139 - Maggie from Pittsburgh talks sobriety, and what she had to go through to get to where she is today!

Real Recovery Talk

I have a guest today, Maggie, from Pittsburgh, who has come forward to share her story with us. This is the third time she has been in recovery from alcoholism and is going to tell her story of her past, her present, and where she plans on taking her life in the future.

Maggie is in our program at Rock Recovery Center. She is 25 years old and started drinking 13 years ago as a result of trying to keep up with her two older brothers. The crack head down the street would go and buy them alcohol in exchange for watching her child when she was gone. Since their parents were out working a lot, her friends and her brothers' friends would come over to their house and party after school in their backyard pool. They would clean up their mess and then go to a park or another location to continue to party.

She started high school at a Catholic High School, failed 9th grade. Her parents moved to a better area of Pennsylvania, and she was in a new school that was bigger than her old school. In the IMPACT program and not knowing any students in her new school, Maggie gravitated towards the "druggie kids" as they were her classmates. Maggie started doing several different types of drugs when she started going to RAVE clubs. She then got into a car accident, flew through the windshield, and was hospitalized with reconstructive surgery to her face.

After high school, she became a bartender and started doing cocaine and Adderall to keep going throughout the day. She was hardly sleeping and felt that she was cool because she was only 18 but was able to be at the bar all day and night. At 21, she was drinking all night and ended up in a stranger's bed. Her friends were concerned with her safety. She realized at this point that she had a problem.

Listen in to find out why she mixed Adderall, cocaine, and alcohol to get through her day, how she had blackouts and would sleep with strangers, and why she always had to drink alcohol, even while studying for college. Learn how Maggie broke down and finally called a rehab, how she had an affair with a male married nurse at another facility, and what led to Maggie's relapse after her first rehab.

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Show Notes:

• [04:22] Maggie shares her story of her past and how she became alcoholic.
• [07:47] Her Catholic high school and her friend groups in school.
• [09:59] She started drinking and smoking weed at 12 years of age.
• [11:54] How Maggie started going to RAVE clubs and doing drugs.
• [15:02] Her parents were in denial of the situation.
• [19:17] Maggie, at age 21, would end up drinking and ending up in a stranger’s bed.
• [22:40] She decided to go to school full-time as a paralegal.
• [24:58] Her transition from bartender to full-time paralegal.
• [26:56] The first time Maggie sought treatment and her experience.
• [31:34] Maggie’s first sponsor for her first outpatient.
• [34:47] Her bouts with depression, how she felt unsettled again.
• [38:23] How Maggie came to Real Rock Recovery Center.
• [42:49] Differences between her home rehab and Florida rehab.
• [47:05] What Maggie thinks about her new sober lifestyle.
• [49:47] How Maggie sees her new future in Florida.
• [52:01] Why working for her sobriety makes a significant difference in her recovery.

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