Living with a recovering alcoholic

Posted , 8 users are following.

I have lived with my partner for the past 4 years and when I met him he liked a drink, but at the time, it seemed just sociably.  As the relationship progressed, so did his drinking, if we were out socially he would end up so drunk and quite embarrasing on a number of occasions.  The drinking stepped up a notch when we bought our own place and for the past 3 years it has become a problem within the home more times than I care to mention, going from barely being able to speak, not wanting to do anything unless there was alcohol involved in the activity, making promises and reneging on them, wetting the bed, starting arguments when there was nothing to argue about, the culmination of this behaviour has been that 2 weeks ago he moved into the spare bedroom where he drank a bottle of vodka every night on his own, only to pop downstairs to start an arguement with my sons or me.  I told him I wanted out, house to go on the market and go our seperate ways.  With that he made an appointment to see his doctor, who in turn said if he continues drinking what he drinks, he will be lucky to live beyond another 4 years... he is only 40 years old.  He has confessed to me since the visit to the doctors that he's always drunk more than he should and has struggled with alcohol for the past 20 odd years.  He has moved to his parents to start his detox and has to go back to the doctors in two weeks to let him know progress there has been, also he's been to a meeting with  Inclusion, previously Homer, it was just an initial chat, they have given him some material to look through. He will go through an assessment following on from the next doctors appointment, and will then be assigned a key worker who he can chat to and will support him.  I suppose what I want to know is how I'm supposed to behave towards him, whilst I still have feelings for him, I'm not sure I want to sign up to be with him forever as I just can't believe he will never touch a drop again.  He's emailing me saying he still loves me and wants to get married when he's sober, but whats the reallity of that?  Do I tell him the truth that I can't stay with him or do I give him time to start the road to recovery without any stress from me?

  

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  • Posted

    Hi l was once a daily alcoholic lost a marriage through drink , l found out 5 years ago that l drank to cure my depression, now take citalprom l only drink for fun, l am a changed man, people can change give him a chance we are all different,at 51 years u not old at all, bcz they will always be men out there especially now with internet dating, give your boyfriend time, just do not get married till u are sure he has changed,people commenting here have had alcohol problems but guess what someone was prepared to listen and give them a chance so why not you MrsGee if he fails u have nothing to lose, cheers keep intouch.
    • Posted

      She has alot to lose...her self respect...the respect of her children...her happiness...her sanity....her peaceful home....and more.

      This man did not disclose his "problem" and give her the opportunity to make an informed decision.  First " red flag".  He's not a happy drunk..because apparantly at least one time...he has gone "after" her boys to be verbally abusive with them when he was drunk.

      AND..he isn't recovered yet...he is trying to start on the road to recovery..because he knows what he is losing....but only TIME will tell if he is able to stop the awful progression of alcohol.  I wanted to stop many times throughout my life and I never could.

      When I finally did...it was very apparant to the people around me that I had changed...my personality changed...and I was willing to do ANYTHING to stay sober...which meant...go for help, go to AA, go to therapy, read books about my problem, talk about my problem with friends and family....and "show" up for things I couldn't before.

       

    • Posted

      Hi Richard, I have thought that in the past whether its depression that he suffers from and there's no shame in that, I was prescribed citalaprom a few years ago for a period of time when my marriage broke down.  He is due to visit the doctor again a week today, I'm going to go with him and will put this to the doc.  Thank you for commenting and glad your life has turned round :-)
    • Posted

      Depression is something that turns you to alochol, to blot out the feelings, I have experience from that. The thing to watch is, that lazy doctors just prescribe drugs, that zombify you and block out the feelings, which is what alcohol does,

      Anxiety etc, can be treated with drugs, because that affects the body, but depression is a state of mind, and drugs do not help that. Lazy doctors will just write out a prescription, to block out the symptoms and not look at sorting the root cause.

    • Posted

      My cousin had to go with me, if he had not come with me l would have not told the GP how l feel, the best way to get help about depression, is to sit with him and write down how he feels, then go with the paper to your doctor, BC its difficult to remember everything on the day.

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