Search the Community

Could be all the artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols in the SF stuff. I know I couldn't tolerate artificial sweeteners at all and a lot of people have problems with sugar alcohols causing diarrhea. If it continues, call your surgeon or PCP. You don't want to get dehydrated and they may want to check for C. diff. What you describe is how mine started.

Definitely get help. I to work in the medical field and I had a coworker that had RNY and shr ended up becoming an alcoholic. She ended up losing her Xray license. Definitely not something to mess around with. Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I had mine in May of 2023. I'm doing great , thanks for asking ! I've been eating low carb ,very small portions and except for a months long stall, everything is going a-ok I haven't had any carbonated drinks or alcohol so far, but I don't miss it. My stomach handles everything good with no problems. I'm down 2 sizes and couldn't be happier ! All my lab work have been perfect and I'm off 3 meds that I took for a long time. Diabetes is no longer in my future ! How have you been since your surgery ? You lost a ton !!!!!

Why we should not drink alcohol, and or eat sugars. Last night I had a cocktail. This particular drink itself was very high in sugar and I knew I should not have been drinking it. To add to this I cheated a little and enjoyed 3 starburst candies, which I washed down with my super sugary alcoholic libation causing is to dump directly into my small intestine. Shortly there after I had some pretty strong heart palpitations which subsided after a few minutes. I attributed this to dehydration, so in incorporated some water into my drinking while still working on my cocktail. fast forward about 1.5 hours later I stood up from my bed quickly and got tunnel vision horribly almost going down as my legs kept buckling under me. Looked like a really bad new age dance move i suppose. I made it back to bed thinking dehydration still. Fast forward 30 more minutes. I arose to use the restroom, steadied myself in case i got light headed again. All seemed good. I made my way into the restroom, and woke up a moment later on the bathroom floor repeatedly bouncing my face off the bathroom tiles. It seems, unbeknownst to me that I caused myself to go hypoglycemic with all that sugar moving too rapidly into my small intestine. My body produced an abundance of insulin to deal with the sugars this caused the earlier erratic heart beat, and later all that insulin dropped my blood sugar too low causing me to faint for the first time in my life. Here I sit now with a likely broken nose, a nice knot on my forehead, and bruises on my hip knee and elbow. None of this compares to the damage it did to my wife to hear me crash to the ground and come running in to find me flopping around on the floor like i was seizing. In conclusion, all of this was perfectly avoidable. I did it to myself and have the marks to remind me of it. I will not be drinking any more alcohol at all, and evidently I wont be able to enjoy the occasional cheat treat. I am not writing this to scare anyone. From what I've read, only a small percentage of people ever suffer dumping syndrome, and of those only 25% experience the late dumping syndrome. I guess I fall into that small percentage. Also I wanted to point out that not all dumping syndrome involve cramps, diarrhea and the such. Especially for those of us that were diabetic pre-op. You can have this type of dumping syndrome and like myself not have the tell tell signs most people associate dumping syndrome with.

That word "just" really gets me. If you would just stick to WW, if you would just not eat after 8PM, if you would just walk more, if you would just eat protein for breakfast, if you would just stop eating out, if you would just not have alcohol, go off wheat and dairy, just, just.......well if they would just shut up and deal with their own lives, their own bodies. I've dealt with mine and I'm so grateful I did because I did just everything and got nowhere. Now I'm just living and happy, happy.

My last meal before the 2 week liver shrinking diet was hot Buffalo wings, fries, and tuna steak. Actually shared with someone else so I didn't eat a large amount of food. So yummy!! Also had an frozen umbrella drink. Now I am at goal I still eat this stuff on rare occasions... But it ends up being one wing, 1 fry and a couple bites of tuna steak. I totally gave up real high calorie alcoholic drinks.

I went all out lol. I got absolutely wasted and ordered a BBQ bacon cheeseburger and loaded cheese fries. Alcohol alone must have been at least 1000 calories. I know a lot of people say not to do food funerals but it was worth it lol.

You'll notice that the trend for those posts are: I don't eat properly anymore I don't seperate eating and drinking I snack or graze all the time I drink too much alcohol I don't exercise I got stressed and gave up I don't go to support groups I don't see my surgeon or NUT anymore Let their mistakes teach you ...

1. 1. So yes, we all get the point of the surgery is to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle BUT that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves sometimes. My favorite food chain is in LA, In-N-Out Burger. Will I be able to eat a cheeseburger and small fry with like a milkshake? Clearly I won't be opting for this on the daily but we all still need to indulge in our favorites once in a while and I'm not sure how much of it I'll be able to eat I'm assuming maybe like 1/3 or maybe 1/2 of the entire meal. But does anyone have experience with eating cheeseburgers, fries and a milkshake on like a vacation or for just a little "cheat meal"? (Again, I get the point is to NOT eat these types of food but sometimes you have urges especially on vacations). I don't think there is anything wrong with a little indulgence every now and then. I went on vacation at 3 months post op, and I ate a few things I don't normally eat, and it all went fine. I had a couple bites of ice cream, a small pancake with butter, a piece of a cookie, etc... (not all at the same time), but it all went fine for me. Now, I did have a smaller weight loss that week, but I only did it while on the vacation. 2. I absolutely LOVE sparkling Water like La Croix and San Pellegrino, does anyone drink sparkling water on occasion? I haven't had anything sparkling or carbonated yet, and don't really plan to. It can aid in stretching out your new tummy, so I wouldn't recommend it. 3. Cocktails and Wine, I'm not sure about you but being 24 I like to have myself an occasional couple of social beverages, how was your experience with alcohol both mixed drinks (hard liquor) and wine? (Don't worry about beer I don't like it). My doctor's advice on this topic was to wait until 6 months post-op, so I still haven't had a drink since my operation. 4. Not to generalize but I think a lot of people have a sweet tooth, I love the occasional scone, croissant, cookie, French macaron, etc. how has your experience with these types of baked pastries been? I've only had a piece of a cookie, the ice cream I mentioned before, and a little dark chocolate. That is not something that I would recommend that you regularly do, as you'll end up wanting more and more, that's how I would be anyways. I would stick to the sugar free popsicles and sugar free jello. Those help with the sweet cravings with no added sugar. 5. coffee. I'm ADDICTED to coffee and espresso beverages; lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, matcha lattes. How have these affected you and do you sweeten them at all or keep it plain? Can you sweeten them with like flavored syrups like a pump of lavender simple Syrup or matcha powder? I've had some coffee post op. I drank it every day before the surgery, and now I have it like once a week or so. I usually go to Dunkin and get an iced coffee with sugar free syrup and a little almond milk, then I add equal to it. Just go for the sugar free options, if you have to have coffee. 6. Now I know the clear answer and feedback I'm going to get on this question but for those who aren't going to just simply says "QUIT!!!" then I'd appreciate an answer, don't answer this is you're going to lecture me on how bad this is in general regardless of VSG, I know it's bad, I'm not stupid but it's an addictive habit I'm trying to quit. Smoking. How have cigarettes or e-cigs like Juul's affected you? Does it bother your stomach or can you smoke without issue? If so how many cigarettes or Juul pods do you go through a day? I know this is the answer you don't want, but you HAVE to quit smoking before the surgery. It could kill you if you continue to smoke. The only near death experience my doctor's office had was with a post op patient who didn't heed the doctor's advice, and they kept smoking. It could kill you. 7. This is hopefully not going to be a struggle but when I eat I like to sip on water or unsweetened iced tea, coffee, etc. I know in the beginning you're supposed to drink like 30 minutes BEFORE consuming food. How soon after can you drink something? Also will there be a time when eventually I can have a beverage while eating a snack or meal? Or will I forever not be able to consume liquidsand solids at the same time? I always liked to drink with my meals too. It's a bit inconvenient, but you'll eventually get used to not drinking while you eat. You should wait, at least, 30 minutes after you eat before you drink anything. It's a forever thing, but, like I said, you'll get used to it.

I don't do well with dairy so I can't do the milk diet. My pre op diet is high protein and no carbs. Breakfast is 2 eggs with mushrooms or tomato, lunch a chicken or tuna salad, evening meal chicken / fish and veggies. No cheese, no carbs, no alcohol, no chocolate no crisps etc. Oh I can have 3 pieces of fruit a day. Sent from my E5823 using BariatricPal mobile app

Mine was basically a shortened post-op diet in reverse for 10 days total: 5 days mushy foods 3 days full liquids 2 days clear liquids No specific foods, no calorie limit, no alcohol. Not terribly difficult. Surgeon said my liver was flat as a pancake

I'm 11 months out and I can eat anything in very small portions. The only thing I have trouble with is sweet alcoholic drinks like margaritas and so on -- I stopped ordering them because they are SO sweet and fill me up too fast and I end up not being able to drink more than half!

So the only preop requirement I have is a Liquid diet starting noon the day before surgery. The anesthesiaologist told me no alcohol 3 days before surgery. So wondering what other folks thoughts are on this. I've done fine on all my preop prep and lost more weight than was required.

Maybe I'm kidding myself, but I dont think so. I just dont really have "issues". Oh, I tend to eat inappropriately, boredom being a main factor and I love those sweet carbs. But what person DOESNT have some bad eating habits? I truly believe I was fat because I simply cannot eat as much as the next person without gaining weight. I *only* moderately obese at a BMI of 35 as I simply never did the sort of eating that would take me further. I ate basically healthy foods, with too many extras, simply because it was an enjoyable thing to do when I went out, when I went to the shops, when I was with friends. What I ate made me fat, but it didnt make many of my friends fat. The higher alcohol intake you tend to have when you're young and and at uni and first working made me fat, it didnt make others fat. I gained appropriate weight in pregnancy and lost it so i cant blame that, but after the babies were born and I spent long hours at home, I ate more Snacks and did less exercise, so I gained a bit. I also believe that breastfeeding (which I did for six years in total) caused me to gain a fair bit, it never worked as a weight loss tool for me. That's all there is to it, I simply needed to eat less. I really havent had to change a long with the band, I just eat less than I did but basically in the same way. I had no trouble adjusting to that. I have managed to break a few bad habits and increase my exercise. I'm very lucky really. There simply has been nothing to really deal with. I have a childhood, adolescence and early adulthood as being "heavy" but not obese, and I tended to diet a lot to try to get skinnier, and I think that was detrimental as well but I dont really have self esteem issues, bad memories of my youth, traumatic experiences related to my weight other than just not feeling attractive.

Amy, I am so sorry you are having to go through this. There are no words, I can come up with to make it instantly better, or believe me I would. I have been divorced...it was devastating, it hurt for the actual loss of the marriage, but also the loss of the dream of what I had thought marriage would be. My divorce was a first for our family... My Grandma used to tell me that in order to make anything change you had to change something. She told me this as I complained of issues around my own divorce. But slowly I began to understand. So I started changing small things. Things as simple at the time, as changing where I ate fast food. We always did BK together, so I wouldn't go there, I went elsewhere. We always bought groceries at a certain place, or had the car serviced at a certain place, I changed that. Our Christmas tree had always had the same color coordinated decorations...I did it MY way...in my places. It was a conscious decision, to CHANGE things, no matter how small. I slept on PINK sheets, he hated pink! I searched for ways to make my life happy. I took some non credit community courses at the college, I made an effort to visit friends and family. Not go to dinner, or anything other than to just spend time visiting with them. I kept busy. It was hard at first finding things to do, but they are out there. One of the first things I got involved in was with a group who were working to save and restore an older park in our town. I met a lot of people, and count many of them as friends to this day. A good friend who had been divorced herself told me "the best revenge you can get is to have a good, happy life, without him." She was so right. I no longer feel a need for revenge, or to "show" him, but can't help but be pleased with myself when I compare the lives we now have. He went for many years with the new, young, thin wife, bigger house, kids....but now, he is divorced yet again,living with a fellow alcoholic, and has nothing to call his own....he lives in her small trailer, drives her car, is just somewhat pathetic. I know all of this because the fellow alcholic he lives with was one of my best friends for years until her drinking was just too much for me. I look back and feel lucky that I was given a chance to have a better life, and I took that chance. I hope you do too. Give yourself time to grieve, but keep in mind, that someone who would do this to you, is not someone you really want to spend the rest of your life with. You deserve better, and you will find it. Work your band, and work your life to suit YOU....you will survive and be a better person than you could have ever been with him dragging you down. Good Luck, and don't forget when you need to cry, whine, moan or just plain bi#$h about life, we are here, and will offer any support we can! Kat

I believe rubbing alcohol works.

At your local pharmacy (CVS etc) there is a spray that is used to remove bandage residue. It's medically stable (so safe around wounds) and won't sting or dry out your skin like rubbing alcohol will. I can't remember the name but we used it constantly on our baby when he had a feeding tube. It never damaged his tender skin. I always have some around...it's great on price tags Peanut Butter works as well but I wouldn't use it near a wound.

It could be dehydration...But you also need to consider that it maybe Hypoglycemia. Both act similar and alcohol has a lot of sucrose in it! If you do have dehydration. G2 or coconut Water will help.

I'd like to know y'all's experience with sugar alcohols/sugar substitutes. When I was in my pureed stage, my diet/menu information stated that I could eat sugar-free pudding. I had one and experienced harsh stomach pain for the entire night until the next morning. However, I recently treated myself to some plain oatmeal and added stevia packets and had no issues. I looked up the ingredients to the Jello brand sf pudding and each cup has 4g sugar alcohols. It doesn't state exactly which "itol" it has, though. Stevia (depending on how it's combined) is mostly erythritol. I'm looking for some dessert-ish foods that can satiate my sweet tooth (also trying to help my 16-yr-old daughter by replacing her regular foods with low calorie, low carb, low sugar options). When I started on my WLS journey mid-May, she became inspired and has lost 17 lbs so far! Ideas? Suggestions? Experiences?

What you are describing about your feelings is normal and the result of the numerous emotional and physical adjustments that your body has to make post op. People generally don't embrace the concept of change readily, but if you want to be successful with weight loss, you really do need to modify your relationship with food and make a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. There are just too many weight related medical issues which over time present and then begin to slowly erode your health. Your mood will improve over time as you make these adjustments. Realize that some people actually will experience a kind of "mourning" process similar to grieving as they revise their relationship with food. I looked at having my band placed as an opportunity to regain some of my health; what you have to give up for successful weight loss is returned to you many times over with the health benefits you receive. Wine, and all alcohol beverages are empty calories, so you need to be careful and limit your consumption. I was advised to wait an entire year post op to have any alcoholic beverages...I did wait for 6 months, but have only had Jello shots once. My next glass of wine will be for my birthday next year...beyond the 1 year waiting time. Best wishes...

I've found two beers that I can tolerate because they have very limited carbonation-Guinness and Tetley. If you are like I was in college, you won't be drinking 12 packs of these mainly because they're too damn expensive. But they aren't bubbly, so they don't make me bloated the way that regular beer or soda does. Whiskey doesn't have carbonation, so if you're not drinking it with club soda it should go down okay. The biggest issue with alcohol, though, isn't the carbonation. It's the calories. Lots of empty calories that go straight through the band. I don't drink much anymore because doing so would undermine maintaining my weight loss. Of course, I'm also 36 and drinking a lot isn't nearly so important to me as it was when I was 21. Good luck.

I would limit myself a bit, at least... like only one alcoholic beverage (wasted calories and carbs!!!) and then switch to Water... and no chips with salsa ... just the meal... you want to celebrate, but don't think this is your last hurrah, you just have to be careful and consider what you are putting in to your mouth... if you had a pre-op diet and your liver is not small enough, the Dr will not operate, or will give you a full gastric instead of just a sleeve... so you want to be careful. Mexican food has a lot of salt, so that can also bloat you...and we all know alcohol goes right to the liver...you may want to check with your doctor, they may have menu selections for you... or steer you in the right direction... remember we can have fun without stuffing our faces That being said...enjoy

Kudos that people that can truly look at it at as fuel and be okay with it. Like you said in the real world not a lot of us can do that. I can do it while I'm at work. I can eat chicken salad for morning and lunch and not get tired of it. I'm looking at it as fuel at that point. That goes right out the window the second I get home, though. We are wired differently. My wife could be a casual smoker and only have one a day, then go 2 days without one, then have 3-4 if we were out, then none the next day and be fine with that. Me on the other hand....nope. I loved smoking (when I did years ago) and there wasn't much control. There was absolutely no way in hell I could do what she did. That goes for a lot of things in life. I can drink a beer every week or once every two months if I wanted. For somebody that has trouble with alcohol they couldn't do what I do. Yet I can but couldn't do that with smoking. Somebody may go to a casino twice a year for fun. Other's know if they went just once their gambling addiction would come roaring back. Food can have the same power/hold on us as any other addiction. For anyone that scoffs at others for not simply being able to "turn it off" then you don't get what addiction is all about. I do believe that we can all overcome our own addictions but it's easier said than done for many of us.

I'd honestly ask to go to an endocrinologist or diabetologist at this point since you have such special circumstances with the surgery. Also, keep in mind that sometimes T1 can masquerade as T2. In reality it's really a special subset of T1-adult onset. Has to do with phenotypes I believe. So I would ask if there is any way they could make certain it's T2 and not another variation of it. I've had 2 friends who they found out were actually late onset T1s and not the T2s the docs had initially thought. How much sugar in the protein bar? How many sugar alcohols. There is some proof that many diabetics do not do well with SAs. That they metabolize >50% of the carbs in them as sugar. So you may be sabotaging your bgs with the Special K chips and also the bars/shakes? I know Mr. F. has a terrible spike with Atkins protein bars and doesn't tolerate protein drinks either. I know that's just anecdotal but just wanted to throw that out to you. If it were me, I'd also look up the book Normal Blood Sugars by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, MD. He's a remarkable dude that pioneered the use of the home glucometer and eating to your meter. His A1c is lower than mine. He's over 70 and has zero diabetic neuropathy. He is a T1 and only take 5 units of slow acting insulin a day if I remember correctly. He's a diabetologist.

I was a major food addict and I'm sure I still am. I think of it like being a recovering alcoholic, I stay away from triggers because I know I'm just one bite from falling off the wagon if I don't. It can be managed but the key is realizing the problem is in your head, not your stomach, so the band can't and won't fix it.