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Thanks for sharing, I'm not a drinker or a fan of alcohol so staying away won't be hard for me at all[emoji4][emoji173] Sent from my SM-G925T using BariatricPal mobile app

I am so sorry and glad your son was there to catch you! For me, that dose of wine could cause issues if I drank it before eating ..if it had been many hours since previous meal. Sleeve changes ability to handle alcohol, but this sounds like something different to me too. Keep us posted.

I live in Texas and mj is still ilegal here, I am against using it recreational but for using medically if needed. I respect that, I actually do like to hear others point of views as long as they aren't attacking someone else's way of life. Like my personal opinion is I'm against the consumption of alcohol period. Even though it is legal I'm against it. Marijuana is legal here for medicinal purposes (soon to be recreational) and it has improved my quality of life drastically.

I'm sure you enjoy it. But I worry that altered states of mind like alcohol can have deadly effects. I have bipolar disorder and my unwelcomed altered states comecand go without a warning. So I don't partake. The really big reason that I'm against smoking anything on a regular basis...and mj is addicting but mind altering is that the air you smoke in is the same air your kids are breathing. We adipted two sisters...21 months old and 34 months old. The older one couldn't say a word besides gibberish. Her parents smoked mj and for fun would blow it into her face . It had alot to do with her mental capabilities. After 6 months with us she could talk and a pediatric psychologist said she had grown mentally 18 months in a 6 month time period. So smoke outside if you've got kids. It is a dangerous drug although if everyone else is doing it why not me? That's the mentality if most smokers. Health reasons I can understand but to smoke just for the heck if it sends a message to every kid that being a dope is ok and there's no harm in it. But just like cigarettes, chewing tobacci, pipes, cigars all have carcinogens in them. Have you really researched what your putting in your new healthy body?

@@LBS15 Wait, let me clarify that, you won't be "allowed" to drink alcohol for some time (your dr will give you a time frame) depending on your restriction you may only be able to eat a few bits of different things. You can still go out it will just be more about socializing than eating.

I have a very obese father who raised me on his own and never taught me about portion sizes and healthy meals. I'm a fat kid turned fat adult. Then I finally started working out and eating healthy and I discovered alcohol. I gained about 70 lbs over the course of 2 years because I was going out 2-3 times a week. I started working out again, got down to 198 lbs from 255 and then I got dumped and I ate everything I could get my hands on and barely left my house. Ballooned back up to 267 pretty quickly. I've had two drinks since October, which is a HUGE deal for me. Those were post-surgery and I felt immediately sick so I have no desire to drink at all. I've also learned how to control my emotional eating and have been sticking to a super low carb diet. For once I feel like I can actually beat this obesity thing.

My sister who had VSG has never made it to goal. her starting weight was over 300#, lowest she made it to was about 250ish. She works out hard core, but IMO wasn't eating well and drinks too much alcohol. She is now @ 260 and doesn't like the fact I'm approaching where she is. She is working at eating better. My neice who had lap band lost almost all her excess weight, from over 300 down to 178ish. She has gained back to about 230. She's young and in love for the first time in her life-- love will make you gain every time :-) Though-- her BF just had VSG-- so i think she's determined to not let him get lower than her. My cousin has a band complication now and had to be unfilled-- and she has started to gain. Her insurance won't cover revisions- so she's stuck. I chose RNY because I saw my sister with VSG was still able to eat a lot of crap after her surgery. I knew the malabsorption feature would help *if* I chose to eat crap. And we both loved sweets...I also wanted the 'safeguard' of dumping to keep me away-- but it looks like I tolerate sugars so far. My sister gets heartburn and throws up more than I care for-- I didn't want to live like that. (and for the record-- I thrown up a handful of times in my life-- mostly pregnancy related-- anything beyond that is abnormal in my head.) I never wanted band-- too many complications and too much risk of not maximizing my weight loss considering my high starting BMI.

We were taught to not drink for 6 months because of the issue for dependency! I am 7 months out and I still have not had a drop of alcohol. It will be a year for me next month. I don't drink for the fear of dependency and loosing the life I have created. You need to change and get help!

Same but I have friends who have had it done and occasionally they enjoy a nice beverage. However they get tipsy much faster and it goes away faster. Once u get healthy I'm sure u won't want to drink much, plus alcohol puts weight on Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

I have had alcohol maybe 4 times since sugery. My tolerence is the same. When my weight gets lower that might change, but i am not in the liquor hits me fast camp. If you have your mental issues worked out before surgery, you shouldn't have to worry much about transfer addictions. This is a lifestyle, not a diet banning things forever is unrealisitic and makes them too tempting to people. My plan was alcohol allowed after 3 months.

I enjoy alcohol when I go out on weekends. I'm 4 months and my surgeon is okay with it. I used to be a big beer lover. More accurately....i was just BIG....and loved beer. lol. Now, I drink high grade liqueurs with low calorie mixers. I try to avoid anything carbonated. If I'm mixing something at the house, then I"ll use a really good vodka or tequila mixed with Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry (5 calories per serving) over ice. Smooth and tasty. Prior to surgery when I'd go out....I didn't do well with nursing a beer....it was normally 6-8 beers with some tequila shooters over the course of an evening. Watching a football game at a sports bar.....more than that. Now....a couple of those "skinny" liquor drinks and I'm good to go. I had this surgery to improve my health....and quickly. I'd have agreed to anything.....any terms or conditions in order to do that. What happened over the course of these 4 months post-op, though, has been much more than simply my health being improved.....but my state of mind as well. I truly enjoy every aspect of life in ways that I'd just forgotten about. Going out and having fun with others.......or just lone-wolfing it and flirting with a hot bartender or two.....fun stuff that helps in many ways. It's almost therapeutic. If having a few occasional drinks is fun......then so be it. I didn't have this surgery to live like a monk. I did it to feel better......and feel better, I shall. Hell.....two weeks ago....one of the gals on the surgeon's staff...who was a tremendous help with me getting throughout my pre & post op.....met me for a couple pitchers of skinny margaritas. We had a blast and were able to laugh about all the crazy stuff related to my case and then with her job. Fun stuff. I seriously doubt she would've bought the second pitcher had she been worried about it hurting me.......thusly, I consider it part of my ongoing care when we do it again. All things in moderation...........

Ok, just got some info from my surgeon: 7 days before he wants me to do a high protein (75 to 85 grams per day) diet, low fat, low sugar 4 days before only clear liquids and protein drinks 24 hrs before do not drink alcoholic beverages Night before no food or drink after midnight, includes water, gum & mints

Hey there!! Im not sure if you've read throughout my comments to other people but I have said things to her several times over the past 3 months (I tell everyone I started working out/eating healthy in October) about me cutting out carbs, alcohol, working out like crazy, lifestyle changes, etc... So she can't use the excuse that I never brought it up! I should have clarified more in my original post, but this girl and I are definitely not best friends! We were in high school but we weren't as close in college and then after college, she moved several hours away and every time we would talk, all she would talk about is brag about her job and how much money she made (and not that it matters, but I never said a word even though knowing that I make and have made significantly more than her) because I never want her to feel in competition with me, yet she always has. If my BEST FRIEND lived 30 minutes away, holy crap, we would try to talk our husbands into living together! I would stalk her daily haha! That's what close friends do so I'm glad you've got that with your BFF! I honestly hoped when we both moved fairly close again that we would re-kindle the high school days and become closer, but to me, I find myself pulling away even more. I'm waiting for my old high school friend to show herself, but unfortunately I think she is gone.

RogofUlm's Story Vertical Sleeve surgery: June 24th, 2014 Pre-surgery high weight: 265 Weight at surgery: 254 Initial goal weight: 154 Time achieve goal: 8 months (including 2-week pre-op diet) Stretch goal weight: 145 Time to stretch goal: 10 months (including 2-week pre-op diet) Total weight loss: 120 I went on my first diet at the age of 7, and sometimes feel like I've started a new diet every Monday morning for the last 48 years. I've done 'em all – from a 40-day hospital stay in a ketogenic program in 1974, to Weight Watchers (3 times), Diet Center (2 times), Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, Atkins, South Beach, Cambridge, Slim Fast, Fen-Phen, grapefruit and egg, and even starvation. I've probably lost close to 1,000 pounds throughout my life, including three or four diets resulting in nearly 100-pound losses. And after all that, at the age of 55, I still found myself 110 pounds overweight; with diabetes, apnea, asthma, arthritis, high cholesterol, and borderline blood pressure. With a wonderful wife and 10-year-old child at home, I was a heart attack or stroke just waiting to happen. So why was I able to lose weight so effectively at times, but never keep it off? Same as most people, I suppose. When fully committed, I could “flick the switch” in my brain and resist anything… for a while. I'd lose a bunch of weight and start looking and feeling better, and then I'd be at a party with lots of goodies and think, "What the heck. I've done so well, so I’ll treat myself just this once and get right back on my diet." Hello, slippery slope! And then the cycle would begin: pig out, starve myself, pig out, starve myself… Eventually the pig outs would last longer and require more and more fat, salt, and sugar to satisfy. And, of course, each new day brought a brand new commitment to get back on track, so I wouldn't eat anything until 6 pm... and then I'd pig out again. That “switch” doesn’t always stay flicked, you know? So what's the definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. Then, 20 years ago, I lost a bunch of weight and maintained it for quite a while. But because of a bad reaction to a medication, I eventually had to have a hip replaced. Everything went well with the surgery and I even quit smoking in the process. Great, right? Yeah, but then the weight started coming back on, and eventually I gained about 50 pounds. So then I bounced around for a few years, yo-yoing all over the place between 60 and 100 pounds overweight, until I got married and we had a baby. Of course, during the pregnancy I gained 40 more pounds of "baby weight". But unlike my wife, I never delivered mine! So that brings me to the more recent past, when all those years of being overweight finally caught up with me and I began getting all the "fat diseases”. When the diabetes first came on, I dropped 30 pounds without even trying. But eventually we diagnosed it and got it under control with pills; and then the weight came right back on. A couple of years later, my weight started dropping again "for no reason". Of course I knew what was really going on, but the weight loss felt so good that I rode it down 45 pounds. But again, eventually I had to get it back under control, and again, all the weight came back. So by the time I decided to have WLS, not only was I taking pills plus daily insulin injections for diabetes, I was sleeping with a CPAP machine for apnea, and taking fistfuls of pills every day to manage the other co-morbidities. And that brings us to last year. In addition to all the diseases, I was exhausted and achy all the time, and had trouble dragging myself out of the recliner to play with my kid like I should. I'd take naps after stuffing myself at lunchtime, and exercise as little as possible. We all know the drill, right? And I’d gotten myself hooked on chicken wings with high-calorie sauces, a mountain of French fries, blue cheese dressing, and four large glasses of tea. I'd go out 2-3 times a week for wings, but I'd go to different restaurants because I was so embarrassed by how much and how frequently I was eating them. And gradually, I got more and more disgusted with myself. During that time, two of my co-workers had weight loss surgery: one bypass and one sleeve. Every day for about a year, I watched them get smaller and smaller. They didn’t keep their surgeries a secret, so when I asked about their experiences, they graciously shared all the details with me – the good, and the bad. And gradually I got to the point where I said, “I WANT THAT!” So my inspiration to have weight loss surgery was a direct result of my co-workers’ successes, and their openness about having had weight loss surgery. Once I decided to get sleeved, I went "all-in". I followed all my doctor’s post-op rules to a tee (with the exception of coffee – my one remaining vice). But this time something was different from all those past diets. Because of the restriction in my stomach, instead of losing momentum and giving in to temptation, I was able to stay on the horse. My new “tool” gave me the strength I needed to consistently make the right choices. I lost 110 pounds and made it to goal in 8 months. And in the two months after that, I lost another 10 pounds to give myself a comfortable buffer. I put away the CPAP machine; I’m off all diabetes, blood pressure, and asthma meds; and I'm on the lowest dosage of my cholesterol meds. In a few more months, I hope to be off those too. So now that I’ve reached my final goal weight, I don’t need – or want – to lose any more. I’m exactly where I want to be for the first time in my adult life; which, quite frankly, is a totally mind-blowing thought! My big secret? Just follow the danged rules – all of them! (And mind you, I’ve been a rule breaker all my life.) If you do exactly what your doctor or nutrition program recommends, the weight will come off. After a month or two of making good (but difficult) choices, the cravings for the foods that got you to your pre-surgery weight will start to fade away, and the pride in your accomplishment will have a stronger pull than the food. That’s when you really get on a roll! Here’s the formula I used to get to goal weight quickly: Start every morning with a Protein shake for Breakfast. Eat 60–80 or more grams of protein daily. Drink 64–120 ounces of fluids daily. (I drink tons of Crystal Light, or generic, sugar-free/decaf iced tea.) Do not consume any starches or sugars. Get all carbs from green veggies, legumes, and dairy products. Do not consume empty liquid calories/sugar (fruit juices, ice cream, etc). Try to avoid alcohol. It’s empty liquid calories that turn to sugar in your body and can lead to poor choices. All Snacks must be protein-based (Jerky, nuts, cheeses, Greek yogurt, deli meats). Get some exercise 4-6 times a week. Never leave the house without a plan for what you can eat and drink while you’re out. If necessary, bring food and drink with you. Restaurant eating is not hard: 1) skip the bread; 2) order a meat (or legume/bean) dish; 3) replace the starch with a second vegetable; 4) skip the dessert. You’ll probably end up taking some of the meat and most of the veggies home for another meal. Beef/turkey jerky is my secret weapon. It’s saved me more times than I can count, so I try to always have some in the car for emergencies. You can buy a bag of jerky almost anywhere. It’s kind of expensive and not great for sodium-restricted diets, but it’s also high protein, low fat, okay sugar, and a 3.5-ounce bag is a meal by itself! If you fall off the horse, get back on immediately – at the next meal. Not tomorrow, and definitely not next Monday. That’s what got us here! Go to Bariatric Support Group meetings in your area, if possible. Participate actively in online forums like BariatricPal. Read as much as you can about the process and the journey; and especially, read posts and articles from those who had their surgery a few years ago. Try to understand what lead to their successes and/or struggles. Share your story and reach out to help others who are behind you in their journey. By helping them, you’ll help yourself as well. Have a goal weight in mind and strive to get there. (I weigh myself every single day.) But also set lots of smaller goals. It’s fun and inspiring to achieve them. Believe that the slimmer person in the mirror is the real you. Always be looking forward. Don’t look back over your shoulder waiting for the heavier person to drag you back. Let that person fade into history. A little vanity is okay. Enjoy how you look. Accept compliments graciously and don’t deflect them. Have fun trying on smaller-sized clothes that fit now. Compare before and after pictures. Take pride in your accomplishments! Accept that this is a somewhat selfish process. That’s okay, too. You don’t have to apologize for it. And don’t let other people interfere with your progress. We have to make our weight loss program a priority in our lives. But at the same time, recognize that your journey affects your friends and loved ones as well. Be sensitive to their reactions and their emotional needs, without allowing it to derail your program. And finally, try to have fun losing the weight and getting healthy! Now, I’ll admit that many people think this much rigor is unreasonable and unsustainable. They believe that you need to learn how to “eat normally” on your way down. I get it… but I don’t buy it. (And believe me, self-discipline has never been one of my strengths.) My philosophy has been that there’s plenty of time to learn how to eat for maintenance once I get to my goal weight. That way, if I add something back in my food plan and it causes me to gain a few pounds; I only need to re-lose those few pounds. I don’t need to lose them PLUS all the rest that haven’t come off yet. That’s a whole lot harder and more daunting than just losing a few. I also believe that we get a 9–12 month “honeymoon period” (when the weight comes off more easily and the hunger is more manageable), to get our heads in the right place for the long haul. I firmly believe that people who take maximum advantage of their honeymoon period are far more likely to get all the way to goal weight; and hopefully, to keep it off. And now my theory will be put to the test... Over the next few months, I’ll need to start experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. I’ll need to add back some foods that will stop the weight loss, without causing a gain, and without putting me back on the slippery slope. But what are those foods? My doctor suggests that if you want to increase your carb intake, to add only foods that you would eat cooked as part of a meal (like brown rice, whole wheat Pasta, sweet potatoes, barley, quinoa, oatmeal, and green peas). No white bread, pasta, rice, or potatoes, no refined sugar, no fruit juice, soda, or ice cream, and nothing that would tempt you to go to the fridge or pantry for a handful or bowlful as a snack. That sounds reasonable, so that’s what I’m going to try. But what about all those yummy foods I’ve been missing? I don’t know yet. Maybe the day will come when I can have one small scoop of ice cream, or four cheese crackers, or a mini chocolate bar, or a sandwich. But today is not that day. For now, it’ll be baby steps until I’ve maintained my weight loss for a good long time. If the truth be told, since I detoxed completely from starch and sugar, I haven’t really craved the stuff. So how do I feel about my weight loss journey so far? Believe it or not… it’s been a total blast! And see... that’s another reason to follow all the rules and lose the weight quickly – the compliments, your reflection in the mirror, clothes that fit and look good, the extra energy for family and friends, and most of all, your new-found health – are a thousand times more fun and motivating than anything that could ever go into your mouth! And here’s one final thought… Several months ago I ran into a woman I hadn’t seen for a while. She’d been thinking about weight loss surgery, but was afraid to take the first step. But when she saw the “new me”, she said the exact same words I had said a year ago, “I WANT THAT!” Well, a few weeks ago she got sleeved and she’s doing great! And that’s how this wonderful story continues… I wish all of you great success, and a healthy, exciting, and fun journey to good health!!! Rog (of Ulm)

How did I become obese? Mass quantities of food and alcohol...... 12" sub with 2 bags of chips and large soda, 1/3 pound burger with a plate of fries followed by a piece of cake, lots of vodka, whiskey, rum and beer (my liquor store bill often exceeded my grocery bill), a pint of Ben and Jerry's, a whole Tombstone pizza, A tube of Nestles premade cookie dough. Basically I didn't have that chemical trigger that told me to stop eating because I never ever got full.

Did your dependency begin after surgery? To have established addiction to alcohol and pain killers after surgery is pretty radical. Have you talked to a therapist about your concern? Aside from the affects of these behaviors on your tummy, the repercussions to your quality of life are huge. Sharing on this board will get you opinions but your addiction is way bigger than an online support group. Please work hard to get personal help. My daughter is a meth addict that has been clean for over a year. I could do nothing to help her. She had to do all the work to help herself. Thinking of you. Take care

If you are really concerned about it I would encourage you to enter detox and then a substance abuse program. Your mind will tell you you can use more but your body is NOT the same. Please go to detox and follow up with treatment! If you drink or use a lot you MUST be medically monitored when you stop. Withdrawal from alcohol can be fatal. If you aren't sure about treatment go to Alcoholics Anonymous. It sounds like you have multiple addictions and now that food isn't an option your drug and alcohol use tends to escalate. Please seek treatment!!!

Food was my way of comforting myself and relieving stress for as far back into my childhood as I can remember. There was alcohol and violence in my childhood home and I needed comfort. There was no human source for it so I created a source for it. Food "hugged me" and made me feel safer. In an environment with stressors beyond my control. I had a small something I could easily access to sooth myself. It was my mind deciding what to eat for comfort and it was my hand lifting the food to my mouth. I was in the driver's seat regarding something in my life and body, even if I wasn't safe in my home. Food was my best friend, provided comfort and gave me a way to manage even a small part of my life. By my teens, my chubby appearance morphed into actually being significantly overweight. At the age of 12, I jumped from a women's size 12 to size 18 and never looked back. By the age of 20, soon after my mother's death, I was a size 26 and 330 pounds. In my 30s, I lost 130 pounds too rapidly and much of my hair by binging and purging and in my 40s, I again lost 130 pounds after LAP-BAND Weight Loss Surgery in 2003. But because I had not done the emotional, internal work on my relationship with food and childhood trauma, my food addiction shifted to liquid calories I could easily pass through the LAP-BAND, which is common. At this time, for the first time in my life, I developed an alcohol problem and my dinner each night was a six pack of "vodka coolers" followed by a pint of low-fat ice cream for dessert. Nutrition was the last thought on my mind and my focus was on comfort calories that could pass through "the band." By 2006, all the weight I lost was back. I also continued to eat solid foods that would force me to vomit and caused my esophagus to become distended. When a LAP-BAND patient doesn't respect the "full" signals the body sends to the brain and continues to eat, the esophagus becomes a storage place for excess food and the esophagus stretches. This made the LAP-BAND useless and while it is still in my body, it no longer functions properly. At the same time, during the last 20 years, I developed back problems from bulging discs related to the weight I was carrying. I began using opiates under a doctor's supervision to combat pain and muscle spasms in my back and in my knees that resulted in five knee surgeries. At first, I viewed the opiates as a wonderful tool as they relieved or masked some of the pain and also provided an emotional high. Soon I was using the opiates for emotional reasons more than for pain and as my tolerance for them grew, I needed larger doses to get the same effect. Then I needed to graduate to a stronger form of opiate and that is when, 10 years ago, I began taking Oxycodone and OxyContin around the clock along with Flexeril for muscle spasms. Sitting for long periods became unbearable and I was forced to leave my career as a Court Paralegal and qualified for "permanent disability." I cried as I left the hearing in which I was declared disabled. I didn't want to be disabled but felt it must be true for a judge to decide it was. It was 2010 and I believed my life was essentially over. At 50 years old I was simply waiting to slowly die. I believed all my happy days were behind me. When my doctor suggested I try yoga before we take the drastic step of implanting electrodes in my spine for the pain, I began attending a very gentle yoga class for people with disabilities. Slowly, over a two year period, I began to build stronger core muscles which made the back spasms less severe and less frequent. But I continued to take the opiates because by then I had an emotional and chemical dependence on them. During this time, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea which was caused by the opiates and excess weight. Opiates disrupt the brains signals to the lungs and suppress the respiratory drive. On top of this - physical pain, addiction and emotional unhappiness - I was also caring for my father with Alzheimer's. Although in a safe and loving group home, I still felt responsible for my father's well-being and comfort. I was his only family within 3000 miles. As so often happens when caring for a loved-one, we stop caring for ourselves in every sense. Soon after my father's death in 2012, I developed pneumonia because my breathing became so inconsistent that my lungs filled with fluid. I realized at that point I needed to change everything about my life including losing the weight and decreasing, even eliminating, my use of opiates or else I would die. At that moment, in the hospital in 2012, the desire to live was sparked in me by the threat of death! After leaving the hospital, for 60 days, I detoxed and experienced cold sweats, tremors and anxiety as the opiates slowly left my bloodstream. Once I was drug-free, I began making small, sustainable changes to my diet and gradually increasing amounts of movement. (Yes, that means exercise!) Over the following 18 months, my weight dropped from a high of 333 pounds down to 185. As a 6'3" tall woman this is a healthy, lean weight for me. In 2013, I decided then to give myself the gift of nearly full-body plastic surgery. Since I was already severely overweight in my teens, at a time of life when many young girls look their best and enjoy being pretty, I decided "it is never too late to have a happy childhood." During an 11-hour surgery, 13 pounds of skin was removed from my abdomen, buttocks, back, chest and under arms. For the first time since the age of 12, no part of my belly and buttocks continue to jiggle when I stop walking, no part of me droops and my thighs do not rub together. The Sleep Apnea is gone and I now climb mountains instead of grabbing railings to pull myself up stairs! But the hardest mountain I've ever climbed was a "metaphorical mountain" in those first few weeks of starting to change my relationships with food and drugs, as well as beginning to move. I am enjoying a lovely renaissance in a healthy, lean, strong and coincidentally beautiful body. However, this transformation has not been about beauty. My goals are continued health and a desire to live with passion, and about choosing to do more than survive. I am driven from an internal source to live a vibrant, full life of joy so I can continue to enjoy the love of family and friends and so they needn't lose me to obesity and addiction. This photo (above) was taken on the highest mountain in the 48 contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. After 10 hours of climbing 6,134 feet to an elevation of 14,508 feet covering 11 miles, I summited at 2:00 pm and like every part of my weight-loss, fitness and "reclamation of life" journey, I did it! Yet, like during every aspect of my journey I had partners. My partners knew the lay of the land, my strength and challenges. I surrounded myself with people who knew how to help me get where I wanted to go. Physical and mental health professionals who coached me to express my full potential. What mountains will you climb in your life and who will help you get there? Build your team, including here at BariatricPal, and there is no "mountain" you cannot climb!

hey guys just an update: had an appointment tuesday with the nutritionist and the surgeon. i lost 5.2 lbs which they were happy with. they had hoped for more, but knew i didn’t cut out alcohol or smoking, so were happy with the overall outcome. i felt little bit better after speaking with the surgeon more about my “pot usage” which i hate having to talk about because it’s legal and feels so pretentious, but hey. so i had told them i was vaping, thinking i was saving myself some lectures on smoking. turns out i just confused them all (meaning my team of doctors) because they were under the impression that i was investing nicotine, when i just meant that the method i was using to take in the pot was vaping. still dry herb, not tobacco or e-juice or nicotine, but the term vaping confused them. so we discussed that and clarified and came to an agreement about no smoking 2 weeks before surgery and 2 months after which i find reasonable and so does she. then we discussed my date more, and if i’m committed to cutting out alc this month then she thinks i could potentially lose 10lbs and maybe get my surgery in july (which i’m hoping for. i don’t think the weight loss matters for the date at this point it will just still determine whether or not i do shots) discussed what’s medications im on that i need to stop but i’m gonna check out other threads for that info. sorry this is long but just wanted to update without starting a new thread!

other sugar alcohols (in addition to malitol, which seems to be the worst offender) can cause those issues, too. Sugar alcohols all have names that end in -itol (for example, xylitol). So maybe it's some other type of sugar alcohol ? (as in not malitol - but one of the other ones??)

Having dealt with a drug addicted brother for two decades and seeing the devastation that it causes to family and friends, I am all for voluntary sterilization. When you see infants detoxing from heroin and other drugs and see the effects... developmental delays, fetal alcohol syndrome, AIDS, etc., it's a VERY GOOD thing when addicts are offered the opportunity to not procreate.

That's true that no one is forcing them, but they are also not able to make a fully informed decision in their right minds. Legally, I would assume that this would open the organization up to litigation because they were taking advantage of the fact that someone might not be legally competent when they sign the consent. To me, it's the same as someone expecting a mentally retarded person to be able to fully understand the implications of what they would be signing. If a drug addict is in need of a fix, and is signing something to get money to buy more drugs, they aren't mentally competent to understand the full implications of what they are signing. This gets into a slippery slope, to me. If you start arguing about babies having rights, then you will eventually slide into an anti-abortion argument. I'm pro-choice. I think that with certain limitations (how far into the pregnancy, etc.), a woman's body is her own to control, even if she chooses to put drugs into it. If she is choosing to put illegal substances into it, arrest her and put her in jail. Otherwise, it's hers to control. That's one reason I oppose laws against pregnant women drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. I may not agree with their actions, but I think a woman should be able to do whatever she wants to her body.

I was 170 pounds overweight and I thought I had tried everything. I had a LAP-BAND for 11 years, during which I lost and regained 130 pounds. The LAPBAND was ready to do its' job, but I was not ready to do mine. This is the story of how I embraced, life, living, healthy food and exercise, and finally shed 170 pounds 8 years into my LAPBAND journey. From needing a "walker" to climbing America's tallest mountain in 2 years, this is my story. Food was my way of comforting myself and relieving stress for as far back into my childhood as I can remember. There was alcohol and violence in my childhood home and I needed comfort. There was no human source for it so I created a source for it. Food "hugged me" and made me feel safer. In an environment with stressors beyond my control. I had a small something I could easily access to sooth myself. It was my mind deciding what to eat for comfort and it was my hand lifting the food to my mouth. I was in the driver's seat regarding something in my life and body, even if I wasn't safe in my home. Food was my best friend, provided comfort and gave me a way to manage even a small part of my life. By my teens, my chubby appearance morphed into actually being significantly overweight. At the age of 12, I jumped from a women's size 12 to size 18 and never looked back. By the age of 20, soon after my mother's death, I was a size 26 and 330 pounds. In my 30s, I lost 130 pounds too rapidly and much of my hair by binging and purging and in my 40s, I again lost 130 pounds after LAP-BAND Weight Loss Surgery in 2003. But because I had not done the emotional, internal work on my relationship with food and childhood trauma, my food addiction shifted to liquid calories I could easily pass through the LAP-BAND, which is common. At this time, for the first time in my life, I developed an alcohol problem and my dinner each night was a six pack of "vodka coolers" followed by a pint of low-fat ice cream for dessert. Nutrition was the last thought on my mind and my focus was on comfort calories that could pass through "the band." By 2006, all the weight I lost was back. I also continued to eat solid foods that would force me to vomit and caused my esophagus to become distended. When a LAP-BAND patient doesn't respect the "full" signals the body sends to the brain and continues to eat, the esophagus becomes a storage place for excess food and the esophagus stretches. This made the LAP-BAND useless and while it is still in my body, it no longer functions properly. At the same time, during the last 20 years, I developed back problems from bulging discs related to the weight I was carrying. I began using opiates under a doctor's supervision to combat pain and muscle spasms in my back and in my knees that resulted in five knee surgeries. At first, I viewed the opiates as a wonderful tool as they relieved or masked some of the pain and also provided an emotional high. Soon I was using the opiates for emotional reasons more than for pain and as my tolerance for them grew, I needed larger doses to get the same effect. Then I needed to graduate to a stronger form of opiate and that is when, 10 years ago, I began taking Oxycodone and OxyContin around the clock along with Flexeril for muscle spasms. Sitting for long periods became unbearable and I was forced to leave my career as a Court Paralegal and qualified for "permanent disability." I cried as I left the hearing in which I was declared disabled. I didn't want to be disabled but felt it must be true for a judge to decide it was. It was 2010 and I believed my life was essentially over. At 50 years old I was simply waiting to slowly die. I believed all my happy days were behind me. When my doctor suggested I try yoga before we take the drastic step of implanting electrodes in my spine for the pain, I began attending a very gentle yoga class for people with disabilities. Slowly, over a two year period, I began to build stronger core muscles which made the back spasms less severe and less frequent. But I continued to take the opiates because by then I had an emotional and chemical dependence on them. During this time, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea which was caused by the opiates and excess weight. Opiates disrupt the brains signals to the lungs and suppress the respiratory drive. On top of this - physical pain, addiction and emotional unhappiness - I was also caring for my father with Alzheimer's. Although in a safe and loving group home, I still felt responsible for my father's well-being and comfort. I was his only family within 3000 miles. As so often happens when caring for a loved-one, we stop caring for ourselves in every sense. Soon after my father's death in 2012, I developed pneumonia because my breathing became so inconsistent that my lungs filled with fluid. I realized at that point I needed to change everything about my life including losing the weight and decreasing, even eliminating, my use of opiates or else I would die. At that moment, in the hospital in 2012, the desire to live was sparked in me by the threat of death! After leaving the hospital, for 60 days, I detoxed and experienced cold sweats, tremors and anxiety as the opiates slowly left my bloodstream. Once I was drug-free, I began making small, sustainable changes to my diet and gradually increasing amounts of movement. (Yes, that means exercise!) Over the following 18 months, my weight dropped from a high of 333 pounds down to 185. As a 6'3" tall woman this is a healthy, lean weight for me. In 2013, I decided then to give myself the gift of nearly full-body plastic surgery. Since I was already severely overweight in my teens, at a time of life when many young girls look their best and enjoy being pretty, I decided "it is never too late to have a happy childhood." During an 11-hour surgery, 13 pounds of skin was removed from my abdomen, buttocks, back, chest and under arms. For the first time since the age of 12, no part of my belly and buttocks continue to jiggle when I stop walking, no part of me droops and my thighs do not rub together. The Sleep Apnea is gone and I now climb mountains instead of grabbing railings to pull myself up stairs! But the hardest mountain I've ever climbed was a "metaphorical mountain" in those first few weeks of starting to change my relationships with food and drugs, as well as beginning to move. I am enjoying a lovely renaissance in a healthy, lean, strong and coincidentally beautiful body. However, this transformation has not been about beauty. My goals are continued health and a desire to live with passion, and about choosing to do more than survive. I am driven from an internal source to live a vibrant, full life of joy so I can continue to enjoy the love of family and friends and so they needn't lose me to obesity and addiction. This photo (above) was taken on the highest mountain in the 48 contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. After 10 hours of climbing 6,134 feet to an elevation of 14,508 feet covering 11 miles, I summited at 2:00 pm and like every part of my weight-loss, fitness and "reclamation of life" journey, I did it! Yet, like during every aspect of my journey I had partners. My partners knew the lay of the land, my strength and challenges. I surrounded myself with people who knew how to help me get where I wanted to go. Physical and mental health professionals who coached me to express my full potential. What mountains will you climb in your life and who will help you get there? Build your team, including here at BariatricPal, and there is no "mountain" you cannot climb!

As Lia M says, ask your doc. Everyone's different, mine says no alcohol for a year then only in limited quantities thereafter. From what I have heard from other sleevers, one drink can get you wasted with our tiny stomachs! My sympathies are with you as a former champagne drinker myself - but i know the fizz would be agony in my new tummy (think about it feels with a bit of trapped air when you are drinking/eating) so even if I was allowed to drink, I wouldn't have any of that :-((( Happy 21st when it comes x

I don't know why this process of secrecy.If you're married or live with a significant other.The right thing is to be forthcoming and tell it like it is.Its similar to an alcoholic or drug addict fessing up.that he or she has a problem or disease if you will.This shows your spouse or significant other that you have a problem.that you have done your research and that you have come up with.a valuable solution.By God this is what you're going to do.this allows others to support your journey.journies taken alone are never healthy.mentally or spiritually.You create a better journey if you have a buddy and God.