Crack addiction?

[bunny50]

My husband is a long time drug addict.  He used to just smoke only pot and quit a couple of years ago because he had been caught doing crack and was given the ultimatum.  But he keeps on going on binges doing crack.  I was wondering if someone who supposedly can go without crack or any drugs for a couple of months and then binges is addicted to crack.  Any information will help.  He knows that he shouldn't be doing this and still does no matter what the results can be for his lifestyle, health and family life.  It is just unbelievable hat a middle age person who does no drugs for months will continue to take such risks with everything that is important to his life.  He has already seen the results of his behavior and knows it will get worse but still binges. Any information will be a great help for us to understand this issue more.  thx

[hndoug2011]

my husband  and I have been going through this same situation for 5yrs in oct.  but its the opposite way around  I'm the addict and the reason why I'm on this page right now is bc I have been binging for 2 days I borrowed 400 dollars from my boss and I also had 400 dollars  o that's 800 dollars I have smoke  sometimes I just wish that next hit would stop my heart  I cry and beg him everytime to please not leave me I wont do it again it always happen at ike the most stressful times   I cant go to in rehab bc I have a disabled child and my husband is a tour bus driver   if I get caught this time I'm not gonna beg him to stay its not fair to him

[crackaddictsgirlfriend]

My boyfriend is in the exact same situation as you. And he's been going to a rehab group and supposedly clean for several years. He allowed me to go to a one on one with therapist, he was high when we went...therapist said inpatient treatment is the only choice for him. Now he's been arrested for possession and says did a couple weeks in the county jail. Now he swears he will not use again for fear of going back to jail it was so bad. He will be either randomly or regularly drug tested while on probation and he says that's enough of a deterrent. What happens next time the cravings hit??? Every time he lies to my face and he thinks people don't know he's using, which they do.

[Mom314]

Run, do not walk. Do not marry a drug addict. My son is a crackhead and is fighting every day to stay clean.  He was in a program for 1 1/2 yrs with strong support . I have one of his children with me. The children suffer big time.
Addicts steal, lie and cheat in order to keep it all going. He used us ( his parents) for years before I attended a meeting and had my eyes opened . We enabled him to use all his money fro drugs. We supported his kids. His girlfriend is also a druggy. She took off last month, She returned when
the party stopped. Cut the guy loose. The pain never ends with drug addicts.
my son may be clean at this time but we can never trust him again.

I am sad for his children as they will never have memories of a warm loving home with mom and dad. They have been through a nightmare.
  I have one of them and we hope to get the other two soon.
  My son has health issues related to drug abuse. He needs surgery to repair the damage done to his septum in his nose. You need a drugggy like you need cancer. Best of luck

[DeltaRedd1984]

I know how you feel and I know the pain you are experiencing.  My husband is a recovering crack addict.  It took him loosing everything including his freedom before he finally decided that he wanted help.  Today, he is in a long-term treatment center and is currently working with a great sponsor.  I put my husband of our home in April of last year by going to family court and explaining to the judge what was happening at our home and requesting an order of protection.  The next thing I did was to join an Al-Anon support group and to start working on my own emotional, mental and spiritual recovery.

I have been in Al-Anon for one year and it has literally saved my life.  The only thing I can tell you is that your husband's addiction will continue to get worst and his life will continue to spin out of control.  The question you need to ask yourself will you allow your husband's disease destroy your life, peace of mind and happiness.

Bunny please understand, that you did not cause your husband's addiction, nor can you control or cure his addiction but you can contribute to his addict.  Right now, you need to take care of you.  You need to stop the chaos so that your life can become manageable again.  

Al-Anon is a support group and a great place for you to start your recovery process because addiction affects the entire family and not just the addict.  The non-addict in the family thinking becomes distorted when trying to make rational decisions.  Someone above provided you with a link to Al-Anon, contact them and attend as many meeting that you can.  Al-Anon is definitely for you and your love ones who have been affected by your husband's addiction. The web site below is also an online support group for family who have loved ones that are addicts.

God bless you and your family keep coming back.  You are not alone.

http://www.*************.org/c/Families-and-Friends-Of-Addicts/support-group?mosmsg=Welcome!+You+have+been+added+to+the+Families+%26+Friends+Of+Addicts+support+group

[needhelp099]

Hi i need some help! my fiance is long time user of ice, speed, anythin he can get his hand on to. the last 3 weeks he has had 3 huge nights out drinking alcohol, well thats what hes telling me. But i am not sure. he sneaks out without telling me where he is going and i dont see him till the next day. he dosnt reply to my messages and i hve no idea what he is doing. he purposed to me on friday night and i beleived him when he promised me that it wasnt going to happen again! but it did last night and i dont know what to do. i love him so much and i have no idea how to deal with drugs. can someone please help me, as he is a total different man when he is sober!

[jt808]

hey buddy sorry to hear about ur situation, but this post is a very very oldt so u mite not get any responses but u can either start ur own post or read others but just dont be suprised if u dont hear back from the original poster. good luck bud.

[crackedup]

Hey bunny! I really feel like I understand your situation...and to some extent, your husband. I know about this exact type of behavior because I do the same thing. I just found this site and am here this morning because of my stupid stupid crack problem/addiction. I am SO sick of it all. But that doesn't appear to be enough.When I was a kid (18 to early 20's) I was an extreme pothead. I smoked pot all the time, I even smoked pot before I got out of bed. Nothing was good enough for me without the enhancement of pot. I got married started having kids and gave up smoking pot. It reallly wasn't that big of a deal either. 22 years went by and then I first smoked crack.....oh my God. I fell "in love" with the junk. At first I could kind of take it or leave it and getting through a workday wasn't a problem and I only did it at night and on weekends. But eventually I wanted to do it all the time. It didn't take long before everything real and important in my life was in jeopardy......especially my job. My employer made it real easy for me to get help, go to rehab and "get better". But after rehab I didn't want to return to work and I still wanted crack. Long story short, that was 15 years ago. Now, I am unemployed and on disability due to physical injury. Every month I get a check that BARELY covers my living expenses and every month when that check comes all I can think about is "getting high". This leads to a lot of unpaid bills and weeks of very little food and NO money, no ability to do ANYTHING that might bring pleasure. And it's all because the first thing I do is go on a crack binge. This behavior doesn't make ANY SENSE, ESPECIALLY for someone my age and I cannot believe the suffering I endure for the rest of the month because I had to have my crack binge. I have lost the trust and support of my family and I don't know what I am going to do. If I can't find a way to stop this I know it will kill me. Your husband needs help! Unless his using has no negative effects on his life and your life together and unless he has an unlimited source of money he has to find a way to stop!! He is an addict, if to nothing else but to the brief pleasure that his binges give him. What is he like after the binges? What kind of negative side effects are caused by his behavior?

Interested AND sympathetic

[daisy699]

Hi Dava I was interested in reading your thread or story about your friend you have lost due to crack or meth? Where can I find it did you post on this site..Daisy

[DavaSage]

Please ask me for more details on the horrors of coke, ice / meth,

I was there....

[DavaSage]

Please see my true story about my friend, who is now gone due to coke habit.

Same same....

[gizzy32]

I hope you come back and let us know how you are. Your right about the tricky part, us addicts will do whatever it takes to use and when i was around crack addicts, the ones without jobs still found ways to buy it. Crack is a monster drug to kick and stay clean from. If he is willing to go to the counsellor that is a great start, but he truly has to want this for himself first and foremost and it takes work to beat our addictions. Here is a link for alanon, if there are any close to you, i think you would benefit greatly. Take care of yourself.

http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/

[IBKleen]

I will talk with you anytime and so many others will as well. Talk to us when you get back.

[bunny50]

I have had him move out for about a week and I have also moved out for the same amount of time.  I have watched the bank account.  And made sure he did not have money to do this.  But he is tricky and has alot of time to do his own thing.  Works for himself now and has access to enough money to do anything without me knowing. I am going out but will be back in a couple of hours.  I really need help to decide what to do about this situation.  And the thing is he can go for such long periods of time without using and then out of the blue he disappears and wow your back in the original situation.

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

If he is willing to back to the doctor then start with that........if you are going to go try and help him get through this you have to start somewhere. He doesnt consciously wish to destroy himself and the lives of those that he loves.....but the drug is powerful beyond belief....you may want to investigate al-anon....decent group for families of people with problems to help them understand ...............

[IBKleen]

What I mean by enabling is that you are there and allowing the behavior. It seems that you have turned your head and accepted that this will go on forever.

I don't want to tell you what to do with your marriage, that is a tough place you are in. Let me ask you this, have you ever asked him to leave?

[bunny50]

How am I enabling him?  And how can I stop this?  I obviously need help. I don't understand

[IBKleen]

You are breaking my heart. It sounds like you feel there is no other way and this is the way life is going to be. It does not have to be like this.

YOU can break the cycle. YOU can have a life. You are enabling him by allowing this to happen and it won't get better until one of you makes a step for themselves.

I hope you find the strength to get help for yourself.

[bunny50]

Thx for the help.  I see this going on forever (it has been going on over 7 years) and it is destroying our family.  He is willing to go back to the dr for counseling but no in-patient treatment.  Because of work, etc.  We seem to live a hidden life when it comes to this.  Hide, hide.  Obviously it has made a lot of changes.  Thanks for explaining it more clearly so I understand it better.  I have lived over 1/2 my life with him and don't want to leave him but this is not what I expected at this stage of my life.  So with your help I can have a better idea what is going on and not just think he was just doing it because he felt like it and doesn't care about the rest of effects on his family.  thanks, thanks

[gizzy32]

IBKleen is right, most crack addicts will go on binges, then stop for awhile, some don't stop. THis drug is so mentally addictive he is going to need some help to learn how to fight through those cravings. My coke cravings were so strong that when it hit, NOTHING else mattered and crack cocaine is even stronger. I still can't explain it, but it's like something else completely takes over your mind, anxiety and panic would set in and sometimes i actually felt high without using which made those cravings even worse. I was terrified of craving cause i did not know how to beat them and they were very scary.

Is he willing to get some help? We say we want to quit, but until we surrender and accept we are powerless, that terrible cycle will continue. Good luck and i hope he sees the light. Keep us updated.

[IBKleen]

Hi,

Most crack addicts do binge, just like your husband. It is not a physically addicting drug so they can go without it but it is psychologically addicting, and in a BIG way. The cravings for it are unreal and most crack addicts will do anything to get their drug when the cravings hit.

He needs help and I need to suggest in-patient treatment. If he does not deal with the mental aspect of this disease he will continue his behavior and it will get worse.

I hope he gets the help he needs.