AwifeinAL

I found a glass pipe amongst my husbands things today. It has a long stem that ends in a glass sphere with a small hole in the top of the sphere. I have seen glass pipes used to smoke cannabis and this is NOT that kind of pipe. For years, getting progressively worse, my husband has been displaying symptoms of drug use/addiction. Two years ago around this time of year he admitted to me that he was addicted to painkillers. However, after one meeting he said he was not a drug addict and that all he needed was to detox and stop seeing the doctor who was prescribing the pills. He did and for a short time he seemed better. Then he got a job that sent him out of town to work. I became concerned again when I started receiving statements from our insurance carrier for various ER and emergency care clinics he was visiting. His job was very physical and he seemed to get injured a lot. He also has "digestive" issues for which he had his gallbladder removed. Nevertheless, he was going to the ER or emergicare clinics as many times as twice a month which seemed excessive to me. Additionally he would never follow up with the recommended specialists or physical therapy. When our daughter was born last December he spent the night she was born in the hospital ER and after I came home he stole over half of my pain medication which was prescribed because of my c-section. He also quit his job after I gave birth. When he got our tax return he said he used it to pay our bills which we were behind on, but I recently got notices that our gas and electricity are set to be cut off this month. He is working off and on at his dad's company. He works at night and covers for other employees so his hours are never set. He's gone every night saying he's working, but we never have money. When he is at home all he does is sleep. He's angry all the time and lashes out at me and our children daily. I'm at my wits end. I don't know what I should do. Should I confront him with what I've found? When I have in the past he blows up at me and blames me for everything, never admitting he has a problem. I found the pipe in a pile of dirty clothes inside an old eyeglasses case wrapped in a dryer sheet. I smelled it but I could only smell the dryer sheet. I'm afraid I might have left a finger print on it when I touched it to smell it. Should I throw it away? I'm tired, scared, angry, confused... Please help!

Carlotta

Welcome to SR. You will find a lot of support here.
It sounds like a crack pipe to me although the dryer sheet is something more commonly used when smoking pot inside by teenagers (they blow the smoke inside a roll of TP with a dryer sheet taped at the end so the smoke does not come out stinking).
I don't think you should worry about your fingerprints being on it. If he got busted with that in his possession, the cops would not fingerprint it.
You could bring what you found to his attention but be prepared for him to lie, deny or make up some crazy excuses.

honeypig

Welcome to SR, AwifeinAL--what you're describing does sound fishy, to say the least. I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation and hope you find the support and information you're looking for here.

A good place to start is by reading as much as you can in the forums. Make sure not to miss the stickied posts at the top of the page; there is a lot of useful info there. You also may want to look into Alanon or Naranon meetings for some face-to-face support for yourself.

There is a section to the SR forums for family and friends of substance abusers. You may want to post and/or read there as well. Here is the link: Friends and Family of Substance Abusers - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

I hope you start to find some answers here.

happybeingme

Hi and welcome. It sounds like your husband probably has some major addiction issues. I am sorry you are going through this. I do agree that finding real life support is a good idea. I hope you continue sharing here as well

redatlanta

Awifein AL - Sorry this sounds really stressful.

I agree it sounds like a crack pipe but not sure. If the response you normally get from your husband is that he blows up and be yells at you I wouldn't confront him. He most likely would deny it anyway. I can't really answer whether I would throw it away or not. Throwing away the drugs or alcohol doesn't stop the behavior they just get more. If it were me I would probably take a picture of it and put it back where it was in the dirty clothes. We use a saying around here "more will be revealed" - and its true. Sometimes I think its best to say nothing and watch, listen, and observe. What I wouldn't do is start going through his things looking for paraphernalia and the like that won't do anything but make you crazy.

It sounds like things have been very difficult for you the past months. Since your utilities are set for shut off perhaps today you could call the companies and see if you can get and extension, or if you can apply for support since you have children in the house.

As mentioned you are on the forum for friends ad family of alcoholics - is your husband a drinker as well?

Duckygirl1

I'm so sorry that you are going through this! Heroine and meth are also smoked, so it could be those. Your h is in bad shape. Is his family aware of the situation? Is there anyone that you can turn to there? Not sure where you are, but there is emergency funds that you can get if your lights and utilities are in danger of shut off. Good luck! ((((Hugs))))

AwifeinAL

No, I have rarely seen him drink. A handful of times he came home from "work" smelling of booze, but I cannot ever recall having seen him drink more than a couple drinks. Thank you for the advice. It's just a relief to have a sounding board. Makes me feel less crazy.

AwifeinAL

We live in AL, but both our families live out of state aside from my father in law, who also lives here. My husbands father has a history of drug abuse and is not a kind person. He is not someone I would confide in or look to for support. I am the daughter of an alcoholic/drug addict mother and my sister's both have substance abuse issues. I have thought about seeking support through alanon and cannot really give a good reason as to why I have not as of yet, other than I've probably been in some denial. Dealing with this alone has made me feel crazy and isolated though and I feel I've reached a breaking point which is why I'm reaching out here. I am grateful for all the supportive comments and will continue to seek dialogue and answers here as well as explore some face to face options. Thank you all.