Hello my name is Darren and I am 44 years old. I have been clean for 18 months. My addiction started years ago as I was being tested for MS. I was in a lot of pain and having back and chest spasms. After going to many doctors and many tests, I ended up with a neorologist that liked pushing pills. They put me on Cymbalta (anti-depresant) for nerve pain. Then they tried a variety of different pain killers before I ended up on Vicoden and the muscle relaxer Soma. I was on 120mg of Cymbalta and since I have found out 30mg of Cymbalta is a normal dosage. I took the Soma and Vicoden together for a while because I needed it. Then as I felt beter I took them because I was afraid of feeling the pain. Then as I didnt feel the effects of the drugs I just kept taking more and more. I would count my pills in the bottle to see how many I could take a a day until I was able to get more. I had and still have a very close family which I kept this addiction from until many bad decisions started catching up with me. I said and did things that no good person would do. I am a believer in God and had always been faithful to my wife and God. I had a very good career which I am hanging onto. But I put all of those things at risk. My wife left me for a short time. I came clean and got help. It took a while but I was able to get off all of the pills. We have a long way to go but my wife and I are better than we have ever been. We are back in church. I am going to spend the rest of my life trying to help others and to educate others on the dangers of percription drugs. If you have any kind of addiction please get help. There are many ways to get the help. Your family, your future depends on it.