Overcoming Opioid Addiction in Oxford County

Wednesday, 8 May 2019 11:42

Shannon Byrnes is ready to share her courageous story with the world on how hitting rock bottom, helped her to overcome opioid addiction in Woodstock and Oxford County.

WOODSTOCK - When it comes to addiction and the opioid crisis, sometimes it is hard to put a face on it.

We have all heard the stories about the overdoses, the deaths, the Nalaxone kits and the methadone clinics but it is different when you can put a face to it.

Shannon Byrnes is a member of the Oxford County Community Drug and Alcohol Steering Committee, she is also a recovering drug addict. Byrnes first took opioids after she was prescribed percocet's from her doctor. She started out as a working addict and then things took a turn for the worst when she was laid off from her job.

"After I got laid off, I had nothing to do but get high, and so I did and then I needed more money, so I ended up prostituting myself for a year, to get the money for my habit. Once I just, couldn't do it anymore, I had to ask for help. I went to rehab for a third time, then I went to a sober house after words. I was using drugs the entire time I went through rehab and the sober house. So none of the rehabs that I went to, helped, I still went back to the addiction as soon as I got out and I knew I only had one option left and that was methadone."

Byrnes says that Methodone worked for her.

"It took a few years back and forth still using and I'm not saying I'm perfect because I am not but I have come such a long way from what I was before, so I would definitely say that methodone saved my life. Methadone is not for everybody, it's for the lifers, for the people who have been addicted for a long, long time because it is hard on your body, so it's definitely not for everybody but it is a last resort for people who need it."

Today Shannon is thriving, she is doing so much better than she was before and has really come a long way. She is extremely brave to share her story with the rest of Oxford County, in hopes of inspiring more people to get help and to shine a light on the need for more resources and strategies to combat Opioid addiction in our County.

"I joined the committee in the first place to help other people, other addicts like me, to not have to go through, what I have gone through, and I feel telling my story is the only way to get it out there."

Opioids are at a crisis in Oxford County right now. You don't need to look any farther than that fateful weekend in march where emergency rooms across the County were filled with overdoses and a 17 year old kid lost his life in Woodstock. Byrnes shared her story with Oxford County council today as part of a delegation from the Oxford County Drug and Alcohol Steering Committee.