Question:
Anyone else become an alcoholic after surgery?

I am 6.5yrs. post-op. I am still at my goal weight, unfortunately, I am now a binge drinker. This has started to effect my life more than my previous obesity. I now make myself eat food to dump in order to stop the cravings. Is there anyone else who has gone through a similar situation?    — Jane1234 (posted on August 1, 2009)

August 1, 2009
Sorry to hear you have this problem...but I was told we were NOT to drink at all. Our bodies can not correctly process alcohol. Sound like you need serious help. Please get it..will keep you in my prayers.
   — tootsie52

August 1, 2009
One of the things that the psychologist talked about it trading one unhealthy addiction (overeating) for another (such as drinking). Please see help through your doctor!
   — Libby R.

August 1, 2009
I commend you on posting this question, admitting the problem is the FIRST step and you should be proud of yourself for that, if not, I'll be proud of you! Find an AA or OA meeting (just a suggestion), if you could find one TODAY to go to that would be awesome! Definitely call your doc, their office should have some resources for you to explore. I am still pre-op, and my surgery was put on hold due to my binge eating... my surgeon was worried that I would either rip my new pouch, or transfer addictions. He has seen it so often that he has tightened the belt on that issue. I'm getting help for my binge eating through OA and may be going into a rehab facility depending on my insurance. I find the 12 step meetings very helpful. You will find you are not alone and there is hope. I'll be praying for you sweetie.
   — Clumsybarbie

August 2, 2009
Hi Jane, my name is Kellye and I am an alcoholic. I am 10 years post-op from RNY and 12 years post-op from VBG which failed due to losing my ring (no clue what happened to it, it was some kind of freak thing!) I was never a drinker prior to surgery as I didn't like feeling out of control of myself but in 2000 when I was revised to RNY I was also living with an alcoholic husband and trying to "control" his drinking. When that failed I decided, if you can't beat em join em. I will spare you the gory details although I think I have some of them posted on my profile if you want to click it. Short story I drank for 3.5 years. The amounts I drank continued to get larger and by the time it was all said and done I could not go more than 2 - 3 hours without putting alcohol in my or else I would go into withdrawals (shaking like a leaf, puking, diarrhea, panic attacks, jumping if the very smallest thing brushed against me.) I was so ashamed of what I had become and I tried every method I could think of to taper down and eventually stop. Nothing I tried worked. Meanwhile, in addition to being physically addicted to it I was also damaging my liver and kidneys. My skin had this yellow and grayish pallor and I was swollen yet barely ever peed. I started having blackouts when I drank where I would wake up and have no idea of what I said and did while drunk except for what other people told me. I totally hurt my kids and family. In the face of all this and knowing I was killing myself one drink at a time I still couldn't stop. I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired and went to AA in 2004. My sobriety date is August 8, 2004 which means that in 6 more days I will have been sober for 5 years. I have to say that getting sober was the hardest thing I ever did in my life but also the most rewarding. There is hope and there is help out there if you want it but you have to want to stay sober more than you want a drink in order for it to work. If you would like to talk offline about this more send me a message through here. I can help you find an AA meeting in your area if you want to give it a try or if you don't want AA I can point you in the direction of some other programs as well as an AWESOME website aimed at supporting addictions of ALL kinds (drinks, drugs, food, co-dependency, etc.) I wish you all the best and would consider it an honor if you choose to reach out for information. In AA there is a saying that we have to give it away to keep it. God bless you. This is not an easy battle but you CAN do it if you want to. Hugs, Kellye
   — Kellye C.

August 2, 2009
Oprah had a whole show on that - Carnie WIlson came on & said she also became an alcoholic after her surgery. I know often we trade on addiction for another. For me, I believe it led to a shopping addiction - clothes, shoes, purses, on & on. EBAY got thousands of $$$$ from me over the years. There are positive addictions tho- I did get into the gym and loved it and really changed my body shape & got muscles, just not thinner.
   — zuzupetals2u2

August 2, 2009
Thsi si a hard thing to kick. You need to figure out what is triggering your need and find a good way to resolve it instead of hiding behind food or drinking. The dumping to keep from eating is another scary thing. You can do some pretty major damage to your body by doing this. You need to find a good counselor who can help you get control of your life.
   — trible