Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/qnhvhu/i_did_heroin_yesterday_i_am_not_a_drug_user_and/

Part 2:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/qnhz8o/i_did_heroin_yesterday_i_am_not_a_drug_user_and/

Part 3:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/qni563/i_did_heroin_yesterday_i_am_not_a_drug_user_and/

I am not the original poster. This is a repost sub.

This was posted 2 years ago by u/register2014. I've added some additional posts that I found while putting this together, as well as a recent update. The most recent update is at the bottom of this post, as this was too big to put all in one post.

Trigger warning: drug use, more details about how drugs feel than you could shake a stick at, terminally bad decisions (quite literally)

Obviously, these being AMAs, there are a ridiculous number of comments to wade through. That said, I've done my best, and my main goal was to put any new or unique insights in and repeat the same concepts over and over again. Also in my digging I found posts that appear to be by SpontaneousH, though started by burner accounts of his originally & than answered by his SpontaneousH account. Dates are listed to paint a fuller picture of the devolution and recovery.

Editing done as needed for readability, though I left some of the writing he did during drug trips as-is.

Because of length, I have split this into several posts. If you want a TLDR, here you go:

Privileged dude who claims to have little drug experience tries heroin for "fun". Asserts he can just try it once and it's fine. Turns out, he gets hooked on H, has an impressively extensive prior drug experience including previous rehabs for pot. Spends years on a defiant downward spiral on drugs where pretty much everybody and everything is to blame except for himself. Gets sober about 5 years later doing the exact program he originally disdained (AA). Has stayed clean & sober, even through the pandemic.

Part 4

Jan 18th 2014 Relevant Comment on Surviving heroin addicts of Reddit, how did you quit and stay off the drug?

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpiatesRecovery/comments/1vjez1/comment/cesw5r6/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I got totally clean and sober and free from a heroin addiction in AA while living in a halfway house. In any halfway house there will be people who are not serious and people who are more serious- and a good halfway house will hold people accountable and make you get a job, attend meetings, have a sponsor, and be working the 12 steps. If he doesn't really want to get clean and sober he will seek out people with similar mindsets whether it's in a halfway house or in the navy. He has to want it. I find the quality of AA and halfway houses is greatly dependent on the area you are in. Unfortunately there are a lot of bad halfway houses and even more bad AA meetings in many parts of the country where people really don't get it and understand what the AA program is about and how to recover from this. I know one thing is for sure- rehab did not get me sober- it was nice to cool off but I found freedom by working the 12 steps with a good sponsor and have been free from heroin, alcohol, and everything else for three years now.

even if he is strong others in the program can be weak and provide access.

If he is really involved in the 12 steps this shouldn't be an issue. I was fortunate enough to have a good sponsor who guided me through the 12 steps in two months while in a halfway house and was totally free from the obsession and desire to use drugs or alcohol and was a totally different person before I got out. I was in a good halfway house where the owner and managers were all involved in the recovery community and pushed everyone there to do the same- and if you weren't serious you were kicked out. You could have dropped a bag of heroin in front of me and it wouldn't have been an issue. That kind of defense only came from my work in AA and not the people around me or any treatment program. Alcohol and drugs are everywhere- any solution that attempts to make you hide from them is rarely successful and doesn't get to the root of the problem. I was a total wreck and I'm logging into an old throwaway where I even made an IAmA about my first experiences with heroin and have posted a quite a bit while I was totally fucked up ~4 years back. I can't even read the old posts on this account anymore because they are that insane. I'm a different person today. I'm not a slave to AA and it certainly doesn't make me want to drink or use- I attend a couple meetings a week only to try to find suffering people like your son to help and give them what was given to me.

What do you think of my plan to have him join the Navy after recovery vs a half-way house and homeless shelter?

If he is a real addict as bad as you say then it probably won't work. If you are looking to send him anywhere my suggestion would be South Florida- there is a huge solid recovery community and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Jan 8th 2017 - SpontaneousH 7 years later. Update for anyone who stumbles upon this account in the future

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpiatesRecovery/comments/5mub0f/spontaneoush_7_years_later_update_for_anyone_who/

I don't know if anyone here remembers me but you can look through my submissions history and get an idea. It's not pretty and will take you through a journey of my first time trying heroin to my life quickly falling apart. So take that as a warning it's graphic, I was totally out of my mind, and you may not want to read it depending on where you're at...This is the first time I have logged into this account in a couple years and I had a bunch of PMs, and people occasionally mention this account in various places on reddit so I'll post a quick update here for anyone who stumbles upon this in the future. I'm now almost six years clean from all drugs and alcohol and life is good. It's too difficult for me to go back and even read most of what I originally wrote 7 years ago. Maybe one day I will be able to. I don't even remember what I said in the first post but I know I can look back objectively and say that things probably weren't as good and 'normal' before I tried heroin that time as I made it seem in that first post. There were certainly warning signs before that with alcohol, weed, and other things that I had issues with substances although I probably couldn't admit it to myself at the time. I would have never tried it if things were truly going well for me. What followed in the later posts with where it took me was very real. Thanks for everyone who has reached out over the years. I hope everyone here is able to find recovery and get the help they need.

Relevant Comments:

• Rehab and 12 step saved my life. I got lucky I was desperate and got dumped into a rehab that exposed me to meetings and from there that I got a sponsor and worked the steps. Changed my life and broke the cycle of not being able to stay stopped.
• Hey. I've rebuilt all the relationships with my family and all the friends who mattered at least. I think I mentioned an ex girlfriend I put through hell way back then and she wanted nothing to do with me. Tried making an amends a year or so later and she told me I could make it right by never contacting her again. So I didn't which is all for the best and she is married now.
• I'm employed now, I've been at the same company almost as long as I've been sober.

Fri Sept 24 2021 - It's been a while...

https://www.reddit.com/user/SpontaneousH/comments/pux3ls/its_been_a_while/

This is not an AMA or anything exciting really I saw a disturbing and sad post about an opiate OD on r/PublicFreakout and was reminded to try to log in and check this. I guess it has been over three years since I have checked this or posted anything. I find this reddit account pretty overwhelming. I'm just posting to let people know that I am still alive, clean, and doing well. Thanks to everyone who has reached out in messages checking in over the past few years, and sorry if I can't get back to you.

Relevant Comments:

• It has been coming up on almost 11 years since I have used heroin, any hard drugs, or alcohol (that was November 2010). A few years ago I had a slip and just smoked weed which was a bad mistake, so I consider my current total clean time 3 years since I count that...