Aa
I am freaking out here
My husband just completed treatment not even 2 weeks ago and he got drunk tonight. I mean cra*-faced, tripping over things, slurring speech drunk. He hasn't even had his final appointment with his doctor. That would be Monday. I don't really know how the whole drinking after treatment thing goes but I'd bet quite a bit of money, that 2 weeks after treatment is not a good idea.
I knew this was coming. There's just no way to really be prepared for it. My hubby, great guy that he is, is an alcoholic and there is just no drinking in moderation for him. He drank right up until he started treatment and clearly is right back at it. The truth is sometimes I secretly wished he were a 1a or b, so that he'd have to treat for a year.
A client had a party tonight for him and his crews to show appreciation for a job well done. Doesn't really matter what the occasion is....I guess there will be always be an occasion. He did completely abstain during treatment. I've been so caught up in my own treatment, I haven't given his potential drinking a thought. Now that it's actually happened, I feel like somebody punched me. We've been married 25 years and I've been dealing with it all this time. But, he's been stone cold sober for 6 months, (he's a 2b) and I really like him sober. I don't want to go back to dealing with drunkenness, especially now that I'm treating. It's gonnna be too much to deal with. He just can't ever drink without getting falling down drunk. He's harmless, never, ever violent or abusive. He just goes to sleep.
Continued below
I knew this was coming. There's just no way to really be prepared for it. My hubby, great guy that he is, is an alcoholic and there is just no drinking in moderation for him. He drank right up until he started treatment and clearly is right back at it. The truth is sometimes I secretly wished he were a 1a or b, so that he'd have to treat for a year.
A client had a party tonight for him and his crews to show appreciation for a job well done. Doesn't really matter what the occasion is....I guess there will be always be an occasion. He did completely abstain during treatment. I've been so caught up in my own treatment, I haven't given his potential drinking a thought. Now that it's actually happened, I feel like somebody punched me. We've been married 25 years and I've been dealing with it all this time. But, he's been stone cold sober for 6 months, (he's a 2b) and I really like him sober. I don't want to go back to dealing with drunkenness, especially now that I'm treating. It's gonnna be too much to deal with. He just can't ever drink without getting falling down drunk. He's harmless, never, ever violent or abusive. He just goes to sleep.
Continued below
I am so sorry to hear you have to go through this, especially while worrying about yourself on treatment. I'd be lying if I said I could relate, as fortunately, I never really drank, or had family that did.
I hope he could recognize the problem, and strator is a great example of being able to turn it around.
I hope he is able to seek and get help. I didn't read the whole thread, but there are many here who could offer you good support and advice. I will be praying for you.
On another note, maybe this will cheer you up. I know you cut short your tx time with 950, but yesterday's info shows it shouldn't hurt you when going for SVR.
I almost hate to post some of this, because I don't know how well it will go over with some. But, it might be of importance to you, so I will.
The liver conference embargo was lifted Friday, so companies were allowed to issue press releases talking about their presentations.
VRTX reported additional follow up data (that I posted some of it below) from the 14 day trial and 28 day trial at the end of last year.
The 14 day trial was with 950 and IFN only, then a subset took SOC out to 6 months.
12 weeks after stopping treatment, 5 of those 6 are still undetectable, which is fantastic. Even though there was no riba in the begininng, and they only took 950 for 14 days, it looks like 5 of those 6 will be SVR in half of the time. I know you took it for much longer than 14 days, and went undetectable pretty quickly. I hope you have the same results as those 5. I think risk of relapse for those 5 is low, as they are using a very sensitive assay, and normally it shows up by now.
I think they have a podcast talking about it on the web site, but I have not heard it.
Here are the results if you wanted to see it. Also note, 1 in the 28 day trial stopped SOC after 18 total weeks, and so far, is still undetectable.
http://www.vrtx.com/Pressreleases2006/pr102706.html
I hope he could recognize the problem, and strator is a great example of being able to turn it around.
I hope he is able to seek and get help. I didn't read the whole thread, but there are many here who could offer you good support and advice. I will be praying for you.
On another note, maybe this will cheer you up. I know you cut short your tx time with 950, but yesterday's info shows it shouldn't hurt you when going for SVR.
I almost hate to post some of this, because I don't know how well it will go over with some. But, it might be of importance to you, so I will.
The liver conference embargo was lifted Friday, so companies were allowed to issue press releases talking about their presentations.
VRTX reported additional follow up data (that I posted some of it below) from the 14 day trial and 28 day trial at the end of last year.
The 14 day trial was with 950 and IFN only, then a subset took SOC out to 6 months.
12 weeks after stopping treatment, 5 of those 6 are still undetectable, which is fantastic. Even though there was no riba in the begininng, and they only took 950 for 14 days, it looks like 5 of those 6 will be SVR in half of the time. I know you took it for much longer than 14 days, and went undetectable pretty quickly. I hope you have the same results as those 5. I think risk of relapse for those 5 is low, as they are using a very sensitive assay, and normally it shows up by now.
I think they have a podcast talking about it on the web site, but I have not heard it.
Here are the results if you wanted to see it. Also note, 1 in the 28 day trial stopped SOC after 18 total weeks, and so far, is still undetectable.
http://www.vrtx.com/Pressreleases2006/pr102706.html
Jodi, I'm not gonna ask you a lot of questions because I'm guessing you've been through this many times before. My daughter is in college too. I really can't even imagine what that must be like. I'm glad that she's happy and healthy, for the most part, and I'm glad that you're able to take on the burden and let her live her life. I do know that treating, going through a divorce and dealing with trying to petition vertex and/or FDA and all the other things that you are having to deal with sound completely overwhelming to me.
I'm glad you're handling it as well as you are and I believe in miracles too. There are so many promising new drugs in the pipeline....there's a lot to look forward to. I hope her scans remain clear and everything's ok for now. You'll have to come on every once in a while and keep us posted.
I wish you both the best, Charlotte
I'm glad you're handling it as well as you are and I believe in miracles too. There are so many promising new drugs in the pipeline....there's a lot to look forward to. I hope her scans remain clear and everything's ok for now. You'll have to come on every once in a while and keep us posted.
I wish you both the best, Charlotte
Thanks so much for that. I just briefly looked at some data yesterday but didn't really have much of a chance to absorb any of it. Those numbers are looking really good. This is really good news and something to be hopeful about. As always, thank you for taking the time to update us. It's much appreciated.
Charlotte
Charlotte
Your welcome, I hope it bodes well for you, and provides you a lift.
hi, yeah, I'm the one with the alcoholic/drug addict sister who is in ESLD...I'm not sure if they are going to give her a transplant, because she does take methodone....the jury is still out on that, they usually save those "much needed" livers for people who are really committed to taking care of themselves, so I still don't know, only time will tell...
You've gotten some really good advice here, something I forgot to add in my post...from everything I've ever seen, they say it's really not good to make major life changes while still on treatment...alcoholics are really good at going into denial, so he's probably playing games with his own logic thinking it's okay to get drunk again cause he's finished the meds...even though YOU are still on tx, he's prob CONVENIENTLY not factoring that in too much, in his own plans...Perhaps if you were to tell him how important it is for him to be sober and THERE for you, while youre still on them...maybe he can make that "sober sacrifice" again, except for you this time...
If he can't, he can't. As you know, usually alkies give up for themselves, and nobody else...Oftentimes sobriety does not work for them, in the long run, if it's for somebody else...though it can happen...especially if he thinks he'll be able to drink once YOU stop the meds yourself...but if he can't stop while youre treating....maybe send him to his mom's like was suggested...
The last thing you need while on these meds is coping with a slobbering drunk, that's a giant amount of stress without the meds in play...if he is able to stop while YOURE treating (and boy, that's a big IF as you know full well) maybe once you stop your treatment, you can discuss AA for him, or some other program, not every alcoholic can get sober on their own: though some can...prob most can't...they have REAL trouble thinking they'll never be able to drink for the rest of their lives...so AA is good because it teaches them to just go through that day...or that hour, or that minute if need be...then a day goes by, then 3 days, a week, and so on till many get 20 years sober...that can happen too...or he might like another program, but as al-anon teaches, it's prob time to focus on yourself and what your needs are, which is really important for yourself...
So many spouses of alcoholics get so wrapped up in their alcoholic's issues (which can usually induce the alcoholic to keep drinking, unfortunately) that al-anon is a great program for helping you to keep the focus on yourself and what you need to do as a healthy person...you already know that which is great...hope youre meeting goes well!
Gee I hate to even broach this, it's so explosive...but the average consensus is that if you dont have a drinking problem, and you dont have any real liver damage, it's okay to drink very moderately again once your SVR...that seems to be the average consensus, though others will disagree on some of the details...the best of luck to you....
You've gotten some really good advice here, something I forgot to add in my post...from everything I've ever seen, they say it's really not good to make major life changes while still on treatment...alcoholics are really good at going into denial, so he's probably playing games with his own logic thinking it's okay to get drunk again cause he's finished the meds...even though YOU are still on tx, he's prob CONVENIENTLY not factoring that in too much, in his own plans...Perhaps if you were to tell him how important it is for him to be sober and THERE for you, while youre still on them...maybe he can make that "sober sacrifice" again, except for you this time...
If he can't, he can't. As you know, usually alkies give up for themselves, and nobody else...Oftentimes sobriety does not work for them, in the long run, if it's for somebody else...though it can happen...especially if he thinks he'll be able to drink once YOU stop the meds yourself...but if he can't stop while youre treating....maybe send him to his mom's like was suggested...
The last thing you need while on these meds is coping with a slobbering drunk, that's a giant amount of stress without the meds in play...if he is able to stop while YOURE treating (and boy, that's a big IF as you know full well) maybe once you stop your treatment, you can discuss AA for him, or some other program, not every alcoholic can get sober on their own: though some can...prob most can't...they have REAL trouble thinking they'll never be able to drink for the rest of their lives...so AA is good because it teaches them to just go through that day...or that hour, or that minute if need be...then a day goes by, then 3 days, a week, and so on till many get 20 years sober...that can happen too...or he might like another program, but as al-anon teaches, it's prob time to focus on yourself and what your needs are, which is really important for yourself...
So many spouses of alcoholics get so wrapped up in their alcoholic's issues (which can usually induce the alcoholic to keep drinking, unfortunately) that al-anon is a great program for helping you to keep the focus on yourself and what you need to do as a healthy person...you already know that which is great...hope youre meeting goes well!
Gee I hate to even broach this, it's so explosive...but the average consensus is that if you dont have a drinking problem, and you dont have any real liver damage, it's okay to drink very moderately again once your SVR...that seems to be the average consensus, though others will disagree on some of the details...the best of luck to you....
oh, forgot to add (as if I haven't blathered enough, ha ha) if he were to get sober (by the grace) and you obtained SVR (and I'm sure youre going to) and you decided to start drinking moderately, I wouldn't necessarily drink in front of him, not for the first "whatever it takes" of his sobriety...that would prob be very challenging for him...so I'd go have that glass of wine or whatever with a girlfriend at lunch or whatever, if you know what I mean....my parents sure enjoyed their glass of wine with dinner, but my little sister lives with them, so they forgo it for her sake...and have it when she's not around...
With some recovering alcoholics, they have enough "recovery" to be able to sit around with people drinking alcohol, and it's okay for them, they are not challenged....but not all, and not in the first span of time in their recovery process....
Course I'm speaking about a lot of contingencies here...
With some recovering alcoholics, they have enough "recovery" to be able to sit around with people drinking alcohol, and it's okay for them, they are not challenged....but not all, and not in the first span of time in their recovery process....
Course I'm speaking about a lot of contingencies here...
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