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So do they test you for alcohol? Or just nicotine Sent from my N9560 using BariatricPal mobile app

I was told no nicotine, including vaping and the patch etc and they tested for it preop. They didn't test me for alcohol. I didn't even know there was a test for it.

I had severe gastritis to the point I had to take 3 prilosec a day plus tums. Sugar alcohols from sugar free gum and mints was the culprit. It took over two weeks to completely heal it. Now I only have SF gum once in a great while. Also, it's weird, because my surgeon told me SF gum was safe, but I completely over did it. Like I binged out on it. Im 10 months out, so I feel comfortable chewing gum but most places will tell you absolutely under no circumstances: NO GUM. Dont want to get it stuck if swallowed. My bariatric team kinda shrugged when I told them I was chewing gum. I had a barium xray of my pouch and everything is good now, but my stomach lining was seriously irritated for a long time because of it. Constant burping, gas, almost a heart burn sensation and my pouch BURNED and hurt when I ate or drank anything- thought I had an ulcer, but no, gastritis and too many sugar alcohols.

I work in a brewery so my job is to drink (well not really Taste is a better discription). So yes you can drink with the band. The issue with drinking is moderation. Since it is a liquid calorie you don't feel full like you would if you were eating a solid protien. The liquid passes straight through to your lower stomach. Subsequently you can drink whatever you want. Albiet some folks have issues with carbonation. That being said - my dr said the target caloric intake for me should be 1200 calories or less a day. if you can have a beer or a glass of wine in that and hit all your protien requirements, no problem. For me it is next to impossible to hit under 1200 calories a day on my present restriction and not feel hungry. At about 1350 i am not feeling any hunger pains. Still a far cry from the 6000 i was used to eating. so after all that - moderation is the key - have one not 6 in a day and you will be fine. But always keep in the back of your mind that liquid calories (unless a low cal protien shake) are your enemy. (this also includes ice cream, shakes etc). i have included a link to a website with a ton of calories for beers. check it out. the brewery i work for produces 4 beer (3 of them contract brewed) but on average our amber is about 140 calories for a 12oz bottle. Beer Alcohol and Calories

I second what f14aman324 said...be careful if you do drink. I am not a drinker anyway but with dinner every now and then when we go out I will have a cocktail...talk about knock me on my $^(@#(@. Holy cow. Pre-band, I could drink several mixed drinks and be ok. I drank one...thats right one and was buzzing horribly. You forget that you don't eat as much and alcohol really does affect you differently, at least in my experience....talk about a cheap date! Hehehe

Im all approved and going through the torture of all of these tests and classes - I will be so happy once this is done. With that said I am really nervous. Did you get a lapband? Are you glad you did? How fast did you start to lose? Do you drink alcohol? I'm not sure I am going to be able to stop that altogether. What are the main things I should not forget? Please tell me this becomes second nature. Thanks! Billy:thumbup:

Just curious, i know what the Dr.'s tell you about alcohol consumption and I know about not drinking beer because it's carbonated. What about Wine? My friends mom is a year out and can drink wine like crazy... in fact she drinks wine almost every night with dinner. Anyone else have any input on whether or not you consume wine post op? I'm not talking weeks out or anything, but after a couple months or even a bit longer, have you given wine a shot?

Hi again, Tas and PerthGirl. What people can and can't eat differs widely but certainly not everyone can't eat red meat or rice/pasta. I can eat anything I want, in small portions, without any troubles at all. About the only thing I avoid completely is carbonated drinks, as they give me the burps really badly and it hurts. I still drink alcohol on occasion, but I am SUCH a cheap drunk these days that I have to be very careful. I had a VERY high tolerance before, so that's been quite a change - my drink of choice is scotch & Water with lots of ice, but wine would work for most people if they like it. In my opinion, the secret to success with the band is to NOT strive for total restriction. Keep the band loose and let it curb your appetite, don't try to make your hunger disappear entirely. We are meant to get a bit hungry around meal times, just not starving every minute of the day. When you do that, you can eat good solid healthy foods like lean steak and salad, which sit in your pouch and make you feel full for much longer. If you try to get too much restriction, you'll have problems with getting stuck and sliming all the time on solid foods, and will end up turning to soft, easy-to-eat high fat foods like icecream and chocolate. Those don't fill you up or stay in the pouch, so you end up still feeling hungry and snack more and more - it becomes a vicious cycle. Working with a looser band does require some will power. You still have to choose WHAT you put in your mouth. The band only limits how much of it you can eat, and it works best on limiting solid food, not soft foods or liquids. I have found that, because I am not feeling that "starving out of control" feeling all the time, I have enough will power left to make the right choices and say no to chips and cakes, etc. I never believed I'd hear myself say this but now it really doesn't bother me to turn these things down when offered. I don't turn them down every time, but I make it a very rare treat. I am even able to go to parties and not graze at the nibblies table all night - and that is a miracle!! Good luck for both of you! Try not to stress about it, take the sensible approach and let it happen. It might be slow but it does work!

My surgeon has all of his patients (regardless of start weight) on the Optifast diet for 2 weeks pre-op. It does shrink the liver and make the stomach easier to get to. Speaking of liver... I am an Ultrasound Tech and I have seen my liver prior to surgery. I was eating and drinking alcohol (both in excess). I am 2 months post-op today and looked at my liver and it looks do much healthier. It does not have the fatty infiltration it did before, and it has shrunk significantly. I was so excited to see how healthy I am getting inside and out!!!

Same experience here—each chewable worse than the next. I could not get past the artificial flavors and sweeteners. If I managed to get it down and was lucky, the feeling would pass after a sneeze or two (and maybe an alcohol swab). RD recommended a capsule when I was on soft foods so I could open it and stir it into food. The vitamin taste was hard to cover, but I preferred that over the fake flavors.

I think you need to go back to basics. Always eat your Protein first at meals. Make sure you meet your Fluid, protein and Vitamin requirements. According to my nutritionist, most individuals that gain weight back after surgery are due to grazing (snacking). Your case is probably an exception. I am 2 years post-op from RNY. My weight loss is stable. I do graze but I graze on fats. Fats take away hunger. I have a cup of coffee in the morning with a giant scope of home made real whip cream. I make it myself so I exclude sugar. I strictly stay away from sugar and use low calorie sweeteners such as Stevia and no calorie artificial sweeteners such as Splenda. I also use sugar alcohol found in Atkin's treats. But that is the method I have found that works for me. You might also have to go back to measuring the volume of food for each meal to lower your portion size.

Hope you get some help for your health issues. Even if they are not caused by the alcohol your weightloss will definitely suffer eventually from the alcohol.

I think you should stick with the band..yes..the band requires tweaking. I have had my band for 14 years now..we love and hate each other..all the time..I lost 130lbs..stayed stable for years but when I decided 2 years ago "hmm..maybe I should just have a routine check since it has not had any followup for years..it has spiraled a bit..turns out my very last fill years before had been too tight and I learned to compensate by packing my esophagus..stretched it..complete unfill..50lbs quickly packed on me in a few months time...thousands of dollars in new wardrobes later.. I learned my lesson of going to local surgeons for follow up fills and they did me in. I should kept going back to Dr Kuri for follow ups. Doing fills under flouro instead of blind fills that started the spiral. I started getting refills..the last one 3 months ago from a local surgeon infected my port..I just went back to Mexico to have my port removed for now as my body heals from the infection. I have no band erosion thankfully..all goes well I will have port put back in. For now I am filled to where I have restriction but not back where I was too tight. Dr Kuri topped me off before he removed the port. Now...here is my take on the unfill/refill cycle. This is my own opinion based on having this band this long and my recent unfill and refill history. I think this band puts our bodies in an abnormal state of starvation mode. When we first get the band and start getting fills and that hunger gets satiated and you get used to only being able to eat a meal the size of a tennis ball..your body adjusts to this abnormal state. Once the band did its job of helping you get the weight off by basically a self imposed starvation diet..the band now needs to do the job of KEEPING IT OFF. Again..still in the state of abnormal starvation mode..my body is used to the limited calories in per meal..I can handle less calories because my hunger signals were less intensified..I could go all day without feeling hungry! Okay..so now..you take that abnormal state of being..for me it was almost 12 years..and then you unfill the band..wham..you just changed my abnormal state of being my body was used to for 12 years. The volume went back up on my hunger signals. I could get in more calories in each sitting. My body rebelled and I quickly gained 40+ lbsin 3 months. I STARVED myself..I was watching every calorie in and would still gain back 5 lbs overnight. It was brutal. My local surgeon's dietician swore that I must have started gorging on all the things I couldnt for years..eat a pizza..bread...etc..I actually craved salads because those have always been hard to eat for years..they didn't understand it was no longer a simple equation of calories in/calories out. That's for normal humans who were not put into an artificial state of being with a band. On what I was eating and GAINING..a mere mortal would have been dropping 2+ lbs per week. Thankfully I did watch my calorie intake closely and perhaps more of the 130lbs I had lost would have come back on. THANKFULLY only 50..uggh..hate to say that..but 50 is better than 130 back on. So now...I have to try and get my body back to this abnormal state of being with refills. I am also asking my body to get off the 50lbs I quickly gained after unfilled..at the same place I was when I was maintaining my weight for years. Won't be as easy the 2nd time around for sure. I will most likely have to really DIET to get off this last 40lbs and THEN my band will be back to doing what is doing now..maintaining me. While I was maintaining, I always stayed within a 5lb range up or down. I knew when it went up, I was having more liquid calories..more alcohol..more chocolate milk..not necesarily Meal Replacements but extra calories. When I laid off the extra liquid calories..my body adjusted back down a few lbs. This is not normal for unbanded humans who lose weight and then slowly eventually gain it back without a ton of diligence to keep it off. The diet cycle. The band helps stop this diet cycle of lose-gain-lose-gain. I don;t think any doctors can really truly understand what happens physically to your body when banded..being it is an adjustable surgery..we change mechanisms in our bodies and messing with the delicate balance changes how the band works for us.. This is my amateur opinion backed by no scientific research..just my gut and my personal experience. I will work hard if I have to to get this last 40lbs off and I am back to maintaining where I was happily maintaining for years and I can get rid of all these size 12-14-16 clothes and pull out my 6-8-10's again!! The band was totally worth it..130lbs off..gone for 12+ years?? yes!!! Just know you will have quirks along the way!! Rather deal with quirks than the burden of 130lbs!!

While that's a very solid point...let's be honest here...being a human in this skin with all the insanity of the world, sometimes a little comfort is necessary. I think a meager half cup of potato Soup is a lot more positive than a lot of the alternatives........I read somewhere, probably on this board, that a lot of people who have bariatric surgery become alcoholics because they forgot to figure out how to comfort themselves without food...so they turn to alcohol. Truly an unhealthy path.

Well,i have another story to tell, honestly not every life experience leads me to,pist,it merely sees that way. Way back,in the Bad Old Days, 34 years ago I had my gall,bladder removed. Now every abdominal operation in that time was open and I was no exception. Most people have what is called a right subcostal, diagonal, about 2-3 mm below the ribcagen not me. I'm so speciall, I had a right paramedian, right to the ringt of the navel, 3 inchs a above, 3 inches below, a nice white fine scar, except slightly wider at the top,where the JP type,drain was. The year before,my,mothers had been removed and when I mentioned I was having symptoms also I was told I was merely envious. When mine was finally removed I had many more stones, pointed instead of round in appearance and they had so abraded the inside of my gall bladder to the point it would have ruptured soon. Jealousy-Shmelousy, I said I was sick! Many years later in May 2015 I awoke in absolute mis3ry and pain. Never had i had such pain and I trust I never shall,again. I had 3 over 9 lb babies, natural and unmedicated, no pain like this! And the vomiting made morning sickness minor league. Told my son to call our local transportation company for they had a wheelchair lift, I had managed to pivot to,my whe3lchair left over from my,last knee replacement and I couldn't stand again. Turned out I had acute pancreatitis. And I was also out of the ordinary. there too. Most cases are caused by wayward gallstones traveling into the pancreatic duct,or alcoholism. Nope neither of those, so it is charted as idiopathic, this is physicanlanguage for," I don't know WTF caused it either!" So I cannot help but think,5he pain of a RnY will,be the difference between jumping into a volcano and a garden party. As the,little mouse said "Bring on that cat, 'I M Ready!"

Hi all, thanks you so much for your rapid responses. It is so great to have people to communicate with, it makes the journey all the more bearable. Hi Shireen, in response to your question: I suppose my purees are not really purees, as I add lots of chicken stock and it really is like Water - but it has flavour. I also tried a great liquid yesterday, I took a tin of creamed corn, I strained it and added chicken stock then heated it up - yum. I think my weight has shifted due to my early morning walks. I have been getting up with my husband at 6 am and we walk at a semi fast pace for an hour. It is a divine time of the mroning here in Sydney, the birds are churping, people are walking thier dogs and I live right near the harbour park, so once we reach the park we have the glorious view of the Anzac Bridge over the harbour and the city. I am down 6 kilos now, but have now made a mental commitment to myself not to look at the scales until Monday 6th sep. Oh by the way does anyone dare to drink alcohol once they are on solids ?

Bob, you've been my role model here since I first found this place. I am immensely proud of you and what you've accomplished in such a short time. I'm finally being banded the day after tomorrow, so am where you were a year ago. I hope I can report such an excellent journey as yours a year from now. I wish you nothing but continued success and a rapid, painless healing from this latest surgery. Good luck! As for the cigarettes, if I can offer my personal experience: I quit smoking eleven years ago after more than thirty years as a heavy-duty 2+ pack a day smoker. I had quit a hundred times before then, for varying amounts of time, from a few minutes to as long as seven months. But I always went back to them. I finally realized I had never felt like an ex-smoker, always that I was in-between packs. I always felt when I'd stopped smoking that I'd be smoking again at some point. And I always did. The turning point for me came the day I came to the thundering conclusion that I didn't have a smoking habit. I realized I was a nicotine addict. Just as bad (to me) as a heroin addict or being an alcoholic, and I was just as addicted. And just like that, I quit. I ddn't STOP smoking, I QUIT. And I haven't lit one since. I have absolutely zero desire, because I know, just like an alcoholic or a heroin addict, that I can't have just one cigarette, or I'll be back at it. Changing my frame of mind from thinking of myself as a smoker to accepting that I was a nicotine addict completely changed my entire attitude. No drug was going to control my life, and that was that. I've never looked back. Good luck with all of it! Dave

that has passed away from the laparscopic gastric bypass? I dont, everyone is so afraid, I think it is the going under part that scares everyone. but that can happen with any surgery. what do you know about the dangers? we need to know. all i know is what people say here and the old videos on youtube, and those are old. if your not honest with your surgeon about your meds and problems you having drug use alcoholism and smoking, well yea you may be in danger. dont hold anything back. so many are scared, and that scares me lol.

thats me too! late-evening alcohol is a BIG trigger for my reflux. So? NO late evening alcohol. So, for those of us that have reflux symptoms - is this fill the last one for us? I mean, getting another fill - regardless of how tiny it would be - would only make the reflux stronger. So whats the point of ever even attempting getting another fill? hmmm... being 30 pounds from goal weight vs waking up in the middle of the night with vomit boiling in my throat.... not a hard decision. Although, I do feel cheated. Cant imagine how you feel, Sue.

Before you drink alcohol, look up the calories. You will be surprised. I've found that knowing the calorie count makes me less likely to indulge in alcoholic drinks. Before I knew the calorie count, I was more likely to have "just one" and depending on what kind that one drink was, I could be drinking up to half my entire calorie count for the day. I have had beer, wine and mixed drinks since being sleeved. I don't drink as fast or as much as I used to do. In social situations, I've found that I need to specifically tell the bartender or waiter to NOT bring me a drink if someone buys a round for the table. My drinks tend to get warm before I am able to finish them if I finish them. When I am out socially, I have a few stand bys: For beer, I usually get a Budweiser 55 because it is low in calories. It tastes OK. Water with a shot of cranberry juice (no alcohol), but it looks like a mixed drink Tomato juice (no alcohol) Arnold palmers (tea and lemonade mixed, no alcohol) Rum and coke (I've found that I tend to drink these slower than most drinks, especially if they are fixed strong.) Things I've learned to avoid: margaritas (too many calories) Girly beers like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Mojitos, blueberry/lemonade drinks, etc. These start at about 220 calories and go up from there. I can drink them too fast, and about 3 of them over several hours will make me drunk enough that I want to go to bed. The Mike's berry flavored ones also give me a headache the next day even if I only had one, and I don't usually have headaches. Fancy Shots (too many ingredients that are usually high in calorie) I tend to mix my drinks up. I might start with a Budweiser 55, but for my second round, I will get water with cranberry juice. It will be a couple of rounds before (if) I get another beer. I don't drink wine when I'm out socially. I do have it at home in the evening sometimes. I've started pouring myself half a glass instead of a full glass.

I can no longer tolerate alcohol. Not a bad thing, I wasn't much a drinker to begin with but I realize it's not for me anymore - period. I hope you feel better soon.

Alcohol usually loosens the band initially (some may try and correct me...I know it doesn't physically loosen the band...it's just a common term for it which actually means it relaxes the stomach allowing more food through than normal) and then tightens you up the next day as your body dehydrates some. You may have slightly dilated your pouch. You could call your doc and ask to get some fluid out and that might be the best course of action. If it was me, I'd take some liquid motrin to help bring the swelling down, go on liquids only for a few days, and hydrate hydrate hydrate.

As you have learned from dealing with your issues with alcoholism (Congratulations, by the way, for 10 years sober) you need to avoid triggers and you need counseling to deal with issues that cause you to not live life to your fullest or happiest (such as eating disorders, addictions, etc.) I wouldn't focus too much on putting a label on your food issues, whether it's Binge Eating Disorder or Food Addiction or just plain Morbid Obesity . . . it's clear you have an issue with food that you need to deal with. WLS is a tool that will help you lose the weight, yes. But the bigger battle is the mental battle. Get into some good counseling to talk about your food triggers and issues and good luck on your WLS journey.

It is more likely that your body cranked out insulin in response to your eating and drinking the other night, triggering your body to want you to eat for the insulin to have "something to do". If you drop back to a high Protein, vegetables, no simple carbs, no alcohol, no fruit way of eating for a few days your hunger perception and cravings for more food will most likely disappear.

@@ktscott Hi and welcome! I actually had gastric bypass instead of the sleeve because I suffered from severe reflux. I have an automatic immune disease as well called psoriatic arthritis. Every 8 weeks I get an injection of Stelara which helps with both the psoriasis as well as the joint damage. I try to avoid steroids because it makes the skin condition much worse however I recently had spine surgery and was literally forced to take both IV steroids and oral steroids for a number of weeks. I had no problems with it in terms of my new tummy but of course the steroids kicked up my psoriasis very bad,y and now I am taking a daily dose of Cyclosporine. Hopefully it won't be for too long but it is liquid and if I don't eat something or drink a Protein shake it tends to burn my tummy. I have not had that sensation in the last 11 months since my bypass. It cured my reflux. I suspect there is something like alcohol in that drug which causes the burning sensation. Anyway, there are plenty of people with RA on this site but I would not be overly concerned. If you are taking NSAIDs that won't be allowed. They can cause severe ulcers in your new tummy so they try to have you take Tylenol instead. I found after this surgery that Tylenol based pain relievers actually work. Before surgery that was not the case so I was worried about stopping Aleive. I have not missed it at all. Good luck and let me know if you have further questions!