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Doctors' philosophy on this vary from a few weeks to never again depending upon their experiences. The basic issues are: Healing - alcohol is somewhat corrosive to the stomach lining so one needs to give things a chance to heal first, Typically we see a few weeks to a few months sited for this. Alcohol tolerance - rapid stomach emptying means it tends to hit faster, and with less (i.e., a "cheap drunk") so care must be taken there, Transfer addiction - we can no longer satisfy whatever addictive tendencies we have with food, so it is easy to transfer that addiction to something else, like alcohol, drugs, shopping, gambling, etc. What was a casual habit of a glass of wine with dinner occasionally can easily turn into full blown alcoholism. Liver health - starting as morbidly obese, or worse, our livers are not usually in very good shape to begin with (hence the "liver shrinking" pre-op diets that are often prescribed) and the liver is further stressed from its role in metabolizing all that fat that we are rapidly losing. It doesn't need any more stress from ingesting a known liver toxin like alcohol (not a judgemental thing, just our physiology at work). My surgeon is also a biliopancreatic (livers and pancreas) transplant surgeon, so he is in the no alcohol as long as we are losing weight camp (and ideally forever) and indeed we sign a contract to that effect - he doesn't want any of his bariatric patients coming back onto his transplant table! Those are the issues in play, and some aspects bother different surgeons to different degrees, so they have different policies. Check with what your surgeon's policy is, and decide for yourself - we are all adults here.

Thank you everyone so, so much. You have all made me feel so much better. Honestly, your kind words brought tears to my eyes and now I'm smiling again. 😁 We only have 19 employees & that's including our finance manager and janitor. There isn't even a HR department to go too! My director is a very kind soul but she hates confrontation. I'd have to go to our library board & that would cause a HUGE stink so I'm just going to power through the next 2 1/2 weeks and enjoy the month I don't have to see their faces! They will certainly see a different co-worker when I return. I will do as y'all suggested & not let their attitudes effect me in the slightest. Thank you for the heads up about relationships changing too. I have read about that & I've talked that over with my husband. We are going to do our best to recognize issues before they turn in to full-fledged problems. Knowing y'all are here to support me means more than I can say.

So. I had my first appointment with the surgeon this past week. We have agreed on a sleeve gastrectomy. He said the surgery would happen in about 1 month since I'm self-pay. I have an appointment with the dietician next week and with the psychologist the week after. I'm nervous and excited. It's all I can think about. It's all I want to talk about but I'm trying not to drive my husband crazy. I thought this might be the place to talk. Anyone else out there in the same boat that wants to gab it up. I keep perusing these forums and reading all of the posts. I want to engage. Sent from my Pixel 2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I was given the following reasons to refrain from alcohol: (1) empty calories (2) can contribute to worsening GERD (3) metabolization of the alcohol may have undesired effects with your new digestive system (4) risk of transfer addiction. I was not told never to have it again, but to use caution before proceeding. I rarely had alcohol during weight loss phase, I would guess probably less than 10 times the entire time, and these times wouldn't even be an entire regular "serving". It was always dry red wine or gin/vodka with soda (less calories and less carbs). I once had a couple sips of a flavoured soju like 2 months post op and ended up on the bathroom floor for over an hour. Not pretty. I can get tipsy/drunk reeeaaalllly quickly (and on much, much, much less than pre-op). But I also sober up astonishingly quickly as well. 1 drink and I'm def affected. 2 drinks and I'm drunk. But about an hour later I'm totally back to normal again. I'm almost 2 years post op now and I drink fairly regularly (particularly since COVID started!), though I still stick to red wines and spirits with no sugary mixers for the most part (with the exception of Kahlua, an important ingredient in espresso martinis) P.S. I am NOT advocating drinking to all, especially if your team advises against it. Everyone is different and should aim to know their limitations and stay within them. Some may have more trouble with this, which is probably why lots say to just stay away. It can become a slippery slope.... Edited to add: I just realized the title of this thread was for bypass. Oopsies, I'm a sleeve, and I think it may be a bit different, between the two: alcohol will bypass a portion (or all?) of the small intestine in by-passers and go directly to the the large intestine, which results in different alcohol metabolization rates...

Congratulations, self payer here too! I had my surgery about two weeks ago, time flies right by. Make sure to take plenty of before pictures, weigh yourself, and try to measure everything. I'm down about 22 pounds and I can actually see the results at this point. [emoji4] I'm so excited for you! Sent from my Moto Z (2) using BariatricPal mobile app

How many meals a day are you eating? I was meant to eat a max 1/2 cup six times a day, initally depending on what I was eating I couldn't eat half a cup and certainly couldn't do six times a day along with trying to get water in

#1-I'm very sorry that you're going through this. #2-Your private health information is none of their business, not even your employer has the right to your private health information. It sounds like you've already shared it, but regardless, I agree with others. If individuals are going to management with their opinions on your personal health information, I would speak with HR. I see harassment all over their behavior. #3-You having weight loss surgery should have no effect on THEM. So, why are they so up in arms? Even if they have to cover your shifts, it would be no different than if you had any other life-saving surgery. You're doing this to better yourself and make yourself more healthy. Why would they object? It's not like you're bringing Typhoid fever back to the office. Sounds like you work with a bunch of selfish people. #4-Be prepared. It is normal for your relationships to change during this journey.

That sucks cause some of us dont want that. Thank you Sticky Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I get the impression most are lookin for hook up. Congrats on your success!!!

Yeah definitely going to take all the time I need to sort myself out