Kampala Youth Recovery helps recovering Substance user

My journey spans a long period of time. I had been battling with migraine headaches for a long time and tried several plans, those treatment plans that didn’t work unfortunately dug me into a deeper hole, I constantly upgraded to stronger painkillers and further on until eventually, I got to the Class A drugs. Much as they were originally introduced to me by my doctor, I ended up using them and abusing them as an individual, shortcutting the process, and injecting myself directly with the drugs.
It eventually became a very strong addiction, one that was very difficult to break but with the right work, the right support system, and the right space, I managed to fight this, thanks to the help of my family and the team at Kampala Youth Recovery Foundation.

Phased approach is what I would call it, where they deal with your bio-social, the bio being the medical side. Here, I would receive treatment to help me with the causes of the headaches, and to help me with the cravings. After that was the social, which is my support system, my family and friends whom I would speak to on an occasional basis as the medical team saw fit, or the team at Kampala Youth Recovery. The journey wasn’t easy, but nothing rewarding ever is and honestly, I am eternally grateful. I’m grateful to God for the gift of life and the opportunity, my family and the team at Kampala Youth Recovery Foundation. I wouldn’t have voted if I did not have my family to help point me in the right direction because I had reached a point of really strong abuse where I took well within the ranges of five to even sometimes three times that, which would be fifteen 100-millilitre vials a day.
When I look back at the challenges, I think it’s mostly dealing with the pressures, triggers, and the environment. There is always a trigger, a reason or it could be genes, yes, very true. And even if it is genes, we can always rewrite the script, we always have that opportunity to rewrite the script. I don’t believe that anything is cast in stone and everything can always be remedied, any position can be remedied as long as the individual is willing to work on it. I set my course to change my life. I am a father, a brother, a son, a business partner, and a very important member of society, and I believe every single individual is, so we shouldn’t take life for granted.

I strongly encourage everybody who is dealing with substance abuse of whatever form, please do not be embarrassed, please do not feel shy. These are very real problems and they happen to people from all walks of life. These are not rich people problems, poor people problems or middle-income people problems. No. These are challenges that every single one of us can face on a daily basis.

It can be as simple as something that’s introduced to you by your doctor, i.e., prescribed to you, that you then end up getting addicted to and abusing. It could be something like I mentioned that’s in your genes that you can still fight. It can be social, something you pick up from your peers that you adopt and fail to manage. Addiction is when we use any substance for clarity. Addiction is when we use any substance to the point of being unproductive because then the questions that most people would have, and I’ll be honest, I had the same is, if these drugs are so bad, why are they still on the market? They’re still on the market because they serve a purpose. Simply because they’re available does not mean we should abuse them; they need to be administered in the right manner by the right personnel and consumed in the right manner. Many a time, that’s where we go wrong. Thank you very much for hearing me out. My journey is not different from anyone else’s journey. I abused Class A drugs, specifically, Pethidine, and didn’t start out seeking to use the drug however got addicted to it when I misused it and I encourage everybody who reads this message that you can, there’s always a way back, you just have to work hard at it. You need to confide in your support system, be they your family, friends, sponsors, and seek the right help, the right support from the right people, and the right personnel. People are out there, they are ready and willing to help, but there’s so much stigma and negative energy around rehabilitation. Thank you very much.