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I heard a man in our church say, “Everyone has a story to tell.” I thought about that for a few days and decided, that I do have a story to tell and everyone needs to hear this one!

This is a group of stories within a single story. It is a story of life filled with physical pain, which led to an unawareness of drug addiction and a battle of the physical, mental, and spiritual, ending in victory through Jesus.

I have struggled with very bad headaches most of my life, and IBS since 1978. I would go to the doctors and use over the counter medications, but things didn’t get better. Then relentless headaches started 24 hours, 7 days a week. I was in constant pain.

In hopes of relief, I went to a neurologist. I was put in the hospital to get off of over-the -counter medication I was addicted to. What? How can that be? You can’t get addicted to over the counter medications! Well, I found out you can and very easily , so if you think you have to have that aspirin , BC powder, or anything over the counter STOP and think about it before you take it, please!

For two years the neurologist treated me, a year and a half with a narcotic, but the headaches never stopped. The pain got worse. It hurt so badly I told my doctor that I did not think I could hurt myself but all I wanted was for the pain to stop! I believe that if you take your own life you will burn in hell for eternity. No matter what we go though here on earth, it is nothing compared to what hell would be like. And for that reason I did not feel as though I would kill myself, but the pain was constant. Because the pain medication the neurologist had me on was not working, I began taking BC powders. The doctor did not hear the cry for help! I couldn’t even walk a straight line, and that is when my husband took me to my main doctor.

I had inner ear infection in both ears, and a sinus infection, but because of the narcotics I didn’t know it. I also had aspirin poisoning. In other words I almost killed myself with over the counter medication! I had no idea of the gravity of my situation. I was depressed from the narcotic that the neurologist had me on, so she gave me anti-depression medication to go with the narcotic. After about a week of taking the antidepressant, I began hearing voices and noises, and hallucinating. During this time all I can remember is crying out to God, “Don’t take me now! I want to live again!” I thought there was something that I was expected to do for God. I was at my emotional end, and at that point I stopped taking all medications.

My main doctor referred me to a pain management doctor and he ran some test. He said he couldn’t help me, but sent me to physical therapy. The therapist and God has helped me a lot and I am now pain free for as much as 16 hours at a time. That is more pain free time than I’ve had in the past 5 years!

I know now, I was uneducated about drugs and the ability to have an addiction. Anybody unaware can become a drug addict through the abuse of over-the-counter drugs. That lack of knowledge and understanding led me down a road of not only physical pain, but also caused me to feel false guilt and agony almost to the point of costing my life. I know that a lot of others out there are caught in the same experience too, believing that drug addiction is only about “street drugs.” I’m a Grandmother, so drug addiction doesn’t just happen to teens!

I am off of all the narcotics and over the counter medications now. I thank God everyday for this, and for what He is doing in my life. I thank Him for giving me faith and always taking tender care of me, and know He will always be there for me. If people had not been praying for God to heal me I think I would have died. So, I know first hand that prayer works!