Search the Community

As part of my band journey, I decided it was time to tackle my Diet Coke addiction (again). I gave it up about 6 years ago, but here it is back again. We're talking a minimum of 5 cans a day, plus 3 - 6 glasses a day while eating out at lunch and/or dinner. It's a serious matter in my life. I actually believe the aspartame poisoning aspect is worse than the caffeine portion. I know this, but I still guzzle it. Why!?! Not looking forward to my 1 - 2 weeks of detox headaches and other symptoms. Has anyone else successfully tackled this evil? If so, any and all tips are appreciated! According to Merriam-Webster: ad·dic·tion noun \ə-ˈdik-shən, a-\ : a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble) : an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something Full Definition of ADDICTION 1 : the quality or state of being addicted <addiction to reading> 2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

How far post op are you??? I had wine about 2 months post op, the alcohol has not affected me either way. My surgeon said you "could" get durnk easily but for me nothing has changed. Just be careful and I would try alcohol at home first to see how you will react. You don't want to try something new for the first time out of you house. Just remember that alochol has lots of empty calories.

Sunday morning I woke up got aout of bed and noticed one of my feet was a bit puffy at the ball. Figured it was because I wore tennis shoes the day before. Through out the day my foot started hurting more and more. By the late afternoon I was in terrible pain. Monday morning I woke up and the pain was very intense. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was at a 9. I have a high tolerance for pain compared to most. Ended up calling in sick to work because I neede crutches to get around and went to the doc. Turned out I have gout which I have never had before. The cure for gout is heavy duty anti inflamitories which I was told I could never have again after having my sleeve. Turns out that is not true, but you want to limit it as much as possible. There are many possible reason for the gout. 1) high protien diet, 2) rapid weight loss, 3) alcohol ( which I have given up). Has anyone else experience gout after surgery? If so, what coarse of action did you take. Did you try reducing your protien intake? I find it hard to beleive its a protien issue. Sure, we are on a high Protein diet, but in my case even with protein being the goal I am still eating much less protein than before surgery. I have to conclude that the main cause is rapid weight loss. What are your thoughts? I hope this does not come and go once I get to maintanance. It fricking hurts a lot.

I have not denied the surgery nor have I said I did at any point. You might want to go back and look at my posts before you attack me, Steve. What I said about denial is the absolute truth. Before I could get help with my weight problem, I had to admit it was a problem that I needed help with and then ask for help. I've been fighting this for 30 years on my own and had not been winning the battle. In any arena where people are trying to be free of something that is weighing them down (alcohol, drugs, FOOD), they have to WANT help. I would not have been ready until I was ready to do it. People have been telling me about surgery forever. I had to get to this place on my own. I would be glad to be helpful to others, but I will never urge someone else to do this. People have to come to it on their own. I wouldn't want someone to regret doing it because they thought that what I told them about it was the gospel according to sleeve surgery. If something went wrong during their surgery, I would never forgive myself.

Some folks have issues with certain sweeteners and sugar alcohols. Could totally be that, still could be the lactose, maybe double a dose of the lactaid and see? Do you typically have issues with whole milk or ice creams?

I was told i can have it as long as it doesn't brother me. I was addicted to diet soda so even though i am aloud to have it i only have it about once a month when i go out with my girlfriends to have some drinks. I have it vodka because it is only 80 calories and it does take most of the carbonation out with the alcohol. If i would drink it every day i would become addicted again. And ever since i gave it up i found that i fell so much better drinking water then i did soda. My skin isn't dry anymore and i know that is because i am getting the water i need. I think before i was banded i would only drink a glass of water ever couple of days and the rest would be soda now i drink water every day

For anyone pre-op, this tip from my nurse: Let the alcohol that you used to sterilize the skin dry completely before you inject. It's the alcohol that stings.

From what I have read, this particular kind of euphoria is rare, everyone feels good after exercise but this is different. I could count myself lucky to feel such mind bending pleasure from strenuous activity *cough*, but I also think it has something to do with a genetic predisposition toward addiction, basically our brains are overly sensitive to pleasure, we feel pleasure more intensely than normal people. So, some addicts abuse this gift with heroin, others with alcohol. Me, I hit the cheeseburgers. And people can legitimately become addicted to exercise, I'm sure I'm a looong way from that, but I get it.

I just wanted to add what happened to me yesterday with regards to alcohol. I am 2 years post op. I must say I feel the effects of alcohol so much stronger than before. Yesterday I had a friend over and although I only drink occasionally thought it would be fun to get a bit tipsy. I had 3 carbonated ciders mixed with vanilla vodka. The cider was 4.5% alcohol as well so I really didn't have any mixer with it. I got so drunk so fast and before I knew it I was staggering around and falling down drunk! I passed out and in the middle of the night was doing the dry heaving. It was also coming out as diarrhea. I wanted to die! My stomach wanted to get rid of the alcohol but my band was preventing it from coming up. My husband asked me how much I'd had to drink and was surprised to hear I'd only had 3 drinks! Please use caution my friends. I will never EVER do that again! So not worth it.

I thought the Tylenol with codeine would be a problem for me too. The reality is I would only take one and they really did not bother me. I only ended up taking it twice before I switched to luquid Tylenol. The reality is you should be doing some resting anyway. I hated taking the liquid medicines because the alcohol in them and high sugar content made my pouch burn and made me jittery. I per safely better not taking anything and using a heating pad and gas x to deal with any gas pains. By day 2 home from the hospital I felt pretty good and was just dealing with managing all the fluids. Good luck!

I say go for it! My philosophy is that you have to LIVE your life and squeeze as much joy out of it as you can. So, if that means you have a glass of wine occasionally, you should do it. Remember, however, that alcohol can lead to an increase in appetite and MINDLESS eating. So, be careful. I am 6 weeks out and had a glass of wine at my girlfriend's birthday at 3 weeks out. I took tiny sips all night long and really made it last! Plus, I carried the glass with me in one hand and a napkin in the other, so I had something in my hands all the time, which made me really think everytime I found myself reaching for chips and finger foods or the desserts that folks brought to the party. Good luck!

The reason we are not supposed to take NSAIDS is because of their risk of causing ulcers. With our teeny sleeves, an ulcer would be that much more dangerous to deal with and treat. It doesn't matter if it's administered orally, IV or sublingual. The systemic action of NSAIDS that relieve pain and inflammation is the same mechanism that causes ulcers... "NSAIDs work by inhibiting two enzymes, substances that cause chemical changes in the body, called COX-1 and COX-2. Both enzymes produce prostaglandins—chemicals produced in the body's cells—that promote pain, inflammation, and fever. However, unlike COX-2, COX-1 produces another type of prostaglandin that protects the stomach lining from stomach acid and helps control bleeding. By inhibiting COX-1, NSAIDs increase the risk of a peptic ulcer developing and bleeding. Many people have come to rely on NSAIDs. Some take the smallest possible dose of aspirin once a day to keep their heart healthy. Others take NSAIDs throughout the day to reduce pain and inflammation. As with all medicines, NSAIDs offer many benefits, while also carrying some risks. Doctors and patients work together to weigh the benefits and risks of using NSAIDs, even when NSAIDs have caused an ulcer. Patients who stop taking an NSAID at their doctor's request may want to resume use once they feel better. In other patients, the benefits of taking an NSAID outweigh the risks. In such cases, the doctor works with the patient to determine how an NSAID can be safely continued. Whether deciding to resume or continue using NSAIDs, patients should tell their doctor about all prescription and nonprescription medicines they take. The doctor then decides if the patient can safely use an NSAID that caused an ulcer or should switch to a different NSAID. In either case, the doctor prescribes a PPI or H2 blocker to protect the stomach and duodenal lining and promote healing. People with a current or resolved NSAID-induced ulcer who need the benefits of NSAIDs can promote healing and reduce the risk of ulcer recurrence by..... taking the NSAID with a meal using the lowest effective dose possible quitting smoking avoiding or limiting alcohol Peptic ulcers can return, however, even when patients have been careful to reduce their risk." That being said, my surgeon actually sends his patients home with a 5 day supply of a sublingual NSAID. It's the only pain med he Rx's postop. He explained the benefit of reducing inflammation at the incision sites and in the new sleeve outweigh the risk of ulcers. Especially since it's short term and we are taking a PPI at the same time. I had so little pain I actually only took them for 2 days, so I have extra on hand if I need them for back aches, knee pain, etc. (And as a side note, so you don't take NSAID warnings lightly, aspirin is SO good at causing ulcers, they actually used to administer aspirin to induce ulcers when researching ulcer treatments)

That is a big definite yes. I am typing this as a non sleever right now so forgive me. I have really been watching what I eat, when I eat, etc for a long time now and have been on a slow drop for a while. We started the Biggest Loser at work a couple weeks ago and I have dropped a good bit. As I weighed in yesterday morning, I realized that I have hit the weight that I stalled at 4 years ago. That was THE STALL OF ALL STALLS!!! I am not kidding at all. I had been watching everything I ate, I was jogging between 9-18 miles a week, no alcohol, NOTHING!!! I tried changing up my diet, my exercise, fluids, Protein up/down, carb cycling, detoxing, colon cleanse, fasting, increasing calories, you name it and I did it and I could not budge off of 315. I have been doing great the last couple weeks but after I saw 315 on the scale yesterday, I almost had a nervous breakdown! Not even kidding because I remember how that went last time. Now granted I am currently as low as I have been in 4 years, I am getting very nervous that it's gonna happen again! I know how you feel and wish you the best! I plan on keep on doing what I am doing and hopefully fight thru it. Thats all I think I can do..... Good luck.

nah, everyone knows about my surgery that I hang out with and so on the occasion we meet for lunch or go out at night nothing's changed for me but I order differently at the places we meet. I've not found anywhere that didn't have something I can have....... except that I've not tried alcohol yet(but I generally drink at home, and not out and about) and I don't feel like baking right now so I don't have some of the treats for others that I normally have. pretty sure I will feel like baking later on. 90% of the time I'm just at home with my family so nothin's really changed there.

I have been cath'd . I do not know what kind of adhesive they use for that thing but it took alcohol swabs to remove it. Adhesive remover did not work and it pulled each and every hair under it. The last time I went under, I asked them to shave my leg where they were going to put the stabilizer, but they just left it off. It was so much more comfortable that way, as long as the tube was not pulled by anything.

Just to clarify, I was not implying that your surgeon is lying or that you shouldn't trust him. I believe this is going to fall under the same category of "per my surgeon" kind of like the soda post sleeve thing, or pre op/post op diet guidelines. Only 30% of RNY patients dump, so maybe we can hope that percentage will be considerably less with VSG. I agree with the motility/transit time. But, look at the consistency of the foods discussed here that caused those issues. At 5 months out, I could have 1 glass of wine, and I was pretty well toast. Now, give me about 4-5 heavy poured rum/cokes, and I might catch a buzz. I do not drink on a regular basis. I might have a glass of wine once a week. By glass, I mean 4oz of a nice Riesling. So, it's not like I've been knocking them back and have built my tolerance back up. It's just different now for me. Obviously, liquids (ice cream/alcohol) are going to hit our intestines faster, and that's where the absorption of glucose occurs. Since it's liquid sugar hitting our intestines, I'm sure some of our bodies are gonna be pissed off. Luckily, I haven't had those issues. So, for me, I can see how the liquid sugars could hit the intestines quicker and cause dumping symptoms because there is very little digestion of sugars by the stomach when they hit the pyloric valve. Plus, our sleeves are much smaller than that big ole stomach we had before surgery that allowed all that ice cream to sit in there for a bit before moving on as quickly. If we saw consistency of dumping with carbs (these stick around a little longer in our tummies), or other high glycemic index foods, I think it make more sense to me. Again, let me say that I'm not arguing, just giving my thoughts on the subject. Also, if we look at people that discuss the dumping symptoms or nausea, it's with liquid sugars, cake icing, ice cream causing these symptoms. Now, I'm all interested to find out if DS patients have this issue with dumping. I mean they have the sleeve, a little rerouting, and some switching going on. So, I'll talk to a few of the DS'ers that I know on OH, and find out. The little bit I do know about DS, they do not dump based on the same theory that the sleeve keeps the pyloric valve intact. Do you dump every time? Do you dump on carbs? Like pizza crust, potatoes, other carbs? I know we've talked about your issues with ice cream and some super sweet slider food stuff, but I don't remember if you get the same symptoms with carbs or maybe fruit? Does regular milk cause you issues as well?

If any of us could do it alone, we wouldn't do this. 99% of people who lose weight on diets gain it back plus more weight. We are no more flawed then other people. Some people are drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers, batterers etc. Its just that our addiction shows up on our body as extra weight. I think having the lap band isnt a cop out. I think it is smart. Because we are taking responsibility for our lives and our health. Its nothing to be ashamed of. But we don't have to tell everyone either. Its a personal choice to take care of ourselves.

Yeah, I've heard of dungarees but have always thought they were some sort of off-white pants like fisherman wear. Of course, I think fishermen wear overalls now. We always called jeans jeans or Levis. Lots of people here in cattle country wore Levis before they got popular and became designer wear. My brother could wear out the knees in a pair of Levis in a week. So mother did a lot of Iron on Patches on his Levis. The only Levis we had were the currently very expensive 501s. We got them for about $5 a pair. I also have heard people call tennis shoes sneakers. We call them tennis shoes even if they do cost $200 and are made by some designer shoe company. Lately I've heard people in Oklahoma using the word sneakers!! Heresy! Clearly we played tennis in rubber soled shoes while the rest of the nation was sneaking up on someone. Tonic here means tonic Water for alcoholic drinks. Man, I would have been lost in Boston.:nervous

Please do, that is why I changed Dr.'s as well... I was seeing someone at a clinic I visit off and on because I hadn't chosen a 'real' PC and each time I went in for weight loss appointments, the lady made me feel like crap. If she doesn't want the money my insurance will pay her with, so be it. Even though we are bigger people, we still deserve compassion and respect for our problems. Some people will never experience food addiction and so it is hard for them to wrap their mind around it. For example, A long time ago, I had a conversation with someone I love dearly about my food issues and they asked me why I didn't just "put the food down." I about went crazy when they said that, which is why I am also being very selective in who I will tell. I don't need to be insulted over my weight issues. You wouldn't belittle an alcoholic or a drug addict, so what makes us any different?

Happy Ketosis luv, your body is now burning off fat. My breath, either I have gotten used to it, it's. my armpits, they are my bugaboo, washed with soaps, alcohol the. ( in theory to kill off skin bacteria) put baking soda there, by might call I have the same smell, rather like onions , garlic and a subtle rotting undertone. But it is what it is , on my 4th or 5th different antiperspirant/deodorant, the Arm and Hammer seems to do the best, family has never complained about it but I think I can constantly smell it. And I am also RnY but 6 months out now. Maybe my burden to bear, but I do like the 70 pounds that are no longer a part of me!

Three or four months, probably. I had a vodka and lemonade that was mostly vodka and it went straight to my head. Then we went on our babymoon two weekends ago and I had several alcoholic beverages, and it went fine. Had two beers (a porter) last weekend and that went fine too.

One person told me that by getting wls showed how weak I was... And that I was never going to be happy or that I was going to become an alcoholic or drug addict because I was already addicted to food ... Anyways and all this coming out of the only two ppl I trusted enough to tell them about my plans ... Now looking Back I think it was all jalousie because they are also fat! Now we don't talk!

@@robinsmj it may be the erythritol (a sugar alcohol) in the Quest bar that is making you nauseous. I don't have a problem with erythritol but I tried something with maltitol (another sugar alcohol) and it made me nauseous and gave me a seriously upset stomach. Perhaps try a bar without sugar alcohols and see if that makes a difference?

I was sleeved 12/1/11 so I am 8 weeks out and I’m on regular foods. I haven’t done well with most refine cabs like rice and bread (I haven’t tried pasta but I want to hold off). I’m really concerned with drinking, I had a few sip of champagne for New years but outside of that no alcohol and I know that there will be drinking which isn’t usually a problem for me. I would like one drink, not to make it a habit but what if any should I consider.

I'm new to the boards here, and have not had my initial consult with the surgeon yet. I'm scheduled to go in on 1/18 and I will be cash pay as our insurance has an exclusion for any WLS. I want to have surgery ASAP, but I have some fears. I'm just this week trying to quit smoking. Started Chantix last week and Friday is my full on quit date. I have smoked for 30 yrs. I know I have to give it up for my health, and for surgery but I'm really scared about giving up cigarettes, alcohol and most food in a short period of time. anyone else out there that had to quit prior to surgery?