That sounds about right, L2L. It's like his brain, no longer getting the chemical hit from the booze, is creating it's own little cocktail to create the buzz he clearly misses.
Either way, I can't compete with that. He's wired to be an addict, and I can't fix that. He can put himself in the poorhouse, but I won't be going with him.
Not gonna lie, though--had a bit of hope when he started going to AA. *sigh*