Having This Surgery Destroyed My Life

 Hello & Wow!!! Im in same boat never had a problem w alcohol to after DS 12/01 started about 2 yrs after surgery. you sound like me I have lostso much my job, DUI, my family & friends have abandoned me. i live in hell. i been rehab 9x just came out of detox again this week, the first year ever i spent holiddays alone. they r saying i am bipolar. all i know wls was suppose to make life grand some days i just want 2 die i never had problems like this wheni was fat i just wish i could find the answer, ive tried aa, church, inpatient out pt, counseling . i use 2 have it 2gether I cant even manage my everyday biz, i havent even done taxes from last year . i am obsessed w drinking . no one understands they think i just want 2 drink i dont even go 2 bars or functions i drink home alone
i got arrested just things that i would never of done when fat ..i dont have a man either what decent guy wants a black out drunk. im so sad.

Could it be that you were using food to self-medicate prior to the surgery, and simply transfered addictions?  Just something to think about.

Prior to my surgery, I had been in eating disorder treatment twice, and therapy for fourteen years for a lot of issues.  I also was already in recovery for alcoholism.  I had five years of sobriety, and was active in AA.  But, I relapsed in 2007, and was in relapse for two years.  I went to rehab last year and realized that I had not taken AA seriously, and had never worked all 12 Steps of the AA program with my sponsor.  I also learned a few other things about myself that humbled me greatly.

Today, January 15th, is my one year AA anniversary.  I did some outpatient treatment before and after inpatient treatment.  I attend AA meetings regularly, and am currently on Step 9 of the program.  I had never gotten past Step 6 before.

If you are not already in AA, go to www.aa.org and find a meeting. 

I don't blame anyone for my relapse and the struggle I have had since my surgery.  I am responsible for what happened with my alcoholism.  When I had the surgery, it was on my stomach, not my brain.  Nobody made me pick up the drinks that I had since my surgery.  

Trish Reilly

 i been struggling w alcoholism 7yrs after ds.. just left detox 4 the 10th time 2 wks ago. they gave me a intramuscular shot called vivatrol i have noticed my severe cravings have dramatically reduced.. i will b getting it every 30 days plus going into therapy 2 see whats the real deal w/ the addictive personality rehab did not help me they focused more on getting staying sober but did not deal w/ whats deep in my spirit that even caused my food addiction since childhood. i wi**** was more support on here 2 ,but i think they r alot of newbies  who r focused on pre surgery and 2-3 yrs post surgery . im knocking them when i read the stuff just takes me back & i was talking about the same stuff. never even considered alcoholism was going 2 b a problem dont give up trying for sobriety b/c it only gets worse dont give up. good luck

I hope that everyone is finding the help that they need.  I am STILL really struggling with this issue.  It is SOOOO hard!!

 Ginny,

You are absolutely right.  It is not your fault and you are absolutely right it is a malabsoprtion issue.  I am contacting anyone and everyone I can think of.  I have contacted Dr. Oz, Dr. Judith Hagedorn who worked on the study confirming what we all already knew which was alcohol made us drunker, trying to get a study done.  I think if they would do a statistical study comparing Roux-en-Y patients with Lap-Band patients to see which population has a higher population of this "addiction transfer" then they could identify whether it was a biochemical of psychological phenomena.  Though I am sure we are all positive it is a biochemical because we can "feel" the difference.  We all know how we felt before and we know we are different now, and no one seems to believe us.

I am writing a book and would like to gather as many stories and details as I can.   If anyone is willing to send me their story, please contact me at [email protected].   I am serious about this.  Dr. Hagedorn has agreed to talk with me in person about this so hopefully we can get some traction and if we can scream loudly enough.

It is bad enough people are becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs, but even worse when they cannot deal with the addiction and depression they are then committing suicide.   So all the health benefits are going down the drain.

I have personally made a lot of head way by taking about 40 vitamins a day.  Of course that isn't what my surgeon told me to take.  I had to learn that the hard way by becoming so deficient and anemic and taking months and months to build myself back up.

The list of what I take is on www.itsnotaddictiontransfer.wordpress.com

Best Regards.

Lisa

I am backwards then... I am an alcoholic/addict/chain smoker who got clean/sober/quit smoking only to discover that I'm bipolar. All the brain chemistry in the world couldnt' stop what happened next...

Because I didn't fill the empty places from the alcohol/pills/cigs with any real long lasting tools and learned how to deal any differently...it only made sense that I would gravitate towards SOMETHING...and that was the socially acceptable thing - food. I never got pulled over for eating a donut, I never had a hangover from cheetos and I never coughed up lung cookies from cheeseburgers.

Now that I have had surgery... I'm now wondering what my NEXT addiction is going to be... I can already tell you that I'm hitting more meetings, working harder in AA than I ever have because now I don't have the "fix" of food... so I have to find ways to cope and fill the empty spaces with tools and healthy "fixes" (like walking, meditating and other "balanced" things) rather than use my addictive personality to shop, gamble, sex... etc.

Take away someone's coping mechanism that they use that's outside of themselves and unless you replace it with something solid, supportive and consistant and positive then any addiction or maladaptive behavior is going to fill the empty spot.

Don't stop trying to get help. Fall down 99 times, get up 100. Don't give up and don't bull**** yourself

Binda

Comparatively speaking bariatric surgeries of any kind are "new". We don't know the long-term effects specifically on the brain of malabsorbtion (RNY) or the removal of the predominant gherlin producer (VSG).

I'm a recovering alcoholic with almost 20 years of sobriety. I'm also clinically depressed and suffer from some serious PMDD. I also get hormonal migraines.

I am very, VERY aware of the chemical ebbs and flows of my body.

Do everything that folks are saying here - get help, get support - but also take a step back and remember that this is your body - it's not you. Your body is a machine, and when the machine is not running the way it should it is ever so okay to get pharmacological assistance. I got sober and surprise! I was diagnosed with clinic depression. The booze was my anti-depressant.   I have been on Zoloft for almost as long as I've been sober.  

See a psychiatrist who has some experience with this kind of stuff. They can counsel you and help you find a good medication to sort things out. It's not weak, or lame, or taking the easy way out to take a pill. My body (brain) is broken, so I have to compensate by giving it sertraline every day. It's like being a diabetic. Without my anti-depressant I would eventually die, and it would be a long, slow, horrible nightmare of a process to get there. Pill please!

You are NOT ALONE.

 

I know this is an old post, but I am replying anyway.  This happened to me, I went from going years without a single drink, I went to some clubs in my early 20s, and had parties, and didn't even drink half the time at them.  Alcohol was nothing to me then.  I went to a party about a year or so out, and had a few smirnoffs that were watered down a little (carbonation) and within a month I was buying tequila in bulk drinking tequila sunrises every night, to a year later I was drinking half gallons of vodka alone in a weekend.  Seemed like I needed more alcohol to get drunk but that I stayed drunker. Near the end, I was drinking beer mixed with water or juice, because I couldn't get liquor anymore (I am glad I live in a dry county).  It has been several years since then, I went a year sober on disulfirum (antabusse) and a few months after I drank.  I am back on the medicine, it is a godsend.  I am lucky that I did no damage to my liver or kidneys or heart, I have them all checked regular. I have not had a scope done to check out my pouch but everything is working okay.  I tried attending NA meetings (I don't drive, Im in a small town, we have no bus systems, and AA is 10 miles away).  I didn't feel like I fit in, because it is one thing to get away from drugs, its another when you live in a low rent apartment building and half the people are walking around with beers in their hands (Our doors are on the inside of the building).  I see alcohol everyday.  So for me the medicine is necessary.  I can not change the place I live or the people I see but I can change how I deal with it.  I am in weekly therapy meetings as well.  

 

I believe that the surgery does something to our brains.  I don't think it's an addiction transfer.  My brain viewed alcohol as something I had to have to live, like breathing.  I couldn't think of anything else but alcohol, everything about my day was getting more alcohol, and making sure I had enough to last.  I would count them, I had beer and little bottles hidden all over the house.  This is something I never dealt with before.  I quit smoking with the drop of a hat before surgery, no problem.  I don't think twice that I have not had soda in over 7 years. But alcohol, another story.  I think this must be what a heroin addict goes through.  

 

Google disulfirum and other alcoholic medicines, talk to your doctor, and get all your insides checked out.  You can do it, it's hard.  But you have to tell yourself YOU CAN NOT DRINK EVER AGAIN.  My therapist told me once, ONE IS TOO MANY AND A THOUSAND NEVER ENOUGH I believe it, I heard it in NA as well. 

To all posting here who are depressed and in trouble. I am a former psychologist now working in forensics. Please, all of you, see a psychologist or psychiatrist as soon as possible. Feelings of sucicide and depression are indicative of mental illness and there is NO SHAME in that. Illness is illness and if you had the flu, a broken arm, or eye sight problems you would see a professional that can render aid. Just do it for yourself and your loved ones.

Some people used to say to me that they were embarrassed or ashamed because they were suffering from a mental illness . They reported that their parents, friends, siblings, etc... Had told them they should have the "Will power" to overcome their mental illness. I would tell them to tell those people that the next time they had diarrhea or were bleeding from a gun shot wound to just use their "will power" to overcome and get well. Illness is illness so go get help now. Please!

I know this is a really long time after you originally posted. I don't think your mental illness is related to your surgery. You were at a prime time for mental illness to show up. I was in my early 20s when my bipolar and anxiety took reared their evil heads. I had depression before but it was more situational. I haven't had my surgery yet.

There is tons of information out there about transfer addiction. Since food couldn't be your addiction any more alcohol took it's place. People who beat their addiction to drugs or alcohol will often turn ultra religious. I am working closely with my therapist and hope our work together will help me from transferring my addiction to something that will harm me.