I always used the heavy narcotics at home when the kids got back from school and they started whining and fighting. Or they start demanding things from me.

Also- at night doing really mundane things... like the dishes or getting the kids to bed. ! I was always high then. Some other triggers...getting into an argument with the hubby, having friends or family over, being bored at work, etc...
I guess my triggers are also constant boredom, loneliness and feeling trapped.

I have learned never to look at pill bottles when I go to someone's house and they pill bottles sitting out on the counter! Don't be tempted! Don't even glance!

Use "telephone therapy"!!! If you feel like you're going to give into a craving...CALL SOMEONE!!! Call a friend. Call your sponsor. Tell someone you want to use. It really works.

I abused my drugs all over south florida(I was living there at the time)...My boyfriends parents both currently live in my old stomping grounds....I love to go and visit but boy does my heart pound when we leave the airport and head toward his parents....After being there a day or two I end up ok and relax...but it is quite difficult when every restaurant, gas station, walgreens you name it...I have been in their bathroom sniffing my pills.....Moving away has really made it so much easier for me...I never used in the state I live in now and that is a wonderful thing!!

I've got a buttload of triggers! The worst one is being at work b/c that's where I used to hide my pills & take them every day. Also, pharmacies, people's homes where I know there are pain meds, places I used for hiding (my car, certain coat pockets, dresser drawers)
Boredom, irritability & socializing are all big triggers for me as well.
Good topic, thanks, Bob!

Zen

i must agree w/ the kids post. when my daughter is having "one of her bad days", its like an instant trigger.
also, going anywhere near downtown cincinnati where i used to buy, and what everyone else says...
going into someone else bathroom, and trying your hardest not to open the medicine cabinet and have a looksy.

I remember the first time I tried to quit, I still had half a bottle left and it had refills left so I thought I'd hang on to it in case I needed it. To make a long story short, the bottle was empty 3 weeks later and I was looking for more so I immediately called my online pharmacies and I was shocked to find out that the DEA had closed them all down!

I was in a state of panic! "What am I gonna do now", I thought! So I went throught the withdrawals and continued to use whenever and wherever I could find them. Eventually, I stopped but it was a few years later.after I nearly died!

Triggers for me ca be: getting the kids ready for bed; a stressful day at work; thinking about all the things I'm not or haven't done; walgreens CVS and other pharmacies (I can't shop in them anymore without smacking my lips); resturants and parties....so just about everything!! Here is a big one- my mom and sisters are older and all take ambien as prescribed with an occaisional glass of wine. When they visit me, it's hard and I have relaped in the past over this one...

Great topic for didcussion bobinmaine

oh yea...
i know like some others i have cross addictions too, one of them alchohol.
my BIG trigger w/ alchohol is hand sanitizer. i swear that shit smells just like vodka, and boy it really messes w/ my head.

loniliness,bordom,old memories that trigger me. stress and pressure.

Now that we know what our triggers are we need a plan to avoid them or counteract them.

With me, I avoid loneliness and boredom by keeping myself busy so as not to give dangerous thoughts a chance to enter my mind. I stay away from homes in which there are narcotics or if I need to go inside, I do what I need to do and leave. I also set goals which I know I can achieve.

So far, my plan has worked. but I still have moments of weakness which we all do but by thinking about the potential consequences of my actions has helped me alot! And when all else fails, I pray and that always works.

God Bless everyone and TC.