My boyfriend is in recovery
This is my first post to SoberRecovery. I'm thankful to have found a website where I can discuss what's going on in my life with people who will understand. Anyway, a little back story:
I am 22 years old, and I've been dating my boyfriend who is 29 for nearly 4 years now. He has had problems in the past (before I met him) with drug abuse, but he was clean for years until about 3 years ago when he got his wisdom teeth taken out and became addicted to painkillers. He started to get them after the dental pain was over, and I had absolutely no idea. I have zero personal experience or knowledge when it comes to drug abuse. I was completely caught off guard when he informed me of this over a year after the addiction began. He told me in February of 2012, and he decided to get help by way of going to the methadone clinic. He was on methadone for a little over 2 years when he got very, very sick. He was sick for 7 months and finally, fed up with not being able to live his life, he checked himself into rehab. He is there right now and has been for 20 days. I was able to visit him today and we met with his counselor for couples counseling. I was very emotional through all of that. He is going to be there for another five weeks. I am definitely struggling through all of this. The only thing that I know for certain is that I love him completely and I will be there by his side through every moment of this recovery process. I know a lot of the recovery will have to be dealt with alone for him, but I also don't want him to feel alone, if that makes sense. I want him to know how much I love him and that he doesn't have to be ashamed. I want to help him and be there for him. I was hoping to gain some sort of insight from anyone that has been through this, or something like it. What can I do to help, what advice do you have for me? Also, are there any natural remedies or things I can do for him to ease the pain of the detox? I've read green tea, but he hates green tea (and he's very stubborn! haha). Any tips at all are welcome.
Thank you so much!