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great question! I have had this conversation in my head a few times. For what its worth, what I came up with is the following: people get their cardiac anatomy rearranged all the time without the slightest hesitation or regret: cardiac bypass, stents. They are no more life saving than what we are doing. it may be more dramatic but both are arguably a result of genetic predisposition and lifestyle. I see no difference between the two, except that the cardiac rearangement is more socially accepted ( even if caused by decades of smoking and eating poorly and lack of exercise, excesive alcohol consumption etc.) and ours is judged much harsher. the question i asked myself, IF I had the evidence that I needed it, would I wait until i had a heart attack to get a bypass or would i act proactively? why not the same for weight induced issues ( of which heart disease is but one consequence)? alex

There are several issues with alcohol, and different docs have differeing concerns about them. The basic initial concern is healing of the stomach, and that's where many docs come down to something around a three month limitation. Empty calories, too is a concern during the weight loss period, but that's no different than talking about Twinkies or any other kind of junk food. The biggie that some docs fret over is liver health - as obese patients, our livers are generally in pretty poor shape to begin with, and then they are further taxed with their role in metabolizing all of the fat that we are losing - they don't need any more stress from metabolizing the alcohol. So, that's where some docs come up with a no alcohol during the entire weight loss period policy - this is my doc's plan, and he's a bit more anal about liver health than most WLS docs as he also does liver transplants, and he doesn't want to see his bariatric patients coming back as transplant patients. The other concern is the prospect of transfer addiction - many of us were addicted to food, and with that taken away by the surgery, that addiction can be transferred to something else that was never a problem pre-op, like alcohol or gambling - so that is something to watch out for. The other thing to watch is that most find that their body's response has changed - usually feeling the alcohol's effects sooner and with less (things tend to go thru quicker, particularly liquids), but then they tend to recover quicker, too. Those are the major issues that influence the differerent surgeons' policies on alcohol and WLS, so take them for what you will. Overall, the occasional drink is not likely to be any more harmful than the occasional twinkie, but there are potential problems with it being a regular thing during the post-op period. Good luck, and may you have something to celebrate! Sent from my iPhone 5 using VST

Well he was sure worried for a reason . And chicken parm was not on my menu for pre op and i doubt on anyone else's ..just like alcohol was not on my post op !

Actually I could have had it on mine. I was limited to 40g carbs per day so I could easily have had that on a good day. But honestly, if alcohol isn't on your post op, why are you having it? I am asking from the position of someone who suffered horrific complications doing what was required by my surgeon. I can't imagine risking those for a glass of wine....

Empty calories aside.... I find no reason to not enjoy a drink from time to time but 2 weeks out is a bit too early. Your staple line is healig and alcohol acts as a blood thinner and can cause bleeding which isnt good for our healing stomachs, wait a bit longer ..... I am having a drink right now as I type this, I was about 5 months out before trying it

I'm 37 and very proud of it and the name calling came from you first miss thing- if ur on a forum and want advice take it with a grain of salt and not publicly insult people that have tried to help u - and honestly this is such a waste of my time to spend on u - good luck on ur journey bc alcohol shouldn't be ur number one concern but it shows how mature u r and all the comments u left on here - enjoy ur life journey

Just kinda wondering , maybe someone can answer this . Alcohol is a blood thinner , they gave blood thinning medication throughout my stay in the hospital , so I wouldn't get blood clotts. And besides this whole surgery is a risk to begin with !

Sweetheart I'm not a hater just hate ignorant people that diss people commenting on ur comment we all tried to help and then u laughed at everyone- so give me a break and everyone else - know that U realize how dumb u sounded ur apologizing - please don't feel sorry for me dumb ass I feel sorry for u especially bc ur number one priority was alcohol - I truly blessed so I hope god watches over u especially with ur habit lol

So I'm enjoying a skinny girl cosmopolitan and I'm already down 20 pounds , so what is the big fuss about alcohol if your body can totally tolerate it ?!?!?!?

While I don't believe drinking alcohol so soon after surgery is a good idea. I am really appalled at the attitudes of some people on here, I thought this was supposed to be a support forum not a act like children and call people names forum.

Hi Setagirl, I am feeling ya. I might actually be able to help. I had the same problem as you and it nearly drove me insane, but it helped me figure my body out. I discovered that my appetite is largely dependant on blood sugar swings. if it swinging around wildly, I am hungry and seek out sugar with vengence. A few years ago I put myself on a low GI diet and stopped craving sweets for the most part. If I vary from this I start craving again. Up until that point I was putting on weight again and it pretty much stopped. I also realised I had an alcoholics relationship with chocolate. It I eat even I tiny amount I start craving it again and I can't stop. It's worth a try. I also find I get really depressed on the high Protein diet they recommend. Like you I can't digest it; even after twelve years I still can't deal with chicken. The only think I can suggest it pureeing it. That seems to help me.

Has anyone drank alcohol after surgery. My nutritionist says it's ok to have a little wine from time to time. Anyone else know anything about this subject?

Well, not everyone was eating whatever. I gave up sugar, soda, and alcohol years before surgery and the weight wasn't coming off. The post op diet isn't very different from how I was eating before, except now I have portion control without feeling like I am starving. Even though I went from first visit to surgery in a few weeks it took months of planning. I work for myself. I spent hours at the beginning of the year picking a plan that covered surgery the easiest with the least out of pocket, which meant higher monthly premiums. Then I started the ball rolling with a new primary doctor. It took months of prior planning to make it smooth so it happened at the time of year that was best for my business. If I did the long 6 months plan at Northwestern or Washington University, I would have never been able to have surgery. It would have taken so much time from my business, I wouldn't have been able to afford surgery. My time is money and time is the most expensive thing on the planet. Once lost it can never be replaced. I didn't have time to waste and a lot of people don't either.

Welcome back to all those who were on holidays!!!! Change is so nice for the mind and soul;. Well things are moving I am so happy to say, just hope I can keep them that way. Thanks for your tips, I think The benefibre has surely helped, I think "Ben" and I are going to be best buds! Have a good weekend everybody. I am off to the beach for a girls weekend. I shall be testing the band with booze . I haven't done too much drinking ( Alcohol) since getting the band. Only one person THat I will be partying with knows that I have the band. I hope that I can Still handle my booze. It just might be a liquid diet for the weekend. I am so excited about having a drink that I went to the liquor store and spent $200.00 because I couldn't decide what I might want to drink??????? Hope to talk to you all on Monday. Wish me luck.

Congrats on your sleeve. You might switch from Protein Water to something without the protein, just to see if the problem goes away. When I first got home, I was eating sugar free Jell-O and sugar free popsicles and getting lots of cramps and bubbles in my stomach. I didn't realize it, but my new stomach did not like the sucralose or the sugar alcohols. So your new stomach may not be ready for that kind of protein yet.

I thought I read that you would become intoxicated faster with the sleeve due to how the alcohol is absobed in the stomach. wrong?

Well, all these introductions seem fairly recent. Interesting, since I actually joined this forum when it first started a year ago. :-) It's interesting how much we all really do have in common. As for me, my name is Leatha. I am 43 yrs old, about to be 44. I am single now, since 1998. I was married over 20 yrs and have two beautiful children. Mimi is 22 and Jeremy is 18. Mimi and her husband currently live here in Texas with me and my son is in Ca. with his father. We just returned to Texas after living in northern Cal for nearly 2 yrs. In that time, I had my band placed by Dr. Albert Wetter in San Francisco. I originally sought surgery in Texas, but due to having Systemic Lupus and a history of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, the guy I wanted refused to do my surgery. I travel 100% for my job, so it didn't really matter where I lived. My daughter and son-in-law wanted to move to Cali to be closer to my ex-husband and son, so I went with them for awhile to help with expenses. I had met another lady online who also had Lupus and had a history of clotting problems who raved about her surgeon, Dr. Wetter so my mission in moving was more selfish. I had banding in mind. We moved in August, 2002 and I gained an additional 20 or so pounds. I reached my all-time high of 250 lbs. At 5ft even, my body was ready to give-in. My cholesterol reached a whopping 309 and I had to make a choice of whether I was going to fight this monster or die. I wasn't through living, so I put in motion my quest to be banded. I was banded successfully on May 29, 2003 and was the first person ever to have a vena cava filter placed at the time of my lapband surgery. Thankfully, I never developed high blood pressure or diabetes, but I knew those weren't far behind, if I made it much farther without a cardiac event or stroke. To date, I have ONLY lost 55-60lbs and am currently un-filled due to a recent diagnosis of slippage. Interestingly, my slippage has been totally silent, until I recieved an overfill from someone who called my 'slippage' 'pouch dilation'. Even with pouch dilation, he should have UNfilled, instead of overfilling. Even then, I only had nighttime reflux which I had not had at all before. As for my history with weight. I was a very vivacious teen. Very curvy but petite. I thought I was 'fat' at 124. Boy, what I wouldn't give to be that 'fat' again. Interestingly, I went from that 18 yr old at 124 to nearly 200 lbs by the time I was 20. All I can attribute that to is depression and a change of activity. I married a man who didn't dance or swim, which I had always done with gusto. We ate out instead. Not his fault really. I allowed it to happen. Again, I think depression played a large role. I, too, am the daughter of an abusive alcoholic and have done much research into co-dependency and the over-eating correlation. I find to be a very common link to many, but not all of us. So, that's quite alot about me before and up until now. Now, I am waiting for tomorrow morning, so I can call Denise, from Inamed, back. She called on Friday. I missed the call, but I'm sure it has to do with my emailing Don Mills to tell him I'd been told I had slippage. I am also on a quest to locate a surgeon in the DFW area who actually sees new patients and takes my insurance too.I really would like to get this slippage seen about before it presents with more serious complications and I really cannot afford to gain any of this weight back. I had just gotten to a place where I could see the 180's coming and now I'm just trying to keep from gaining. So, thanks for allowing me to return to the group after so long. It has been a really great, but busy year. Thank God I was allowed to live it. :-) Leatha May 29, 2003 Dr. Wetter 250/194/wherever I stop, but not here.

@@ZetaStar my husband was taken off of insulin and started back on the pills. I know exactly what you are experiencing because my husband has everything you mentioned and including fatty liver disease, and non-alcoholic pancreatitis the neuropathy is the worst of it all. He wakes up in the middle of the night in lots of pain and sometimes can't get back to sleep for hours. He now works out 5 times a week during his lunch at the company gym and has lost over 100 lbs. If there is a possibility that going with the sleeve won't resolve these issues I would think long and hard before making your choice. I am sure that you will make the best decision for you. I am happy that you found the website. I stumbled upon it too.

@@brians34 I actually had already begun a supervised weight loss program before I went in for my consultation with the surgeon. As far as my failed attempts, I just wrote a letter discussing my weight struggles and all failed attempts of weight loss, including fad diets and professionally supervised diets. I then just had my doctors office give me a copy of my paperwork from each visit I had over the past 2 years (to show my weight). One thing that I did not do and it yelled my approval up several days, was get documentation from my primary doctor, saying that I had not been treated for alcohol or substance abuse in the last year. Except for that minor delay, BCBS Federal was very quick with my approval. The surgeons office sent my info over on Thursday May 22, and I had a response Tuesday May 27. The 26th was a holiday, so it only took 2 Business days. I didn't get to fax in the missing documents until June 3 bc my primary doctors office took forever to get it to me..but I was officially approved on June 4!!

I was a moderate drinker before surgery (wine at home on the weekends and occasional happy hours or dinners out during the week). My surgeon said no alcohol for a year, and ideally never. I'm now almost four months out and have not had a drink yet--and I'm hoping to give up drinking permanently. I'm not judging anyone for their choices, but I don't think my life will be less fulfilling without drinking. For me, it was more of a social thing than actually loving wine.

So I tried my first drinks and I thought I was going to feel the alcohol after my first or second drink but that wasn’t my case .. I ordered water with vodka and the bartenders looked at me like I was crazy lol

It could leave you intoxication and have problems so thats why I don't do any carbination alcohol or coffee Sent from my octopus using BariatricPal mobile app

It's different for the bypass people. When I first tried coke zero with whiskey it hit hard and fast. Luckily I tried it at home as advised, lol. I rarely drink alcohol, it was never my drug of choice, and that makes me extra sensitive on top. Interestingly enough I didn't notice a lot of change with weight. I used to get bombed on a relatively small amount of alcohol at my highest weight, too.

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...

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.