In The Newspaper This Morning

[lassie 247]

In the paper this morning I quote “Two years after surgery almost 11 percent, or 103 of 996 gastric bypass patients, had drinking problems.” The article was longer but this is the meat of the article. I wonder if this is just for bypass or if there is any info out there for labband.

[lassie 247]

sorry about my speling I meant lapband

[Sojourner 2,446]

Did the article give specifics about the type of "drinking problem" the study was referring to?

I would be very interested to know, if it referred to simply drinking fluids, or were they were referring to developing tendencies towards abusing alcoholic beverages.

I'd find it difficult to believe that bariatric surgery of any type would be a contributing factor to substance abuse...though other behavioral issues might be more understandable. If an individual has an addiction, such as to food, without the proper treatment with a therapist or psychologist, it is fairly common to substitute one addiction for another.

[lassie 247]

It was for alcohol abuse

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

What my doctor told me was, very often people trade addictions. So after WLS, some patients will trade their food addiction for alcoholism or drug abuse. He said this one of the reasons he tells his WLS patients to avoid alcohol, not only because it's empty calories but because of the increase risk of addiction.

[alb729 11]

I too was wondering the same thing? Drinking as in swallowing or drinking as in alcohol? I had roux ny done in 2000 and was just banded this past May 16th....my pouch, after all these years stretched and so lap band was the only thing offered to help this ...I am doing well so far as I was good most of the time on my eating habits with the bypass..it was just one of those things, however, nothing in a drinking matter afflicted me...I like to have a glass of wine or maybe two but I don't see the correlation between bariatrics and alcoholism?

[bandbun 9]

The article was about people with gastric bypass being able to absorb alcohol quicker so therefore could drink a lot more , lpbands should not affect alcohol consumption other than all those calories u are consuming. The article was specifically to do with gastric bypass people who have more tendency to become alcoholics because of the absorbtion differences .

[jeani81 93]

What I was told before is that when you have one addiction like food and give that up then most likey you turn to something else that you will use as your crutch. I personally don't think it's a high percentage but it is a possibility. I seen a special on this on discovery health. I also believe if you don't work out the underlying issues that has caused weight gain then of course you'll have issues.

[NWgirl 574]

I read this article on another post a few days ago and it is only something related to band or bypass. The cause is that alcohol is metabolised differently after those surgeries, so people can drink and drink and the effect wears off quickly, so they drink more. It's not necessarily a replacement of a food addiction, just a thing with how it runs through the body.

[Kimberly Collins 15]

It's an addiction trade off. I am having this issue. I have taken up drinking wine, where as I never drank pre-band. I am not an alcoholic, but have decided to not drink at all b/c it hampers my WL.

[lassie 247]

It's an addiction trade off. I am having this issue. I have taken up drinking wine, where as I never drank pre-band. I am not an alcoholic, but have decided to not drink at all b/c it hampers my WL.

Very brave to admit this and good for you to do something

about it so fast.

[cfurrey 53]

There is a thread on this forum that has a detailed article about wls and alcohol problem it wasnt long ago maybe searching back you can get more info!

[Allison0927 329]

It was specific to bypass not band.

[NWgirl 574]

It was specific to bypass not band.

oops, I meant to put only something related to bypass and the sleeve! Glad you caught it!

[Sojourner 2,446]

The article was about people with gastric bypass being able to absorb alcohol quicker so therefore could drink a lot more , lpbands should not affect alcohol consumption other than all those calories u are consuming. The article was specifically to do with gastric bypass people who have more tendency to become alcoholics because of the absorbtion differences .

Not true, according to my surgeon. Any bariatric patient, including the bandster, will absorb alcohol faster than someone who has not had surgery. We were cautioned that 1 drink could easily put you over the legal blood alcohol content for driving. He emphatically told us all that he will not write letters to law enforcement to intervene in any DUI cases which may happen as a result of not heeding his warnings.