Eviction, imprisonment, shoplifting and stealing from family members: Mother-of-four gives harrowing account of former life as a 'junkie mom' after she got hooked on heroin

• e-mail

A mother-of-four has told how she was jailed twice and 'lost everything' - including her job, home, friends and the trust of her family - after becoming addicted to heroin.

Kristina Hammer said her journey to heroin addiction started with the opioid Vicodin, - which she was given for pain relief from a genetic disorder affecting her spinal cord - and quickly led her to start abusing other prescription drugs including Percocet, Morphine Contin and Oxycodone.

The 33-year-old, who is now clean, told Daily Mail Online that she became so tolerant to the drugs that they no longer had an effect - prompting her to move on to snorting heroin.

Slippery slope: Kristina Hammer, pictured with two of her four children, said her journey to heroin addiction started with opioid prescription drug Vicodin, which she took as pain relief

Tolerant: The mother, who is now clean, quickly moved on to Percocet, Morphine Contin and Oxycodone before progressing to snorting heroin

The blogger said she took the drugs to relieve her back pain, caused by degenerative disc disease, and in turn hoped it would make her a better mother.

'I was able to keep my house spotless, play endlessly with my kids without physical limitations, and I felt happier than I had since my diagnosis came.

'There was nothing I couldn't do for my kids on a day-to-day basis instead of being forced to parent them while curled up in the fetal position on the couch in extreme pain,' she said.

But as her addiction took hold, her life quickly unraveled and she lost her job, her only income source.

She started stealing from her grandmother, her father, who is a police officer, and her mother-in-law so that she could pawn their possessions in return for money.

She was twice arrested for stealing household items such as toilet paper and went to jail two times for shoplifting - once for a weekend and the second time for a week.

Kristina went to rehab once but said it was ineffective because she refused to admit that she was addicted.

She said her lowest point of her 11-month habit came when she was in prison and her husband Ryan, who also abused the drug, was in rehab.

'Sitting in jail the second time for theft to support my habit. I knew losing my children was a great possibility at that point,' she said.

Kristina said the drug nearly ruined their entire lives and made them lose the support and trust of everyone around them.

'We basically did lose everything, in a sense. We were evicted just after I entered the methadone program. We lost our friends and families support and trust.  

Motivation: The blogger, who is now clean, said she took the drugs to give her a break from her back pain, caused by a genetic disorder affecting her spinal cord

'We lost our credibility. We lost the ability to have a career in any field. Those things are the foundation for a good life and I took them for granted,' she said. 

She said she would even use the drug at home when her children were there.

'My children grew from toddlers to preschoolers watching the bathroom door shut in their faces for fifteen minute intervals half a dozen times a day,' she wrote in an article for Blunt Moms.

'I would come out only when I had jacked myself up and they had to bear terrible witness to me bouncing off the walls. 

'They would see me crawl around on my hands and knees, searching the floor for any crumbs I may have accidentally scattered during my pre-inhale exhale.' 

She added: 'With a fresh dose up my nose, I could pass as any other mother at playgroup, no one ever suspected a thing.'

When her friends and family found out about her addiction, Kristina - who has suffered sexual abuse and has a history of mental illness - said she was ready to defend herself but that all of her excuses 'fell flat'.

She said still feels 'ashamed' for the decisions she made but she has learned to accept that it does not have to 'define' her forever.

'The chronic pain is inevitable and there are going to be bad days no matter what, so I just roll with the punches these days,' she told Daily Mail Online.

But her friends and family have not all been so forgiving and that the 'junkie' label has been difficult to shed. 

Every single one of her friends 'cut ties' with her and she said her family 'remain distanced' - even after six years of being clean.

Descent: But she soon lost her job, was twice jailed for shoplifting and stole from her family to fund her addiction

She said: 'Those who know me personally will never forget the mistakes I made or the hurt I caused them. It's been hard to earn their trust back.

'Plus I now have a misdemeanor criminal record which prevents me from any decent employment, because no one wants to hire a convicted thief.'

Once she made the decision to stop, she said she had cravings for 'a few weeks' but, as the  reality of her situation set in, her sole priority was her children, aged 12, 11, eight, and four.

She said: 'The trouble I had gotten myself into and the threat of losing my children was more than I could bare. 

'Getting high was no longer worth the price to pay and the drug became disgusting to me.'

Kristina said they came close to losing their children and that child protective services monitored their recovery.

She added: 'Had we not kept a safe, clean home environment and neglected their immediate care during our heroin use, we surely would have lost them.' 

Despite everything they have been through, Kristina said her husband, who is also now clean, is her 'greatest inspiration'. 

She said: 'He works 70 hours a week in a machine shop to provide for us as we rebuild the life together heroin almost destroyed.'

She gave up heroin by going to a methadone clinic who reduced her dose gradually and helped her access resources and therapy. 

In her first year-and-a-half she reduced her dosage from 110mgs a day to ten which they agreed to allow her to remain on long-term to avoid a relapse. 

Epidemic: According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 78 Americans die per day from an opioid overdose

She is currently 'weaning off' her current dose of five milligrams a day which she hopes to be off by December. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more people died in 2014 from drug overdoses in the US than in any other year. 

More than six out of ten of drug overdose deaths involve opioids. 

Between 2000 and 2014, close to half a million people died from drug overdoses, while 78 Americans die per day from an opioid overdose. 

CDC said prescription opioid pain relievers are 'a driving factor' in the increase in opioid overdose deaths. 

Kristina claimed that marijuana should be legalized on a federal level to help solve America's heroin crisis because she said it would provide an alternative to prescription opiates.

She said the painkillers are a 'real gateway for heroin use' and called on doctors to prescribe them less. 

The mom also called for addiction to be treated as a mental illness and health insurance companies to pay for recovery and methadone programs.

'Prescription opiates and limited options for pain control contribute largely to the heroin epidemic. 

'Not to mention those who are self-medicating co-morbid mental illnesses because treatment is hard to find, let alone afford,' she said.