23missb

That real vanilla extract contains alcohol... And that my husband who was 70 days sober would drink it to get drunk. I actually had no idea I had to worry about baking supplies. I didn't realize at all that it even contained alcohol. Probably mean, but I asked him what's next? Mouthwash? Lysol? Now I'm worried I've given him some ideas... Disappointing weekend around our house. Anyone have similar stories to share so that I may feel a little less alone?

lillyknitting

I'm genuinely shocked. Just goes to show! We have to check the hidden ingredients on everything. Being on a diet I'm amazed at how many obscure products contain sugar. There is sugar in nearly every damn thing! I wish you well x

FeelingGreat

When I was a child in the 60s my father was a school principal. I remember him telling us that they had a teacher on 'alternative' duties because he was a an active alcoholic and they kept finding empty vanilla essence bottles in the waste bins. Finally realised it was him.

Talana

My neighbor used to drink methylated spirits when he ran
Out of beer. His wife found him passed out in the shed in the back yard.
It's scary what people will drink when desperate.

LexieCat

I'm sorry, but I don't believe in emptying one's house of any alcohol-containing ingredients. Anyone who would drink extract (most extracts have alcohol) or mouthwash or something is determined enough to keep drinking no matter what. Trust me, it will not ensure their sobriety.

I am a sober alcoholic, and I have no problem keeping vanilla extract in my house. I also use mouthwash containing alcohol, but am not tempted to drink it (some alcoholics are very sensitive to alcohol and do need to avoid alcohol in mouthwash). I don't use Nyquil, because not only does it contain a high amount of alcohol, you actually drink it and it FEELS and TASTES like alcohol going down.

If you happen to have a sober alcoholic in the house, he or she will let you know whether to get rid of anything. If you have an active alcoholic in the home, there is no point in reading labels and purging.

My opinion.

honeypig

Well, this explains why the generic Nyquil liquid is always such a big hit when the hub has a cold....

Not a day goes by that I don't get some little bit of insight into what has really been going on for so many years. Sometimes I want to laugh, more often I want to cry. Trudging along day by day, relying on the smell of the lilacs and the goofiness of the basset hounds to get me thru.

Florence

Shortly after my AH tried to get sober, I took a work trip to Mexico and came back with GIANT bottles of vanilla extract. They're big, cheap, gorgeous and last forever. The first thing he said to me was no, I can't have it in the house. I was like, what are you talking about? Never in my life did it occur to me that this could be an issue. I gave one to my mom and dumped the other one right down the sink.

I did it out of respect for his recovery journey, but I'll tell you too, it didn't save him from relapse after relapse after relapse.

theuncertainty

Oh, you're definitely not alone, 23missb. AXH cleared out my vanilla extract often. (It took me a while to realize I wasn't making cookies THAT often.) If I was sick, he'd pick up nyquil for me, which makes me feel even worse, so I never took it. BUT it'd be gone the next day. Hmmmm....

There's a grocery store here in one section of town that actually locks up their mouthwash because they had a problem with people stealing it. Or at least they used to; I generally avoid that area of town now.

Patsfan

Don't forget the hand sanitizer gel. That also high level of alcohol in it.

LexieCat

LOL, I thought for a while there was a sharp increase in people drinking on the job at my workplace. Eventually I realized people were using the sanitizers outside the elevator doors.

The smell makes me nauseous. It smells just like someone who's consumed a bottle of vodka.

Tamerua

There was an episode of Family Ties with Tom Hanks as a guest star. He was an uncle who was a raging alcoholic who downed a bottle of vanilla extract... I must have been 7 or 8 when I saw that, not a clue why I remember it. I do know because I wasn't at that level I thought I didn't have a problem.

bigsombrero

Hey - alcoholic here. I went to a month-long in patient program. One guy in my discussion group had a wife and two young kids. A nice house in the burbs, a solid sales job, he was good-looking, well spoken.

He had been drinking hand sanitizer in his basement.

He and his wife decided that enough was enough, and that's how he ended up in treatment. He has been sober ever since, I have been in touch with him and he's doing great - treatment worked for him. Rehab is pretty humbling, especially for those of us who are "above it". It worked for me also. I wish you all the best!

23missb

My husband went to rehab 2 years ago. There was a definite improvement by him going (he hasn't had any drugs since he went!) but we still deal with relapses on the alcohol front.

23missb

You're right. Your opinion. He has asked me not to keep alcohol in the house because he finds it to be too much of a temptation right now and I certainly respect that request. It's not a big deal to not have in the home. I just didn't realize the thing about extract. Now I do. What I was actually looking for in this thread was a bit of empathy from people who've been there. Not advice or judgement. If he wants to keep drinking, he will. I get that. It was just a rough weekend and again what I was looking for was people had been in this kind of position. Thanks anyway though for your opinion.

LexieCat

Hold on, I think you misunderstood me. I said "If you happen to have a sober alcoholic in the house, he or she will let you know whether to get rid of anything." You had not made that clear, initially--that he had made that request. Yes, if that is what he requested, it is absolutely supportive of you to respect that.

All I was saying was that people don't have to do it pro-actively, to prevent someone from drinking. Sorry if you misunderstood what I was saying.

SolTraveler

Wow. Well, whether to get rid of everything containing alcohol or no is up to you. It is sad that you have to be that vigilant though.

I am also a sober alcoholic and it doesn't bother me to have products containing alcohol in the home. I even cook with wine - doesn't tempt me. But I think that everyone is different. While I personally will never drink again, I drank to self-medicate my anxiety and when I am on my meds I am not really tempted to drink at all, not even by being around the alcohol.

If it bothers your husband, then I say do what you have to do. Fake vanilla is not as strong but it does the trick.

wicked

You got exactly that (empathy), and you did not mention in your first post about your husband asking to keep alcohol out of the house.
I learned about alcohol in everything from rehab. It was info for those of us with the allergy than can be set off quickly and devastatingly without knowing this kind of thing.
Just yesterday, I was using these wipes for women of a certain age. Okay, menopausal hot flashes. I offered one to a lady at an AA meeting and she flipped it over and said, do you know the second ingredient is alcohol?
I didn't. I was not concerned about it seeping in my skin and setting off a reaction, but there are some who do have a reaction.
I am looking for other ways to cool off now. dammit.

My father, alcoholic who died from cirrhosis, drank the isopryl (?) alcohol found in the bathroom. The doctors at the hospital told him then, if he did not stop drinking right now and forever, he would die.
He stopped for about 6 to 8 weeks and died after his last trip to the hospital.

Also, I saw on an episode of "Intervention" a young man nearly drink himself to death several times with sanitizer. He was drinking it in the hospital!
It was in the bathroom and on the wall of the room.

I am sorry your husband, who had 70 days of sobriety chose to drink the vanilla. I hope he is back on the road to recovery now.

My drug of choice was beer. I have had other alcoholic drinks, and nearly any drink would do once I got drunk and ran out. The worst memory I ever have is of creme de menthe. Oh my, I thought that hangover would kill me.
I was so sick from the high alcohol content and the sugary sweetness of it.
It was awful. But my disease tells me I have no disease (when drinking mostly ). I had not been to vanilla, or sanitizer, or even isopropyl alcohol, but I am grateful I did not go there. It is through the Grace of God I did not.

Grateful recovering alcoholic,

Beth

BodkinVanHorn

My ex would drink it all the time. I would have to buy a new bottle everytime I wanted to bake cookies (a lot, with a cookie loving toddler). And I was clueless for a while. And then I was angry. It's like 13bucks a bottle. For the love of God, man, just buy a bottle and hide it poorly as per your m.o., but don't take my baking supplies!

LexieCat

LOL, you just made me snort iced tea through my nose!

See, you guys could have made it a game--you hide your baking supplies, he hides the booze. You could have a scavenger hunt!

BodkinVanHorn

Haha I did hide it, I was rolling around with a bottle of vanilla extract in my purse at all times, lol. But then *I* started feeling wierd about it, haha.