Gastric Bypass Surgery Can Replace One Addiction with Another

One cannot just shut off an addiction most of the time. It has to be replaced with something. People who smoke replace the smoking with chewing on a toothpick or sucking on candies. People who have had gastric bypass surgery often turn to other self-destructive behaviors far worse than chewing on a toothpick! They often turn to alcoholism, gambling and sexual addiction.

Gastric bypass surgery doesn't magically cure what was causing the overeating. People should deal with the problems that caused the overeating before the surgery and certainly after the surgery.

Let's take Lori, who had been abused as a child. She had never dealt with this abuse so eating filled a need. When she could no longer eat very much because of her gastric bypass surgery she started drinking. What happens with alcohol is really interesting. The alcohol bypasses what was the old stomach and goes right into the blood stream. People feel the effects of the alcohol very quickly because there is very little food in the stomach. Food absorbs alcohol so with little food in the stomach the alcohol doesn't get absorbed.

Carnie Wilson, daughter of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and a singer herself, was over 300 pounds when she decided to have gastric bypass surgery. Due to her fame she has become perhaps the poster child for gastric bypass surgery. In fact her surgery was on the Internet in 1999 with over 2 million people watching it. Carnie who talks openly and candidly as she makes the rounds as a guest speaker. She needed to fill the void of not getting enough attention from her dad thus she over ate.

As a thin person still not dealing with the void Carnie turned to alcohol. She has been sober for two years after her husband said that they couldn't have a baby if she were drinking. They have a healthy daughter.