Amber has lived with ADHD since she was a small child, and she has spent most of her life on medication. While on medication, she had tried taking her own life several times, the final time ending up hospitalized while in a coma. Discovering Truehope has helped her live a life she thought was never within her reach and has dispelled the constant despair that once permeated her life.
Hi, my name is Amber and this is my Truehope story.
When I was 4 years of age, I was diagnosed with ADHD and was prescribed Ritalin. I spent my whole childhood, youth, and young adult life on medications. I was told that I would always be on some sort of med for the rest of my life. There was even a time when I was on Lithium, Clonazepam, Loxapine, Baciofen, and Macrobid all at once.
I have tried suicide several times, causing me to be hospitalized more times than I can remember. The last time, I ended up in the hospital was from March to June 2007. I had just had a visit with my doctor, and he told me that I would never be able to reduce my meds, let alone get off them. I returned to the group home where I was living and proceeded to break into the med cupboard, where I took over thirty Lithium. When the staff found me, I was not breathing, and they called 911.
The Kingston General hospital is where I woke up from a coma. I had a breathing tube down my throat, and my hands were tied to the bed. Three months later when I left the hospital, I was on very little medications, and it was then that I switched to the Truehope program.
I have been on EMPowerplus for 7 years now last June. I was able to get a job working 5 days a week, a big improvement from when I was on medications. Back then, I was hardly able to work one full day a week.
I have weighed as much as 400 pounds, caused greatly by the side effects from all the medications I was on. I now weigh 200 pounds less, but my physical and mental well being has been affected greatly by the weight loss and the surfacing of all stored medications. Some days, I feel like I am going backwards. I have sad days and sick days, but the support people at Truehope and I are working together once again. I am gaining an understanding of how and why these drugs continue to surface, how to deal with them when they do surface, and how to rid myself of them.
I felt like I was stoned all the time from the medications. From all the attempts to take my life, it was obvious that I was living in a constant despair. Then Truehope came along.
The road ahead is going to be bumpy at times, but I hold onto the hope that I will one day be truly well. Thank you Truehope. If it wasn’t for you, I know I would not be here today.
—Amber