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3 months after surgery. The first drink burned like hell but every drink after that was fine. However, alcohol effects you differently after surgery. Some lose tolerance. Some gain it. For me, I gained too much tolerance. Before surgery just one drink would cause me to flush and be hot and buzzed. Now I can drink multiple drinks and not feel a thing.

Thanks!! I enjoy drinking. We mainly drink at home on the weekends ans grill etx. I live in a foreign country so entertainment is limited. It's going to be strange to figure out what do to now on the weekends. Sounds awful....I know. Good to know I can still be a social drinker if I want. Although I know my taste for it may change after surgery. Thanks for your honesty!!!! Sent from my GT-I9190 using the BariatricPal App As someone who is not a big drinker I would like to add my 2 cents. If the thought of my partner drinking or not drinking is enough to put a strain on my relationship, then it might be worth it to talk to a counselor about 1) the relationship, and 2) the alcohol. Any substance or activity (food, drug, behavior, etc.) that has that much power over either of you has too much control over your life in my opinion. I am not saying that you should or shouldn't drink, but if any change is enough to cause issues then you may need help dealing with that change.

How long did you leave it before you tried alcohol? I'd like a drink at Xmas, I'll only be 4 weeks post sleeve though... Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

My surgeon said that its never good to have a lot of alcohol because of the empty calories but if u r at a party or get together and u want to have a cocktail or two, it's fine. No beer tho cuz of the carbonation.

Yes, we are allowed limited amounts of alcohol, and always have to remember that alcohol are empty calories which need to be included in your tracking. The other important information is that it usually takes less alcohol for you to feel the effects of it. My surgeon warned us about this effect, and stressed that he would not be writing any letters in defense of his patients who might get DUI charges. I waited the advised 1 year, well almost an entire year, before having a glass of wine. I could only drink half of the glass...

Water, lots and lots of water! It'll flush the alcohol and help you feel better, once you stop feeling waterlogged anyway. I'm in preop diet too, and am finding I do better if I think of this as my "early surgery mode of eating," not a diet that is separate and "pre". Surgery. It's all a head thing, but then I never much ate because of stomache hunger - mostly head stuff; Family celebration, noshing/drinking with the girls, treating myself after hard day, etc. Also I'll bet that this won't affect your surgery at all--lots of people have less requirements. Just smile at the memory of a fun night out with friends and remind yourself no more imbibing like that until surgery is well past! If they know about it, do a spa evening together next time--mani-pedis, facials, moisturizers, and everyone brings their favorite mineral water! Party on!

December 18th here! I don't text or facebook tho, so I'll just post here. The time is FLYING now - seems like just last week I started thinking about doing this whole thing! Been researching my pre op diet today and making meal plans. My husband is joining me on it to be supportive and also to lose some weight too. So we start it next Friday (doc only wants a 7 day pre op diet) and I think it isn't going to be as bad as I thought since I get to have some "real" food in there. I can have three Protein (powder in water) drinks a day, and two meals consisting of 5 oz. of a meat or eggs, and 1 cup cooked (or 2 cups raw) of a list of approved veggies. No dairy, no breads, no fruit, no Pasta or carbs of any kind. And no alcohol either! Oh, and I'm allowed either a sugar free popsicles or Jello cups as Snacks. So I'm using the last of the thanksgiving turkey to make a broth to use for post op diet, I have a few ideas for my pre op diet and heading out to the story tomorrow to do the shopping. I have to track down some threads on things to take with to the hospital, but I'm only there one day (hopefully). So is everyone more excited than scared at this point? The more I read, the better I'm feeling about this decision and I'm really looking forward to getting control of food for the first time in like EVER instead of it controlling me!

Hey everyone, I went to my PCP on 2/18/19. I weighed 298 lbs at 6 tall. I was huge. Depressed, sleep deprived, eating disordered etc. My Dr. recommended me to the options program at Kaiser. 12 weeks of weekly classes to see if I was ready for the surgery. During those 12 weeks I researched weight loss drugs, and went on Metformin every morning and Bupropion x2 a day. I immediately lost interest in food and over the 12 weeks lost 45 lbs. I'm not diabetic but very hypertensive and sleep apnea severe. They approved me with no out of pocket costs for the surgery tomorrow at 7 am PST. The reason I'm doing the surgery is that I have a 3 year old daughter, and I want to be around for her. I'm late 40's and sick and tired of being sick and tired. My Dr. requires a liquid diet for 2 days before the surgery. I had five fast food dreams last night and dreams about chocolate candy bars and dreams about triscuits and cheese plates, etc. I cant believe I didn't struggle for 12 weeks of losing 45 lbs but 2 days of no solid food and its a huge struggle. Clear liquid protein, broth and lots of caffeine. I got really irritable at dinner time tonight and was frustrated. Even after losing 45 lbs I still ate unhealthy and had trouble controlling my appetite and had serious unhealthy disordered food cravings etc. The frustrating part was after losing 45lbs the teachers in my weight classes and my pcp and my specialists were all like why are you doing this? You are now on the border of obese and look really good. They all tried to talk me out of it! My Bariatric surgeon was very supportive and immediately scheduled my surgery. I'm excited and nervous. The really hard part is that not eating solid food for the last 2 days has been difficult and made me want to regress and go back to junk food! I didnt and I'm ready for the surgery but I hope my taste buds change and I become much healthier and practice mindful present eating habits. I know the Metformin and Bupropion were temporary battles won but not the war - which is why I signed up and I'm ready for surgery. I have my sugar free popsicles, and Premiere protein clear gatorade looking bottles and my vitamins and crystal light sugar free. I'm ready to win the war and this is a battle I knowingly go into with open eyes and a clear heart. I hope the surgery really helps the anger and depression and manipulative hormones that emanate from my stomach when it doesnt get its fast food or junk food fix. I want to enjoy not having an appetite and eating small healthy portions of healthy food. I want to be the 190 lbs guy from my college days. I have broad shoulders and a football players body and played in college but really just get healthy again. Two things I enjoy in moderation is 1 cup of coffee a day and once a month having a drink of alcohol or two socially. I hope I can regain both of those in the year after the surgery. I don't care about the junk food, fast food, and sugary or fried food. I hope I don't ever want those again. (My stomach is talking now) literally 8 hours before the surgery! Mark PS I hope losing weight helps the sleep apnea and lessens it, since the cpap doesnt work very well. I also hope to stop the 4 blood pressure drugs I'm on as well.

I was asked how much I drank on a pre=psych form and then in the Psych's office. He asked a couple different times and ways. I drink a couple times a year and he had a hard time understanding that. Makes me sweat, makes me go to sleep...not as much fun as it was in college. About your friend. She will have to run into a wall before she will change. All this fuss over her telling her doc is pointless, though I know you care much for her. Alcoholics and other addicts are fabulous at diverting attention away from their problems and slipping out of your questions. She will stop when she has to or wants to. Then you can offer your kind words of encouragement and hugs. Hopping over to youtube to watch the surgeries.

How has it backfired? Making the thread go away does not remove the moral imperative to let her surgeon know that he is about to operate on someone who is likely to suffer severe consequences on his watch. You don't like the answers you received. You wanted to be told, "You're right! She shouldn't have the surgery!" And you were. All of us know that you can't do a thing to influence your friend. She will drink---it's what she does. You are not expected to cure her alcoholism. But when you are in possession of important information that jeopardizes not only her, but those caring for her---and the hospital---you are morally obligated to let the appropriate people know. Having a thread deleted will not remove that responsibility.

Alcoholism is such a sad and destructive disease. Being an adult child of an alcoholic I can understand your frustration and concern for your friend. Unfortunately, without knowing who her surgeon is there is little you can do other than what you are doing. Keep talking to her and remind her that lap band surgery will not save her life if she is determined to destroy herself with the booze. You are a good friend for trying to help her, but I will tell you what I told my father; We can protect our loved ones from anyone and anything in this world.... except themselves. Sadly, if your friend is determined to destroy herself with drink there is little you can do to save her. I wish you both peace and good health.

Well, he may drink. But the fact of the matter is that SOMEONE has to tell her surgeon that she's an alcoholic. It's immoral not to. If you don't think he will, call yourself. Or find the surgeon's email online and send an email. "I am very concerned about my friend, your patient Jane Doe. She has a severe alcohol addiction, and has indicated she has not shared this information with you. I am concerned about surgical risks; in particular, I am concerned that she might experience delirium tremens during the immediate postop period. I have asked her to share this information with you, and she has indicated she will not--that she did not share it during her psych evaluation, and will not comply with any preop diet/postop rules you have about drinking alcohol. I know that HIPAA prevents you from discussing this patient with anyone, but I hope that this information is received in the spirit it is intended---to protect my friend, and to protect you."

I've made it through an entire weekend on liquid only! This is an accomplishment that I must celebrate, as it struck during a very busy time. Yesterday, being that it was the 10th anniversary of 9-11, I had been booked to sing at 3 different events throughout the day. The first one was not as hard because there was not a meal or food involved. But the second event was a Banquet WITH LUNCH!!! The biggest issue I had was that I didn't want to draw attention to what I was doing. Not only that, the meal was served FAMILY STYLE. So for those that might not know what that is, they put enough food on the table for everyone and then we have to pass the plates. So every item had to be passed in front of me, through me, and across me! I had to explain why I couldn't even eat green beans, which of course are healthy in most aspects! BUT....I planned ahead. I stopped and bought a can of chicken broth and brought it with me. Then, very quietly, I asked the server if she wouldn't mind warming it up, to which they were so accommodating to do and thankfully it was rather satisfying! The hardest part of the meal for me was when they served cake and ice cream. Homemade cake, with buttercream frosting! I LOVE that kind! But....I made it through. I didn't even have one bite! Then the last event was for an Honor Flight celebration and they had alcohol! My mom had a wine cooler and she knew I couldn't have one. I ended up leaving rather quickly after I sang the National Anthem and God Bless America. There were thousands of Harley riders there celebrating our great nation. The main event was the Grand Funk Band, so I stayed just long enough to mingle and then went home to relax. I am half way there, but I feel as though it is an eternity today for some reason? My surgery is Wednesday next week and Tuesday is an all-day fast/cleanse. But maybe at this half way mark is when it gets tough! I have learned some things though that I would like to share. I've learned to listen to my tummy. It growled today. That was in a way a good sign, because I knew it was time to get my broth for lunch. I've also been paying attention to the 'full' feeling in my tummy, which I have to admit I am not good at noticing. I know I will need to understand that for after surgery. Thank you for your comments on my last post, please keep sending them, it is encouraging to know that what I write or feel is seen by someone else. Hope your days are going well and you are pressing through whatever phase you are in! Let me know if anyone is out there who has surgery next week as well? It might be fun for us to keep each other up to date on our healing and growth! Weight: 206 (down 7 lbs!)

I can so relate to what your saying and it's not fun. . .unfortunately we are given this sleeve as a tool only, what we do with it is our decision. . . since last october i've fallen off the wagon pretty badly and gained quite a bit of weight (not tons but enough to shock me) and i had to think about what it was that i had been doing wrong. . . i found that i've come under A LOT of stress both at home and at work. . . so being a emotional eater, guess what????? I was eating all the time not realizing what I was doing. . . it didn't seem like much at those times, heck a small bag of pretzels here and small bag of licorice there. . . pork rinds EVERYDAY up to 2 bags of them, lots of alcohol, going out to eat more often. . . you get the picture. . . well i would weigh myself and couldn't understand why the heck was i not moving off the same weight i was on for the past few months so I stopped weighing myself as well. . .(oh and to mention I stopped exercising too) well then here at the end of february I got up onto the scale after not being weighed for a few weeks and oh my god I thought i was going to die, have a stroke, or both but I had gained soooooooooo much weight (25lbs, no the scale was not wrong). . . but how was that possible? Well it is and it will happen to all of us if we don't get a handle onto it. . . the sleeve is only a tool it's not a miracle thing that will make us loose weight we are the ones who have to work with it in order to loose the weight. . . well i got back to basics (and let me tell you it's extremely hard now) but since i have i've lost 4 lbs in 3 days, i will continue to eat Proteins first and ONLY 3 meals a day without Snacks like it was recommended by my nut back in the beginning. . . This is a big set back for me, I was soooooo close to my goal and now have to work 2x as hard to get there but i will get there. . . I didn't spend $15,000.00 of my hard earned money to regain my weight! So I hope that this story helps you out a bit, maybe scares you a bit, but it's true and very real. . I'm living through it now and was really embarrassed to talk about it, but the best therapy is to realize what is happening and get it out into the open . . . so here I am telling you to be really careful. . . don't sabatoge yourself. . it's a lot harder if you do. . . good luck to you and to EVERYONE here. . . .

Go to the seminar because it may help you decide. When I attended there were maybe 20 folks at mine. At least 3 stood up an left when the NUT said you may never have alcohol AGAIN, and at least 5 stood up and left when they talked about hair loss. A little dramatic yes, but it will weed out those who do not want to put any effort into their life changes.

My doctor has no problem with non-carbonated alcohol once in awhile (after healed from surgery) but says it shouldn't be a regular thing. I do have a drink once in awhile but I'm always careful to count the calories against my daily allowance when I do.

Everyone: I never drink alcohol, but I asked the question because I just wanted to know in case I'm ever in a situation where I am offered a cocktail. I just want to be prepared. Thanks a mil!

They haven't mentioned if I will be doing a liquid diet I'm pretty sure not as all my instructions say to follow the pre op diet right up until surgery day. I am currently following the pre-op diet which consists of 3 meals, no Snacks. Each meal is approx 400 calories. It is very carefully proportioned. I have to eat my Protein first and then the other parts of the meal. No drinking 10 minutes before a meal or 1 hour after, no gum, no straws, no rice/pasta/tortillas, only well toasted bread, no alcohol, no caffeine...basically what it will be like after surgery. They want to make sure that you are able to do it and are committed because you will have to eat like this for the rest of your life after surgery.

Yeah, I'm a diet soda addict myself. I won't get banded for a few more months yet so I have time to indulge But my doctor doesn't have a problem with diet soda. He just said a lot of his patients stopped drinking it because of the discomfort. I'd be happy if it gave me a tummy ache. Diet soda doesn't have any nutritional value and the chemicals don't do us any favors. I am sad about the beer. I love, love, LOVE beer. Anyone can see this based on my chub since it's a high calorie drink... I'm preparing myself to abstain from alcohol as much as possible once I am banded. Whenever I do indulge, I'll make sure the beverage is high quality and expensive since it'll be a real treat!

Oh goodness yes... I DID count Sugars (not sugar alcohols mind you) definitely. I liked to keep my total sugars to less than 10g per day. That's not easy to do, but I was able to do it - and it sure worked. Good luck!

Ok, I admit it... I’ve been slack. For the past six weeks, I’ve not been concentrating on ANYTHING related to my post-sleeving care. I’ve not been making sure I’m having enough protein… I’ve not been getting all my Water in… I’ve not been thinking about what I eat.. Yes, I’ve still been going to the gym… Yes, I’ve still been losing weight… But what if I’d stuck to my plan all along and kept up the water/protein/good food thing? How much further along would I have been? Relatively speaking, six weeks is a long time. It’s 17(ish)% of my sleeved life. 17%. It doesn’t sound like much. It’s not even a fifth of something. But think about this… What if I was 17% ahead of where I am with my weight loss… What if, instead of being thrilled that I’ve lost 150lb, I was celebrating losing 175.5 lb. That’s nearly 80kg in my terms. And it’s 17% more… But fear not… I know what the reality is… The reality is that I’ve nobody to blame but myself. I chose to not get my Protein in… I chose to not keep check on my water… I chose to not watch my calories… (And I also chose to drink alcohol a few times in there too… Shhhhhh) Well you know what… I’m choosing again. Actually, I chose it last week. That’s when I started a countdown in my profile feed. To those who noticed it, it would have been random and quite possibly, nonsensical. But to me, it was making a choice. Re-making a choice. Call it a do-over.. A re-launch.. Call it whatever you like As of 0445 this morning (when I woke up), I’ve taken responsibility for myself again. No more coasting thru this sleeved life.. No more taking losing weight for granted.. No more forgetting where I came from.. What I came from… How far I’ve come… This sleeve shit is NOT easy!! This sleeve shit is NOT cheating!! I have lost this weight… Me.. Nobody else… And you know what? I’m about to lose a whole lot fu***ng more!!!

Smoking, alcohol and spicy foods. I take daily Zantac and it helps. Otherwise, you will need an unfill. Acid reflux, while common, is not a good thing. It can really hurt your esophogus. I would take control and let your doctor know.

Sorry, I can't help you with this one, I don't drink alcohol. What about a nonalcoholic beer?

That was my first thought too but The NA beer still has a tiny bit of alcohol in it so if it’s the alcohol part that is acidic it may still be too harsh. I would worry about the carbonation so early out as well.

addiction talk....."You had a relapse." When we relapse with food, we get the same feelings of failure, incompetent, guilt and depression as a drug or alcohol addict would after trying so hard to JUST STOP! The wonderful and blessed thing is that we do have these tools that can help in getting back into our recovery from food that has taken control over us...once again. Good Luck