PlzCoolerMe

Everyone is different. I was quite worried about this as well prior to my surgery and I decided on telling non-insider friends/family that I had Acid Reflux surgery as it sounded like it would fit into it. Then, that I just decided to take advantage of the surgery and become healthier with portion control. However, I am a talker and it didn't take long before I was telling most everyone who asked. I'm not ashamed of it at all anymore (was cautious for a while). It's been a huge positive in my life and I actually encourage others who struggle with weight and have real health issues to look into it as well.

Posted this in the general forum, but, was mainly getting responses from women. Wondered what your guys' take was? Thanks: I am 31 years old and have basically done whatever I wanted (within reason) whenever I wanted since mid-college. I'm self-employed in the financial industry so I have been able to take off on a vacation, golf, or whatever reasonably easy (since I didn't have to ask my employer first.) This do whatever, whenever mentality is partly why I'm in the shape I'm in, I love to eat... and eat good. One of the things that I'm most worried about is the possibility that I won't be able to drink carbonated beverages such as beer or alcohol in general after surgery. I'm not an alcoholic by any means, but, I have a lot of fun. And drinking on the golf course or during a cocktail hour in business settings has been a big part of my life over the past 10 years. Not to mention, most of my friends like to kick back and drink on the weekends. I'm confused because I have read many things that a lot of folks aren't able to handle alcohol or drink carbonated beverages at all... Yet, I have a good friend who had the surgery and in some ways, I wouldn't hardly notice a difference in his eating/drinking unless he had told me. He still drinks a few beers, drinks a ton of wine, and some mixes and seems to be fine. The main area I can see a difference is that he seems to get drunker quicker. What are your experiences? What is the norm? Is it just that this surgery affects everyone differently? I mean, I am obviously willing to give up some of this for my health for my family... But, I'm just trying to figure out what to expect. Any input is appreciated. Oh, and my surgery is scheduled for this coming Monday. Thanks.

As I posted before, my tolerance is not nearly as good. It's been an adjustment for sure. Going from beer to hard alcohol I mean. Best thing I do is when I remember to drink Water in between drinks. 18 months post sleeve.

Hello, First, I want to thank this forum for helping me get through my surgery and the first 2 months after which were tough for me. I recently took an interest of viewing the forum again since it helped me so much. I will be 6 months out on Feb. 4th. For me, surgery has been one of the BEST decisions I have ever made. I hit my original goal of 225 lbs in 4.5 months post-op. I am now down to 215 with a BMI of 29 after starting over 42. I know 215 might not sound super-skinny, but, honestly... For me, I feel like give or take 5 lbs, this is where my ideal weight is. I am down to a 34-35 waist from 44-46, and wearing size Large shirts. I graduated high school wearing XL's and was getting into Triple X at my biggest. So, in a nut-shell, what decides when I'm at my ideal weight and what is the best strategy to help maintain where I am right now? I've never been a huge fan of the gym, but, I feel like I might need to start visiting just to keep/gain muscle and avoid losing any more. Thanks again for the help, and feel welcome to ask me any questions as well.

If you could take word "does" out, that would be great... Appreciate the help!

Wow, this is nearly identical to my experience 16 months out. I completely agree with the comment about wanting to "advise" other folks to look into the surgery. As you said, it comes off as "judgey" in my head, but, I just know how much of a positive change it has been for my life. I also think it is funny how I view myself. I don't think I ever saw myself as large as I really was. In the same respect, I still don't believe I see myself as skinny as I really am in the mirror... It takes me seeing pictures of me with other friends in the same image to register with my brain... Not sure if that makes sense? It's all about point of view I guess. One other thing, it took a while, but, I think my brain, eyes, and stomach have all come around to agreeing what the right portions are and when i'm actually full. This took a while to learn for sure. I also think it's interesting now, how something I would consider a "large portion" differs from what it was prior to surgery. There are just times where I feel like I may have eaten too much and get conscious about it, but, it's actually smaller or equal to what an average person would have eaten at same setting. Thanks for the post.

Update... 16 months since I first started this topic. I can say at this point that I can definitely tell the difference in my tolerance. I'm down around 125 lbs and sometimes after a few too many, I forget that my tolerance is not as good, and it can be a disaster lol. I have definitely been able to control it better as of late by learning to drink Water in between drinks. I still do not drink more than 1 or 2 beers in a night, mainly because the carbonation seems to fill me up. I think this might be part of the tolerance issue as well, hard alcohol vs beer.

Update, I am now around 190lbs give or take a couple, and have been so for the last 3 to 4 months. As most people indicated, my body just needed to get where it was "comfortable" and it has seemed to stay there.

Thanks for the replies. Some very useful info for sure. I need to schedule my 6 month post op, I'm guessing my dr. will be able to give me some more insight into this. Any other input? Thanks.

Dangit, that's kind of dumb. Hope people don't judge my the quality of my post and questions by the title I guess lol.

Sorry, I thought all of that was listed as my signature on the left side under my name. I am 6 ft 0.

Also, I wanted to edit the topic... I realized it doesn't make sense after submitting (I tried to change it originally and failed lol.) How do I edit the topic? Not just material in post? Thanks.

I'm now 7 weeks out and doing good (I think anyways). Down 55 lbs and feeling good for the most part. Still get dumping syndrome once in a while, but, not nearly as bad as early on. I'm eating mostly normal foods (still easing into tougher foods such as steak and everything like that.) However, there just seem to be some specific foods that don't sit well post-op. For me, it's anything with vinegar or oils. I was never a HUGE oil guy (other than Greek and a few other oil-based dressings) but, I absolutely LOVED vinegar. Now it seems post-op, my stomach lets me know if I even get a little of it in there. Things like pickles are pretty much out of the question. One other thing I've noticed a change in acceptance to is spices and seasonings. After college, my taste buds started changing and I kept liking hotter and hotter foods... But, now I'm having issues with a lot of the spices and hot sauces that I used to cook with regularly. Is this somewhat normal? Are there foods that you have the same experiences with? I know this is a process and I've already been able to advance a lot from where I was. But, I just hope that this part of the adjustments get easier down the road as well. Thanks, and good luck!

Chile Soup and most pasta's seem to be in this group for me now...

Upadate: 3 weeks for me. I'm now 7 weeks out from my surgery and have played multiple rounds of golf. My surgeon's advice was that I could basically play as soon as my body let me. My first attempt was 2.5 weeks after my surgery. I was scared so went at it very lightly. I only played about 5 holes and didn't swing hard at all. It was ok, but, not normal. I ended up playing league the following week which was 3 weeks and 2 days after my surgery. I played pretty much my normal game and felt good the entire time, until... I had a shot where I needed to get it up over a tree quickly so I swung fairly hard and I could feel it. I was scared that I screwed up. It felt like a pull in my stomach and I noticed it the rest of the round. I asked my doctor and he said I would be fine as I had my follow-up appointment later that week. By the time I hit my appointment, I was feeling fine again. My doctor said not to worry about it, that it was likely just a pulled muscle that I hadn't worked for a while. So, I was able to go about my golfing and continue on. So, in a nutshell, it was 3 weeks for me. I will say that I struggled at the end of the year, a lot of because of my weight loss I think and not being used to my new swing. Looking forward to getting it back next season!

7 weeks out and I've had kind of a crazy streak going in my life as of late. In past 3 weeks, I've been in a wedding, hosted a tailgate, hosted a golf tournament, and spent 4 days on a work trip in Miami. So, I've had my fair share of alcohol associated with these events. I'm getting a much better feel for what I can and can't handle. First off, I'm a clear alcohol drinker, just don't like much of the darker stuff. Bloody Mary's, Gin and Tonics, Screwdrivers, Vodka-sugar free Redbull, Vodka-G2 Gatorade, and Moscow Mules all seem to treat me fine along with most Wine's I've tried. The only thing I've tried that hasn't sat well was light beer which I've only tried twice. I could barely drink half the beer. I'll be kind of bummed if I can't handle a couple beers down the road a ways, but, not the end of the world at all. Overall, pleasantly surprised with everything and was prepared for much worse. Also, different from most, I don't really feel like my tolerance has been affected all that much.

Prior to being sleeved a month ago, I drank sugar free redbulls on a fairly regular basis (maybe two 8 ounce cans per week). However, I haven't had any since. This weekend was the first time that I really felt like I needed one, I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep and was really dragging. I looked at the can first, and it said "lightly carbonated." I got scared and tried a 5 hour energy instead... YUCK. My question: Is "lightly carbonated" going to be a big deal if you only drink a little? I've read other folks who've been sleeved saying that they are still able to drink small amounts of pop, beer, etc. I would think all of these have much more carbonation than Red Bull. Has anyone else tried energy drinks, and if so, how long after surgery? Thanks.

I'm curious about the gin and tonic (as that was one of my main pre-op drinks.) I would think the tonic Water would have a ton of carbonation? Glad to hear it doesn't affect you that much. I hope it's the same for me. A month out and just experimented with alcohol for the first time this past weekend. We had a tailgate event with a bunch of friends. Over a period of 5 hours, I had 3 drinks. I had a glass of red wine with dinner, a screwdriver, and a Moscow Mule after. I was a little worried about the Moscow Mule since there is a little Ginger Beer in there. However, it went down fine. I drank all of the drinks very slow compared to how I drank pre-op. I might have had a little buzz after the screwdriver, but, nothing major. Overall, I was very glad to see that I could socialize like normal and not have the alcohol majorily affect me. However, I will say that I had been losing around 1.5 lbs every other day prior to drinking. And I was same weight for 2 days after. It definitely affects the weight-loss part.

2 weeks out, doing well. Dr. said I could start experimenting with normal foods (which I have fully taken advantage of and am loving.) However, I think the part I'm struggling most with is forgetting that I'm not supposed to drink with my meals. I've done it multiple times and haven't noticed problems. What is the reason behind this again? Is it just they don't want you to flush the food any faster since you don't eat as much?

From listening to everyone's replies, I think (just like many things) carbonation effects everyone in different way post-sleeve. I know my buddy still can drink 3 or 4 beers a night along with a lot of red wine and liquor. I've also read a couple people say they can still drink pop (just not as much.) Others have said they just poor their carbonated bevgs out of the can/bottle into a cup and this helps. I think it's safe to say that things won't be the same with it as pre-op, but, it's just a matter of how much change...

I don't understand how it could be anymore risky drinking Water with meal than the risk of just over-eating on your own with food only...

Well that's what I wondered... I didn't know if it was for a reactionary reason like throwing up, and I just got lucky? Or if it was for health-based reasons.

Wow, that makes me feel better. I am going to give my Dr. a call this morning. Thx

1 week post op. Tonight, I was mowing (rider b/c of big lawn) and before I could get mower put away, it ran out of gas. I didn't even think about it and just pushed it forward about 5 ft in the garage. Right after I did this, I realized what I had done. I didn't strain at all, but, after I thought about it, I'm sure it was way more than 20 lbs of pressure I was told I couldn't lift. After I walked out of the garage, I felt a weird little tingle down my left leg and arm. Fortunately, I haven't noticed anything else un-normal since then. I hope I'm just being nervous as I haven't felt pain or anything (wasn't painful when I moved mower either). But, I've just heard all these leak horror stories and I really hope I don't have to go through it. My 2 week follow up is Friday. Is there anything else I should be watching out for before then? Has anyone else had complications because they lifted or exerted too much weight? Ughhh I hope I didn't mess this up!

It's Friday, I had my surgery on Monday. I'm at home and thought I was doing pretty good. But, later in the day yesterday and earlier this morning, I've been having headaches and have been quite irritable. Is this dehydration or is it something else normal? I'm trying to drink as much Water as possible, but, it seems much tougher now that I can't just chug the water. Also mixing it in with G2 gatorade. On a side note, I do remember feeling a bit similar on the two days before my surgery when I was on liquid diet. Any advice? Thanks.