
Hacking and addiction - mathandheroin
I have lurked here for a while. I am an engineer that struggles with opiate&#x2F;opioid addiction. I am curious to know, do you struggle with addiction and have a technology related role at a company?<p>What is your drug of choice?
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mathandheroin
Thanks for replying guys. I have been struggling with my self-created
loneliness lately.

It is so weird that people dont want to hang out with a using drug addict.
Haha.

Anyhow, I like to program in Lisp, perl and python. I work at a startup and no
one knows I use and I never nod at work. I have been promoted twice since I
have been there so I still have it together at work and it is going well.

Thanks for the responses. It makes me feel less isolated aand alone which
feels really good right now :)

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kagro
Yes I'm addicted to heroin. I have a much easier time than my junkie friends
with a programmer's salary but its not a life anyone would want.

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mathandheroin2
Yeah, I am lucky in that I do not have many friends and no one knows that I
use. The salary definitely makes it easier to support a habit.

Have you ever gone into work sick?

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j-m
I'm an engineer, and I had an extremely bad stimulant problem (amphetamine
when I could get my hands on it, methamphetamine when I couldn't). It came
pretty close to wrecking my life, but I got over it.

Don't take this the wrong way if you're reluctant to deal with the problem
right now (before I got serious about quitting I hated it when people lectured
me about this stuff), but here's what got me clean. It's really hard, but it's
possible and I wish I had done it much earlier.

For me it took a stint in rehab (30 days), which I strongly recommend if your
job will allow it. While it's certainly possible that owning up to your
problem at work will cost you your job, HR folks usually have training and
experience with employees with substance abuse problems, and if you're at all
valued as an employee, they'll usually give you a chance to get your shit
together. Most people have a sense that rehab is kind of shitty, but to be
honest, I had a blast. Basically summer camp with group therapy.

Whether or not you're able to do rehab, you should absolutely check out
Narcotics Anonymous. NA meetings are not all created equal, and some are
really bad -- dealers showing up, no one really staying clean, that kind of
thing. Shop around before you give up on it. I was pretty turned off by all
the God talk, especially since I'm pretty sure that I couldn't actually get
myself to believe in anything like that, but nobody shoves it down your
throat, and in my own experience it works perfectly well whether you believe
in God or not. It's mostly about social support.

Ninja edit: I don't have any personal experience with opiate withdrawal, but
I've heard really good things from a lot of ex-junkies about Suboxone. It's
not a magic bullet, but it's a fuck of a lot easier than being dope sick for a
week.

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rwhitman
One of my best friends is a brilliant internationally notable figure in his
field and has a serious cocaine problem. To the point where its destroyed his
life and left him jobless and homeless at least once. He burned all his income
on drugs, lost his job, ended up not being to afford rent, put his place on
Airbnb year round and then couch surfed while borrowing money for food and
drugs.

When I lived in LA I knew a few high-functioning heroin addicts. It gets the
better of everyone eventually. The fact that you can go about your day-to-day
and none of your acquaintances pick up on it can be reinforcement to go
further, test the limits.

If you have a well paying engineering job you have the money to get yourself
to a good doctor. Just saying.

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rthomas6
I had quite a caffeine addiction but I recently kicked it. I was up to 900
mg/day at my peak. I think caffeine counts as an addiction. I had a strong
dependency on it and couldn't function physically or mentally without it.

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deadfall
Caffeine is toxic, even though some say it can only kill humans if you drink
one cup of coffee for each pound you weigh. The body evacuates this in many
ways though. Some say it really doesn't have any extreme health disadvantages.
Some even say it could help prevent some diseases such as cardiovascular
disease. I try to only drink coffee or tea once every two days in fear of
addiction, unless some project is due.

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mathandheroin
Yeah you know I actually have had panic attacks from too much caffeine.
Moderation is definitely key.

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sux0r
Pot (fairly high doses). Never at work. Gray area as to whether or not it's a
problem but have a hard time not using. Don't want to admit to myself that it
could be a problem. Extremely secretive about it. Sometimes still enjoy it.

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trylobeet
i often do. have a techy job, that is. far as the junkyism that's a constant.
been 10+ years now, used ibogaine once to kick - that lasted, but then i
realized i'm better off on it than off it. where i am at right now we got a
morphine maintenance program along with the methadone. readily shootable, and
just as readily esterifiable. use propionyl chloride to get the propyl ester,
which is... potent enough. :)

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talles
I wonder if anyone uses drugs to enhance working (to gain productivity) rather
than to relieve the stress...

Like people who take Ritalin for studying

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mathandheroin2
I used to take modafinil.

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tkwidmer
an ex of mine had a prescription for that stuff. Super intense.

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nittr
A joint does it for me, but then i get these uncontrollable munchies.

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aurelien
I have no addiction and no job, is that link?

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silenthax0r
ketamine is my escape :(

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dllthomas
Hacker News.

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mamaki
mary jane ftw

