Old 07-09-2009, 05:04 AM
  # 10 (permalink)  
silkspin
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 390
9iron, I've posted recently on this very topic. My H has been sober for 7 months, and suffer from 'roommate syndrome' for the better part of a year now. We have a 20 month old, so pregnancy/new baby and his continued drinking contributed.

We are a bit of reverse though; he does want intimacy, but I'm slow to let him back in after many hurts and many times when even if I'd been in the mood it would have been impossible cuz he was drunk or passed out or out partying. Miss Fixit got it right that women have to have the emotional part as well. I need to feel that I can trust him again and it's hard to make yourself feel vulnerable after building a wall of protection.

That said, 8 weeks isn't a lot of time. AH, although he never threw himself into AA, needed essentially to 'detox' even without detox. He was in a fog mentally and still complains of fatigue. Other AA members have told us that this is normal and can take up to a year to get free of that. It's the physical toll.

In our first months of sobriety, I found I didn't really know what to say to him, so found myself saying nothing. I learned through al anon that I did things wrong too (codependent) and learned my part in contributing to the dynamic that brought us to what we'd become. I was learning to change my unhealthy behaviours but was too scared to talk to him for fear of doing the same thing again. But giving ourselves space really helped each of us tackle our own demons. Give her some breathing room; she needs it. Putting pressure I feel, would just make her defensive, because she may feel that you're putting expectations on her to get better before she's ready. My AH says that drinking is like losing a best friend. We can't understand wholly but it's a big chunk of their life gone, and nothing but yourself, ill equipped to handle all that was drunk away previously. It's a pretty tough situation.

Do you go to al anon? One of their slogans is one day at time. Try this. Live each day with her as the day goes, sometimes 10 min at a time if necessary. I found this really helped me as I didn't project too much into what should happen tonight, tomorrow, next week. Work on yourself and your feelings, care for your kids, give her time and space. When you drop all expectations you may be surprised at how you may start getting what you want.
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