Excellent blog entry.

I had the surgery 10 yrs ago and have regrets to this day… I almost died the first night after surgery & lost too much weight,,, I didn’t want any food … nothing tasted right.
Now… I have maintained at around 145-150 at 5′9
and have recently gained about 20lbs due to heavy stress.. I, like Carnie, chose to drink to ease the changing attitudes toward my new body.
I also suffer from DID and other mental health issues.. if you are considering this surgery ,,,you MUST realize why you became overweight in the first place… if it was because you liked eating.. you won’t change ,, you can “go around the surgery” and gain weight right back ,as many do.
I am thinner and as a musician that is a must but at what cost have I paid???
ziggymuzik

Addiction transfer? Bunk…at least in my case. I had GB surgery in 1999. Until then, I was the designated driver. A couple drinks with friends and I could take it or leave it. Six months post-surgery I had my first glass of wine with a tiny stomach. I remember how alcohol used to affect me pre-surgery - lightly - and I hardly ever drank. After GB, WHAM! I was numb from the first glass of wine or liquor. What a GREAT feeling! You don’t need the sordid details, but now, 7.5 years later, I just joined A.A. and am now trying to kick the physical addiction that crept up on me. If you have this surgery, and I would do it again in a heartbeat, DO NOT EVER drink again! It’s not worth the pain for yourself and those who love you.

Hi…my mother also the GB done and went from 336 pounds to 130. Before the surgery she was a social drinker but rarely got drunk. Since the surgery, she has lost all of their savings gambling and is a raging alcoholic. She has gone from every other night drunk to every night now. She “hates her life” “job is stressful” she is extremely hateful to my dad and anyone else who happens to be there at the time…on and on. My father is disabled and unable to carry her out of a bar/rest. so they don’t go anywhere and that just adds fuel to her already negative attitude. She goes to work and comes home and within a couple of hours she is wasted. Last night I had to go over there at 2 am because she had fallen and ended up with 20 staples in the back of her head. She can’t gamble anymore because it is illegal online…THANK GOD! but refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem. I have tried to tell her about this Addict. Transfer but she thinks I am nuts. Can anyone suggest where I can go for help besides directly to AA. That would be admitting that she is out of control and that can’t be the first step for her. I need another route to light the bulb for her and then we may be able to do AA. Thanks for your time, signed, a broken hearted daughter, Mary

I just had my 16month check-up with my surgeon and received a clean bill of health-physically that is. I started seeing a psychiatrist about 3 months ago for depression. I was crying constantly because I am having difficulties learning who this new thin person is. I had grown accustomed to being the “fat” girl. For 33 years I built up this thick skin to take on anything and let things roll off my back so no one would see I was in pain. I miss that strong person I once was. I find it more difficult to hide my emotions anymore, I want to go out and party, but end up getting so drunk that I get into arguments with friends, I have lost friends that I love, my marriage is rocky-I ended up having an affair with a co-worker which has made things very difficult at work, I am afraid to eat in fear of gaining weight, I excercise 2 hours a day to clear my head, I have become a drama queen-which is so unlike me! I am becoming more and more scared of who I am, because I can’t figure me out anymore! I always LOVED me, just hated the way I looked. Now I HATE me, but love the way I look! I get jealous of new friendships very easily and just don’t know what to do anymore?

I have been researching this cause of a relationship I was in with a GB patient. I knew this girl years prior to her surgery but she was always very depressed. We started getting serious last summer but I found out a major new problem. At 8 in the morning she reaked of liqour. In the bar she has a whole new ego and I refuse to go to those places often.
Well she left me and last December got knocked up by the guy she left me for. Again I went out to breakfast with her to be a friend and she smelled like vodka. Hardest thing is I cant know her anymore, she is slowly killing herself. Shortly after I left her life she got back with the kid that knocked her up and got in a major fight. She beat the hell out of him in a drunkin rage and now has a criminal record.

All I can do is pray now. But I will always love her deep in my heart.

My daughter had gastric by-pass in 2001. First all was good but then the “what do I do with this new me” question set in. She was an occassional social drinker prior to surgery, but started drinking more after she lost 170 pounds in 1 year. She left her husband, thinking that she could quit drinking if she wasn’t around it. It has know been 3 years of drinking (rehab didn’t work) and at this point she has completely abandoned her two small beautiful children, who she so wonderfully cared for previously. She is in a tail spin with another man who has drug addiction issues and has absolutely no contact with any of her family. She drinks huge amounts of alcohol daily. Not unusual for two bottles of wine a night or a qt of hard liquor. That was when she was still working. That amount would be consumed in a matter of one -two hours. She can no longer hold down a job is on the street. We do not know where she is. I heard she vomits on a daily basis. This concerns me as I have heard this could be a sign of severe malnurishment. We pray for her daily, hour by hour. Please realize that you need to deal with the underlying issues before you choose surgery, otherwise you may end up trading addiction for addiction. lots of folks still do not consider overeating an addiction, but it is. She has other medical issues which produce a lot of pain. She started drinking more and more just to get to sleep at night. Now we don’t know where she sleeps at night.

Five years out of surgery. From size 24 to size 10. Last nigth I had 18 beers!! I do have a problem. I try to quit every Monday, but it has been 2 years now.

HI everyone,

I am apparently one of many. I had my bypass in december of 2000. I was 300 and went down to 140. I have since gained back 60 pounds along with a full blown alcohol addiction. I, like many of you, was NOT a drinker prior to surgery. Maybe a little at a wedding or party, but that was the extent. Food was my thing. Within 6 months post-op I started innocently drinking a margarita on the weekend. THis turned into a couple and within 4-5 months I was drinking 1 bottle of red wine a night and at the worst of the addiction was drinking two bottles every night. My blackouts were getting worse and I finally asked for help from my family who had no idea that I was so deep into drinking. I was a complete closet alcoholic as I wasn’t married nor had children. I functioned at work and with friends and family, but counted the minutes that I could get home and drink the night away. I ended up in 4 different rehabs over the last 6 years, desperately trying to break the compulsion. My longest time of sobriety was in 2005-2006 when I was 9 months sober. Then my husband left, I lost my house, my job, my car, went bankrupt, and moved back in with my parents. I am literally having to start from scratch. This is terrifying, but I also feel like God used my parents to “rescue me”. There is no doubt I would have been out on the streets otherwise. For the last 6 months, I have been learning how to become a normal functioning person again. It is so wonderful. By the way, I am just coming up on 6 months of sobriety as of 4/16/2007. I go to a wonderful women’s AA group every morning, am involved in my church recovery group, am seeing a wonderful therapist who is working with me to create my new identity and become comfortable there. As for my living situation, I will conitinue to live with my parents until I have the money to move out again. My dad was able to get renters into my house just before it foreclosed, so I still have the house, I just can’t afford to live there. As for a job, God has blessed me with enough unemployment each month to pay for basic bills and to get my new business started. I am an educational psychologist and also have my masters in public health. My immediate interest is in getting gastric bypass physician’s to employ me for pre- and post-op presentations dealing with the “real” things that happen to patients as they start to lose the weight. The medical community is turning their head about the alcohol and they will eventually get sued. The quicker doctors bring in a person who is qualified to teach and run groups, as well as a person who has experienced this first hand, the more cutting edge and responsible they will be viewed…not to mention allowing their patients to have the best possible outcome to this surgery.
WOW, I wrote a lot. Clearly this has been on my mind and I am grateful to have found you guys.

Cassie

Hi again,

I am sorry I didn’t let anyone know how their comments affected me. I tear up as I read through each blog. It is so painful to see my own experiences being described over and over again. Every night I would say that this was the last time, but it never was. During my brief times “on the wagaon” I switched alcohol for the sleeping pill ambien because I just wanted to sleep and not face the world and my problems. I eventually became so addicted to the ambien that I mixed it with alcohol and then things got really bad. My third rehab is where I was finally broken of the ambien curse. People, please be careful with ANY medication. I still will never again take tylenol PM or Benedryl because it is the trigger for every relapse I have ever had during the last 6 years. Because it alters my mind (giving me artificial sleep), it is always the beginning of an eventual alcohol binge. I hear everyone’s pain out there and urge family’s to get into AL/ANON so they can understand what to do with their alcoholic loved one, and all the users, get yourself into rehab and then into a church recovery group or AA or some place where the people will understand what you are going through. No one will every understand what we are going through except a fellow alcoholic. Over these past 6 years of rehab, the one thing I never utilized that is currently keeping me sober is the support groups. I am by nature a loner and although I had plenty of aquaintences, I never hooked into a group where I was committed enough that people knew if I was there or not. It’s not as if they are keeping tabs on you, as much as you will simply miss being around the new friends you have made in the group. Support groups are the only way I am getting through this time and if I eventually stop going, I believe that someday I stand the chance of relapsing again. I have never considered myself an “alcoholic” in the sense that I started drinking early in life and have been doing so since, or that it runs in my family, because neither is true for my situation. However, at this point, I have drank so much that the alcohol has changed my body’s chemistry making me an alcoholic in the emotional and phyhsical way. “A pickle can never be a cucumber again”….that quote always made sense to me. On a weekly basis I meet an average of 3 newcomers who are there because of gastric bypass addiction transfer. We are most definitely not alone and that is why it is so important for us to keep talking about this. I would still have the surgery even after all the bad things that ensued after. However, with preventitive education, people will be aware of what to watch for and what to stay away from. Hang in there everyone and please email me if you just need to chat. This illness will eventually kill us and in a shorter time because of the volume us post-surgery patients drink. Please, take action immediately and email me too.

Cassie

I had GB in 2001. I am very close to hit buttom. I drink 10-15 beers a day. I just feel that I can’t stop. I am hurting my kids, my mother, my husband and family.

I had gastric bypass (the fully-invasive, rerouting type) about five years ago, and since have lost about 162 lbs, regained 30, and developed full-blown alcoholism. I hate it. I would still have the surgery (though the pain was crippling), but wish someone would have cautioned me about drinking alcohol. No-one ever did. All I got was counseling on nutrition. *sob*

My best friend is suffering from transfer addiction and keeps turning to me but I don’t know how to help her. She knows what transfer addiction is and why she has it but cannot find anyone (therapist) that specializes in this type of addiction from bypass surgery. We live in the northshore of Massachusetts. Does anyone know how I can help find her help. She is suicidal and has been in and out of detox. Someone please help!

I just had gastric bypass a few weeks ago. I was educating myself and came across the blog. I also happen to be a mental health counselor and an addiction therapist.

Perhaps one thing I was concerned about was why many more people aren’t seeing therapists before and after the surgery. In my support group only a few people had even been to therapy not including the pre-surgery evaluation. I, as a professional counselor, know first hand that “soul searching” can take a long time and uncover things you try to ignore. I think so many people (at least in my pre-op groups at the hospital) just wanted it done and put up a “good face” so they wouldn’t have to wait too long for treatment.

But as an addiction counselor at some point you don’t need a specialist you just need professional help. Many therapists including myself are trained in addiction techniques and understand cross addiction, etc. As far as I understand, as I have even treated someone with (drinking)water addiction, the same CBT techniques can work with food.

I think perhaps a long standing relationship with a single addiction or weight loss counselor would serve her well including attending most support groups, AA,(even perhaps overeaters anon. to deal with buried food issues) whatever she can get her hands on.

I was recently reading in a Baratric Surgery Medical Journal that fmri studies showed that people with a BMI greater than 40 had brain activity similar to that of a drug addict. So it is a powerful thing, food. However as we say in our clinic, “Addiction is addiction, is addiction”.

To be balanced, I personally know of ten collegues, coworkers and friends that have had no transfer addiction issues post gbs. In fact didn’t even think about it until I saw this article.

Search the web or even your insurance company find a doctor site and you will find people who specialize in weight loss and addictions.

I just had gastric bypass a few weeks ago. I was educating myself and came across the blog. I also happen to be a mental health counselor and an addiction therapist. Perhaps one thing I was concerned about was why many more people aren’t seeing therapists before and after the surgery. In my support group only a few people had even been to therapy not including the pre-surgery evaluation. I, as a professional counselor, know first hand that “soul searching” can take a long time and uncover things you try to ignore. I think so many people (at least in my pre-op groups at the hospital) just wanted it done and put up a “good face” so they wouldn’t have to wait too long for treatment. But as an addiction counselor at some point you don’t need a specialist you just need professional help. Many therapists including myself are trained in addiction techniques and understand cross addiction, etc. As far as I understand, as I have even treated someone with (drinking)water addiction, the same CBT techniques can work with food. I think perhaps a long standing relationship with a single addiction or weight loss counselor would serve her well including attending most support groups, AA,(even perhaps overeaters anon. to deal with buried food issues) whatever she can get her hands on. I was recently reading in a Baratric Surgery Medical Journal that fmri studies showed that people with a BMI greater than 40 had brain activity similar to that of a drug addict. So it is a powerful thing, food. However as we say in our clinic, “Addiction is addiction, is addiction”. To be balanced, I personally know of ten collegues, coworkers and friends that have had no transfer addiction issues post gbs. In fact didn’t even think about it until I saw this article. Search the web or even your insurance company find a doctor site and you will find people who specialize in weight loss and addictions.

I’m so glad to know that I’m not alone. I am currently seeking treatment, but haven’t started any yet for my alcohol issues post-GB. I’m scared though because my husband also has a drinking problem, but he won’t admit it. I’m terrified that I will get better and he won’t.

I had GBS in Aug 2005. I had a multitude of complications since w/ excessive drinking being one of them. I too, can drink 3 bottles of Alize, 5 liters of wine in 3 days, etc. My list can go on and on. I was doing good losing the weight. I lost 60 pounds and that’s with being on and off steroids for a condiction they still can not figure out. I drink until I pass out and can not remember a thing the next day. Drinking like this is weighing heavy on my heart. I gained back over 30 pounds and I am back into the size 18 I was in before the surgery. I am embarrassed to let anyone know that I even had the surgery. I beleive the reason I am not losing weight is because of my drinking. I don’t even go to the gym like I used to because I am to busy thinking about drinking the minute I get off from work. I even put some int he car so I can have it ass soon as I drive out of the parking lot. This really is a probelm especially since my stomach is in awful knots every morning afterward. This site an some of the other entries really helped me today. No one knows what I am going through ot even how I feel. They can not understand that drinking is out of my control. I really need help and I will get some today. I am really glad that everyone is honest enough to share their stories w/ the world. People think that GBS is the end all and be all and they do not have a clue. I can go on and on and on but I will stop and do what I say I am going to do. I will check back and give updates. Good luck to all.

How long were you out of work before you could go back?

Wow. My mother gave me an article today on addiction transfer and everything made sense. I had GB in June 2000 and lost 100 pounds in the first year. I have gained back 25 pounds since. I began drinking on a daily basis about 2 years ago. Beer. I started out with a few every other day, then a few every day and now at least 7-9 a day. When I ran out of beer, I’d either go get more or drink Rum and coke. I am a single mom with two children. I have no social life, haven’t dated for 3 years, just prefer to stay home and drink. This article woke me up. I know I have a problem and I have stopped drinking….two days so far….I have told myself that if I start again, I am going to AA. I had no idea about addiction transfer. I even started smoking again after 14 years. I have tried to stop three times. My God. I am so glad I found this blog. At least I know now that I am not alone and there are others out there going through the same thing. God help us all and God shame on those money making doctors that don’t tell us that we may be trading one addiction for another. I was obese and miserable with many health problems, but nothing compares to being an alcoholic. I never dreamed in a million years it would ever happen to me. It has, but there is no surgery to cure this addiction. God bless all of you and good luck.

I quit smoking a year or two before having my gastric bypass surgery. I had that monkey on my back for every day of those two years and quitting smoking was one of the hardest things Ive ever done.
I discovered how good wine tastes a few months ago and I drink anywhere from a glass an evening to 3 to 4 glasses, mostly on the weekends. I never before had the urge to drink growing up, I drank maybe twice a year and then not again for a year or two.
I realize that I’m probably heading toward trouble, but so far there have been no problems, I dont drink enough to have a hangover, although I do seem to crave the alcohol every day now. Twice now I have had the “mind erasure” syndrome where I didnt remember the night before, but I’ve never been violent or done anything really dumb.

My problem is that I really think I enjoy a glass or two of wine in the evening since I have no consequences that Im aware of and I so dread even thinking about another epic battle like quitting cigarettes.

Am I just fooling myself into thinking “im handling it just fine”? or does it just get worse from here…

After reading these posts you are all driving me to drink!

A wife’s comment.

My husband had bariatric surgery a few years ago. He weighed over 450 pounds. Now he weighs less than 200.

Before his surgery, he could barely walk. Now he is fit. Before his surgery about all he could do was sit in front of the TV and eat. Now, he can do anything he wants. Only now, about all he wants to do is sit in front of the TV and drink.

He still stays sober during the day, and can work. So as far as he is concerned, there is no problem.

I was opposed to the surgery. I was really hoping he could conquer his weight problem with the help of God. But when he got so fat he could barely walk, there was no choice. He needed the surgery to save his life.

But I was concerned that surgery would not solve the underlying problem. It would simply alter the results.

Guess what. I was right! But there is no joy in saying “I told you so”. Just heartbreak. It is simply a matter of watching the one you love step out of one prison and check into another.

Before he had his surgery, my husband studied tirelessly to find out what would be the possible effects. At that time there was not much written about addiction transfer. If there were, he might have known to stay clear of drinking.

Now it is a highly noted and documented phenomenon. So, please, if you are thinking of bariatric surgery, look at it realistically. Surgery can change the effects of the problem, but it does nothing about cause. You will still need to deal with that.

If you go through with the surgery, be prepared. You WILL be left with an emotional void clamouring to be fulfilled. You will have to choose your new obsession. I pray to God you chose something positive and constructive rather than falling back into a slightly modified version of the same trap.

Hello All,

I was reading around some of the posts here and I found interesting things that you guys talk about, I just made a blog about quitting smoking resources and ideas that you might want to check out.
If someone is interested in this topic just go to; http://endthehabitnow.blogspot.com and let me know what you think. Your honest feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I am in process of getting insurance approval for gb. I have been seeing a therapist since my freshman year of college and I am aware of most of my issues. Im worried that I will loose all this weight as a result of gb and become a slut or something. I already know that I will get more attention thinner but im concerned with what I will do with the attention. its scary. My family isnt very supportive of most things I do, my mother even told me dont get disappointed when the surgery doesnt work. (she means when/if i dont loose any weight) Now that I have read your comments i see that my concerns about “what to do with the new me” are normal. I will continue to see my therapist to resolve the root issues. thanks guys

So where are the resources? Can anyone advise of a support network?

I had my GBS in 2000, shortly thereafter I slipped into a deep depression. It was really weird because I did not know it was depression, and tried to keep myself going. I could not sleep, I had weird dreams - and when I looked in the mirror I did not recognize myself anymore. I went from 470lbs, to 260lbs in less than a year. It’s hard to explain.

I initially had the surgery during Grad school. A professor, who I respected confronted me candidly and said that my chances of getting a great MBA job would be limited with my weight. Trust me - I already knew about weight discrimination.

To cut to the chase, I started drinking, and over that past 6 years, I have had 5 jobs. I have been lucky, but the drinking has gotten really bad now, and I am not able to perform at my top level. Anyone in the NYC area have any advice for me?

As a therapist working with bariatric surgery patients for many years, I have been hearing more from patients about emerging issues with alcohol and am trying to conduct a study to better understand the issue so that effective interventions can be developed. I would appreciate getting as much feedback as possible and have developed a questionnaire. If anyone is interested in participating, please e-mail me and I can send you the materials.

Ronna Saunders, LCSW
Center for Behavioral Change
Richmond, VA
Risaunders@aol.com

My husband had the surgery this year in May and has already lost 160 pounds. It has been the most difficult year since we have been together. We will celebrate our 16th year in January. He was addicted to drugs before we were married and went through rehab and I thought everything was taken care of, because he is clean and sober, however, he subsituded his addiction to food and balooned up to 467 pounds. He needed the surgery to save his life. He is now in a depression because he can’t emotionally cope with the fact that he is addicted to food. He was suicidal and checked himself into the hospital. I don’t know what to do anymore to help him. I think before you get the surgery the doctors need to do good check up and see if there is potential addiction factors. My husband doesn’t have any thing he can transfer his addiction to. He wants to stay sober and has done so for 20 years. So I guess he needs to transfer his addiction to exercise or something positive. I try to tell him that and he doesn’t seem to be listening.

Hello everyone here! I have been thinking of Gastric Bypass Surgery for over a million times. I happened to visit a site that is all about Gastric Bypass Surgery. The site is really good. It really helps me a lot. Have you heard of Julianne Kennedy’s site? Will this is your lucky day I am going to share you her site: http://www.weight-loss-surgery-secrets.com/controversial/free_wls_report.htm

I am like many of the others who have posted. I had my Gastric Bypass in 2002 and had a very difficult time dealing with life without food. I lost 114 pounds and have gained 40 back since starting to drink. I had always been a social drinker before after one or two glasses of wine, I was done because it didn’t taste good after that. In the last three years I started drinking and eventually became an acoholic, drinking 3 to 6 glasses of wine everyday. It was ruining my life.

I just finished an Intensive Outpatient Therapy program and am involved in the aftercare program and follow up. We need ongoing support groups to deal with these problems and our issues. I know if I stop going to meetings, I will start drinking again and I get so depressed when I drink, I become suicidal so it is life threatening for me to take the first glass of wine.

I feel that three things are involved in my problems with Alcohol after GB. One, the alcohol goes into my system so fast, I lose my good judgement immediately and drink more than I should. Two, I think drinking wine is related to craving sugar and some kind of imbalance in my body and of course I can’t tolerate sugar in other forms since my surgery. And three. of course the pyschological problem of addiction transfer.

I don’t know what I could have done prior to surgery to prevent my alcoholism but I do believe that people should be educated about the dangers of getting this disease after surgery and should be cautioned not to drink at all.

I am glad that I had my surgery but I hate my alcohol problem. I have to wonder if having a Lap Band type weight loss surgery would be better since the alcohol won’t enter the blood stream so fast like it does after gastric bypass. My Psychiatrist says that this factor makes the alcohol much more addictive that it would have been before surgery.

I forgot to mention in my posting that I found some extra help in quitting drinking by getting a vivitrol shot which does away with the craving for alcohol and taking antabuse which will cause severe nausea if I was to drink.

Medications can’t cure Alcoholism but they can help get the process started. Rita

I had gastric bypass surgery in 2001. I lost 147 pounds. I suddenly found new self-confidence and a whole new set of friends. Friends that wouldn’t have considered being my friend 150’s heavier. I am definately the typical bypass person. I GOT DIVORCED AND I BECAME AN ALCOHOLIC! My brain did not know how to deal with all of this. I filmed many commercials for the clinic that provided my surgery. I had gotten so much attention that I had never ever gotten before. Would I do it again? Yes. I do have an alcohol problem. I am working on that. I am a much much happier person thin than I was fat. I seem to have a much different problem than most gastric people. I can consume tons of alcohol and have it not affect me. I don’t know why. I think the clinics need to consentrate more on this issue. I had no idea that any of this existed before I had surgery.

I had gastric bypass surgery 4 years ago and have not had to deal with the addiction transfer within myself. I guess that’s because I went through issues with drugs and being promiscuous before I had the surgery. I dealt with all the roots of what caused my over eating but just needed help getting rid of the consequences I was 273 size 22 lbs and now I am 175lbs size 8. I am engaged to a guy who I have been with for 3 years and I love him so much. I am back in school to get myself a good career so I will have a fulfilling future. So for me the surgery was a great thing it really helped me.

My mother also had the surgery and my sister and I consider our mother dead now. She is no longer the woman I respected and could count on. I hate what she is now.

She had the surgery and at first would just dress different, we use to call her MamaCita because she dressed like a Mexican prostate, and that’s to be expected to want to show off your new body so it was just kind of a funny family joke.

But it stopped being funny when she started shopping like crazy, would just by random things not even clothing, would spend $1000’s a week on nothing at all, would buy clothing and never wear it. Still we never really thought much of it; we got her to stop the shopping.

Then it was the pills, percs up to 30 a day that we know of anyhow. She hid that for a while but then she could no longer function. She would get her self so high she would lose control of her bodily functions. My mother who was always a clean person would not leave the house with out a shower a blow dry and make up no matter what would lay in her own shit for days at a time.

Now she is taking some methadone type of medication, but she takes that with at least a bottle or 3 a day of wine. She makes no sense when she talks to you, she can’t keep track of thoughts or conversations. She will tell you the same thing 6 times in a period of 5 minutes. Half the time she can’t tell my sister and I apart.

Its like she is trying to kill herself and God help me but sometimes I just wish she would because I hate this creature that my mother who I loved so much has become. My mother died the day she had the surgery.

I guess I am not alone after all. About a year ago, I read a very brief article about gastric bypass patients becoming easily addicted to other substances. I did something very stupid. I thought the article so absolutly bunk. I never did like drinking alcohol. I thought it tasted terrible. For one week I drank at least 4 alcholic beverages a night. Now there has not been a night when I do not drink. Each week gets worse. On weekends I have wine starting at 10:00 am. How could I become an alcholic so fast? I know I need to get help. I have to do something before I loose job and family. I am a professional woman and the main breadwinner of my family. Now looking back at my life after gastric bypass, I see that I am addicted to almost everything under the sun. Itake suboxone to help with pain pill addictiion, I smoked before GP surgery and never wanted to smoke again. I craved cigerettes so much that I bought some Nicorette gum to chew. I started at 2 MG, now 4 MG, and at least 20 pieces a day. I never drank ooffee before either, and now have several cups a day. I can not sleep without taking 2 Tylenlol PM and 150MG of Trazadone. I know I need help but I am too embarassed to seek it. I keep telling myself - next week! Would I choose to have the surgery today? YES, but more eduction needs to happen to warn patients about how easily it is to transfer addiction. I wish someone would have warned me.

I am a reasonably intelligent, hard-working, ferociously committed wife and mother, 46 years old.

Had GB 5 years ago.

Lost 160 in 1 year.

Gained ALMOST ALL BACK FROM ALCOHOL.

Will post my story if anyone asks.

This discussion has really scared me! I am waiting to have the lap-band done in November and am on the “liver-reduction diet” that is required before surgery. The other day the dietitian who runs our class told us that we must never drink alcohol again, and I thought that he was nuts! Well, now I know! I was shocked and didn’t believe him. Now that I think about it, I am more worried about never being able to have a drink again than I am about never being able to eat again!! And I am just a social drinker who drinks 3 or 4 glasses of wine a week!
I think that there are issues here…

Hi to all,
I had gastric bypass surgery in October of 2005. I am a registered nurse, resposible, confident, and a strong minded person. Independent. I am 52 years old..a wife and mother.I had quit smoking for 10 years and found the urge again to smoke, post surgery.That was the first addiction transfer I had. Then in May of 2006,I almost died from a bleeding gatric ulcer. After I recovered from anemia and the bleed, I became hypogylcemic and a drunk. I was drinking wine every day for two months straight. I went to AA meetings and got myself a sponser.I did my 90 days and got my pin. Well my sponser turned out to be a swindler who had lost her job and started asking me for money.My AA days were over and I was doing great. Then one night I crashed in my sleep from low blood sugar and passed out again. This was during my sobriety days.Then in March of this year, my lover decided to end things with me. I totally went nuts and started drinking again. After 5 weeks of mental torment and pain, we re-united.I continued to drink, which has led me to many blackouts, a fall on my face, which led to a broken nose. I had to have surgery. But did this stop me…nooooo.. I went to see a therapist but that didn;t seem to help. So i stopped going.But i continued to secretly drink. Now last week after many low blood sugar episodes, i was found on the floor, incoherent and was combative and was taken to the hospital. They did a alcohol test where they found my level was two hundred something. My secret was revealed. And during this last episode somehow i must have fallen and broke my right foot. So now I sit in a wheelchair, with a cast on my right foot. Unable to get around, drive, drink ..a burden to my loving family yet again. I feel like such a bad person. If I had a crystal ball on October 26, 2005..and could forsee this future..I would never in a million years ever predict this. On monday I am going back to therapy..I hope to God it works.

If anyone can relate to my sad story feel free to email me,please put gastric bypass victim in the subject line. My email is angelofnursey@aol.com

to make a long story short.. i think its tru.. Gastric in 2002
addiction to weighloss / gym (bulemia like) for about 3 years
DUI by 2004
pill popper and alcohol on a daily basis until I am at MINIMUM buzzed.. or drunk each night to go to bed.. along with a compulsion (addiction) to over working … etc….

i TRULY see a connection.. and i realize it.. but am too ahsamed to admit it to my family…

If anyone wants to talk… (NOT DEBATE ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS AGAINST IT).. if you wanna help each other.. email me
chachabrown@ymail.com