Hello, my name is Aaron Marcum, I am 27 years old, 28 next month, I am currently in active opiod addiction seeking a way out. I was first introduced to hydrocodone when i was only 13 years old, only a few weeks prior to that i had tried smoking marijuana for the first time and ofcourse, it acted as a gateway for me, when i tried my first hydrocone pill, it was a 7.5 MG, i loved the way it made me feel, i felt almost invincible, as if nothing could stop me or ever cause me any kind of grief, i only felt feelings i could only describe as positive from it, i immediately wanted more, so i searched for more, and from then on i was open to trying any and all kind of opiets i could get my hands on, being only 13 years old, the crowd i was in was older, all around 16-17 years old, being my older brother and his friends, i just wanted to keep up and be "cool" and be accepted by the older guys, getting high became an everyday, normal routine almost immediately, whether it be on marijuana, pain killers, alcohol, air duster, cough medicine, the only lines i had drawn at that time were at methamphetamine and heroin, i always promised myself i would never use those two drugs, but everything else was open season... i was incredibly naive, this routine continued for years, and years, all thorughout my highschool years, eventually causing me to drop out of highschool, im sure we all know how that story goes, pretty straight forward there, at 18 i finally fully dropped out of school and got my GED almost immediately, at that point if you had asked me if i was an addict i would have likely laughed at you and thought you were crazy for asking me such a question, i wasnt an addict, i was just having fun, well at 18 real life started, my girlfriend at the time became pregnant with my only son, it was a scary time and i didnt know what to do other than fidn a way to provide, i initially followed my plan i had always had to join the military, unfortunately after multiple attempts, i was not able to enlist because of my GED, so off to work it was, keep in mind all this time,. i am getting high, but never had fully experienced "withdrawals" until i landed a job at a car dealership, as a lube tech, making decent money, i was able to provide for me and my girlfriend and my newly born son, and feed my bad habits, still did not see myself as an addict or see it as a problem, until the day came that i had gone on a pretty bad bender for a few weeks on morphine, i found a good connection who had a surplpus of them and sold them for really cheap, so i splurged, and everything was great, until that ran out, and suddenly i had nothing, and when it came time to go to work, i felt awful, i felt sick and was in pain and just felt terrible, so i didnt go to work, stayed in bed, this went on for 4 days straight, eventually causing me to lose my job, as i had no call no showed.. in my mind i was not experiencing withdrawals from opiods, until my girlfriend and i had gotten into a fight about mne losing my job and she pointed it out to me, and once she did it was so obvious i didnt understand how i could. have possibly thought i wasnt an addict at the time, i still wonoder, i was 19 years old at that point, life went on and i went on using pain pills mostly everyday,. but there were some times where i would go a few days without them or a week or so without them but i always wanted them, it was never by choice, eventually the cravings became unbearable, to the point i would steal from my mothers prescription of percocets, and almost all of my time became dedicated to finding my next high, at 21 i tried heroin for the first time, pills were becoming incredibly hard to find and very expensive, heroin was easy to find, cheaper, and stronger, so even though little me made that promise to myself, i broke that promise, i used heroin for 6 years, everyday, about 3 months into my heroin use i began using methamphetamine, as a way to avoid "nodding off" because believe it or not, i absolutely hate nodding, and it helped my not nod, and it also became a mostly everyday thing i did ontop of the heroin, maybe 3-5 days out of the week, to cut it short, my life fell apart more and more as each year passed after starting to use heroin, i burned bridges i never would have ever thought i would have in a million years, i broke trust with people i held closest to my heart, all done while chasing that drug... it became everything my life was devoted to.. not being sick... i invested all of my time into somehow coming up with the money whether it be obtained by lying to.a family member to get them to send me money, or using illegal activities as a way to obtain the money to purchase the heroin, and once i got the heroin, the clock reset, it has ruled my entire life, about 6 months ago, i used heroin for the last time, i havent touched it since, only now i am addicted to fentanyl, we all know the risks involved in fentanyl and how much more potent and dangerous it is than heroin... i have seen countless around me lose their lifes because on fentanyl.. and im scared i will be next, i know i have the ability to be so much more than who i am today, i know i can be a good man as i was raised to be.. but i need help.. i cant do this alone.. and i dont think traditional rehab is the answer for me.. this has been engrained in me throughout literally the better half of my entire life.. its all ive ever known... it scares me to think of what do i do without it, but need a life without it.. because this life has become so hard for me survive in.. i am exhausted... i have no one to turn to anymore... my family wants better for me but cant do much to help me anymore because of the times i burned them when they tried to before, so icant blame them for that, my girlfriend now came across you guys and this procedure while looking into detox and rehabs, she is also a fentanyl addict and we both desperately want to be clean, if there is any way you can help me, please, i am reaching out now open and willing to do whatever it takes. thank you. i am looking forward to hearing from you, thank you again. 