I've been struggling with this too. Will The Real Husband Please Stand Up? Wish I had an answer for you (and me) after all these months. Recently he was Mr. Happy for a few weeks, and now he's back to Mr. Poopy-drawers. Which is which? Not having known about the cycle of pills before, I don't have a handle on "the results".
I'm in the process of divorcing him though, too many years and too much damage (I didn't find out until I asked for the divorce about the addiction). He obviously does not admit he has a big problem either. He did try to taper and quit, but no recovery work, and after all the reading and meetings I've done, I now realize that without recovery work somehow this problem will never go away on its own. He's ordering more pills that I do know about, stronger dosage - I don't see an end in site yet.
I'm with Noelle above, I think my AH just has major issues that he never dealt with and when he discovered the numbling qualities of the opiates - hey, that fixed everything, right? I find it a cop-out. In consequence, with or without the pills, he's a pretty unhappy person most of the time, with little bouts of Mr. Happy. Not enough Mr. Happy time to make and sustain a loving relationship though.
Good luck with all this. Keep reading! Take care of yourself!