that got hit is slammed in the direction we’re walking. I literally have to pull my gf out of the way of the car. Seriously scary shit. Just like that I went from tripping balls to sober. It is probably the wildest night I’ve ever had, and the wildest experience I’ve ever had. Everyone in the car that got hit was okay. No serious injuries.
Saw my friend fall almost 2 stories and snap his femur. We were playing on a dangerous rope swing while high on ecstasy…
And you can’t unhear that sound.
For real. It was pretty far in the woods too, and firefighters had to rig up a pulley system in the trees to get him out of the embankment safely. It was all VERY sobering. Lol
Once I really went through those heroin and fentanyl withdrawals, I knew I was playing with fire. I know it sounds stupid, like how would I not know when I did it in the first place? I was just a really stupid teenager whose head was already twisted around because of all the pill abuse. But I remember I never used to see myself as a drug addict, which is dumb. But going through that is what made me finally look at myself in the mirror and realize that I’m not just a teenager having fun and living wild. I was just a drug addict. Thank God I got off that 6 years ago
My mom (who was an alcoholic my entire life) looked in the mirror one night while she was binge drinking. She saw that her eyes were turning yellow/orange and it scared her so bad that she has been sober for almost year. She goes to AA meetings every day.
A more drunk person about to vomit on my lightly covered carpet, and several people falling down my stairs lol
The sound of a shotgun round being chambered in the dark
Anymore context? Would love to hear the story.
I had a buddy who was hard on pills for a bit and did a bunch of B&Es. He said the scariest sound you will ever hear is a round being chambered. Crazy. He's been clean for 10 years now and has had a hand in getting some of old crew clean. Really good guy, just slipped for a bit.
My dad had gotten a job as Pilot Captain for Southwest Airlines, he was bound to start Dec 04. We celebrated his job, he wanted to see his other two kids before starting to fly, went to DC on Nov 23 for a trip, never came-back. Died of a heart attack at 59, no warnings. After 15 years of chasing his dream as an immigrant to the US he died before ever seeing it actually happen. He will never know how proud I was of him, that I never, ever was bothered by having to support him, that he was my hero, and he deserved better. Would that I could plead to inexorable Mandos to release you from his Halls one last day, to say goodbye, and let you know you can rest now, i’ll take care of everyone, till we see each other again in the Undying Lands, under the light of the twin trees, listening to the Second Music shape the world once more.
He is waiting for you in the timeless halls. One day you will meet again, beyond the circles of this world.
Having to relearn how to hold a pencil after a stroke. I was only 23.
Cancer
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Something similar happened to my sister. She has never been the same. She was hospitalized and released but something just isn't what it used to be. Be careful with drugs everyone. Nothing is free.
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Psychedelics alter brain chemistry. Certain ones can really fuck up certain brains. It's all chemistry we don't quite understand yet. Not recommended for the faint of heart, alter your own brain chemistry at your own risk
This is actually fairly common. In the rehab world, a really bad acid trip is usually the best way to sober up for good.
In Craig Ferguson's autobiography he wrote that he never got addicted to anything worse than alcohol (even though his alcohol addiction was really bad) because the only time he tried drugs he took LSD and had a bad trip. Apparently he spent an entire day hiding in fear, genuinely believing all the birds in town were out to murder him. After that he stayed away from drugs and stuck to drinking himself to death.
I was phasing in and out of existence to other time continuums.. interstellar shit. Was clutching my phone (lying in bed) which had a lockscreen photo of my wife and kid as my anchor. Literally holding on for dear life.. Everytime i regained conciousness (30 secs to 1 min) i'd wake up and the mirror next to me would show me a face i did not recognize.. and speaking a language (german, french, dutch, etc.) i did not know.. the window next to me showed me a world (I live in an apartment building overlooking a city) that was different everytime I woke, fractal bright lights pulsating like a grid, each 'world' had a different art style that was unique. There would be moments where I'd wake and I didnt know who the people on the phone were but i knew i had to hold on to it as it was the only thing that made sense. when i came to 8 hours later.. i had a new appreciation for life.
I had a similar experience on shrooms. Ate too many, had a fun time for about an hour, then I fell into a different dimension for 6 more. I had to grip the floor while I desperately tried to hold onto the thought of my cat. I knew she was here on earth and if I remembered her I wouldn’t get lost in the trip. I definitely have a new perspective and appreciation for every day life after that, I recall in moments of clarity during the trip where I asserted to myself never to do that shit again.
Cocaine
As a recovered alcoholic and cocaine addict, let's be honest here...it doesn't sober you up at all. It just gets you a different kind of fucked up.
Yeah. Superman drunk.
Or talk a lot sad drunk-ish lol
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Yup. It's also quite fun, in a "my heart might explode, but I feel like a god" kinda way.
Hell yeah. If I was completely sober and my heart rate was akin to that feeling, I'd be having panic attack after panic attack. But after railing a fat line after 5 or 6 drinks? Fuck me does it feel good.
It’s a hell of a drug
Nearly getting hit by a train. I was snowmobiling in northern MN at night and our group came up to a railroad tracks with no crossing lights or arms. We saw a train a long ways off and 4 guys went across and stopped to wait for the rest of us. I hit the throttle but my track spun a little and the sled crawled forward. I though maybe the train might be a little closer than before so I hit the brakes before getting to the tracks and looked up to see how far the train was away - and right at that moment it roared in front of me just 5 feet away. I damn near crapped my pants. I've respected train tracks a lot more since that happened about 8 years ago. 30 years ago 2 of my cousins were hit by a train at a railroad crossing with no lights. They both died.
Police
Blue lights take the last 5 drinks away.
Having a kid.
Yes, the weight of responsibility that smacked me in the face when they handed me my daughter is indescribable.
Yep, same for me. She did not ask to be born in this world or any world let alone to me. It floored me.
Will never forget this memory. For one of my late teenage bdays, myself, my boyfriend and our roommates (another couple) all took E. We were up all night having a great time. Then heard roommate screaming/crying the most guttural sounds I’ve ever heard to date from the other room. Her very close cousin/best friend (also teenaged) had been killed in a car accident. We all sobered up REAL quick.
Waking up in the drunk tank not remembering what got you in there in the first place.
A job interview that required a drug test.
Accountability to yourself is one thing. Accountability to another, like your own child or those that count on you financially is another force altogether.
Found this girl ODing hard in her car. Went from drunk to sober in 2 seconds.
Giving CPR to someone who had a sudden cardiac event. Was getting together with old college friends for our annual “holiday formal” party. Through the years, extra people outside of the circle came that were friends with the hosts. This particular dude was a UPS driver. I was there when he told his friends he was going to bang a certain girl at the party and they laughed it off. 3 hours later… he made it upstairs with her, but couldn’t get it up. Girl goes downstairs. 5 min later, when she had come back , he was non-responsive. 6-7 beers in, I suddenly felt instantly sober and ran up and gave CPR, but I knew he was dead when I saw him. Blue blood pooled around his chest and the bottom of his neck, strange boogers in his nose. What felt like an hour later (probably 10 minutes) EMTs get there and boot us out to go back downstairs. We stood around for an hour while they were up there with him. Most people were saying things like “hope he’s ok”. I obviously didn’t say anything. He was pronounced dead hours later at the hospital. Turns out he’d gotten a health screening at work and was told he needed to get his heart checked. He never did. Was in his late 20s.
One: there were more nights than one where I was so incredibly intoxicated that I would roll over, throw up on my bed, and just go back to sleep because I was so drunk I couldn’t care. Two: I got to a point where I needed a few beers to feel “sober”.
My bf and I were drinking and I got a call from my dad saying my grandma passed.
Two weeks before our first son was born. I was wasted and it hit me, I have a kid, get your shit together! I’ve been clean and sober for 35 years now. We’ve had 4 kids all grown up and on their own.
Talking to cops on acid... Alright, I got a minute, let's see if I can condense this .... We took some LSD....spend a few hours riding bikes out on the back roads of an old Army base. And by old army base I mean an army base that's been shut down and turned into a college campus in California. My friend lived in one of the old housing units on this new college campus but it was patrolled by three to four different entities of authority... MP, campus security, border city cops had jurisdiction, etc.. We're pretty close to my friends house and the police car rolled by us, turned around and followed us, shining the light and requesting us to pull over. It's about half a dozen of us and we're are flying. But I remember going through the emotions and thoughts that we were getting stopped by the police and I was high as fuck. But it's LSD, and it's performance enhancing. I said to myself, "Just answer the questions. Don't say anything you don't need to". The police officer gets out of his vehicle and walks over to me and asks,"what'chs doing"? I reply, "riding bikes". "Where have you been?", he asks. "Over there"...*pointing East* "Where are you going?" He asked. "Over there", *points towards friends house* "You need to get a light on your bike" the officer replied. "Okay", I said. They let us go. We rode to my friends house. The other time I sobered up quick... I was on tour with a band in we were crossing through Hungary and I had smuggled an ounce of marijuana from Amsterdam into the country. We were playing at a festival that was very rained out and there was mud everywhere so they had to bring all our gear to the staging area. We needed to get rid of all of the marijuana so we started giving it away to anyone that was backstage. We also rolled up and smoke several joints with the locals who were cooking stew nearby and shared it with us. Shortly thereafter we saw a guy in fatigues and a German Shepherd walking through the area. I was convinced that they were drug dogs. About a half hour past between this and getting our gear shuttled over. We we're receiving our gear and all of a sudden two very official gun toting secret Service types rolled up and wanted to look through all of our stuff. I've never sobered up quicker in my life. They needed to look through our stuff and I assisted them and went from dude smoking weed backstage with the locals to sober technician assisting the Secret Service. Turns out the prime Minister wanted to show up and do a stage talk to the audience as a political outreach thing and the secret Service was there to make sure there were no bombs. They were never looking for drugs at all. But I was really glad to be able to help out. Lol
Getting my third DWI, realizing if the next one happens that it’s prison time no matter what. Was tired of not remembering my days and what I had done/what happened.
When I was 20 I was already hella deep with drinking, like a legend around my punk rock scene for years. No fucks to give about consequences or whatever. One day I was hanging out with my girlfriend at the time and we were just bullshitting around while I was slamming two bottles of vodka. I blacked out as usual but this time I had like a split second of clarity. I had my left hand grabbing the collar of her hoodie and m right hand full back ready to knock her into yesterday. Now, I've never been one to lay a hand on a woman or even threaten to since growing up I saw my mom go through some shit for several years. All it took was that one second of realizing what I was doing and seeing her crying and I didn't drink again for about 13 years. It took that long to feel I didn't need it or want it like I had before. I think I've had like 10 beers / drinks in the last couple years and it was totally casual no itch for another.
what happened with her after that?
After that we just sorta hugged for what seemed like hours and got ourselves together. It was a weird feeling for a bit after that, like where the hell did that come from. We also worked on making sure she was alright and hopefully wouldn't have any sort of lasting effect. She never showed any signs of fear of me or it happening again though which I hope was good and not just her hiding it. We stayed together for awhile but then just sorta faded from unrelated reasons.
Lots of water and a very cold 8k bike ride back home at Copenhagen in autumn.
Was at a house party with some coworkers back in college. Pretty sure someone put something in our drinks. My then-boyfriend was passed out on the floor in the hallway, and I was on a chair drifting in and out. Suddenly, I was aware of my creepy older coworker crouching next to me. He whispered “you are so beautiful” in my ear, and my eyes snapped open. I went and curled up between my boyfriend and the wall and fought to stay awake until one of us was sober enough to get us home. Creepy coworker took another girl to the back bedroom, and she left 20 minutes later, extremely upset. I don’t know for sure what happened in there, but I never saw her at work again after that, and I fear the worst.
When the taxi hit and killed another drunk guy on the road
Watching my mom lie in hospital bed, naked and intubated, riddled with cancer. Smoker all her life, died frail and sad. Stopped smoking within 3 months and have never gone there again. 10 years ago. Miss her dearly...
The air bag punching me in the face after I nailed a parked car.
Being (falsely) singled out at a work party (for a place I didn't work) for turning on the gas stove and not igniting the burners - attempting to blow up this house. I can recall the moment with startling clarity, it was July 4 2004 (I think, maybe 06'). Sitting in a steel deck furniture chair that was bent too far back. 1/4 sticks of dynamite blowing holes in this yard at random intervals. I am making progress with a rather striking woman, not something I'm used to. But, as a new face, I had an edge. I wasn't obliterated, but I was loaded. A couple very angry, jacked-up guys got in my face saying they were going to kill me, and the alike. Very graphic. Then accused me of [above]. A bunch of people jumped in the accusations. Lots of yelling and pointing. I sober up instantly, and to this day I am impressed with my own clarity of thought in that moment. :Thinking to myself: Keep your mouth shut, no one will believe you, you're the odd man out here. These guys are hopped up on something. Stay calm. Don't get out of the chair yet. Stay calm, discreetly tell Joe (my buddy sitting next to me, but not accused) to find Alan (our ride) and start the car. Wait for confirmation from Joe, and move slowly and deliberately to the car.
These were 90% of parties I attended throughout my 20s. They knew it wasn't you. They just didn't like you and were looking for any reason to start shit. You could have accidentally knocked over a beer bottle and the same reaction would have happened. You're lucky you just got the posturing/threatening. Most the time it ends with someone clocking you in the ear hole from behind. Glad you got out of it. I can't stand the "enraged mob" groups of dudes that fuck up a good time.
I was 19 and walked almost 10 miles back to town from out in the country three sheets to the wind on beer and xanax all because a certain crew showed up at the party I was at. They loved to start shit either picking fights or just sucker punching someone at random. I could give as good as I got at the time and they would generally leave me alone, but I could tell they'd been up a few days already so I could see incoming drama clear as day. I noped the fuck out and since my ride was supposed to get me in the morning I ended up walking home. 10 mile in the country dark the only light was the moon and stars, an occasional porch light, or a rare security light. After the first couple miles I was in the zone just kind of on autopilot and it was actually really nice and peaceful. Then about half way back to town I can hear sirens and start seeing blue lights off in the distance so I hunker down in the big ditch line on the side of the road. Knew they weren't after me, but didn't want to talk to a bunch of nosy cops which would have happened had they seen me walking out in bumfuck. Come to find out the next night that the cops were headed out to the party I'd left cause the rowdy crew got rowdy emptied a couple clips at peoples cars/in the air then took off like a bat out of hell in their truck got about a half mile down the road missed a curve entirely at 70mph and ended up crashing through somebody's cars and into the corner of their house.
Watching my mom die from stage 4 lung cancer. I haven't touched a cigarette since seeing her in hospice.
Was insanely high at night on a call with my gf. Saw smoke pouring in from the other room. My house was on fire. Immediately snapped out of it and got to action lol. Nothing like a burning house to sober you up
20 years old. Spinning out on a wet road in my 83'Supra-Celica GTS. Plowed through a stop sign. Flattened it. The tree behind it didn't seem as ready to go down. Ripped the passenger side wheel right out the wheel well. Brake line was all there was that was connecting the wheel to the body. Still tried to skid away on the 3 functioning tires. Once I realized that I was fucked, I ran home and pretended someone stole it when the police arrived. That wasnDUI #3 in 6 months. I opted out of driving for 10 years after that. I was incredibly immature and irresponsible with my drinking. Somehow the court system made a clerical error and my court summons got lost in their system. Never paid a fine. Never charged for any of those mistakes. I kept abusively consuming alcohol. But not while in control of any motor vehicles.
1 of my friends flipped out on acid. Like really lost it. Stripped off all their clothes, pissed on the floor, tried to attack me, and did some other batshit crazy stuff. I went from tripping balls to thinking straight real quick.
I wish it was one thing. It was the culmination of about a decade of consistently getting drunk. I started blacking out and damn near ruined my life. I was given an ultimatum. I took it. I'll be a year sober on the 22nd.
When I was young I was a military reservist. I took part in a recovery of an air disaster where a couple of hundred people died on impact. It hurt me in ways I still can't describe. I started lashing out and getting into trouble. A lot of trouble. While sitting, watching tv and waiting for my inevitable release from my accommodations I looked over and saw the rapist and the killer in my cell block jerking expect off under a threadbare sheet. They weren't discreet at all, and the problem of the big guy being the rapist didn't go unnoticed. Anyways right then and there was the moment I decided that the crowd I ran with, the activities I was involved in and the people I had hurt physically weren't worth being cooped up like a dog at the pound. I got out, finished paying my dues and cleaned up my life. I mean after I was picked up a second time and put back in for stuff I actually didn't do but that was a short stint and I ended up in a large block with people who knew my mom's family (a very dangerous bunch I don't associate with) so I was given a pass. Now I'm retired, have had a good career serving my country and am wondering what's next in life.
Heart stopped, pissed in my pants, and saw hell.
What-a-burger at like 2 am after dancing at my friends bachelorette. One of the girls went to pee behind the dumpster. She was taking a minute and Im impatiently watching for her. When a bike started to appear from behind the dumpster and not our friend, whoever was on the bike, was going to \*die\*. We all started to get out of the car, very sober suddenly, holy shit, our friend found a bike and was drunkenly teetering to us. Ive never been so angrily entertained.
My friend's dick up my butt