Chasing Heroine: Addiction Recovery and Sobriety

As some of you know, last year my husband went through a gnarly relapse - it was HELL on both of us. He spent very little time in our home in 2023 and I was desperate to hide that fact. This week last year, I released an episode sharing what was really going on and that I didn't know if my marriage was going to work. I was in a place of heartbreak and resignation, but also determination to sta...

If you have ever dealt with heartbreak in recovery, this episode is for you. I had the opportunity to interview my long time friend, Ivey, who got sober at 18 years old. We go through her childhood and early drug use in the first hour, and in the second hour, we delve into her marriage and motherhood at just 22 years old with a few years sober, and her subsequent divorce by 27. Ivey is so incredib...

Part Two with Jed Payne! Y'all LOVED part one - today we pick up with Jed right where we left him, in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison...which is as terrifying as it sounds. We travel with Jed from prison, back into sober livings, back down kratom and suboxone roads, and into a sober relationship that ultimately ends in relapse and heartbreak. In Part THREE (yes, three!) we will finally see Jed&...

Ooooh, Y'ALL. This one goes HARD! I was not expecting the crazy stories I heard from Jed Payne, the host of podcast, "Church & Other Drugs." Jed was raised in the bible belt, with the influence of Christianity strong in both the community and within his home. Shooting heroin for the first time at 15, by the time he was in his mid-twenties, Jed had been to over 20 rehabs, all to n...

Welcome back to another episode of Chasing Heroine! Y'all will love RJ Elizarraz, owner of Oak Forest Recover in Agoura Hills and host of the "Against All Odd's" podcast with Rachel Slocum and Hunter Sheppard. I may have related more to RJ's story than any other guest. The details of our lives are completely different, but his feelings about not needing traditional recovery b...

Narcan Nate is back, y'all! Just for one episode :( UNLESS we get some more NDPEs or other fun stories, voice mails or emails and I'll bring Nate in when we collect a few, sound good?! Nate has been up to his usual capers...saving the community with narcan training and drug testing and he's back in Twelve Step after a brief hiatus. 👀 ALSO! At about 20 minutes in - we both stop talking because you...

I am so happy to bring you guys my interview with singer songerwriter, Edwin McCain! I had a great time chatting with Edwin about his adventures with executives at the Atlantic Record Label, touring with Hootie & the Blowfish, his experience in rehab, acceptance and anger. I can't wait to hear what you guys think about this episode! Connect with Jeannine on Instagram Connect with Edwin on...

When I asked Amanda Crossley to be a guest on the show, I actually had NO idea she had been featured on one of the most infamous episodes of Dr Phil in the shows history. Amanda and BOTH of her sisters became addicted to heroin while living with their parents in New Jersey. Amanda reached out to Dr Phil for help and the women were flown to LA, berated and chastised on TV in front of millions, and...

Today's episode is all about Tweaker Madness...Garret McClendon has done multiple prison terms and spent years of his life manufacturing methamphetamine. Garet has now been sober for over eleven years and credits his success in recovery to his willingness to finally just try what was suggested by his counselors. Garret replaced transmissions in the middle of the night, saw tree people on the c...

Trigger Warning: SA I had such a great time chatting with my friend, Nikea. I met Nikea in Twelve Step and am honored to be able to share her story with you guys :) After childhood antics smoking weed and drinking, Nike was given the ultimatum - move out or join the Army. She chose the Army. Shipped off to South Korea after bootcamp, Nikea's life changed after a sexual assault that occurred th...

Today I have the honor of sharing the wisdom of my incredible sponsor, Rachael Jarrel, through our conversation about sponsorship and finding a higher power that "you can do business with." How does one find a sponsor? What should you look for? What happens if you and your sponsor disagree about an issue? Rachael and I discuss these questions, we talk about working steps to shift our per...

I LOVED chatting with Marley, y'all. Her story is wild, tragic, heart breaking and heart warming. From dancing at age 18 to help save the family home to performing sex work while dope sick to grand larceny and benzo black outs - Marley's story is a story of triumph, personal growth and why we never stop trying. Marley went to 21 treatment centers before accumulating her current sobriety ti...

Hey y'all! Today you're meeting another friend of mine from my Twelve Step home group meeting, Jakeb Hensely. Jakeb got sober at twenty years old after finding fentanyl in his junior year of high school. As the class os 2020, he was in the first wave of kids that were sent home...never to return or walk in a graduation. After that, Jakeb floundered through a few part time jobs while his drug use c...

Today I am so honored to introduce you guys to Carmina! I have known Carmina in the rooms of Twelve Step recovery for several years and have always admired her. She started using heroin at 17 years old, traveled around the West Coast, landed in prison and finally got sober for the last time two weeks before being released from prison. Now 15 years sober, Carmina has built a successful sober living...

**TRIGGER WARNINGS In this episode, Kellee speaks very openly and honestly about domestic violence, abuse and assault. Also at 1:03:00 I ask her to explain what a "hot rail" is in great detail! If this will trigger a craving for you, please skip ahead to about 1:10:00 Today, I have the pleasure of introducing the Nod Pod family to Kellee Lengyel. Kellee landed in foster care at age six a...

Hey y'all! This is the ONE jail story I have yet to tell anywhere . Literally one of the craziest events of my entire life, and probably the wildest four days of my active addiction. As always though, there is purpose in the madness, and this story is no different. A few episodes ago my guest Kevin said that a "miracle" can just be a shift in perspective. I absolutely love that idea...

Question...do you guys have a preference between dating someone in recovery or dating a normie? If you're in a committed relationship now, what was your preference before? Today I speak with the creator and CEO of Loosid Sober Dating app - I would love for you guys to check it out if that's something you're interested in - BUT USE THIS link so they know it's through my podcast lol...

Heyyy, yall... :) How is everyone?! You guys are gonna love today's episode with my friend, Kevin. Kevin kept our Twelve Step fellowship going all through COVID and I am so grateful for that and for how much I learn from him every times he shares in a meeting. We talk about growing up in Queens, losing his mother to cancer at 19, ketamine, cocaine, black tar heroin, China white and finally finding...

We have an amazing new episode today! I got to sit down with Michael "Vegas" Gialketsis. Vegas talks to us about growing up in Las Vegas, getting into drugs young, being sent to an institution as a teenager, going to jail in Vegas and Texas and tons of active addition mayhem. Sober now since June of 2018, Vegas is now a loving father, partner and talented musician. Vegas shares how the T...

Today I got to speak with Sebi Guillont, a friend of mine from my Twelve Step home group. Sebi got sober very young, he had ONE legal drink before getting sober, and he's now been sober to this day. I personally adore Sebi, I loved chatting with him - even though he's a Vols fan! - and I think you guys will enjoy our conversation too :) Connect with Sebi on Instagram Connect with Jeannine...

Today we speak with Dylan Wilson aka King Lazy Eye. An up and coming musician and accidental content creator, Dylan is a self taught guitar player and master story teller/songwriter. Raised primarily by his grandparents, Dylan did well in school but turmoil in his family dynamics bled into his behavior in classes. Dylan started using at a young age, and ultimately meth became his drug of choice, l...

Today we have the pleasure of chatting with Rachel Slocum, aka @rachelelizabethxo on social media. The incredibly popular social media influencer and content creator shares about growing up in NY, getting into opiates, becoming a mother, using crack and heroin while maintaining a job as a dental hygienist and ultimately finding recovery in the last place she expected it...Austin, Texas. After gett...

After going to rehab 21 times with no success, Julia Barker was strung out on meth and heroin, working in sex work, living in a trap house - absolutely alone and terrified. After a particularly traumatic event, she turned to another addict in their community and the two began a relationship in addiction - that has lasted to this day. Now both in recovery and the parents to a beautiful daughter, Ju...

Thank you for joining us today! Today we are sharing Jeannine's lead at a Twelve Step meeting in April 2023 in which she shares more about her cocaine use than previous leads and shares. We hear about her "controlling" coke use through meth use, drinking while still in Cocaine Anonymous (it's not coke, duh) and using the "newcomer grind" and "dope fiend hustle" as tools for success during COVID an...

**TRIGGER WARNING references of abuse, violence and physical assault Today I speak with Brandon Michael. Brandon was raised in an environment of extreme volatility, witnessing and enduring physical abuse between and from a variety of parental figures in his life. Incarcerated for two years by the age of twenty, while on parole after his first term, Brandon was involved in a violent altercation tha...