Rock Bottom With Ryan

Jen’s Rock Bottom: Mouthwash, Adderall, Two DWIs & the Sobriety “Closet” | Rock Bottom with RyanJen from Minnesota joins Rock Bottom with Ryan to share how alcohol became her drug of choice, worsened by Adderall introduced in college, and progressed over about 10 years into severe dependence with intense withdrawals, blackouts, two DWIs, job loss, homelessness in detox, and drinking mouthwash,...

Tony Alexander on HIV, Meth Addiction, and Finding Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanTony Alexander shares his story from growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, realizing he was gay early, and facing religious stigma, to beginning alcohol use at 12 and later using weed. After moving to Dallas to teach elementary school, stress and dissatisfaction fueled heavier substance use. In 2002 he was diagnosed with H...

Dora’s Rock Bottom: Juvenile Hall, Meth Addiction, Losing Her Kids & Finding Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Dora shares her story of trauma and addiction: losing a sister before birth, being taken by CPS as a baby, growing up in foster care and group homes, early diagnoses and medication, sexual abuse triggers, and entering juvenile hall from ages 12–17 after a viole...

High-Functioning Alcoholism to Alcohol-Free Success: Lindsay’s Sobriety Journey | Rock Bottom with RyanLindsay shares how she began drinking young amid her parents’ divorce and a family culture that glamorized alcohol, then carried heavy partying into college and adulthood. Though outwardly successful, she became a high-functioning daily drinker in her 30s during a divorce and a workplace with a s...

Leslie Patricia: Drunk Driving Crash, Childhood Trauma, and 9 Years Sober | Rock Bottom with RyanRyan interviews author Leslie Patricia Lohr, who shares her sobriety date (Oct 31, 2017), alcohol as her main addiction, and a childhood marked by generational abuse, alcoholism, and instability. She describes becoming a high-functioning alcoholic who drank heavily, experienced withdrawals, shame cycle...

Near-Death Moments, Survivor’s Guilt & Finding Purpose in Recovery | Rock Bottom with Ryan (Real Talk Sessions Pt. 2)In part two of “Real Talk Sessions” on Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan and returning guest Amber discuss the dangerous, near-death situations they experienced during addiction and how normal chaos felt at the time. Amber shares stories of driving while using crack and cocaine, livin...

From Rock Bottom to Sober Strong: Jazmin’s Recovery, Motherhood, and Return to Elite ThrowingOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Jazmin shares how alcohol and benzos escalated after her 21st birthday into drinking alone, dangerous decisions, and worsening consequences while trying to balance life as a D1 athlete. Her drinking contributed to the end of her throwing career after an ectopic pregnancy and...

Lauren Brown: From Alcohol & Heroin to Recovery, Motherhood, and Becoming a Counselor | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Lauren Brown from Long Island shares her story of growing up around alcoholism, family dysfunction, and early trauma, first drinking at 8–9 and quickly chasing “more.” She describes bullying and self-harm in adolescence, escalating teen drug use (cocaine and op...

Bjorn’s Rock Bottom: Meth, Vodka, Needles, and the Road to Sobriety (Oct 30, 2013) | Rock Bottom with RyanBjorn joins Rock Bottom with Ryan to share his addiction and recovery story, including early drinking and drug use, frequent shoplifting arrests, and escalating use of weed, mushrooms, acid, coke, and eventually meth during culinary school and restaurant work. He describes treatment, relapse,...

Heather’s Journey: Alcohol, Food Addiction, and Building a Balanced Life in Recovery | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Heather shares her sobriety date (April 30, 2014) and discusses alcohol and food as her addictions. She describes a turbulent childhood with teen parents, frequent moves, feeling “less than,” depression, suicidal thoughts, and early compulsive overea...

Breaking Toxic Relationship Cycles in Recovery | Rock Bottom with Ryan (ft. Amber)Ryan and Amber discuss how witnessing unhealthy, abusive relationships in childhood led them to normalize toxicity, stay too long in harmful dynamics, and repeat patterns in adult romantic and non-romantic relationships, especially during active addiction. They explore how sobriety and recovery work—therapy, sponsors...

Plant Medicine, Recovery & Transformation | Behold Retreats (Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal) | Rock Bottom with RyanRyan welcomes Sarah and Danny from Behold Retreats to discuss psychedelic-assisted healing and transformation through traditional ceremonies with ayahuasca, psilocybin, and bufo. Danny shares his path from depression after divorce to 16 years in plant medicine work, while Sarah des...

From Childhood Trauma to Heroin Rock Bottom: Damaris’ Recovery Story | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Damaris shares her sobriety date (3/13/19) and a journey marked by childhood abuse, feeling different and unheard in a Hispanic household, and early substance use that escalated from alcohol and marijuana to meth and many other drugs, with heroin ultimately bringing her to her knee...

From Party Girl to Recovery: Alice on Cocaine, Alcohol, Trauma & Finding Hope | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Alice from Cheltenham, UK shares her recovery story, including childhood trauma, early rebellion and trouble with authority, and how alcohol and cocaine became her drugs of choice. She describes first drinking at 13, seeking out drugs, and a chaotic pro...

Told He Had 6 Months to Live: Lee Crompton on Surviving Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer & Mental Health | Rock BottomIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Lee Crompton shares how a lump in his neck during the 2020 COVID lockdown led from inconclusive tests to surgery and a shocking diagnosis of rare anaplastic thyroid cancer, with an initial prognosis where “six months would be a positive...

From Crack, DWIs & Jail to Recovery Coach: Scott’s Rock Bottom Story | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest Scott (sober since 1/8/18) shares how he grew up in small-town upstate New York in a strained, chaotic home with an alcoholic father, early behavioral issues, school expulsions, and criminal activity that escalated into decades of heavy drinking and drug u...

From War, Nightlife & Cocaine to Sobriety: JR’s Rock Bottom and Rebuilding Through FitnessOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, JR shares how barely graduating high school and later serving as an Army forward observer—deploying to Iraq after 9/11, losing friends, and returning with panic attacks—led to diagnoses of ADHD, bipolar II, and PTSD and fueled escalating drinking and drug use. After finding succe...

Allie Clark on Narcissistic Family Trauma, CPTSD, and Finding Sobriety Without “No Contact” | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan and Rachel, guest Allie Clark (Kansas City area) shares how her drinking changed the day her mother died—publicly framed as kidney cancer but actually an opioid overdose tied to treatment—leading to years of blackout drinking, especially on Thanksgiving. She d...

From 37 Years in the Army to a Bio-Thriller: Randal Maurer on Threat Unseen, Purpose, and Veteran Advocacy | Rock Bottom with RyanIn this episode of Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan interviews Randal Maurer, author of the biological thriller Threat Unseen, focusing on how Randal’s 37-year Army career and plant biology background shaped his writing. Randal shares growing up in rural Wisconsin, joining t...

From Cocaine Rock Bottom to Recovery: Richard’s Story & Inside Ark House Rehab | Rock Bottom with RyanRichard, from Scarborough in North Yorkshire, shares how early alcohol use and a pressured upbringing led to a long, escalating cocaine addiction that progressed from social use to daily dependence, car-park and hotel binges, job loss, debt, and an attempted suicide plan. A WhatsApp message fr...

From Military Brat to Building Arcana Recovery: PTSD, Substance Use, and a Tech Solution for Treatment Engagement | Rock Bottom with Ryan Sharina joins Rock Bottom with Ryan and co-host Rachel to share her background as a military brat who moved frequently, navigated learning disabilities, and later joined the military at 17, including deployment to Iraq. She describes early substance use beginnin...

Michael’s Rock Bottom: Tequila, Rehab, AA, and Finding Sobriety Through Ibogaine & IbogaOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Michael shares how his tequila drinking progressively worsened—especially during COVID—despite being a high-functioning husband, father of three, and long-time tech sales professional. With a family history of alcoholism and mounting anxiety and physical discomfort, he struggled to...

AJ’s Rock Bottom: Opioid Addiction, Intervention, Rehab, and Recovery Through Fitness | Rock Bottom with Ryan On Rock Bottom with Ryan, guest AJ shares how a high-achieving, sports-focused upbringing and heavy partying in early adulthood eventually gave way to opioid addiction after multiple surgeries beginning in 2018. Prescribed Percocets, he quickly escalated to taking far beyond the recommende...

On Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan and co-host Rachel Sereni interview Jaron Lyle, who shares his addiction and recovery story. From a supportive childhood in Arlington, Texas, he began using weed at 15, escalated to pills, then heroin and injecting drugs, alongside periods of crime that led to about 21.5 months in Texas prison. He describes multiple treatment stints (2010, 2015, 2019), a strong NA pe...

From Rock Bottom to Recovery: Baelie’s Story of Alcohol Addiction, Rehab, and Sober Life in Utah | Rock Bottom with RyanOn Rock Bottom with Ryan, Ryan and co-host Rachel Sereni interview Baelie, a respiratory therapist from Moab, Utah, who got sober from alcohol on 4/26/24. Baelie describes growing up LDS, first drinking at 13–14, and how college freedom led to daily drinking—even during her respi...