my addictions

Trish, Just wondering.  Did you doctor have any hesitations about doing your surgery with past addictions? My doctor told me it was a big concern for him.  He is afraid of relapse.  That is why I am nervous about my report coming back from the psych.  Gretch

I've been concerned about that for myself as well.  Just not far enough along to where it has reared its head.

I just don't want to it to keep me from having surgery.  I was clean for 4 years.  Then it got the best of me.  So, the last three months....not so good.  But.  I'm facing one day at a time!

Hi Gretchen,  Actually my psychiatrist and psychologist, who have worked together in the past, were both confident that I would do well with the surgery.  I had been in therapy for 17 years and in AA and OA for almost that long, prior to my surgery.  I also had 5 years of continuous sobriety, and had been through a painful divorce, a son's heroin addiction, and graduate school, while working full time, without a relapse.  They remind me constantly to do my self-soothing and work my program, or I will do full blown relapses.  Currently, I have had some slip-ups, but not the full blown thing yet.   I was concerned because I have co-occurring depression and had a personality disorder that could have prevented my clearance from going through, but my psychiatrist gave me the green light on the psych evaluation.   I will PM you with my phone number when I reply to your PM. Hugs, Trish

What about a short time of sobriety?  How long do you think is the minimum they would take?

What is the general concensus about whether bariatric surgeons go ahead with surgery even when they know a person has been diagnosed with an addiction?  If any of you had to do it over, would you opt for non-surgical options?  My observation is that the root cause for many (not all) of the people with weight problems/obesity is an addictive personality.  Therefore, a lot of people just switch from food to another substance to make them "feel better".  Gastric bypass is not without its complications and lack of intestinal absorption of certain key elements.  The result is some people presenting to hospitals with neurological problems secondary to absorption issues.  So, if the surgery is not treating the real problem (behavioral) and has the potential for long term complications, it seems alternative treatments should be investigated.  That's what I am trying to do now.  I am an alcoholic and an addict who happens to be a physician.  I believe the whole issue of obesity and how it is thought about in the public needs to be turned on its head.  This is a disease (obesity) of addiction and I hope to accomplish some positive things that will cause a paradigm shift in obesity treatment.  Unfortunately, this is how a lot of diseases are treated......patch over a consequence of a disease without doing anything to treat the true disease itself.  I wish everyone the best of luck!!