In the media you always hear a lot about people who have weight loss surgery and then since they cant squash their pain with food they turn to drugs and alchohol. I dont see much about this on this forum but unfortunately I am one of those people. Has anyone else turned to alchohol since being banded and not being able to stuff your face? I am also curious if anyone has even gone to a detox center to cleanse your body from the alcholol? I am scheduled to go next week and wonders if it works.

I have the occasional alcoholic beverage but no more often than before I was banded. My only addiction is food so I can't really help you out with the cross addiction. I do know that the detox places will help you IF you really want the help. If you don't really want the help, they are not going to work. I say this, not to be mean, but this comes from the wife of a recovering addict. Hubby's been clean for 14 years. You have to want to change. The results match the efforts. Good luck to you and I wish you much success in this.

Thanks for your response. I find it hard to believe that I am the only person here that has turned from food addiction to alchohol addiction.

I know on the Oprah show they called it Addiction Transfer. Try doing a search for that, on this site and online. I have always been very wary of alchohol. I have found myself craving it the way I do food in the past.

I have this issue and have researched it and spoke with my GP about it. It is very common. I drank before my lap band surgery but do more so now. My GP referred me to a therapist to help me deal with cross addictions and I do hope it will help. I have found that it was worse in the first few months after surgery. Maybe withdrawal from using food as a crutch.