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Your Turn: “My Boyfriend is a Heroin Addict”

In a feature I call “Your Turn,” in which you, the readers, get to answer the question, I’m presenting the following letter without commentary from me:

I just found out that my addict boyfriend is using heroin again. I had been asking him for the past month whether he was using heroin and he lied and said he wasn’t. Finally, he was honest and said he had been using heroin for a while but he wants to be clean. This is the fifth time he has said this but the first time since we’ve been together.

I feel so stupid. I saw so many red flags, but I wanted more than anything for them to be wrong. I’m not sure what to do. A majority of addicts will relapse over and over until they overdose. I’m not sure why he felt he couldn’t tell me because I’m nothing but supportive towards him. When he does pop pills or smokes weed or anything else, I’m so cavalier about it, but this drug is pure evil!

He’s been through it so many times and is miserable, so why does he keep doing it to himself? Watching him go through withdrawal is heart-breaking. The fact he lied and that he would do it while we are living together is heart-breaking. I don’t know what to do. Do you have advice? — His Other Love is Heroin

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If you have a relationship/dating question I can help answer, you can send me your letters at wendy@dearwendy.com.

57 Comments

  1. Avatar photo theattack says:

    MOA. You can’t trust an addict. You feel like you’ve been accepting of him and he still lied to you. You’re right, relapses are very common. With that knowledge, you should decide to leave because you are smart enough to know that he’s going to continue to use heroin and to lie to you about it over and over again until he actually recovers. I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s hard to love someone in the depths of an addiction because you hate to see them hurt and because deep down you know that they love their substance more than they love you. You can’t have a healthy relationship with that dynamic. It’s impossible.

  2. Heroin would be a deal breaker for me. That, and abuse of prescription pain pills. It goes hand in hand with destructive behavior, which is not at all good for a healthy relationship.

    A good friend of mine was married to a pain pill addict. She bent over backwards to help him get clean, to help him hide his habit, and even once, she picked up the pills for him. It was not good for either of them. She ended up leaving him, after he left her with mounds and mounds of medical debt (which in our state, both of the spouses are on the hook for, regardless of whose debt it was). After she left him, she was in a much better place. And I just went to her wedding to an awesome guy this weekend.

  3. I’m sorry LW, you can’t help your boyfriend. Unfortunately, heroin abuse is becoming more & more common because of the “pill popping” you describe (heroin is cheaper than oxy or percoset, & it’s the same high, so people who experiments with prescriptions are more likely to realize this at some point). MOA.

    1. *experiment

      also, cross out the “more” & just read it as “likely”, I don’t know why I can’t write today, ha

    2. This is terrifying. I’m hoping my brother doesn’t make this connection. Of course his pills are cheap through the VA…

    3. GatorGirl says:

      I read an article about this recently. Charlotte, NC is seeing a big spike in herion overdoses because “professional” type people who were addicted to oxy/percosets aren’t able to get and/or afford them anymore, so they try herion to get the high, but are over dosing because they don’t know how to do it.

      1. kerrycontrary says:

        Pills are bad news bears. Even if they don’t take heroine, they can overdose on pills. Ugh they are just really really bad.

      2. Avatar photo GatorGirl says:

        I completely agree. My grandmother is an oxy addict. It’s terribly depressing. (And all of hers are “legit” with perscriptions from her 8 million different doctors.)

        It was just interesting to see that people are resorting to herion when they can’t get their pill addiction, which IMO shows how scary pill addictions are.

      3. Yep. I’ve seen it a lot in my area, too. People start off doing “blues” (Roxicet, I believe?) & then move on to heroin. One guy in my outer friend circle mostly did/sold coke, but then wound up trading a bag for a Roxicet pill & got addicted to that. Very quickly. Then, he moved onto heroin & unfortunately overdosed.

        People also tend to overdose after they’ve tried quitting. They’re clean for a few weeks, then get back on it, giving themselves the same dosage they would’ve when they were using, say, every day—but after x amount of time without, the dose is too much.

        It’s really sad, & I understand why a person like this LW would wanna help. But she needs to move on, or else get dragged down.

      4. A guy I knew went and got clean in rehab. He came back home and I would see him around, and he looked so good. Such a difference. Then he overdosed at a party because it was his first time doing it since then and he took too much. Really fucking sad.

  4. kerrycontrary says:

    What do you do? You move out. You never talk to this guy again. You go to a support group or therapy to discuss having to live with an addict. Dating an addict is NOT worth it. And next time, don’t think of weed or prescription pills as harmless. You don’t need to be ‘cavalier’ about anyone’s drug usage no matter how harmless you think it is just so they will like you or think you are cool. I’m not sure if anyone has ever told you this, but there is nothing wrong with removing from yourself with a situation involving narcotics. You always have the option of leaving the room/house/apartment. You don’t need to pretend that you are cool enough to handle it. The prescription pills your boyfriend was doing are a similar high to heroine and most likely caused his relapse. An addict shouldn’t be doing any drugs including weed or alcohol (some smoke cigs which I think rehabs are Ok with).

    1. You hit the nail on the head. The LW seems to think that she can handle all of his “quirks” like pills and booze, but she has to draw the line at heroin. No. All of those things are feeding his addiction. By enabling every other drug she is still enabling his addiction. And LW – you cannot make your boyfriend decide to come clean. Not this time, or the next, or the next. You do not want this life of revolving rehabs and hospitals and jobs.

    2. I disagree with your stance on weed. I’ve smoked weed off and on for nearly 15 years and have never even tried any kind of hard drugs, including pills. I wouldn’t date anyone who does hard drugs but it pisses me off when people lump pot smokers in with hardcore drug addicts like heroin junkies. Illegality does not equal harm; it only means that the bureaucrats haven’t figured out a way to make money from pot. If they did, it would be legal tomorrow same as alcohol.

  5. landygirl says:

    You dump him and move on with your life. Go to therapy and get strong so you don’t make this mistake again. Empathy is good, being willfully blind is not.

  6. Liquid Luck says:

    Here’s some advice that’s good for everyone: If you have to ask your boyfriend if he’s using heroin, MOA.

    You are seeing the person underneath the addiction, and that’s who you want to be with. But let me tell you, he doesn’t exist. Your boyfriend’s addiction is not some little bad habit of his, it’s part of his personality. It will always be there, even if he does manage to stop using heroin eventually. The man you want is a figment of your imagination, because he’s based on your unrealistic view of who this person is.

  7. Actually his FIRST love is heroine. You are a distant second. And no one should play second fiddle in their own relationship – not to another woman, not to a drug, not to a job…not to anything with the exception perhaps of children.
    Sorry. It’s time to leave.

  8. I am frankly shocked that you are cavalier about him popping pills and smoking stuff. It’s time you stop being cavalier. There is nothing okay about him popping pills, smoking stuff and doing coke. If you want to be supportive, be supportive while he is in a rehab facility. Pretending that substance abuse is okay is going to make things better and it certainly isn’t going to make them go away. It’s an addiction! Either he gets help or you get out.

  9. Heroin addiction is a sinking ship. He can get help but you cannot be the source. If you stand-by or try to become his addiction counselor, you will only sink along with him.

    Unfortunately, I have some experience with this. My college boyfriend developed a heroin addiction. He had been “straight edge” all through our relationship. We both were. Unfortunately, he had what I now think is bi-polar disorder and during a terrible phase of it, he began a sudden and rapid spiral into drugs. It got worse and worse and I finally left him even though I loved him with my whole young heart and even though I feared for his life. The only reason I found the power to do it is because I found a great counselor who told me, “He may well die from this. And you don’t have the power to save his life but you CAN get yourself out.” I’ll never forget that moment and how true those words turned out to be! The counselor talked me into a moving off campus for the rest of the semester so I could get some distance.

    We still talked a few times a month. After several more months, he cleaned up and seemed to be getting back on track with a job, NA, etc. Two weeks after a very good phone call, his sister called to tell me he’d died of an overdose.

    I wish I had a happier story but addicts have to find their own way and are probably not fit for romantic relationships until they find some stability elsewhere. Incidentally, I just watched Flight with Denzel Washington which is essentially a movie about addiction. If you haven’t seen it, it’s eye-opening.

    1. Avatar photo theattack says:

      I’m sorry, Jess. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been only months after your relationship ended, but I’m impressed that you got out when you did.

      I had an ex-boyfriend become addicted to heroin a few years after we broke up. He got a girl pregnant and settled down with her, determined he would get clean. He never did. He ended up in jail where he overdosed because of all the drugs he stuffed up his butt. He recovered from that, but as soon as he got out of jail a few months later, he relapsed again and died in a fire because he was too high to put out his damn cigarette. Either that or someone murdered him in a fire over drug money. We never found out which.

      LW, these are things that happen when someone becomes addicted to heroin. You don’t want to be there when it happens, and you especially don’t want to end up going down with him. Step away.

      1. Avatar photo theattack says:

        PS – Jess, I wasn’t trying to one-up your story because yours is a lot worse than mine. Just trying to add more horror stories for the LW to read. Sorry if that seemed insensitive. I’m really sorry for your loss.

      2. Oh god, no worries. I’m sure if we got together, we could spin some serious yarn. Mine was over 15 years ago so the pain has faded but I do think of him and how tragic it was. You know what is tricky about drug addicts? In the abstract, they are bad, pathetic, hopeless people. In real life, they are smart, inspiring, and loveable people who are suffering. It’s very hard to walk away from someone you love, especially when the problem appears long after you’ve met and fallen in love….

        She has my sympathies along with my very stern advice to get out.

      3. Avatar photo theattack says:

        “In real life, they are smart, inspiring, and loveable people who are suffering.”

        This is too true. But they’re also slowly losing themselves, and it’s hard to grieve the loss of someone when they still have good moments to shine through all the bad. It’s so hard to accept that the bad is going to win in the end. In my ex boyfriend’s case, I was removed enough from him that I could think of him as gone and grieve for him long before he died, but that’s not as easy when you’re in the situation.

  10. MOA immediately and never look back, then figure out why you have been so willing to have a heroin addict and major consumer of other drugs as you boyfriend. What makes him appealing to you? What do you get out of this relationship? What is missing in your own life that you feel you must fill the hole with a guy like this? You are an enabler who seems to worry a little about your enabling, but have just gone back to enabling in the past. Where has that gotten you?

  11. GatorGirl says:

    Move on honey. This isn’t one a person comes back from. It’s sad but true, and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache if you get out now.

  12. MOA and focus on taking care of yourself. You can’t save him, as heartbreaking as that may be. You deserve some love and support right now – turn to friends and family, and also get professional help if needed.

  13. MOA, don’t make it your job to fix him, or don’t be the person who feels like they can’t leave because this person is going to fall apart without you. They will fall apart with or without you so just get out now while you still can, it’s not abandoning. Also I don’t get why you are so cavalier about his other drug use knowing that he is an addict. I would say yeah normally if somebody just does those are things, and they are perfectly fine doing them, then yeah be cavalier about it, but once this person gets addicted to heroin, then I think you need to stop the other drugs too, well maybe not the weed, but definitely the pills, because those are probably giving him a similar high to what he is getting from the heroin.

  14. Lemongrass says:

    If you stay with him this is the life you are choosing. You aren’t choosing him when he’s clean or him once he sobers up, goes to rehab and becomes a better person. You are choosing an addict. You are choosing not being able to trust your partner. Ever. You are choosing pain, suffering, drama. For him and you. Imagine today is everyday for the rest of your relationship, whether he dies from an overdose or you are checking his pockets and questioning what he tells you 10 years down the road. You have a choice.

  15. Turtledove says:

    Aw honey, I am sorry. I am sorry that your boyfriend is using and I’m sorry that it’s going to hurt your heart to leave him. But you need to leave him.

    I was engaged to a drug addict, once upon a time. I don’t know if he did heroin or not, and really, it doesn’t matter. In the end, all drugs are pretty much the same, it’s only the details that differ. Here’s what I know about being with a drug addict- their attention and energy is focused on their addiction, how to score more, how to hide it, how to avoid the cops, when they can use again, how long until their next fix, how long until their stash runs out. It’s a full-time obsession and leaves no room for you. You may see flashes of someone who is lovely and vulnerable and needs you, but in reality, you are dating the addiction not the person. He is no long a whole person who is capable of giving you a mutual relationship so your wants and needs will become less and less important until he’s just a giant black hole sucking all the support and attention and love from you and giving nothing back. It will sap your strength and ability to care for yourself.

    Living with and dating a drug addict will also impact your physical quality of life, not just your emotional one. I was with my fiance for five years. During that time I had a spell of panic attacks, I also had surgery to remove some pre-cancerous cells. Because my fiance was a well-documented drug addict, my physicians would not issue prescription narcotics to me. You also have to live with the possibility that when your boyfriend’s need for a fix grows too large for him, that he will sell or pawn personal items of yours. I was fortunate not to lose too many items that way, mostly because my mother confiscated most of our family treasures. But it is a thing that can happen. Along with the messes and destruction that often happen when an addict falls into a stupor. It will impact your quality of life, and eventually you won’t want to live like that any more.

    I’m just going to say to you what I wish I could say to my younger self- get out, get out while you have the strength to pick up the pieces, get out while you have something you can remember him fondly for, get out before you wind up spending the rest of your life in therapy. If you need something to love and support and care for that needs you, adopt an orphan kitten. Then learn to love yourself enough to require better.

    1. “Aw honey, I am sorry. I am sorry that your boyfriend is using and I’m sorry that it’s going to hurt your heart to leave him. But you need to leave him.”

      Also this, “I’m just going to say to you what I wish I could say to my younger self- get out, get out while you have the strength to pick up the pieces, get out while you have something you can remember him fondly for, get out before you wind up spending the rest of your life in therapy. If you need something to love and support and care for that needs you, adopt an orphan kitten. Then learn to love yourself enough to require better.”

      Beautifully and compassionately worded, Turtledove. This is proof that you can be caring while speaking the hard truth.

      1. I agree, that was a beautiful response. I don’t think this LW needs to hear snarkiness or harshness right now.

      2. WTS!

        I would add one thing. An addict- especially heroin and crack cocaine – will defend the addiction at any cost. Like T’s examples, an addict will lie, steal, sneak, and sell anything at all to support the addiction (including his/her body). There is literally nothing in the world more important to a heroin/crack-cocaine addict than the next fix.

        If what will work is telling you that s/he wants to detox, then that is what you will hear. If telling you s/he is sorry and will never do it again is what s/he thinks will work on you, then THAT is what you will hear. If accusing you of abandoning him/her is what might work, then THAT is what you will hear.

        These points can never be over-stressed. There have been news reports of crackhead mothers trying to sell their children for their next fix. Men have murdered for it.

        MOA. Get out. Run, do not walk.

  16. Heroin is the most addictive substance on the planet. I just watched an episode of “Vice” about heroin, and it is chilling. MOA MOA MOA

  17. Oh my god. Here is something they should teach in schools: DON’T DATE AN ADDICT. YOU CAN’T CHANGE THEM OR MAKE THEM QUIT.

    If you love the guy, let him go. Addiction is something addicts have to deal with alone. Someday he may clean up his act and try to get you back. (I wouldn’t do that, btw, unless he’s been clean for at least five years).

  18. Sorry, what’s the question?

  19. Please listen LW. It will save you a lot of heartbreak.
    Here’s the thing LW – I’m going to agree with most of the people on here. You need to MOA. It will be hard and painful and your boyfriend will probably try to guilt you into staying, but at this point you need to do what’s right for you. I will disagree that you can never trust an addict in general. I do agree that you can never trust an addict that is currently active in his or her addiction. They are some of the best liars and manipulators there are. The behavior that they exhibit is basically the behavior of a sociopath. They care about only one thing: themselves. And their drugs, which essentially is part of them. They will lie, cheat, steal, manipulate and guilt anyone and everyone to get their next high.

    You may wonder how I know this. Well, there are two reasons. First off, I have a degree in criminal behavior and as you may know, most criminals have a substance abuse problem of one kind or another.

    The second is that I’ve lived it. Wendy has posted my essays about my husband. He was a prescription pain killer addict. I knew this when I met him. He had been clean for awhile when we met and he remained clean for over 3 years when we were first dating. Less than a month after we got married, he committed a robbery of a pharmacy for pain killers. And then tried again a month later (but wasn’t successful that time).

    I knew during that month that he was using. Well, I didn’t “KNOW” but I knew. He was exhibiting all the signs. I would ask him, he would lie, I would accept it because it was easier. That was dumb and it took me a long time to live with the fact that it wasn’t MY fault. It wasn’t MY responsibility. It was is. It still is his. Sure, if I see those signs again, I’ll know what I need to do and that will be exactly what I’m telling you to do: LEAVE. Leave now. I stayed with my husband through a prison term stemming from this and still stand by my decision. But I won’t do it again. He knows that, I know that, his kids know that. Everyone knows that – which is a way to keep him and myself accountable for future actions and reactions.

    LW, you can’t fix him. You can’t make him fix himself. When he is actively using, he can’t be trusted. He could get himself in a lot of trouble, he could get you in a lot of trouble, he could overdose, he could die, he could get into a car after using and kill someone. There are so many ways this could go badly and not a lot of ways that it can get better. He needs to get the help he needs, but you can’t provide it and you can’t force him into it. If you need someone to talk to, please email me. If you click on the link in my name, there is an option to email me through my blog and it will go right to my personal email.

    1. Hi honeybeenicki ,

      I know you posted this many years ago, but I’m currently going through the same problem right now, and reading your post really helped me a lot. I just finally decided to leave my drug addict bf after he dumped me again after a heavier than usual using and then called me back to apologize. This time, he told me that I deserve better and didn’t beg me to forgive him. Everything you mentioned above has happened to me. I didn’t know any drug addict before him and I used to trust every word he says, including the “I don’t even wanna do drugs anymore” “I’ll never do this again”, “the pain will keep me sober”, or try to guilt me out with “I thought love never gives up” etc. But he will do it the right next day. After I kicked him out of my apartment and we broke up for good, he said that he’s finally ready for a rehab program. Part of me still thinks about his sweet side from time to time and start missing him, but now I need to tell myself that those are all lies since he’s an active user. I do hope that he can get clean after rehab though. The thought that we won’t be together makes me a little bit sad, but maybe this is for both of our’s good.

  20. Here I was looking forward to leaving some sort of snarky comment on the next post, but this… it’s just too sad and I’m not so sure it’d be at all appropriate.

    LW, everyone else here has given you the best, most heartfelt advice possible. Personally I agree that your best course of action would be to move on. If you move on (which I think we all hope you do), make sure you take care of yourself financially: no bills left in your name that he’s going to cover, no letting him stay in the apartment with your name on the lease, etc. An addict going through a hard time might not be so reliable and your credit may suffer for it.

    I also think you being cavalier about pill popping and smoking weed isn’t helpful for an addict. I’m not sure what benefit there is in allowing him some highs but expecting him to not want others.

    You are writing in because you know all the red flags are there, and you’re finally willing to acknowledge that they MIGHT be red flags. You don’t want to be the bad guy and admit that you think you shouldn’t keep holding on. You might be looking for other people to tell you to MOA, so you don’t have to feel quite so responsible for the decision. You can do go through with what you need to do.

    You might not be able to save him from his addiction, but you can save yourself from his addiction.

  21. Older and (hopefully) wiser says:

    I have been an addict–not to drugs– to anorexia. I can tell you that it was the center of my world. That it’s very narcissistic and even the people I loved the most weren’t nearly as important as my “drug”. Of course I lied. And I didn’t care because I wasn’t really connected to the people I was lying to–like my husband and my shrink. I even lied to God.
    The only reason I stopped was because my doctor told me I had a few days left to live. And then a while later, I went back to it again. And then stopped woke up again and stopped. And then started. I will probably battle this my whole life.
    I don’t know much about heroin addiction but I can tell you when you’re with someone who is in the middle of an addiction, you’re not really with that person.It’s like his body has been taken over by some alien or something. I think you really need to do your homework–speak to professionals, former addicts, attend meetings, etc. Because you may not be able to have a real relationship with this man. Even if gets clean for a while, he’ll probably be battling his addiction his whole life. Is that the kind of life you want?

  22. Bittergaymark says:

    YOU can’t fux this. M.O.A…

  23. This is very sad and I am sorry for the LW.

    That’s terrible and so painful but I agree with what most everyone said that you can’t save him, you need to save yourself. I fear he would only use you as a crutch if you stayed and things would just get way worse. Maybe if you leave it will be some kind of wake up call for him, but maybe not. You can only really take control over your own future.

    Maybe if you move out you can offer him some kind of support IF he gets help and continue to be in his life. If he can manage to get clean I am sure he would appreciate your friendship. Best of luck, LW!!

  24. An addict is an addict is an addict. One drug leads to another, which leads to another. YOU are an enabler. You don’t care that he pops pills, smokes weed or does anything else, but you draw the line at heroin. Of course he’s going to lie about heroin, he KNOWS you don’t like heroin (and label it as “evil”). That’s your line in the sand and he’s going to hop skip and jump over it because he physically and psysiologically can’t help himself right now. He’s ADDICTED.

    Until he is clean and sober, and you have learned to not enable him, this relationship is doomed to fail from the get-go. Honestly, I think it will always be. Neither of you are healthy enough to keep him sober.

    Walk away. Let HIM be the catalyst to his own sobriety.

  25. MOA. Also know that it’s going to be hard to leave. Really hard, but you still should. He will beg you to stay, he will tell you he loves you more than anyone else and then he will tell you he can’t live without you. If you stay strong, then he’ll start calling you a cold hearted bitch for leaving him, nay abandoning him in his time of need. Then he’ll start blaming you for HIS drug addiction and will tell you it’s your fault he relapsed, if only you had been more understanding of his no job, sitting around doing drugs lifestyle he recently took up. If you are still strong at that point he might threaten to call your parents and tell them all your secrets (hopefully you’ll have a good one on him to counteract with) and of course he will threaten suicide if you leave him. And I am sure there other things too it’s been a while I have blocked much of it out.
    BUT after months or years of stalking phone calls etc and crying your eyes out, you will see that leaving was the best thing you ever did for yourself. And eventually the hurt and guilt will go away.

    So above mentioned boyfriend calls a couple of years ago after not speaking to each other for many years and acts like he is calling to catch up. But for some reason he is really impatient with my answers and even impatient with my questions towards him (I really thought he’d be dead by now) Turns out he was calling to see if I had any hook ups to get some weed while he is in town for the holidays. He could not wait to get off the phone with me when I informed him I have not spoken to any of our old friends in years. After we got off the phone I laughed and laughed, so grateful I got out when I did!

    1. You have just described the typical scenario of the majority of abusive break-ups in the “civilized” world. With or without substance addiction.

  26. LW-
    Like everyone else, I’m sorry that you find yourself in this situation. It has to be impossible to love someone who has a behavior that you can neither accept nor change. I can imagine that you have made lots of bargains in your head, lots of comparisons, lots of wishful thoughts, but this is a time for distance and clear vision. Look carefully for what *is* not what *could be*.

    From the letter it sounds like your boyfriend made a conscious choice to take heroin with the full understanding that you consider it unacceptable. Now it’s your turn to make a choice. And don’t get sucked into believing the lie that the past choices you made regarding his other drug activities limit the choices you can make here. Just because you turned a blind eye to other substance issues that does not mean you have to give him a pass in any way on the heroin. This is a separate issue.

    If you decide to follow all of the advice above to MOA that does NOT make you “the bad guy.” Nor does it make you selfish, uncaring, or cruel. You didn’t “change the rules,” he did that when he took heroin. He is not looking out for you as a caring partner would, he’s looking out for himself. It’s time for you to protect your own future by revising the boundaries between the two of you. My advice is to separate living spaces, separate fincances, separate short-term plans and that probably means long-term plans, too. Stand on your own two feet and don’t let him lean on you until he’s also capable of standing on his own two feet and has been for at least a year. That’s not just about the drugs, that’s about being equal partners.

  27. Anonymous poster says:

    LW, I am sure the idea of just walking away from your relationship seems like the hardest, most sorrowful thing in the world. And it probably will be — you’ll be closing the door on all of the “what if it gets better” and “if he were just clean we would have the perfect relationship” and “what am I throwing away.”

    The thing is — everything that seems “all right” or successful about your boyfriend is just a show he is putting on for himself, and for you, and for other people in his life. It may seem like he’s doing okay, but inside, it is just as one of the other posters has described … he’s constantly thinking about heroin, obssessed with it, getting high, etc. Underneath, things are very messed up with him and he will fight to maintain that outer bubble appearance of “okayness” — and as soon as any cracks appear in that bubble, you will be the first person he takes his stress out on.

    I was engaged to an alcoholic for 8 years and finally walked away this year. It’s been awful and the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with, because his disease progressed and eventually he began taking out his issues on me. Because I stood between him and the bottle, he came to hate me. It was terrible to suffer betrayals and abuse from him, and have to leave him because the addiction drove him away from me.

    Please read the article at this link: http://www.bma-wellness.com/papers/Addiction_Lies_Rel.html
    It’s heavy reading, but it very accurately describes what is going on in his brain.

    Respect yourself and get out, and find someone who is capable of treating you the way you deserve to be treated. Virtual love and big hugs to you, we are there for you.

  28. Sue Jones says:

    My advice is to MOA. An addict does NOT make good relationship material. Ever.

  29. MOA, addiction, no matter the substance is a true sickness. It’s an emotional, spiritual, and relationship cancer that only he can deal with and it’s best that he do this on his own. Use this as a learning experience, leave him, and don’t look back. You cannot fix or help him out of this. Only he can stop using and overcome this addiction. Life is far too short for drama like this!

  30. I have some experience here, in a number of ways. My SO uses heroin. He’s not really an addict; he doesn’t do it more than once a week, if that, and when I ask him to quit, he can go for months without. I don’t like his use at all, but he’s as safe about it as you can be, so I let it slide. I can understand putting up with use on some level.

    On the other hand… I have known an addict or five in my day. I know one guy who’s overdosed more times than I can remember, and another, who I thought was a close friend, stole money from me. I would never date a serious dope addict. They are not pleasant people to deal with in a romantic capacity, and that’s me talking as a good friend of several.

    You need to do what is healthy for you. Girl I knew dated this friend of mine. He drove her completely nuts with his addiction. By the end of it, she was threatening him with a knife because he wouldn’t promise to stop.

    Heroin is a very addictive drug, not just because of the way it makes you feel, but also because you get sick without taking it. Once you start to do it consistently, it’s hard to face the illness that is coming off of it. Many people die before beating their addictions, from overdose or disease.

    Protect yourself. You probably shouldn’t date this guy.

  31. LW I have been through the exact same thing you are going through right now….I was living with a guy and he had huge problems with drugs and alcohol (as well as prescription pills)….I tried everything I could to help him, even offering to take him to rehab….he continually lied to me about everything….he ended up stealing a truck and getting arrested and during that time I found out he was not a polic officer as he had told me and also was married and had two kids! (they probably had kicked him out because of his problems)….the last interaction I had with him was I wrote him an email saying that he needed to go into rehab and that I couldn’t be there for him because he was a pathological liar….in his response he called me a c()N+!…so I cut off all contact at that point….I found out a few months later that he had died (not sure how, I would guess a drug overdose? but not sure)….not sure what my point is here….maybe that the drugs take such a hold that addicts will do anything to hide there problem…i think you need to force your guy to go to rehab and get clean, but ultimately he will need to do it for himself and it will forever be a lifelong struggle….my best to you!

  32. I’m a longtime lurker but have never commented until now. I agree with everyone else’s advice – MOA. I have several cousins who have been into drugs since they were teenagers, and we’re all well into our 20s/30s now. They steal from their parents and everyone else every chance they get. When we’re around them, I always leave my purse and other valuables locked in the car. One of my cousins is mentally handicapped (he’s not a drug user though!), and his older brother has stolen his TVs and DVD players SO many times over the years to pawn. Their parents fear going on vacations, knowing that while they’re gone, it’s a likely possibility one of their sons will break into their house. They leave their home business office locked, and once one son got into their house and hacked away at the office door and wall to the office with an ax so he could take the business checks. Most of the local check-cashing places know not to cash checks from the boys as they’re notorious about stealing their parents’ checks, even from the mailbox. They’ve been in jail SO many times, and it’s never helped. One of the boys had been dating the same girl on and off since middle school, and he got her pregnant after they were in their early 20s. She’d tried to leave him several times but always ended up back with her. It wasn’t until the baby was born that she finally had the strength to leave town entirely to break away from their cycle. Relationships with drug addicts rarely have a happy ending, based upon what I’ve seen from my cousins and other people from my small hometown.

  33. A person can’t get clean of heroin and casually use MJ and Rx narcotics. If he went to rehab, they would scrub him down to everything but cigs and coffee. His perception of sobriety is out of whack and you are an enabler. You both need to get healthy and that probably means apart.

    1. Actually, many places are starting to have a no smoking and no caffeine while in residential treatment policy now too. My place does.

  34. Addicts lie. It doesn’t matter how accepting you are, or how much you love them, or indeed how much they love you. They still lie. It’s what they do.

    Your boyfriend’s weed, pill, and heroin use are all of a piece; for addicts, no drug use is OK. He needs rehab (and possibly detox). The odds that he will get and stay clean after rehab aren’t that great, but they’re better than they would be without rehab. And yes, he will most likely relapse before his recovery takes hold, if it ever does. It’s an ugly, messy process.

    Like everyone else will tell you, you can’t save your boyfriend. NOTHING that you do or don’t do will make a difference if he doesn’t want to get and stay clean. And don’t mistake him saying he wants to get clean for actually wanting it. Of all the lies addicts tell, the most pernicious are those they tell themselves.

    Frankly, in your position, I would leave him. Many times, leaving is a great gift to an addict. It brings into sharp focus exactly what they are losing as a result of not getting clean.

  35. Coming from someone who is an ex-drug addict (not heroin or pills but another hard drug) you can not help him unless he wants to be helped. And I am not talking “oh I want to stop but I can’t” I am talkin “drop me off at rehab and have no contact with me for months” help. All drug addictions are hard to kick, but heroin addicts are in love not with you but with the needle, chasing the dragon, the rush of getting high etc. They will steal, lie, and anything else they have to to get their next fix. They will do whatever it takes. I was lucky to have my now husband be there for me, support me and help me thru my cravings with cocaine. But heroin is in a class all its own. And no it is not the same as popping pills either. Yes they are both opiates but one is controlled and the other can be cut with god knows what. The best thing you can do is convince him to get the help he needs. Tell him if he is serious you will drop him off at a serious rehab. One that will help him work thru his problems not just withdraw him off the drugs. If he refuses, walk away and never look back. The harsh realities of dealing with a drug addict are not a walk in the park, it is a hard turmoilous road to embark on. And yes there will be relaspe and lies and the possibility of death. It will affect every aspect of your life. It will drive you crazy and to depression to watch him do this to himself and you over and over and over again. The best thing you can do is see if he is really ready to quit and go to rehab, if not walk away and never look back.

  36. findingtheearth says:

    MOA. Please, MOA.

    Do you really want to be an accessory if he is ever to get busted? You have no idea how many people become “narcs” in order to lessen their sentences and if you live with him and know about this habit and are around it- you can be found guilty.

    Also, your cavalier attitude is part of this issue. Be a bitch, stand up for yourself, and get the hell out of Dodge.

  37. Hello- Wow reading your story and it really got to my heart Bc im going thru the exact same thing. its been two years of a roller coaster. My bf is also addicted to heroin. After many relapses and me finding things he addmitted himself into Rehab thur night. This has been by far the hardest thing ive ever been thru. His first love is heroin and it kills me that he has no self worth. I know this is a life long disease and its def not over .. But I can only hope u gets control of his addiction and really wants the clean sober life that he is claiming now.. During these silent moments in my home i am cleaning every inch out. Before I was kool with him smoking weed.. But now its no go. Im clearing it all out nothing will be allowed back in here… Also He was going to methadone clinic for sometime started at 80 mg was all the way down to 20 mg as of wed. He said he started using heroin again bc he just couldnt take being so sick from doses down on methadone.. I knew in my gut he went back to using but it wasnt until thursday when i had evidence that i knew it was true. I just told him enough is enough I cant do this anymore. I cant make excuses for u anymore and i cant enable u anymore the only thing i can do is support u getting help…. thanks for having this here. Stay positive, focused and do whats right. U can support an addict to getting help this is disease the difference is they have to want it with all their heart, mind and soul and not be told what do and where to do it but they have to be willing to want a sober life and prove it. It kills me the one that I love and want to marry is killing himself over and over again. Xo

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