Trouble with smoking pot and ciagrettes

Hey everybody. I first just wanted to commend everyone on this board for being honest about your struggles...helps me feel like i'm not the only one. I've been smoking pot off and on since the spring of 2004, as well as with ciagrettes...but since the summer of 2000. I was banded on the sixth of this month and started smoking pot again about a week post op, and haven't had any trouble what so ever controling my "munchines" or over eating. (Some caffiene free ice tea or a sugar free popsicle is fine for me now, as opposed to the old me who would of woofed down a chicken fried steak and fries easily while stoned.) My question is this though...will smoking pot and ciagrettes while being banded contribute to my band eroding? I've healed rather quickly and been loosing a lot. I was 324 before the pre op diet, which was the atkins induction phase, made it to 312 the day of the surgery, and am now around 283. I had a minor episode the first week were I took in too much broth and had trouble keeping water down, but I suspect that was because i'm used to gulping down 64 ounces of soda at a time. (No, I wasn't high at the time.) I was given a steroid shot which helped my swelling go down and i'm able to now eat small amounts of refried beans with cheese, grits, pudding, and a few egg whites...although I'm still getting full on liquids quickly as well. Any comments or answers to my question would be greatly appreciated. Take Care.

Hi Marcus, I just read your post and I did not have a banding, rather RNY. I no longer use any mind altering substances but I did resume smoking cigarettes after quitting for 14 years. I guess it was the lesser of evils. I am 21 months post op and did drink for a few months post op after about one month post op. The thing is we are trying to improve our health. We have had these major surgeries but our brains still are the same. I have had a great recovery from surgery. I am not perfect. I drink sips with meals, forget vitamins, do not exercise as much as I should and smoke. I love Diet Coke and sip it frequently. I have lost 136# and my health is so much better. I am really happy. I know for a fact that without a support group I would be drinking and abusing pain meds, I would not have lost this much and would gain again. This is not a sermon. I am just speaking from my heart. For me thats what I had to do. I did not want to need anyone else. I want to be strong but I cannot do it alone. I expected I would die by 52 Yr old. I walked with a cane some days. Today I am active, and turning 50 in a few months. I have plans other than funeral plans to look forward to with my family. I wish you the same. Laurie 316/180

Not knowing, but I don't see how the two can be related, other than you might start developing munchies and be able to eat well past capacity. More than us than you know have problems in this area. I always loved to drink, but never went over the edge until I had wls. So easy to drink instead of eat! So stressful to be diligent every waking minute of the day! So easy to get wasted w/o realizing it. No more buzz...straight from A-Z post-op. As someone said, I don't want to stop drinking; I want to stop the consequences! If I could, I would. But I can't. Lots of other stuff to do with life than check out. Vicki

Right on, Laurie, I have plans other than funeral plans, too. I may not do it "perfectly", but damned if I don't do it. So many people, even normies, get sucked into some kind of substance abuse wls. Makes sense. Food is our substance. So we don't use food, what now? I often wonder if there shouldn't be some follow-up, not just cut and leave. Give ourselves major credit; we stay invested and are seeking success as best as possible. I thought I was "abnormal" because I started having a drinking problem. Ain't so. I just voice it out because I do not want to fail and I would rather be embarrassed (self-pride) than be a failure. Can't tell you how many supposed "normies" have had wls, not made it, developed problems and not reached out . If it somehow happens for some quirky reason that it comes out about both of us, they are like people parched by the desert sun, longing for water. You people, if you keep this forum going, will keep that from happening to us, no matter what else we may face together. You know the song...anything you can do, I can do better! How about, anything you have done, I have done worser!! Vicki

Vicki, I think you have a good point. Many of us have addictions. Food being obviously a major issue. I apply my 12 step work as much to food issues as anything else and it helps me more than the monthly wls group I attended. My addiction reaches into every area of my life. Now I have some tools in addition to wls to deal with it. I think of it as my baggage and I can carry it heavy on my back or slap some wheels on it and take it with me with less struggle. This board is a way to reach out too and I am glad I found it. You know one of THOSE phrases. You have to give it away to keep it. So many people myself included feel they are alone or that no one else will understand. It is pretty cool to not be alone with our stinkin' thinkin'. Thanks for keeeping this forum going. Anyone who stumbles in here can have the opportunity to read some honest sharing. Laurie