Fruit juice
 

Hi, I am new to this website. I am the partner of a recovering alcoholic. My partner sometimes has a fruit flavoured drink which then makes him smell like he has had a drink. I can kind of understand this because a lot of alcohol is made from fruit. But once this happens he begins to act like he has had a drink too who hi find harder to understand. I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else. Do I have reason to be worried or am I just being paranoid? Many thanks for any help.
Lianne.

I personally never heard of this. Unless the juice sat in the fridge for months/fermented, I don't think it is possible.

There might be vague traces of Alcohol in fruit juices, but we are talking extremely low levels.

It's impossible to become intoxicated from regular fruit juice. Why not just ask him why he is acting strange after drinking fruit juice?

Thanks for your comments. I've asked him. He says that he thinks smelling of alcohol makes him paranoid so starts acting like he has had a drink. I have watched him drink apple juice and then he will smell of alcohol but i can't get my head around why it would make him act that way. He's always lied, even about the most trivial of things because that is what he's used to doing. My head is telling me one thing and my heart something else. We have 3 children and am so worried things are going to go back to how they used to be before he gave up the drink.

Sorry for what brings you to SR.

Your partner wouldn't be the first alcoholic to pour booze into a drink in another container. Not saying that's what he's doing. But you're there. You know what alcohol smells like. It's his actions you have to believe, not his words.

If he smells like he's been drinking and acts like he's been drinking then the likelihood is that he has been drinking. If he's always lied then I think you know the answer

Are you absolutely, 100% SURE that he is actually drinking straight fruit juice, or are you just taking his word for it? His explanation makes no sense.

It sounds like your partner is drinking based on what you are saying.

I have been fooled by drunks and addicts before, and I will surely be fooled again.

I think I knew really anyway but didn't want to believe it. Thats why im on here. I wanted to check if anyone else had experienced the same. He seems to want me to believe hes done so much damage to his liver over the last 35 yrs that it cant take anything made from apples, grapes etc...he smokes a bit of other stuff from time to time when hes craving rather than have a drink. I thought his actions could be down to that but then that wouldn't explain the smell. Thank you to everyone who has replied. Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

We have a very active Friend and Family forum. Pop over there for support, if you care to share.

Friends and Family of Alcoholics - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

I hope that you can find some support for yourself.

Thank you all, I will do that.

That smell you detect is likely acetaldehyde - it's the "drunk" smell. It is the smell of one of the body's enzymes breaking down alcohol in the bloodstream.

HowStuffWorks "How Hangovers Work"

Course we can't say definitively from afar, but I went through a lot of denial when someone close to me lied again and again about something, and the rational I ended up going with was the "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck." But I know how even when confronted with evidence how hard it is to believe that someone close to us can continue to lie to us. It took people quite a while to convince me what was going on, but it was obvious in retrospect. Sorry if that's the case for you, but you still can decide if you want to put up with the lying or not...

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Ive supported him in his struggle for 10 yrs. Its been hard but he turned a corner or so we thought. He knows I was and still am unable to go back to where we were 4 yrs ago. So I think thats why he wont tell me. He thinks ill walk. He finds it so hard to open up and talk to anyone. Guess I need to sit him down and tell him he tells me the truth and agree to get help and then ill stay and support him as I always have. Gosh life can be so hard. Thanks again.

He's very lucky to have you around. I certainly hope you can find help and peace for yourself and your kids and that he can get help too.

Assuming you are not a recovered A yourself, the next time he does this, just grab his drink and take a quick taste of it. If it has alcohol in it you'll know. I am sure there are test strips out there as well if you want to remove all doubt.

From where I stand, I'm pretty sure he is drinking.