VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL)--If taken correctly and for their intended purposes, prescription painkillers can work wonders.
They can also be highly addictive and sometimes abused, ruining lives and putting the users at risk of overdosing.
One Valdosta man says he's been given a second a chance.
In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control says there were 43,982 overdose deaths in the country. More than half of those deaths were pharmaceutical-related.
That's just one outcome of abusing drugs. Another is your life spiraling out of control.
People talk about hitting rock bottom, but this is the face of it.
"I couldn't do anything," said Bo Parmelee, a Valdosta resident. "I don't remember anything for four days."
It was an addiction that took control of Bo Parmelee.
"My body was shaking and convulsing," said Parmelee. "I was speaking words that didn't make sense over and over again."
Parmelee, now 30 years old, abused prescription painkillers for about 10 years, including oxycodone and loratab. It started as a way to get high.
"When I first started, I knew friends that had them," said Parmelee. "They would get them off the streets. I worked construction so it was easy to find people who did it. Then I started getting them from the doctor, because I do have knee problems. Then that turned into taking more and more than I was supposed to. In five days, I'd run out of 60 pills."
He was dependent on painkillers, at times desperate.
"I would steal money from my family," said Parmelee. "I would pawn my possessions, pawn my family's possessions, and just do anything I could to get what I needed to feel good that day. That was when I was taking painkillers."
He would take painkillers to make it through the day and to avoid feeling sick and depressed.
"Buying them off the street and not having insurance, it gets expensive," said Parmelee. "I was spending $250 a week easily."
Last fall, he lost his house, his girlfriend, and his job.
He thought that was the worst that could happen until this.
This is video he shares to encourage others to get clean. He says it shows what can happen from drug abuse over the years. It put him in pyschosis, a condition when a person loses contact with reality.
Experts say about 90 percent of people who get a prescription for opiates are going to take them as directed and not become addicted, but 10 percent will get hooked.
"A lot of times when people get into treatment they're not taking opiates to get high they're taking opiates to function and feel normal and that's when you know you've kind of pulled that trigger in your brain and you're dependent," said Vicki Burks, a pyschotherapist at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Behavioral Center.
Burks, a pyschotherapist, says the pull to go back can be strong. That's because as far as the brain is concerned drugs are all the same.
"Alcohol and drugs are the same," said Burks. "Opiates are the same as pot. A lot people say 'I can smoke pot as long as I'm not drinking anymore, I'm not taking pills anymore.' That's not how the brain works. Once you have pulled the trigger for a drug, you have pulled the trigger for all the drugs."
That's one reason why she says for those recovering, it's one day at a time for the rest of their lives.
Law enforcement officers are doing what they can to fight the prescription drug abuse and misuse.
Many have prescription drug take back days and drug drop off bins.
"It's there 24 hours, seven days a week," said Tallahassee Police Officer David Northway. "Just walk into our lobby it's on the left hand side, and there's a box where you simply drop off your medication, medicine you're not supposed to have."
Officer Northway says if you're using drugs you're not prescribed to, it could catch up with you.
"A lot of times we find if people are abusing drugs, they're shopping around to get more of that medication and that's actually a crime and you're going to be arrested at some point for that," said Officer Northway.
However, you can get help and treatment. Bo Parmelee is living proof of that, and with his faith, support from family and friends, as well as healthcare providers, he says he will never go back.
Parmelee is well over 100 days clean. He encourages people struggling with addiction to never give up.
There are also a lot of resources out there like the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Behavorial Health Center and the Greenleaf Center in Valdosta.
You can also click here to contact Bo Parmelee directly.
Remember if you have a story idea for the Insiders, send us an email at abc27news@wtxl.tv. "attention Insiders."
