[FrugalSue]

The Oprah show today was about people who had stomach surgery to lose weight and since have had problems with addictions. Very interesting. Apparently there has been a four-fold increase in these surgeries in the past few years, so the problems afterwards with alcoholism, drugs, gambling, sex addiction, etc. are really beginning to come to light. It's called addiction transfer.

Oprah said that people who have bypass surgery sometimes "bypass" dealing with their emotions and the reasons that they got fat in the first place. I thought this was a really insightful way to say it.

Not only do people sometimes not deal with the emotional reasons for overeating...the surgery can really increase the effect of alcohol on your body. Alcohol absorption happens faster, and there's very little food in the stomach to offset the alcohol. So people get drunk fast, and so they immediately have no judgment about their behavior and how it's affecting themselves and others.

Carney Wilson said she was completely crocked during her post-surgery Playboy shoot. She's been clean and sober for two years now. She says before, during and after the surgery, you have to focus with what's in your head and solve your problems.

I can so relate to all that was said about this addiction transfer problem. For me, it was the same thing in reverse: I drank for 17 years, then quit and gained nearly 100 pounds in sobriety. So, either way, it's important to identify the root causes and deal with them.