Search the Community

My dietician said you'll know if your pouch is stretch. I experienced hunger the first time last week and called I'm 6wks out and I should be eating 4oz every three to four hours I drink know but not too fast but I going to fulling foods.... This weekend I was very bad I had three boneless wings two bites of pizza and alcohol over the whole day sat and sun being out of town and I will never do it again I stayed so full for hours I got scared...I hope my stomach go backroad normal I took milk of magnesia this morning Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I found this on the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office's website. Not necessarily a "scientific" site, but this is a concise explanation of what I've been reading: Gastric bypass surgery results in alcohol moving much more quickly from the stomach into the small intestine. Because 80% of beverage alcohol is absorbed in the small intestine, this surgery results in a much higher peak BAC than with the equivalent amount of alcohol consumed before the surgery. Additionally, there is far less gastric alcohol dehydrogenase available for the approximately 20% of initial metabolism of alcohol which normally occurs in the stomach. Due to these anatomical and physiological changes, drinking after gastric bypass surgery is similar to drinking on an empty stomach, but creates an even higher peak BAC because there is almost no opportunity for the alcohol to begin to break down before entering the bloodstream. An even better comparison would be to look at the differences in oral consumption verses intravenous consumption. Because a gastric bypass patient has so little stomach left after surgery, alcohol enters the bloodstream almost as if it was injected by a needle. This is borne out by the scientific research. According to one study, alcohol metabolism was significantly different between the bypass patients and the control group who had no stomach surgery. The bypass patients had a greater peak alcohol level, and it also took them longer to reach zero or no alcohol. The difference in peak BAC is significant. The bypass patients were at .08 or unlawful when the control group only had a BAC of just .05.2 This is a nearly 40% difference!

I'm gonna put this disclaimer up first: I'm almost 5 weeks out from surgery and am NOT thinking about drinking now or anytime in the near future. That being said... My NUT told me that after getting the sleeve, one's alcohol tolerance is really low. I don't drink very much...a drink at Christmas, a drink out at dinner with friends, etc. So, not drinking right now is no biggie at all. However, I'm curious, if and when I have a drink at some point down the road, how much of a lightweight will I be? Are we talking one sip of a Fuzzy Naval and I'm stripping my clothes off and licking the bar top? How bad is it? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

eating around the sleeve seems to refer to high calorie foods which don't give the bang for the buck you need. You can probably cram in mashed potatoes all day, but you are not going to lose weight. @@Dub figured out that nuts can be a problem (good food, too many calories). Alcohol and nuts seem to be the worse. All that said, I use jerky's as "rescue food" which I think of is things I keep in my travel bag when I am not sure I can get enough Protein. It can be addictive, and I have to watch it, but I do dig it. It makes a stupid layover a good event, becaue I get to break out the gourmet jerky .

I was sleeved october 2016. and I was able to eat most foods that I wanted. I am vegan. I am always hungry and feel that I am eating all day. besides eating veggies and whole grain. I consume tons of pop corn. every night also before my surgery I was a beer drinker now I hate beer but alcohol goes down like nothing.I am fifteen pounds away from my goal but I am stalled. and not losing anymore despite riding my bike 3 to 5 times a week at 16 miles a clip. anyone else having the same issues??? I am trying to increase Protein but so far its not working. any suggestions

"Can" is asking for permission. "Should" is for what is inevitable or likely to happen in the future. Can I eat tacos, drink alcohol, eat a 20oz steak when I am barely a week or two post? Sure...you SHOULD have never had the WLS eitherif you were NOT going follow your medical team plans concerning your post-op diet.

As much as I love vaping, and how much better I feel since the switch years ago... If one can just quit cold turkey and never go back, that is just awesome. The money spent is real too. Lol coffee, a caramel green apple vape and knitting gives me the "Je ne sais quoi" daily pleasure. Thank goodness I never cared for alcohol, it makes me nauseous. For that I'm thankful. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App Thank you for not being offended. Honestly, we have to do what works for each of us individually, I just wouldn't want anyone to go back to anything when the nicotine withdrawal is already passed. Mental craving is a whole other story... Sort of like head hunger! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

As much as I love vaping, and how much better I feel since the switch years ago... If one can just quit cold turkey and never go back, that is just awesome. The money spent is real too. Lol coffee, a caramel green apple vape and knitting gives me the "Je ne sais quoi" daily pleasure. Thank goodness I never cared for alcohol, it makes me nauseous. For that I'm thankful. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I think that when there is an extremely negative reaction toward someone who is new to the process when they ask a question about if they "can" eat something as opposed to if they "should", this really helps no one. When the question is "can" I have a taco when the person is first on solids, the correct answer is that yes, you can with certain modifications (I suggested skipping the hard taco shell, enjoying low fat turkey, and going easy on the fatty stuff). Should you? Probably not, but medically, yes, you can. If the question is "can" I have a drink or two a weeks after surgery or the week before, medically the answer is that, yes, they can. I tend to reply a lot to the "can I eat this" threads because I think that it is important for people to understand the difference between "can" and "should" because when we tell people they CANNOT do something, when in reality, medically they absolutely can, we just perpetuate misinformation. You can eat PB&J in the soft phase- this will not hurt your new stomach. It's not going to help you lose weight, and it would have made me feel crummy, but nothing physically is going to break in your stomach if you eat that. On the other hand, "can I eat almonds and sharp, hard crackers" 3 days after surgery is a "h*ll NO" that is going to mess up your stomach. As examples outside of surgery...can you eat that entire box of brownies? Yes. You can. You are not going to immediately die from it. Should you? No, of course not, but the long-term health consequences are your concern and you have the right to do what you want to do. If you eat a box of brownies once a year and you are a healthy weight, then good for you! It's not my business! This to me is comparable to...can I eat cake on the soft foods stage? Sure you can! You're not going to lose weight, but that piece of cake is not going to be the single thing that kills you because it somehow caused your stomach to rip open and if you can learn to eat junk food in very moderate amounts at an early stage and this is what works for you, then who am I to judge the way in which you get healthy? Comparably, can you smoke cigarettes while you are on oxygen? Yes, physically you can, but you are likely going to burn your face off, thus causing an immediately bad result. This to me is like, "I am 2-days post-op, can I eat a jar of peanuts?". Sure you can, but you have a really good chance of jacking up you stomach, so medically no, do not eat that. When people are asking if they can eat something, my impression is that the vast majority of the time they are seeking clarification as to whether they are physically going to hurt their stomach or themselves in the immediate short term. Whether they happen to die of a heart attack in 10 years because they kept eating junk is not the question, but rather the question is if they are going to rip open their new stomach and die from a leak. As such, it is important to differentiate between the "should" and the "can" and flipping out on people because they ask if they can have a few bites of junk food when it is entirely safe for them to do so accomplishes nothing. I have had junk food as part of my diet since the first point it was safe to do so. My first "soft" meal was a chicken taco salad. I ate the chicken, the tomato, and some of the sour cream. I ate about 5 bites of it and was no longer hungry. I used to regularly eat 1/4 a panini from Panera when I was losing- it was my lunch and calorie wise it fit into the plan. I have been at goal now for over 18 months and I am almost at 2 years of being within 5 pounds of goal and there are plenty of times now and when I was losing that I did not follow the rules. Sometimes I eat sweets, sometimes I drink alcohol, sometimes I eat other gross things and because I have been allowed to have them in very small amounts since the start of having the sleeve, they are not some banned substance that I crave and feel like I am being denied. This is what works for me and what may work for someone else. So yes, you CAN eat the vast majority of things people ask questions about, whether you SHOULD or not is the issue and frankly, I have no interest in telling an adult what they should be doing with their diet when I am hardly a 100% compliant patient and I ended up just fine. I see no value in telling an adult that they should not eat cake, judging them for their choices and their questions, and acting like I am better than them because I lost weight and they are still fat. They have a mirror, they have a scale, and they likely have a basic level of education about nutrition. The question is CAN not SHOULD and I am a little over the holier than thou comments that treat people like they are a complete moron for wondering if they are going to hurt their stomach by eating something they SHOULD not be eating when every single one of us has at some point eaten something we SHOULD not be eating, but which, medically, we absolutely CAN, in moderation, enjoy. I am now going to go drink my sugar free Red Bull and eat my carb-laden, protein-lacking, sugary Cereal for Breakfast. Yum.

It's amazing to me the lengths people will go to to sabotage themselves after surgery. I normally just shake my head and continue on. We have to want to make these changes for ourselves, we know when we do wrong. Me personally, I don't want to know if I'll dump if I take a bite of chocolate. 1) I never want to throw up or dump 2) I don't want to eat something bad and NOT get sick, then I'll know I can eat that item. Nope, I'll just convince myself I'll get seriously ill and it's not worth it. I'm surprised on my birthday how much I enjoyed watching everyone else enjoy the cupcakes I brought for treats, and was never tempted to even have a taste. Sugar, Pasta, covering everything in cheese, alcohol.... my health is worth SO much more than the taste of any of those things. Sent from my SM-G925V using the BariatricPal App

I'm not nice, I'm simply tired of being smacked down for pointing out the obvious. So...tacos, ice cream, popcorn and alcohol for everyone!!! :D No!! You're defeating the purpose. Sent from my KFJWI using the BariatricPal App

Ok so I was struggling. I mean really struggling with getting my Protein because i cannot do the shakes. Make me vomit every time. So I ordered gene pro unflavored and tried adding it to drinks, foods etc and still couldn't do it. I could still taste it. So today I had a genius idea. (Not really genius but it is to me ) I mixed the gene pro with one small shot of a beverage of my liking. I used horchata (not the alcohol horchata). Mixed my gene pro in, held my nose and got my 30 grams of protein with one throw back of the shot glass! Didn't even taste it. So I will do that twice more today and be beyond my protein requirements. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I wouldn't say it fails, because technically the tool is still there for us to utilize. I know people who still have amazing restriction at 3+ years out, which helps them with maintenance. It's just easier to kind of ignore it and go back to bad habits further out as things really "normalize" for us. As long as we keep the same good habits and practice them more times than not, we should be good And yes, just like alcoholics, we never "get over" being obese. We always have to be aware that we can relapse if we let our guard down.

I was told we had to lose weight. I lost 15 lbs. When I went for my last preop visit I was told if I gained they would not do the surgery. The Dr needs to move your liver which needs to be pliable. That means high Protein, low carb, limit alcohol. You're having major surgery. You need to be in the best health you can be for it. Sent from my VS986 using the BariatricPal App

To help with nausea sniff alcohol pads.....I've been to the point it was just about to come up....sitting in front of trash can waiting and smelling those alcohol pads....works immediately Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

You put in the time. You put in the money. You go to all the appointments and you jump through all the hoops. You do the pre-op diet. You have the surgery. You cared enough about yourself to make the commitment to WLS and you physically and permanently alter your body... And then you get mad because someone tells you not to eat the d@mn taco? Not to drink alcohol or soda 2.783 days after surgery? To put down the freaking pizza'? To stop eating bread/rice/pasta/bananas/hoagies/20oz steaks TEMPORARILY while your body heals and you get to your goal weight? To actually stick to YOUR doctor's plan? Even better, you get mad when they only do so AFTER you ASKED???? SERIOUSLY PEOPLE? Yes. I'd guess most of us have head hunger and cravings. I'd guess most of us had a nibble or sip of something off plan. I've no doubt that most of us were not 100% compliant 100% of the time. But I'd also guess that those of us who have done this, gotten to goal weight and stayed there have been compliant the majority of the time. I'd also guess that many of us who have been successful would appreciate a swift kick in the rear if/when we ask a question I bet we already know the answer to. It's not rocket science and this isn't Romper Room. Make good choices, stick to your doctor's orders or don't, but don't get mad if you fail to get the results you want when you refuse to do what you are supposed to do. And don't get mad when someone tells you that what you are putting in your mouth isn't the best idea in the world even though you want it right now. Value yourself more than that. Seriously.

We are told even small amounts of alcohol could cause major dumping, so not worth that chance. Have dumped before. Don't care to repeat it. Did I have a period of mourning for "lost" foods? Yes. Am I over it? Yes! Hubby and I go to a Mexican place and he orders steak/chicken fajitas. I scrape about 2/3 c of meat and veggies onto an extra plate. He eats the rest and we are both satisfied. I might eat some of the refried Beans and cheese, if there are any. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using the BariatricPal App

I'm not nice, I'm simply tired of being smacked down for pointing out the obvious. So...tacos, ice cream, popcorn and alcohol for everyone!!! :D Don't you think you both are being a bit snobby and judgmental? I certainly do. food has been a problem for MOST of us on here--your no exception, I'm sure! This is a forum for people who need support, not sarcasm and ridicule. Everyone handles this change differently and adjusts differently. She asked a question. I'm sure she wasn't looking for sarcasm or a scolding nor did she deserve one. I feel like I'm in "Mean Girls" the VSG chronicles. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Sounds like you're speaking from experience Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I had the smallest sip of communion wine without thinking at like week 4 or 6 or something and it felt terrible. And that is diluted. I can't even imagine what Vodka would feel like. I dumped one time, not alcohol related and it was the worst feeling in the world for hours. It was like an after-school special.

if you wouldn't rub alcohol on an external wound this early, then you should probably not rub it on an internal wound this early. I personally think you'll regret it this soon out.

@@Sinta "My question is I wonder if it would be completely crazy to have a single vodka tonic?" YES. You are still healing. You don't want anything to irritate healing tissues. Learn to enjoy without alcohol. If you find you don't like it and you are feeling pouty, just remember you made a huge investment in yourself, and you will be better later. My ex wife gave up drinking for preganacies, and I abstained in solidarity.

Band to sleeve conversion 9/12. I know this is a silly question and was probably a topic in the past. I have a wedding this weekend with a reception party after. I am planing on bringing my Water and will also bring a Protein shake since I'm still on all liquids for the next couple of weeks. I know everyone will be drinking and having fun which is completely fine. My question is I wonder if it would be completely crazy to have a single vodka tonic. Has anyone had a drink this early post op and if so, how was it? My fear is a tummy that feels like it's on fire. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

No, because I can still have those things. I eat steak all the time, and drink alcohol occasionally. In the beginning, it's easy to get short sighted and think never. For those of us who have children, remember when they were newborns and we used to think "I'm never going to be able to go out and have fun again!" But then one day, we could? But we still knew we were responsible for a child, so we did it occasionally and responsibly? Yeah, its like that.

You didn't say how for out you are, but I am 5 weeks out, and yes! Right now, I totally miss these things! My husband and I still occasionally go out to eat, but I have had some troubles with the food at such an early stage. Also, I have had a sip of his margarita (which was not stirred up and mostly tequila) and I could tell I wasn't ready for it. I could feel the burn of the alcohol all the way down to my stomach (I was a big drinker before surgery, so that's unusual for me). I know it won't be like this forever, so I am trying to be patient and wait for my body to be ready for these things.

I drank coffee pre-op, I drunk coffee straight post op, drink a big jug every day, and never had any issues with it. My surgeon advised me not to give up coffee. My first drink in the hospital was with a straw, again no issues with straws. I chew gum at times, and this has been fine also. I gave up all alcohol 9 years ago, and I will not give up my enjoyment of coffee. So, for me no issues with the "controversial" drinks, straws etc. The only thing I haven't tried are carbonated drinks post op. I was never a big soda drinker, so I don't need it and I don't miss it.