Recovered opiate addict and for me it was a mix of everything: Some advice I had gotten from NA meetings, finally doing something about the other mental health issues I was dealing with, and most importantly: medications that prevented me from using (methadone/suboxone).

It was definitely a process (that included multiple jail stints and only god knows how many treatment centers), but 10 years later life is pretty awesome.

I think the stigma around methadone is causing a ton of harm. Having a program where you quite literally have to show up every day, take drug tests, and get counseling was really important.