Pat was a food addict in recovery when she began drinking. She spent most of her life overweight and having a severe addiction to food. She learned to use food to feel comfort whenever she felt rejected or guilty. Pat ate until she was sick for the better part of 20 years, withdrawing from the world and gaining well over a hundred pounds. After seeking bariatric surgery, Pat lost the weight but would later learn she never resolved the reasons why she ate. Through the course of normal celebrations, Pat would drink alcohol; but a post-gastric bypass patient, alcohol’s affects would hit her much faster and harder than a normal person or even a regular alcoholic. The alcohol, at first, gave her the same comfort and high as the food did before.
