Successful business owner, writer, volunteer, wife, mom, grandma, lost Christian, addict.

In October 2012, Lori Gottula was all of those things. She and her husband, Randy, had owned the only grocery store in Falls City, Nebraska, for more than twenty-two years. Lori had written feature articles for the Falls City Journal for fifteen years. The couple was very visible in the community. To the outside world, it looked like they had it made. But Lori was suffering from a chronic back condition, for which doctors had no answers. As a result, she became addicted to prescription painkillers.

“Behind closed doors, I was taking medication that stole my soul so gradually that I had no idea anything was even happening to me,” the author said. In addition, she was addicted to people-pleasing, alcohol, food, and codependent relationships.

“I had gained nearly one hundred pounds in twelve years, and couldn’t even walk to the end of my block,” Lori said. “But it was the codependent relationships, primarily with friends, that nearly killed me. My life had spiraled out of control.”

A counselor told her in 2011, that if she didn’t get help for her addictions, she wouldn’t be alive in a year. In 2012, she truly hit rock bottom.

Broken and Chained: My First Thirty Days in the Hell Called Detox tells her story in raw, gut-wrenching detail. It is a must-read for anyone whose soul has been broken by the chains of any addiction, or for loved ones who need to understand.

Lori Gottula is a longtime freelance writer. In 2014, she was one of twelve winners of Guideposts magazine’s writing contest. Her story about her struggles was featured in the July 2015 issue. Fear initially kept her from publishing this book, which she wrote during her detox in 2012. But fear no longer grips her. Her next book, Breaking the Chains, will detail her reconnection with God, and the fortitude with which He and she completely transformed her life.