Get a Grip Podcast Get a Grip Podcast

From Painkillers in Middle School to Heroin in High School… It Led Me to Crack & Prison | Ep 225

Oct 18, 2026 · 1h 17m

Summary

Alex Diener shares his journey from a stable upbringing in Mentor, Ohio, to early addiction involving pills and heroin. He recounts being expelled from school at 14 for possessing muscle relaxers, which led to years of probation and legal troubles. After transitioning to heroin, he was sentenced to prison, where a violent altercation at a halfway house resulted in a broken jaw and months of solitary confinement in Ohio State Penitentiary.

Topics discussed

Buying Opana pills in 2011 Sponsor reads: Rocket Mortgage and Shopify Podcast support and social media links Growing up in Mentor, Ohio Feeling different and finding comedy Junior high trouble and first suspension Discovery of muscle relaxers and expulsion Parents' divorce and family dynamics Progression from pills to heroin Daily heroin use and lack of withdrawal Working at the bakery and buying Opana Juvenile detention and theft charges Arrival at OSP and reception center Halfway house placement and neighborhood Fight with bunkie and hospitalization Solitary confinement in maximum security Release, relapse, and crack addiction Dual diagnosis treatment and Vivitrol Relationship breakup and ADHD medication Adderall addiction and selling pills Path to recovery and last fentanyl use 12-step meetings and building a life Staying sober and family support New Day treatment and resilience Therapy, exercise, and community Nephews, sponsor reads, and outro
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