INDIANAPOLIS -- President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday but it's a problem that Indiana's been fighting for some time now.
Lee Funkhouser started taking painkillers to treat his back problem following a car crash.
"I still had to get up, I had to work, I had to take care of my family. So I went to the next best thing, or so I thought," said Funkhouser.
Funkhouser says after more than a decade on prescribed opioids, up to 200 milligrams of morphine and up to 80 milligrams of hydrocodone a day, his doctor finally halted his prescriptions. Like so many, he turned to heroin and meth.
"I OD'd on a Sunday, jail on Monday, you know. I couldn't live my life that way anymore, I couldn't function. The heroin and meth just stopped working. I still hurt and it just made it worse, said Funkhouser.
He found help at the Chronic Pain and Chemical Dependency Program at IU Health.
"We keep a door open and it is open all the time and we have instant access. We are able to have the door open all the time so when people leave they can come back," Jim Ryser, Director of Chronic Pain & Chemical Dependency Program.
Four months clean, Funkhouser works with Ryser focusing on non-opioid treatment options.
"Anytime we add a medication that has an addictive component to it there has been predictable fall out with it, in the history of medicine," Ryser.
Funkhouser is learning how to manage his pain without the use of chemicals.
"This has opened up a whole new way of life for me. Dealing with pain and dealing with life in itself," said Funkhouser.
He uses exercise as a form of treatment and discussion groups and spiritual awareness as a form of therapy.
Funkhouser still has a long road ahead in his journey to recovery, but with his dependency on opioids behind him, things are finally looking up.
"I feel like I have a new life. I feel like a new creation, a new person. If I would have known that there were other options, I probably would have went a different route then what I had. Versus then to today, I feel good, I feel great," said Funkhouser.
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