Sober now for two years, Dave Coulier opens up about being 'a drunk'

"Full House" star Dave Coulier, who grew up in St. Clair Shores and moved back to his hometown in 2019, is opening up about his struggles with alcohol.

In a lengthy post on Instagram Thursday, Coulier, 62, shared a photo of himself with a large, bloody scratch down his face, which he said he got after tripping on stairs. He said he "was a drunk" but he's now been sober since Jan. 1, 2020.

"When I drank, I was the life of the party," Coulier wrote. "I could make people laugh until they fell down. In this picture I was the one who fell down. Not because I was playing hockey or doing the things I love — like chopping wood or doing construction, golfing, fishing or flying airplanes. I was hammered and fell, going up some stairs made of stone."

Coulier said no one loved "beer with the boys" more than he did. But eight hours of drinking "was followed by two days of feeling like a big bowl of dog mess."

"I loved booze, but it didn't love me back," he wrote. 

Coulier said he made a decision to get sober based on his own well-being and for his family. He said physical and mental withdrawal "were big challenges," but thanked his wife, Melissa, for her support.

"The sky is more blue, my heart is no longer closed, and I enjoy making people laugh until they fall down more than ever before."

Melissa Coulier responded to the post with two heart emojis, writing how proud she was of Coulier.

"I love you and your strength so much," she wrote.

Coulier and his wife left California to return to his hometown in St. Clair Shores in 2019. According to an article in Hour Detroit, they planned to build a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home on a five-acre property off of Lake St. Clair.

Coulier is most known for playing Uncle Joey Gladstone on ABC's hit 90s sitcom, "Full House." Coulier, who played the childhood best friend of Danny Tanner, played by Bob Saget, has been open on social media about how devastated he was by Saget's death in January. 

mfeighan@detroitnews.com