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Then someone turned him on to painkillers like Vicodin and Darvocet, which he thought led to freedom from drinking. But that feeling wouldn't last for long.

"The painkillers gave me the feeling that life was all right," the 33-year-old Lapeer resident said. "The painkiller did what alcohol did for me. It gave me energy. I was taking so many of them, 20-30 Vicodin a day.

"It's a vicious thing. Once I got that opioid thing, my body needed it. It craved it. The withdrawals were hell."

Those withdrawals led to vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, and the worst for him, depression. McDonald started out taking five to seven pills a day several years ago. He'd wake up and immediately take three Vicodin, and more as the day progressed.

The cravings increased to five once the alarm clock went off. Then four a few hours later, four more, and four again. Coming back full circle to replace painkillers with alcohol wasn't an option.

"The funny thing is I didn't want to drink," McDonald said. "People were telling me, 'John. Just drink.' The high number of pills I was taking and the aspirin affected my kidneys. I took 30 Darvocet in three hours. I couldn't get a buzz. I built up such an intolerance to it. I was three days in ICU doing kidney treatments. It was mental hell.

While abusing painkillers never allowed him any sleep, he is now on schedule where he gets up at 6:30 a.m., and has a part-time job at a car

rental company. McDonald has gone through treatment programs including substance abuse treatment at Lapeer County Community Mental Health, and Alcoholics Anonymous. He attends recovery classes and has gone to the Sacred Heart rehabilitation center in Memphis.

"I couldn't believe the amount of kids (teens and young 20s adults) on painkillers," he said at Sacred Heart. "They're overloaded with OxyContin, painkillers, and Vicodin."

In the 1970s and 1980s, Martin Harris, 51, of Attica, became a teenage alcoholic and consumed different types of painkillers. In the early 1990s, he traveled to Canada every weekend to pick up codeine aspirin, which was legal to bring back in certain amounts.

Little did he know, he was born with a problem with his spinal cord called syringomyelia and the damage didn't show up until the early 1980s. This disorder is when a cyst, called a syrinx, forms within the spinal cord, expanding and elongating over time. The damage results in pain, weakness, and stiffness in the back, shoulders, arms, or legs.

In 2001, he had surgery to reduce the diameter of the cyst. Due to an overwhelming amount of arthritis he has in his left shoulder, left hip, and neck, he has to take painkillers to get rid of the pain. Due to his past history, it can be a struggle sometimes.

"I'm on a quite reduced amount," Harris said. "It's difficult to fight the urge to take more painkillers. I just take enough to take the edge off to carry on with life."

After years of progress and attaining self control, Harris now works as a peer support specialist at CMH, where he sought treatment for depression in 2002. He is grateful for all the help he received.

"They really made in effort to help me out," Harris said. "They really work wonders."

Both offer advice to help others who may be going through the same problems that once plagued them.

"You can't do it alone," said McDonald, who now volunteers for CMH. "If you have a problem with it, really ask yourself if you have a problem, and try to give yourself a chance and ask for help. There is an amazing amount of help. People put down the state of Michigan. I love the state. There's so many programs to get as much help as you want."

Harris adds it's key to stop taking painkillers when the need is no longer there.

"If you end up taking painkillers from a doctor, as soon as you can, get off of them," he said. "It's plain and simple."

Jeff Hoard can be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8127 or jeff.hoard@lapeergroup.com