Update: May 24th, 2018 at 8:56 am: Now that Bob has reflected upon his journey to stop drinking as we document below…he had lessened his intake slowly and worked to reduce his intake for months slowly but mindfully before finally being able to stop drinking safely. Here is Bob’s Story:
Drug and alcohol abuse ruins families for generations. It begins with parents who have suffered from trauma or addiction and often continues as children learn and adapt to known behaviors. Addictive substances like alcohol will continue to overtake our society unless addiction becomes clarified rather than confused. The nonprofit AEinstein Universe defines recovery by empirical information and a back to basics approach to trauma & recovery from drug and alcohol use.
The opioid/opiate epidemic that America is experiencing must be clarified by those who know about recovery and addiction. Those with long-term abstinence are needed to solve this serious problem. Addiction Medicine is a newly recognized specialty in 2015 and needs careful regulation especially regarding Suboxone and like synthetics. The system is broken and immediate attention is necessary to save lives today. We must stop this nightmare from continuing here in Maine and perhaps at the same time help many throughout our country.
“Bob” has been communicating with the nonprofit AEinstein Universe since April of 2017. Bob’s story is hard to believe but is the reality for many, with or without insurance, seeking help for addiction to alcohol and drugs in the Portland, Maine area. This is Bob’s story:
My name is Bob and I am a 57-year-old man who had been drinking daily for 40 years and was happy to connect with the nonprofit AEinstein Universe to hear about the choice of recovery. Before quitting alcohol, I was consuming, an average of 16 beers a day and two gallons of brandy and vodka a week and obtaining film Suboxone illegally and easily. I am a skilled craftsman with a gentle soul and easily hired when able to work. More recently, chronic knee pain and the loss of my love and life partner have interfered severely with my working abilities. My problems have continued to compound leaving me at times to live in my, now impounded, car. I have been told that I have recurrent pancreatitis as a result of my alcohol use.
Early March 2018: I call and visit sober houses in the Portland area asking for help. I am turned away and told that I must gain sobriety for admittance.
March 23: Drunk and depressed I go to an emergency department to ask for help to stop my addiction to alcohol. I am given a johnny, a bed and fall asleep. I wake the next morning and leave the ER, plenty of papers in hand.
March 24: I enter a different emergency department and again ask for help to stop my addiction to alcohol. They suggest a local facility. I am unable to drive and have knee pain so severe I give up and continue to drink.
March 25: Members of AEinstein Universe continually urge me to seek help and support. I reluctantly go to a detox program for help. I am given a bed and awaken in the morning to a repulsive odor. I leave without anyone noticing. This is the morning I decide to stop drinking on my own. The coming hours and days become a nightmare but I am vigilant and in constant contact with members of AEinstein Universe for advice and suggestions. I do not drink any alcohol or use narcotics. I feel lonely, desperate, out of options but am told to persist.
March 26: I am sober but feel unsafe and agitated. I go to an emergency room again for help as I fear that I will overdose on drugs and alcohol. There, I am told that my blood pressure is dangerously high and meet with a psychiatrist who recommends I speak with a “Peer Specialist” from another agency. I leave the emergency room and go directly to them. There I am invited into a room with another person to chat. Knowing this is not the help I need I leave bewildered and emotionally burned out.
March 27th: Sober and struggling, AEinstein Universe urges me to go to the Walk-In clinic recommended by the emergency room the day before. I am in excruciating pain and I hobble to their location. There I am told again that my blood pressure is dangerously high and they recommend I go immediately to a specific hospital located 45 minutes away but offer no other help. I am broke, tired, extremely stressed and again out of options. I decide I will get my car running and bring myself to the hospital miles away.
March 28: Sober and feeling better, I add fluids to my car and set out only to get stranded on the highway on route to the hospital. My car is impounded and I know I will not be able to get it back. I am freezing, sad and feel helpless, my world cascading down around me but am consistently urged and guided onward.
March 29th: Still sober, I spend the day struggling through withdrawal, and near giving up. With no way to get to the recommended hospital, I am stranded. The urges to drink and use are overwhelming and I am unable to escape my racing heart, stressing body and freaking mind. But breath by breath I am urged on.
March 30: Sober but not sure where to turn, I receive a call from a member of AEinstein Universe who has a ride for me to the suggested hospital. I am excited to meet a fellow member of AEinstein Universe, and beyond hopeful. Soon after we arrive all my hopes evaporate. I am informed that I cannot be admitted because “I am sober” and have not registered on their breathalyzer. My new friend is confused as am I and upon leaving are given instructions to call a “Peer Specialist”. Soon after, I dial the number and tell the “Peer Specialist” the story and their reply, “I would have told you to have a few beers before going to that hospital.”
April 20: Feeling stronger with my conviction to not drink or use street drugs, I decide to obtain a prescription of Suboxone legally. Much to the dismay of AEinstein Universe’s member, I am able to do so in 15 minutes with my license and $150 cash. I am happy to have been prescribed Suboxone but intend to stop its use soon.
May 4: Today Bob is guided by the choices he makes moment to moment and recognizes a negative habit that has caused him and his family so much stress, distress, and sickness over the years. Daily he is guided by those who understand him and care because we know addiction and how to recover because we have been taught. Together we talk, help each other, ride out another wave by communicating with one another, family, friends and on the AEinstein Universe Member Forum.
Today Bob is doing well and maintaining on Suboxone and abstinence is his goal, as he knows this foe and hears the tales. Truth is Bob knows what is coming as he has been to hell now and refuses to go back.
Please support our efforts today to help many more who contact us daily. Thank you! Angela Einstein, Founder, AEinstein Universe. Please LIKE & SHARE & REVIEW US TODAY!