sunshine1980

Hey.

I'm not sure if this is the correct part of the board to ask this but here goes.

When someone has been an alcoholic for several years and moves on to other drugs, does the addiction to the alcohol just go away?

I mean someone who would drink literally all the time and was very physically addicted to alcohol, yet now never seems to drink but does drugs instead so I wonder where the craving for the alcohol went to. Or is it just being numbed by the other drugs?
Cos I know alcohol is considered a 'drug' but I did always think the effects are different then other drugs.

Thanks for any replies. Sorry if it's a silly question.

justtired

Sunshine~ My abf is an alcoholic. He has not drank in years. He now abuses his medications. He tells me that he used to, on occasion, still want to drink, but not very often anymore. When I recently left for a week, he told me that he thought about drinking, but remembered how it felt and didn't want to be depressed. From what I've seen in my abf, I don't think that the cravings totally goes away, but they have a new way to numb themselves so they just don't need it.

sunshine1980

Thanks for the response I appreciate it.

I somehow just figured the addictions would 'co-exist' or something, but it doesn't seem to. I never see him drunk anymore, he is altered but it is a different kind of altered. I guess it is like how you say, that the other drugs can sort of numb the alcohol cravings.

Thanks again justtired.

Freedom1990

That's switching one addiction for another. I didn't drink at all the last 2 years before I went to rehab, but that's because I was shooting dope. My alcoholism certainly didn't go away; it had just been pushed aside for something else.

I can't use any mind-altering chemical, including alcohol.

frankly

My ex was an alcoholic really really bad, then he started using cocaine to "sober up" so that he could drink more. He could put away a 12 pack and I couldn't even tell he was drinking, just knew he was doped up. He didn't give up either one. But he wasn't doing the pills. Eventually, the coke use was primary and drinking became secondary especially when he ran out of money for the coke.

B

cessy68

my boyfriend used to drink alot, and I never thought much of it, because he functioned so well.......

once he became addicted to pills, I realized the drinking was probably abnormal.

On pills he HARDLY drinks. If he dosen't have pills, he drinks......

Now I see is't just switching one addiction to another.

With pills, you loose appetite etc... there isn't a desire to drink.


My abf says now, "I don't drink at all anymore, aren't you proud of me"!!!

LOL, I'm like sure hon, keep sailing down that river of denial, it's a great place to be. The only reason you don't drink is because your swallowing pills!!!! urgh.

Love,
Cess

sunshine1980

Wow.... yeah that whole thing about making us feel guilty for nagging about the drug abuse "instead of being proud for not drinking anymore"..... crazy. Like WE are the big negative bullies who only see the bad not the good.

It must be one of those universal addict manipulation lines or something. Sheesh.


Thanks everyone.

mkgrammy53

My ex-bf was an alcoholic, drug user and pot smoker. He quit drinking and using drugs, but never gave up the pot. He has smoked pot since he was seventeen and is now 56. He has always been so proud of himself for giving up alcohol and other drugs that smoking pot seems like nothing to him. He did all of this long before I knew him and I didn't know he smoked pot when I first started dating him. When I found out, I broke up with him as I am a recovering alcoholic and I can't take a chance that this would jeopardize my recovery. He knew full well why I broke up with him and then reappeared at my front doorstep seven months later. I thought he was ready to live a clean life - he even went to meetings and said he stopped smoking pot for 90 days. He is a baseball coach and when the team lost their first game this past season, he was off and running with marijuana again.

I had a hard time with his relapse, but more importantly I couldn't take his mood swings, anger and rage. I was trying my best to keep him "clean" and it was killing me to the point I found myself at a place where I didn't want to be. Thank the Lord for a good sponsor!!!!!

I have had to walk away to take care of myself as he has not shown any desire to get help. It's been one of the hardest things I've had to do and I need the support from you all to keep me on track.

A drug is a drug regardless what the name of it is. Your mind becomes altered and you are not in control of yourself. That doesn't make for a good, healthy relationship.

:praying

winnie12

the problem is not what their drug of choice is - its addiction. doesnt matter what addiction - they could switch to drugs or even something like gambling - its much deeper then the effects we see when they are using.