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‘So I’m back and I’m not going to give up.’ Love this. Sometimes it really is – one moment at a time. One moment at a time is manageable. Prayers Danman83.
Louisa2021, look for a NarAnon meeting. You will meet so many people that have a similar story to yours. This support group will help you through this. Try a different NarAnon meeting if the meeting(s) you find aren’t beneficial for you. If you’re not married and you don’t have children with this man, most people will tell you to get away from him for good. That’s my advice as you will have a better life experience without him.
I’m the wife, who thought we left the nightmare behind decades ago. If I knew then what I know now – would I still be here? I keep asking myself. His addiction has provided so much hurt. I didn’t deserve any of it. Neither did he. I didn’t sign up for it. I mean really, if the person you love were to tell you flat out, ‘I’m gonna do coke, and I’m gonna disappear for long periods of time – you will never know where I’m going or who I will be with or know what we will do, large amounts of money will be spent, you will be treated badly, there will be numerous lies – right to your face, and there will be cheating.’ This will be your life. Does it matter if they love you or you love them? Trying hard to keep my truth, which is to be happy with us one day at a time going forward. Stay in the present moment and not think about the events that are in the past that I hate. If you really love your wife (addicted man), give up the drugs anyway that you can and let yourself be happy again. And, wife if you really love your addicted man – give him a chance to be happy again. By truly leaving it in the past. How’s that for a challenge?
It was decades ago, and I suspected several – no, many times that he might be cheating. But, then I would immediately not believe it when thinking about the man that I knew and loved. That man wouldn’t cheat on me. The man on the cocaine married to me would and did cheat. I didn’t know about the coke and didn’t believe he would cheat. The cheating I just found out about last year.
This freak show went on for about 5 years. Today knowing what I now, I have all these emotions. I feel weirded out by all this. This man that I love. He is embarrassed by his behavior all those years ago – the coke years. I’m still processing this. He quit the coke decades ago the day I found out about it, that’s what we both wanted. We are blessed. I have to forgive and put it behind us if there is any chance for happiness. As I continue to wonder where he was all those hours and days during the coke years. Where do our loved ones go when they disappear and leave us to go on their drug binge? When I ask he gets this look on face that he is also weirded out. He doesn’t want to look at it. Look at what? What happened? When will I know the rest? Does it matter?
It was decades ago, and I suspected several – no, many times that he might be cheating. But, then I would immediately not believe it when thinking about the man that I knew and loved. That man wouldn’t cheat on me. The man on the cocaine married to me would and did cheat. I didn’t know about the coke and didn’t believe he would cheat. The cheating I just found out about last year.
This freak show went on for about 5 years. Today knowing what I now, I have all these emotions. I feel weirded out by all this. This man that I love. He is embarrassed by his behavior all those years ago – the coke years. I’m still processing this. He quit the coke, that’s what we both wanted. We are blessed. I have to forgive and put it behind us if there is any chance for happiness. As I continue to wonder where he was all those hours and days during the coke years. Where do our loved ones go when they disappear and leave us to go on their drug binge? When I ask he gets this look on face that he is also weirded out. He doesn’t want to look at it. Look at what? What happened? When will I know the rest?
Hi Vics82. I feel your pain, I’ve been where you are. My advice is to focus on the immediate moment, and go one moment at a time. Whether it is spending time with your children, the task at hand, or a quiet bath for yourself. Make the most of these moments and try to find the peace you need within yourself.
My heart breaks for you. If you decide to stay with him, protect yourself and your children for the worst as it may happen. My story may be one of the best and I have more than 40 years in. Click on my user id and read my earlier posts. I love him – that’s never been the issue. He says that I saved him, who knows – maybe I did. I’d like to think so anyways. I’d also like to think that we can stay together without anymore relapses, but he has chosen the drug over me before. Maybe he will again. You never know. My advice is to get out, if not for yourself – then for your kids. Take care of yourself either way.
Don’t feel terrible for looking for the truth. You deserve the truth. Perhaps if you step back, it will give him time to rethink his response and he will tell you and show his true self. If he does or doesn’t tell you, it will prove to be the same – a lifetime of heartache.
Hi Amy. I agree with Danman, to get your accounts separate. When my husband quit years ago, I worked on changing this and all these years later this hasn’t changed. Our bank/credit accounts are still separate. I joined group support and learned that there are many more decisions than to stay or go, the bank accounts were one of those decisions.
You are in a better spot than I was, as I didn’t know what the hell was going on. He kept all of it from me and kept me guessing.
Years ago I told his parents. He was mad, but it made a difference and helped him quit. My husband had a great childhood- raised by both his loving parents with his wonderful siblings. There was no bad thing that happened to him that caused him to turn to drugs. I joined a support group all those years ago, which helped me deal with it. This time I went to an IC – nobody else knows.
This privacy has helped us and as much upset as I have been – being with him and talking through this has brought us closer together. He feels embarrassed and humiliated by his behaviors all those years ago. Now we just want to enjoy the years that we have, which is why we have recently chosen not to talk about it as it just puts us in such a bad place.
Cocaine is the devil. Almost 40 years ago, my husband was an occasional user. No big deal he thought as everybody else where he worked was using it. We were together about 10 years and just bought our first house, pregnant with out first. It took ahold of him. I didn’t know what was happening, but I did certainly feel things shift. I was so happy that I was pregnant, and then things were just off. He was different, but I couldn’t figure it out. Gone so much of the time, irritable, distracted, not affectionate, not happy. I thought that eventually he would just tell me what was wrong. Maybe his job. I don’t know. So, I stayed busy took care of him and our kids. He became so awful at times, and didn’t seem to care about anything. This went on/off for about 5 years, until the day that I opened the bank statement. He confessed to the drugs and stopped the cocaine right then. I was devastated. Why did this happen to us? Things got better and I forgot. We never even talked about it again until a few years ago when I suspected that he cheated on me during those years. He denied it, but then again a year ago this was in front of me again. He confessed. What? Devastated again. Why? We weren’t even fighting. I love him, always there for him. I’m not even sure what really happened. The world that I lived everyday with him, wasn’t even reality. I remember cuddling up to his back while he slept wondering what was happening. He has traumatized me with this – and, I suspect he has traumatized himself. He isn’t the man that I fell in love with in the beginning, during those 5 years, or now. He is three different versions of that man. The giving, caring, loving man that I first met didn’t come all the way back to me after he quit the cocaine. Parts of him can’t. He did things that he still can’t even look at – this comes between him and I. He feels that if he shows me the total truth, then I’m gone. Will I be? I don’t know. I didn’t deserve any of this, neither did our children – or, even himself. It’s not easy being married to someone who hides. Thing is, the cocaine version of him – wasn’t him. He says he was the same guy, but he wasn’t. He was selfish, arrogant, mean, careless, cold, lonely, scared, etc. Last year, it felt like it ran over me all over again. Just violently knocked me right over. For months I was a mess, so hard not to cry only to realize that I was crying. After a year of trying to process it all and remembering it all with this new knowledge that he was cheating – it has been so overwhelming. I’m sure that we would not still be together now had I known about this back then. I couldn’t have handled all of it then. It’s too much. All these years later, it’s a different conversation then the one that we would have had then. There probably would not have been a conversation – I would have just left – quietly. I would have found a way to get away from him to save our kids and myself. But, what would have happened to him had I left – this scares me so much. The last 35 years or so have been very happy years. He has come back to me the best that he could. He admitted to two incidents when he relapsed. 6 months after he quit and then just a couple of years ago. That is incredible. I’m proud of him for that. But, so scared about the recent relapse. I love him – always. I want to forget about all of it again and move forward – leave it behind. It haunts me everyday. Some moments are better than others. I can’t look at the old photos from those years. I have chosen and he has chosen not to talk about it. I don’t want to live everyday with it. I feel blessed that we survived it as I know that so many haven’t. God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.