[lagomorphamaniac]

i recently gave up alcohol and cigarettes, but have noticed that i'm developing a bit of a sweet tooth, especially for fruit. my psychiatrist put me on depakote to manage my bipolar, and i know that it can cause significant weight gain if not careful. could my cravings be an indication of withdrawal, a result of the depakote, or a combination? has anyone else had a similar experience with alcohol recovery? thanks!

[splitimage]

Lots of people find themselves craving sweets after they give up alcohol. There's a lot of sugar in alcohol so your body gets used to having a fairly high blood sugar level. Fruits at least are healthy so in terms of a craving they're not that bad. It goes away with time. One thing I found helped me satisfy my sweet tooth was to mix cranberry or some other fruit juice with club soda and drink that instead.

Good luck.

--splitimage

[jenkins09]

Its very normal to go from one addiction to another. If your sweet tooth causes you to only crave fruit then your in a good place.

Congrats on giving up the booze and cigs....added a good 10-15 years to your life.

Blessings <><

[Neurosurfer]

Congratulations on freeing yourself from nicotine and alcohol. It's also common to crave sweets when quitting smoking because 1)you can taste them again and 2)I'd have to check to be sure but I think smoking alters the way your body metabolizes sugar as well as other substances, so in its absence your body may be craving sugar.

I also quit smoking and drinking at about the same time about a year and a half ago and for a while developed an irresistible craving for sweets, but I can't say for sure which substance's absence brought it on.

To help with the cravings I found the following to be helpful, in order: Faith, sugar free cinnamon gum (spicier the better, not nicotine gum), artificially sweetend sugar free fruit drinks (sobe, etc.), and diet cola. Be careful though, it might seem like a good idea to drink more caffeine to get through the nicotine withdrawal, but nicotine mitigates the effects of caffeine so a nonsmoker needs only about 1/2 the caffeine he/she would've had when smoking to achieve the same effect.

You might want to start walking moving towards some kind of good cardio exercise to start getting your cardiovascular system into shape. Start slowly though, and of course check with your doctor first.

Once again, great job on quitting!

[Perna]

I think too (in addition to what the others have said) that cigarettes and having something in your mouth; often people use gum or candy to help with the smoking cessation. No help for it but to not buy it anymore! I love candy when I'm reading, before bed but don't buy it as I eat way too much at that time.