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Momto6ix, why don't you leave it up to your husband about the bday party, including the menu and alcohol that he wants to serve? That's what I would want in his place. If I were him, I would definitely want to still have the party and I would enjoy my time with family and friends and I would make sure there were a couple of sleeve-friendly things that I could eat. You really have an enriched experience focusing very little on the food at these gatherings when you are post-VSG. It sounds like you might miss the routine with your husband of having a buddy who likes to go out to eat with you or doing food-centric things with family. I wondered about this with my husband bc we have only gone out to eat twice since I had surgery 8 weeks ago. But he has not complained at all and we have actually saved some money, too.

Mines with a licensed social worker (like myself) at the Bariatric Center. I might look into this as a career move some day. I do assessments now for drug and alcohol related problems at a Rehab.

Anything without sugar, like a martini or tequila on the rocks should be okay if you drink it slowly with a lot of water on the side. Only issues I have had with alcohol are when I drank sweetened (prickly pear margarita) or carbonated (prosecco) drinks, but others do not have the same issues. Try a few things before you go so you dont get sick and have a fantastic cruise.

Ah, yes, alcohol has done that to me once or twice. Not to PBing point but whereas one glass before a meal loosens things nicely, any more and I really have to remember to eat slowly.

Unfortunetly, I do not need alcohol to cause a memory lapse. I'll sometimes eat too fast or take too big a bite etc. I find the more this happens - the more I pay better attention to what I am doing! !! At a dinner party 2 weeks ago I had to excuse myself 3 times!!! I cannot imagine this happening without a bathroom nearby!!!!:confused: The prolem is sometimes you cannot know how your and is going to react to certain foods based on time of day, travel...

Hi guys, I just discovered this forum today and it seems like it is a fantastic resource. The amount of information that is on here is staggering. Apologies if I've posted this into the wrong forum. I've just started the process of this, I had my first meeting with the surgeon this week and I have booked all of the other appointments. I'm pretty nervous and I'm still on the fence about the whole thing. I'm a 33 year old dude, I'm about 6 ft tall and tip the scales at about 330. I'd love to get down to about 200-210. The surgeon seems to think that I'll be able to shed about 90-100lbs with the procedure. So that sounds great, but I still have some reservations about the procedure. I have so many questions that I really don't know where to begin. I suppose the first question would be: If you had to do it over again, would you go through with the procedure again? Are the sacrifices and the complete and total life change worth it? How difficult has it been to make these changes? What about alcohol, can you still drink? What happens/if you drink beer? Another concern is the excess skin, are there things one can do to help prevent this from being too big of a problem? Any advice, suggestions, etc.. would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for any and all feedback.

Ok, I know I need to ask my doc but it's Saturday. Anyways, I went to a bar tonight with my DH and some friends and I didn't drink but they were asking me when I could drink again and I don't know. When can I drink again? DISCLAIMER: I KNOW alcohol has empty calories, and I should avoid it, but I'm in my 3rd year of law school and I'm a little stressed by that and the looming bar exam so any critics will just have to accept that I AM going to have a margarita from time to time!

Alright I cheated a little yesterday (day 2). Did good the whole day but took my son out for graduation and got a salad of which I could only eat a few forkfuls anyways along with an alcoholic beverage and 2 spoonfuls of dessert. Back on track today. doing good so far and already I am seeing a difference in the amount I can eat. This is not easy so kudos to all of you who successfully and faithfully stick to the test.

Many have difficulties with creamed soup. You may have had a reaction from the sugar alcohols in the fudge pops too. Take it slow and see how things go.

I do other things, but then I gain weight. For God's Sake Im in a sorority! LOL! I just always worry about what I eat, especially since Alcohol has so many calories! So Im just trying to lose weight as best I can, but I do get upset (extremely) whenever I dont lose or if I gain

I have a bunch of questions--go ahead and respond to anything that inspires you. I had the lap band surgery on november 23 of this year (3 weeks tomorrow). I lost 16lbs the first week and nothing since. I am supposed to be on liquids until tomorrow, but have been eating soft foods for 3 days with no problem. I am beginning to worry whether I should have had RNY because I want to lose weight so badly, but I haven't had a fill yet so I'm still open to the possiblity that this might work (although I have doubts). So...am I obsessing over not losing weight or is it possible that I made the wrong choice? Right now I feel like nothing ever happened to me. I don't have a sensation of fullness after eating anymore, I can eat a lot, I don't have PBs or vomiting or nausea or anything. I got too full a couple of times in the days right after surgery (from drinking too quickly or having too much Jello or something) but here's the scary part: it felt good! I love the feeling of being very full. It's like a drug for me, it calms me down. I'm afraid that may never go away and I won't lose weight. I also have the following questions: --how many calories a day should I be getting? the nutritionist said about 700 per day but that seems low to me. --would it benefit me to continue with weight watchers (which I was doing before the surgery)? I liked the plan, just had a hard time following it. --I was told I could never take ibuprofen again. Is this true? --I was told I can never have a carbonated beverage again. True? --I was told I can never eat anything sweet again, both real sugar and sugar alcohols (manitol, sorbitol, etc.) Also, I have had moderate to severe pain in my left shoulder since the moment I woke up from surgery. Tylenol doesn't help. Is this just me, or has anyone else experienced something like this? Finally, I am struggling to stay on the diet until my first fill, scheduled for Jan. 4. I am worried I won't be able to maintain it for that long--I was never able to stop myself from eating before the surgery and I don't know how they expect me to stop myself now, without any restriction!!! I really appreciate any advice you have to offer!!! THANKS

Drink the protein shake before you go to the wedding and politely refuse the food if asked. You can drink other types of liquid while there (no alcohol of course). It is really important to stay on track before the surgery. You could run the risk of your surgery being postponed.

I agree with wannalise. OA is a good program. Usually donations are $1 or $2 per meeting. Go to a different meeting if the first one doesn't fit. Each meeting has a slightly different feel. Also, sometimes open AA meetings can be good as well. Just substitute food for alcohol or the drug of choice. I have attended several different 12-step meetings over the years and they are a wonderful tool to get at the real issues behind our unhealthy relationships with food.

My Husband has a fatty liver or fatty liver syndrome. He was accused of being an alcoholic because his enzymes were off the chart. After changing Dr.s his liver panel came back off the chart still. The new Dr. knows my DH personally and knows that he never drinks. He then put my DH on a no sugar, no carb diet at first and began to treat him for a candida overload. Aparently, candida takes the sugars in you digestive track and may manufacture as much as a quart of alcohol a day, causing sleepiness, headaches, and a craving for more sugar and refined carbs, as this is the food they need. It is a large and strong bacteria in our gut and is usually kept in check by proper levels of acdidophilus and bifidus ands bulgaricus and other heathy bacteria. If we have a long haul of antibiotic, these friendly bacteria are the first to go and the candida usually survives, and takes over so to speak in the gut. BTW, good bacteria in our gut takes things like complex protiens,(beef) breaks it down and produces b complex and enzymes that cause candida to be surpressed. Another thing that happens with good bacteria is that the enzymes they produce makes an unfriendly environment to virus, thats why they are sometime referred to as a probiotic. Ok back to the liver. The candida was producing alcohol inside his body, the liver was getting damaged, producing the fatty liver syndrome. He had his gut cleansed, and liver detoxed, and his gut rebuilt with healthy bacteria, It took about 6 mo. In the process, he lost weight, lost major sunus problems and allergies bothered him so much less that he stopped the decongestants and antihistamines. His sinus infections dissapeared, which can be aggrivated by the candida. He did not need to keep going back to powerful antibiotics for sinus infections. His liver panel is normal now and he no longer has fatty livey syndrome. When we get the lapband, our diet changes to higer protien, low sugar and low carbs. This alone can cause the candida levels to be surpressed. Thats how so many of us seem to loose the fatty liver problem, on top of the fact that many of us have increased energy. No more overrunning candida giving us alcohol, and causing us to crave more sugar,etc. No more sleepiness after our meals and all of those benifits come after we get the band and get help controlling what we eat. I see it as a win, win.

So what? There are equally as bad doctors in the US. Just in the Phoenix area alone there was a plastic surgeon that killed three patients before the board finally revoked his license. There is a practicing pediatrician that is a convicted pedophile. There are many docs that have a "letter of concern" in their board file for operating while intoxicated. Want an example of just one state alone?? Check it out: Arizona Medical Board - Protecting the Public's Health Check out the board actions for the last two years. Just because it is Mexico does not mean all Mexicans are bad and they can't have a good doctor. Just because it is the US does not mean all Americans are good and we have only good docs. Quite frankly, we aren't a whole lot better than Mexico in many cases when policing doctors. Ask any OR nurse which docs she would let operate on her and she'll be able to count them on one hand. You can find 100 articles about bad care in Mexico and I can find 1000 articles about bad care in the US. Do you know that the hospital I went to in Mexico has a lower infection stat than Mayo Clinic and they have the same number of beds? They do the same procedures as well. I have worked in the US medical system for 25 years. I'm here to tell you, we aren't all you make us out to be. Medical care has its good and bad. There are good docs and bad, same with nurses and hospitals. I know of a nurse that I worked with that couldn't get her narcotic counts straight. She came up wrong each and every single time. She finally had to ask pharmacy to quit putting so much Ativan in the Pyxis because there were always 100 vials and she couldn't count that high. So they started keeping 10 vials at a time so she would quit making mistakes. Wouldn't a better option have been to put her to work in the laundry department? There was an actor on 60 Minutes Sunday that was talking about how a US nurse gave his twin babies 100x the amount of Heparin they were supposed to receive. Those vials went through three different hospital employees and not a single one noticed that the strength of the Heparin was 100x stronger than the MD orders. Three babies died, most lived including the actor's children. The pharmacy technician filled it with the wrong drug, the pharmacist checking it didn't notice, the nurse administering it didn't notice either. The children were overdosed. Just within the last two months it was discovered that two hospitals in two different locations were not cleaning their endoscopes properly and people were swapping spit and poop with one another. Now they all have to be tested for HIV and Hepatitis for the next six months. There is a plastic surgeon in AZ who had his sterilization equipment break so he was soaking them in alcohol instead of sterilizing the instruments. He didn't want to spend the money or wait for parts so he just cleaned the instruments. Alcohol does not do NEARLY what people believe it does, it does not sterilize. I can go on all day long with one example after another of the great care in the US. Shall I? People die every single day in the US due to medical mistakes. Does that mean we should tell everyone to go to India for their medical care? According to your logic, that is exactly what we should be doing.

Drink in moderation and remember to include the calories. Also be aware that alcohol often gives people the munchies which could sabotage your diet efforts. A glass of wine is probably one of the better options.

I v I've heard 6 months and I've heard one year but I'm not an alcoholic and I only have one or two drinks I'm one year out now I noticed the effects pretty fast but it's caused me no problems obviously just drink slow because we can hold much Sent from my LGL84VL using BariatricPal mobile app

I have caught a lot of flack several times for saying that I do not believe I have a food addiction. As a soon-to-be-licensed therapist, I define addiction according to the DSM psychiatric criteria. I definitely believe that food addictions exist, but I also know I don't meet the criteria that define a disorder. Lack of discipline was more my problem, and that's different from an actual addiction. With the sleeve, I have the assistance I need with portion control. I basically eat what I want, I get my Protein every day, and I don't have cravings for carbs. If I do enjoy the occasional something sweet or carby, it's just a very small amount & I've been satisfied with that so far. When I have wanted something sweet, I've made an effort to make it a "smart sweet", like fruit, or a low carb/high protein ice cream substitute or cookie. I believe in moderation and balance, but I don't eat a lot of junk. I also acknowledge that I only really know my own experience, and that my approach would not work for everybody. As with everything in life, we each have to find our own path. But to answer the original question, maybe it's just that anybody with issues in a certain area (be they true addictions or not), are likely to enable other "users". Smokers minimize the slips of those trying to quit, drinkers can minimize the slips of alcoholics, and people with food issues are very likely to minimize the slips of others with food issues. In all areas of substance abuse, most enablers don't generally see their behavior as enabling...they think they're trying to be nice, or supportive, or understanding, or just patient. And if the enabler also partakes in the substance or behavior, then it's even harder to get them to stop enabling the addict.

I appreciate your knowledge on the subject of addiction. I also think you were very smart to seek help with issues that may have been a tirgger before your surgery. I was one of those people who never thought I had a food addiction. Until I started therapy well before my surgery. . . and then had surgery. What really made it clear to me that I am a food addict was how my body/brain reacted to the pre-op and post-op diets. I felt like what I imagine an alcoholic feels like when they can't have a drink. I craved that food high that made everything "better" and numbed me to any emotion that I didn't want to feel. Even now, the sleeve doesn't allow me to eat the quantity of food to get my high I loved so much. It has been a very tough road, and my therapist has been my saving grace. Now at almost 5 months out I'm feeling more in control and my withdrawals have mostly gone away, but I will always struggle with this. I've learned so much about myself, finding what works for me to manage my addiction. By the way, there is sugar in just about everything OR it breaks down to sugar almost immediately in our body (like simple carbs and alcohol). My therapist said the research shows that sugar is AS ADDICTIVE to our brains as HEROIN. Yep! Heroin addicts who stop using usually turn to sugar because of the similar dopamine response in the brain. Interesting stuff!

Wootsie 73: I've been banded for 18 months, and while I cheat and have not lost weight as fast as I should, I do know the lap band has been highly successful in keeping me from gaining weight! I wouldn't worry so much about gaining weight on the lapband once your third or fourth fill is complete. It really is a great behavior modification tool. I find I gain weight only if I really, really want to....which means I eat small amounts, all day long, and the small amounts are very bad foods. Soooo....again, if you keep yourself from being holed up all day and eating a pile of crap, swishing it down with alcohol and/or soft drinks, then my feeling is that the band is going to work, at least to keep you from gaining again.

You're not alone - I'm right there with you on this one. It feels awesome when people notice I'm losing weight, and on the surface I don't want to be fat. But I, too, reach for a cookie or I'll go on a mini-binge and eat anything that'll go down easy. And I have those same dark thoughts that you do. And... part of me is scared that my addiction will turn to something else unhealthy. I remember seeing on ...sixty minutes or one of those shows - the story of a lady who had gastric bypass, kicked her addiction to food, but now is addicted to shopping and she spends way beyond her means. She's in deep debt. And the previous comment talked about a lady that's now an alcoholic. What will I turn into? And right now I can blame all my inadequacies on being fat. That's why I don't have a man. I say my boss can't see past it and that's why I am stuck in a dead-end job. It's why I can't do very many activities with my kids, because I get tired so easily. It's why I don't go out much, because I don't like to be the only fat girl in the group. But I think I'm just hiding. Well, I'm not trying to hijack your post or anything, but I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone. I'm gonna check out some of the reccommended books and try to work this out on my own. Counseling isn't an option for me, but I believe there are things we can do on our own that can be very therapeutic.

@@almond_jay yes I did have my psych evaluation.. The psychiatrist told me I had daddy issues. My dad is an alcoholic and she thinks I over eat because he wasn't in my life. *shrugs* I disagree but she was trying to find a reason why i eat so much. I said because food is yummy. She said no that's not it. Lol. I just agreed to do what she asked. I'm buying a book for ACOA.. and I'll go to a couple of meetings to see what I can learn. I'm open about it, I just don't think that is why I eat. I'm supposed to email her about what I'm doing to change it. So I'll do that in a couple of weeks

I drank about 3 months after-- not a lot, but I felt 100% normal. I had one Rum and Diet Coke at a wedding and then last week I had a small margarita. I haven't had anything I couldn't tolerate like other people so I say use your cues. One drink will not ruin your weight loss efforts and for me has helped me feel like I am changing my lifestyle rather than being on this 1 year diet and then the gate open after a year. I think you have to know your slippery slope foods/drinks. For me I can't eat chips and ice cream because I can eat a lot with my sleeve... but alcohol--nah, just one every month works with my life just fine.

I do wonder if some patients get the "pain ball" at surgery and that's why they feel little pain after surgery? I know we each have different pain thresholds and prior use of alcohol or narcotics also jacks with the ability to manage pain after surgeries, but the way some sound in describing their pain after/versus how others describe no pain. The local anesthetic from a pain ball would certainly account for some of that difference!

Do you have a copy of your bandster guidelines? I'm at work, but I think they are something like this: 1. Eat 3-4 oz of solid Protein twice a day, plus 1/2 to 1 cup of produce after the protein 3. Avoid Pasta, potatoes, rice, bread and other high-glycemic index foods. 4. Drink at least 64 oz of non-caloric fluids daily (except for up to 16 oz of milk, which is fine) 5. Do not drink anything for at least 1 hr after eating. 6. Avoid any mushy foods that slide through the band too easily - yogurt, cream Soups, etc. 7. Take a multi-Vitamin daily 8. Get 30 min of exercise at least 3 days a week 9. Stay away from junk food and alcohol Are you having any trouble with any of those? Even if you are following them really well, most people say those last few pounds are the toughest. So hang in there. Oh - fitday.com is free if you want to try logging all your food for a couple weeks and see what your daily intake is. Might be too high or too low. Congrats on the 80 lbs you lost -- that's fantastic! I can't wait til I'm out of plus sizes. :thumbup: