Laynee

LAYNEE | Colorado Springs, CO

“The support of my family and a treatment facility that understood my needs are what got me through.”

Growing up homeschooled, I struggled with feelings of separation from others and feeling uncomfortable in social situations. My parents were busy with six kids, one of whom had special needs, and I didn’t know how to ask for the things a kid needed. I also really wanted to go to school with other kids. I started working and stopped feeling like I needed to involve my family in things. At sixteen, my cousin started bringing me around to parties, introducing me to those social interactions I was craving. But this also came with drinking and occasionally using party drugs. By eighteen, I had switched to opioids. Bad relationships and low self-esteem allowed prescription opioid use to turn to heroin. My parents helped me get into a treatment facility, but I soon relapsed. I experienced this a lot; I would go to treatment, get sober, then relapse. In my life, I’ve been to six inpatient programs, four sober living homes, two outpatient programs, and I’ve detoxed at least eight times. Then, in 2017, I got pregnant with my first child, Gideon. This was when I decided I had to get serious about recovery and started using methadone. I struggled throughout the pregnancy, but I was sober before his birth with the help of methadone, and luckily, he was born drug-free. I’ve been in recovery ever since. Colorado’s Drug Court program, the support of my family, and methadone are three things that were essential to my recovery. Because of those things, I’m able to create a loving family of my own.