boyfriend fresh out of rehab- just a few questions
 

Hi. So my boyfriend just completed a 90 day in patient program for heroin abuse. He's been home since Saturday and seems to be doing really good. He already got a good job and his head seems to be in a really good place. The only thing I did notice last night is that he was twitching a little while he was sleeping. Is that normal for someone that has been off dope for 90 days? It wasn't too bad and not NEARLY as bad as it was before he went to rehab but it was just something I noticed. I asked him about it and he said it was because of all the dope he did. He also drank a some beers last night before he went to bed. Maybe that has something to so with it???I also don't really know when he would have had time to even score dope since he worked all day. But we all know how that goes... Let me know what you think. And also any other info, advice or suggestions you have for me would be much appreciated.

oh and thanks so much!

I have never been with an H addict, but can tell you that my X twitches really badly when he drinks. His legs specifically. I am not really sure of the reasoning, but if he does not drink it does not happen.

Good luck to both of you!

Yeah. I'm thinking that it might have something to do with that but I just want to make sure. He is just so fresh out of rehab so I'm a little on edge and I know this is a hard battle for him. thanks for the comment!

Good luck guys I know it's hard I'm fresh out of rehab also got 51 days and felt protected in rehab got home and felt like pile of **** hit me thankfully I'm maintaining I'm praying alot and texting all my rehab friends do whatever u got to do to not pick up##!

I'm sorry sweetie. .just keep praying for him...hit ur knees for him all u can do give it to God

Thanks. I will! Maybe I'll keep searching the web for fact about this twitching thing. I'm having a hard time really finding anything besides it being a symptom of withdrawals. He should be pretty done with that by now.

Sorry to say this as every addict is different but after I used h , when I slept I would twitch but hopefully its not the case. I'm not trying to plant a seed an I am prayin for u now. 90 days is not a long time stall an the twitches could still b withdraws. Hope ur fella stays strong an u too

I hope things go well for you and your boyfriend.

I think it's possible that drinking alcohol will interfere with his recovery.

There is support for you here and you might also want to check out Alanon or NarAnon.

This is what I was going to say.
Congrats to him for completing a 90 day program.

If he was in Rehab for 90 days and just got out and "had some beers", then prepare for the worst. He is not doing good and his head is not in the right place. I am not saying that it is possible to be addicted to only one substance and to be able to do others, but any kind of rehab he had would have for 90 days likely told him each day that he should not drink either. I wish both of you the best.

I agree it is a very bad sign. A drug is a drug and any rehab will have made that clear

The symptom described is typically referred to as an involuntary muscle spasm.
Unfortunately, it can be caused (when opioids are involved) by either active drug use or by an acute withdrawal syndrome.
In my experience, 90 days+ from discontinuing heroin is not usually a period of acute withdrawal. I have worked with addicts who transitioned to Suboxone or methadone and had continuing mild twitching/spasm effects. Is your boyfriend taking one of these?
My advice is to watch him carefully for any signs of dope use. Pinned pupils, scratching, slurring, money disappearing, etc. Hopefully, this is just a delayed withdrawal symptom.
And he should cut out the beer for now. Bad idea.

Hi and welcome! I know drugs + alcohol destroy the central nervous system, so it may be related to that. I agree with the others, he shouldn't be drinking. It could be a gateway back to the other substances. They all are mind altering and alcohol addiction will be just as bad.

alumni, thanks for the reply. He is not taking subs or methadone. I also haven't noticed any other symptoms at all. Just the jerking at night and it was pretty mild but still there. I guess I will just keep watching and make sure that no other signs pop up. thanks again for your input.

hope it goes well ! nice to meet you

hang in there

I would be monitoring the beer consumption. I don't want to sound harsh or condescending, trust me...but this is very thin ice for someone who just got out of a 90 day rehab. It's a slippery slope. Even if "beer" wasn't his issue...it has the ability to cause some major chaos.
Be well. :)

well, Its been two weeks since this post and things are not looking good. Last Friday night, he was supposed to be going out with some guys from his work and ended up staying out all night. I called and texted several times but he totally ignored me. I finally heard from him the next afternoon. He said he was out drinking all night long and just got a room because he didn't want to drive home. So I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. But meanwhile he was still acting weird. Very secretive with his phone, not answering certain calls. All his money was gone. He said that he spent $250 on a down payment for a ring for me but I don't believe that. We ended up getting in a fight over this on Sunday night and I told him that if he didn't want to talk to me about these issues then he should just leave. So he left. Since then I have heard very little from him. He came "home" on Wednesday night and again, convinced me that he was fine and we were going to try to work things out but then on Thursday night....POOF! No boyfriend. This time he turned his phone off and said that he couldn't call me because his phone was dead and it was "too late" to just come home. Since then I have not seen him. He doesn't answer the phone or return my calls or texts. Last night I decided to send him a text that basically said that it seems to me like there is no other option other than he has relapsed based on his actions and that I am here to support him and will not be mad or upset and we can work on this together. I kind of figure that he's scared and ashamed to tell me that he's using again. That text went ignored all day. He finally wrote he wrote back this morning (about the time he goes to work) with "hi. I got a place. I didn't relapse" uhhh what!?!? After being MIA for pretty much a week, that's all you have to say? Needless to say, I didn't even reply. At this point I know that he's got to be lying about not using...right??? He does seem to be going to his job everyday but everything else just seems off and just like his old patterns. And even if he's not using, he's being a crappy boyfriend. It sucks. Any input or advice on how to deal with this and help me get over the pain of losing him.. again would be appreciated.

I am sorry, that has to hurt. I think the trend I see with H users is that their partners always say how they disappear. I would guess he is using. I think you should look at the big picture. Do you want a life with an addict who lies to you and disappears?

I would say to go to NarAnon meetings so you have face to face support. Maintain no contact with him. Do nice things for yourself and stay busy. So sorry.

XXX

Time is probably the only way to deal with the pain of losing a boyfriend. It will ease as you move on. Staying with him will only prolong the pain--the pain of living with an addict and the later pain of having him choose heroin over you.

Accept the current pain of him being out of your life. You'll get over it sooner.