# From Small Town to H3roin & M3th — Then 3 Weeks Without Sleep | Ep 159

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/get-a-grip-podcast-7141471/from-small-town-to-h3roin-m3th-then-3-weeks-without-sleep-ep-159
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/get-a-grip-podcast-7141471/from-small-town-to-h3roin-m3th-then-3-weeks-without-sleep-ep-159.md
Podcast: [Get a Grip Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/get-a-grip-podcast-7141471)
Published: 2026-05-01T23:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/officialgetagrippodcast/episodes/From-Small-Town-to-H3roin--M3th--Then-3-Weeks-Without-Sleep--Ep-159-e3iorte
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4661511136.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/get-a-grip-podcast-7141471/episodes/from-small-town-to-h3roin-m3th-then-3-weeks-without-sleep-ep-159
Duration seconds: 1940

## Resource

In this episode of Get A Grip Podcast, Louis Essig and Aaron Garnes sit down with Tyler James to tell a story that starts in a quiet small town and spirals into a life consumed by addiction, chaos, and survival.Tyler opens up about his early years, growing up in a place where not much seemed out of the ordinary—until he was introduced to Hydrocodone at 17. What started as experimentation quickly escalated, leading him to Chicago where everything changed. He shares the intense and painful reality of using for the first time intravenously, including missing veins and learning the hard way what he calls “slow” heroin.From there, things accelerate fast. Tyler talks about the dangerous mix of meth and heroin, and how that combination pushed him into a cycle that felt impossible to escape. Legal trouble followed, starting with a DUI, but that was only the beginning. As pills turned into heroin, his life unraveled—leading to homelessness, desperation, and stretches of being awake for weeks at a time while deep in addiction.One of the most intense parts of his story includes being up for three straight weeks, completely caught in the grip of meth and heroin—a moment that captures just how far things had fallen. He also recounts violent encounters on the street, including having a gun pulled on him and being beaten by a dealer, painting a raw picture of the reality that comes with that lifestyle.But Tyler’s story doesn’t end there.He shares the turning point—what finally made him decide to get sober—and what that day actually looked like. The conversation shifts into his life today, including his experience in a Medication-Assisted Treatment (M.A.T.) program and what recovery really looks like on a daily basis.Tyler’s message is honest and direct: recovery isn’t easy, but it’s…

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## Transcript

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