In recovery from addiction transfer?

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Hey y'all. I'm a new member and this is my first time posting here. It's been an incredibly long time since I talked to ANYONE who has had RNY, and I'm just trying to reach out and find others who maybe understand what I've been/am going through. I had my surgery when I was WAY too young. I was 23, and totally confused being healthy with being thin. About a year and a half into it I had lost about 150 pounds, but became severely depressed. Then that thing none of us thinks is going to happen to us happened to me--my mysterious food addiction transferred to opiates, then to alcohol, then to alcohol AND opiates, and unfortunately I made it all the way to meth, where I stayed for way too long. I've been clean for a little over 2 years, and I'm actually making positive moves in my life, but I feel very unhealthy and not as happy as I wish I was. I've also become addicted to sugar, ugh...

ANYWAY. I should probably save anything more for the "Journeys" forum, just wanted to throw a line out there and see if anyone else has experienced something similar to this? Or if maybe there is an addiction transfer forum/post someone can direct me to? I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for reading. Have a good one <3

[BecomingMeAgain 46]

I just want to say congratulations on over 2 years clean. That's huge!

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[eden30 111]

Yes me too. Congrats you champ x

[FluffyChix 17,418]

Thanks for your honesty and sharing a little of your journey. Congrats on 2 years and on recognizing your need for support!! Yay you!

[blondie66 271]

Congratulations on staying clean! I've read about transferring addictions and hear it can happen. Keep up the positive changes. It's all about one day at a time. I really like some of the books by Gabby Bernstein she is a recovering addict. I'm still probably a sugar addict...but manage it with dieting and exercise.

[GwennyPenny 108]

First off congratulations on getting clean it's a big job!

I have been on prescription opiates for some time now. Targin morning and night which I'm OK with. I have chronic osteoarthritis and take them for pain. Pre op I went onto Endone for added relief because paracetamol was affecting my liver and NSAIDs were out due to blood pressure and now bypass. The plan was to start weaning off the endone post surgery pain relief. Since the surgery I can stand a bit longer walk a bit further but still have a lot of pain. Then I developed kidney stones and still needed it. Two weeks from now I will have my third kidney surgery to remove stents. Hopefully after that we can begin the process. I don't know if I have become dependent on them but my guess is at least to a degree. One day in hospital I didn't have any endone and got a bit jittery. Any tips would be welcome. I want to knock it on the head now before it becomes a serious issue and so does my GP

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On 10/24/2017 at 5:59 AM, BecomingMeAgain said:

I just want to say congratulations on over 2 years clean. That's huge!

Sent from my Pixel using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you! I hit rock bottom and went through a lot to get to this point, so it is definitely an accomplishment. I appreciate the encouragement <3

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On 10/24/2017 at 6:39 AM, eden30 said:

Yes me too. Congrats you champ x

Well then congrats to you, too!

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On 10/24/2017 at 10:31 AM, FluffyChix said:

Thanks for your honesty and sharing a little of your journey. Congrats on 2 years and on recognizing your need for support!! Yay you!

Being such an independent person, sometimes it's really hard to admit that I'm struggling and need to lean on others, but when I do (in places like this), I'm always so overwhelmed with positivity that it makes it so worth it! Thank you I see that you have not had WLS surgery yet, but have lost quite a bit of weight already. Congrats to you for that, as well! I am obviously not familiar with your situation, but my advice to you in pursuing this surgery--please do keep in mind that addiction/addiction transfer is a sneaky lil' bastard and can have life-changing consequences. Keep yourself safe, and make sure to see a mental health counselor of some sort for at LEAST 2-3 years after you've had your surgery, even if you feel you don't need it. I wish I had done that. Anyway, just a pocket of "wisdom" from me to you LOL. Have a lovely day xo

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On 10/24/2017 at 4:32 PM, blondie66 said:

Congratulations on staying clean! I've read about transferring addictions and hear it can happen. Keep up the positive changes. It's all about one day at a time. I really like some of the books by Gabby Bernstein she is a recovering addict. I'm still probably a sugar addict...but manage it with dieting and exercise.

Thank you! And yes, it can happen I had to go through two hour-long information sessions before I could even start the surgery application/approval process (to make sure it's what I wanted to do), and they did discuss addiction transfer briefly, but I feel they did not stress the possibility enough. I also did not realize I was addicted to food, so when the transfer happened it was all just a huge shock to me and hard to understand/handle.

I'll definitely have to check out some of those books. Is she in recovery and a weight loss surgery patient? Or just in recovery? Either way, I have a ton of books to read for school already, but I will put them on my to-read list!

And sugar...oh, sugar...the bane of my existence! So delicious, and yet so terrible and addictive! I really want to do a sugar detox, but I'm not sure if I have the willpower to do it right now Hopefully in the near future

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On 10/29/2017 at 8:24 PM, GwennyPenny said:

First off congratulations on getting clean it's a big job!

I have been on prescription opiates for some time now. Targin morning and night which I'm OK with. I have chronic osteoarthritis and take them for pain. Pre op I went onto Endone for added relief because paracetamol was affecting my liver and NSAIDs were out due to blood pressure and now bypass. The plan was to start weaning off the endone post surgery pain relief. Since the surgery I can stand a bit longer walk a bit further but still have a lot of pain. Then I developed kidney stones and still needed it. Two weeks from now I will have my third kidney surgery to remove stents. Hopefully after that we can begin the process. I don't know if I have become dependent on them but my guess is at least to a degree. One day in hospital I didn't have any endone and got a bit jittery. Any tips would be welcome. I want to knock it on the head now before it becomes a serious issue and so does my GP

Hi Gwenny,

Thank you for sharing your experience <3 I'm so sorry to hear about all the physical ailments and pain you have been enduring It is extremely difficult to deal with chronic pain, especially with so many limitations on the medicine you can take, so you are a strong person for pushing through it! I have totally had kidney stones before and it was THE WORST pain I have ever been in! The nurse said some women say it hurts worse than having a baby, so kudos, girl! Given how long you have been taking the opiates, it's likely that you would have at least some physical dependence on them. How long ago did you have the surgery? Hopefully after you have the kidney surgery there will be no other medical interferences and you can wean off comfortably. I can't really comment on that process because that was not part of my experience. I had gotten myself into some trouble when I was using, unfortunately, went to jail for a 7-month stint, was forced to go cold turkey when I got there, and was clean for my entire stay. When I got out, I went to rehab for a month and got into a Suboxone program. I'm not sure if you are familiar with this, but suboxone is a medication generally prescribed by doctors who are addiction specialists that is both an opiate blocker and a craving pacifier. In other words, it has 2 medicinal properties: one that satisfies your cravings for opiates, and one that prevents you from getting high from opiates while you're on it. Supposedly, if you are taking suboxone regularly and then decide to take an opiate, it will throw you into withdrawals immediately.

Anyway, I bring this up because this is the main reason for my sobriety. Not that it doesn't take will power or anything to stay clean, but the suboxone is a safety net. I am deterred from taking opiates because it will be a waste of money and it will make me sick, plus it acts as an opiate would by satisfying my cravings.

Good luck to you with whichever route you choose! Iff you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know!

[Hopep4673 120]

Congratulations on 2 years clean... I know about addiction transfer... mine was the other way around though... I started with Meth then went to food... I have been clean for going on 11 years... and I am working on food addiction now. You will get through this... if you can quit meth and opiates you can do anything... best of luck on your journey!!! Thank you for sharing.