Dealing with something similar. The conversation of doing this together is there until he gets around his buddies. And when I give him a certian look, he tells me to calm down. I understand if the other persons chooses to use still, I just like the commitment that was made and Friday night comes along and its gone. I wish you luck girl, I know the struggle is real.
It kinda made me revaluate my relationship.
There was no commitment to sobriety by my other half and I never asked for it, though she did support my desire all the way.
Stopped drinking at home for a while and was and still is really behind me.
It depends on my mood and how his drinking is affecting me at that moment. If he has been drinking already and we plan to go out, I’ll usually tell him to go without me. If he hasn’t been drinking then I’ll go with him but sometimes I end up leaving early when he starts acting stupid drunk with his friends. I don’t find it funny but rather annoying. I try to make time to go out with my own friends for lunch or dinner to get some me time. It’s challenging and we’re not having a lot of quality time together when we do go out.
Well…I’m in the same spot. I’ve been sober 49 days. My husband finally joined in around my 24th day but only lasted about 2 weeks. Those first two weeks were hard for me because there was always alcohol in the house. Lots! So self restraint was a must. At first he started sneaking it. I finally called him out last night. Not in a condescending way, because this is my sobriety, not his. It’s not easy living with an alcoholic. But you have to be selfish and do what you need to do to stay sober. I see how he behaves and it fuels my sobriety even more. I chose not to join in with his events. I go visit friends,family. Outdoor activities, shopping. Reading. Painting. Anything to keep the stuff out of my system. Honestly, you only have yourself with sobriety. You can’t force him to stop too. It’s a choice. I’m proud of you! Keep moving forward. Avoid what might trigger you as much as possible.
Shouldnt be having relationships for the first 9 months to a year. Your gonna go thru a buncha phases of irritability, depression, along with many other things that isnt gonna help a relationship thrive. When i got sober drunks and people that got high annoied me. so i preferably dont want that in a partner. It doesnt matter how attractive they may be its kinda like a personality that makes them ugly to me. To each thier own though🤷…
My personal opinon…if a person isn’t willing to quit when you do…they care more about it than they do you. If it doesnt fall apart immediately it will eventually. For that very reason. A committed relationship means committed to each other, not addiction. No offense intended, just an opinon. I’ve seen it happen even years later. Sending you strength in your recovery😁 Congratulations
Your sobriety is yours and his will be his; it’s an idividual effort as far as a relationship is concerned. Sounds a little like an uphill battle until you commit to yours.
I know it is hard to have a partner who is still drinking and or using. It adds more complexity, but does not make sobriety impossible. However, if they are hiding or lying to you, that is another issue altogether. Gstting your self sober needs to be your priority, not what they are or aren’t doing. I know that can feel very difficult, but it can be done. Are you able or interested in meetings? That would get you out of the house for a bit and get you into a positive healing community (hopefully). Also, are you able to get time and space to yourself at home? I took A LOT of time away in a separate room in my early sobriety…spent tons of time reading, sleeping, journaling on my own away from my husband drinking. Or I went out for walks or soaked in the tub or went bicycling or to fitness or yoga classes (back when we could). I know it is more problematic now.
One of the most important things I had to really understand was that getting sober was 100% MY responsibility … it doesn’t matter who is drinking or what is happening around me…my sobriety is my issue. Keeping the focus on me helped a lot.
I will include a link to some other threads about partners who drink. Maybe you can find some comfort or inspiration there as well. Please know you are not alone and you can do this!!
Willing to quit and actually quitting are two very different things. Addiction is a very hard disease to arrest. Took me two very severe relapses before I was able to reach that point of desperation that allowed me to get sober. At this point in my addiction it wasn’t that I cared more about drugs than my family or partner. I didn’t. I hated drugs, but I was incapable of quitting until I reached that desperation point.
Well my story sounded much like yours. Only my ex husband who committed to getting sober with me was drinking after work and taking pain meds behind my back.
Which then turned into him getting back on hard drugs. I left right before he started with the other drugs.
I found that my sobriety was in jeopardy when I started thinking I wanted to drink because I was so pissed off at him ALL the time.
At that point I realized he was also stealing my pain meds from my surgery I had just had. It was time for me to move out and move on.
I have seriously never been happier. Being in a relationship where he “supported” my sobriety by pretending to be sober with me was stressful and tiring.
Everybody’s situation is different and you need to do what is best for you. When I chose to be sober, I was in a relationship of twelve years with someone who also drank daily. I was told not to make any drastic changes in my first year, but I knew if I didn’t leave him and our household I wasn’t going to thrive. I walked away from the relationship and the majority of our household belongings. Today I am 82 days sober and I can talk to my ex as a friend. He continues to drink daily and I’m so happy I’m not part of that. Our relationship was proof that love isn’t enough. He essentially chose beer over our relationship. It took some time and one relapse before I realized I was doing the right thing by ending our relationship. Make YOU #1, make your sobriety your priority and don’t look back.
My advice, based on the relationship you described, maybe you should take some time apart and focus on yourself? Successful Sobriety is really about recovering from the issues that led us to drinking/ using/etc and also from the damage the addiction caused. You were a whole person before you met your SO, so based on the length of the relationship ~ year, I’m assuming a lot of the reasons you drank have nothing to do with them… yet a lot of your decisions and thoughts are focused on what they are doing and how to work things out between the two of you.
Imo the focus should be on you and your addiction/sobriety vs you and his addictions/sobriety. If you want a successful relationship (with anyone) you should start by putting yourself first.
And congrats on your sobriety!
I really don’t care if people drink around me, I have come to realize just how much I used to drink compare to my friends who drink in moderation, I do tend to skip events with lots of boozing as it not some much fun when you not in the groove, in fact my wife has only started drinking dunce I stopped, suppose she never wanted to encorouge me or give me an excuse to drink
Oh no I agree with that… I obviously didnt state that well enough. I meant when the person isn’t willing…
What @Lionfish said.
I spent so much time trying to “help” fix the people around me. And it’s exhausting, I think because it doesn’t work. It’s spinning my tires. All I can change is my part of a relationship. Their behavior shouldn’t have so much bearing on mine.
Plus a lot of time my making the effort to be a better, more present person alone turns the ship around.
And if it doesn’t, well… Maybe it’s not the relationship I thought it was. But how can I know that if I’m not staying present and being true to myself first?
This is so very important.
I respectfully disagree. Expecting someone else to change because we have is just another form of self-will, and sets up the very likely possibly of resentment.
Live and let live.
True but we dont have to stay with them.
Everyone need some time by them selves especially when going through it
Nope, don’t have to stay with anyone but ourselves!