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3 months...that was OK'd by my doctor. You should always follow what your doc says. I've read some docs want you to wait 6 months or a year to start consuming alcohol. I wasn't a big drinker before surgery, but I did enjoy a drink every once in a while. My drink of choice now is a vodka cranberry with a twist of lime. I can only have one at a time because I can feel the effects right away. I'm a cheap date now!

I would like to know how long you guys waited to have a drink?????

Thank you Tiff and iowagirl. It's a great idea to have my first drink at home to see how I respond to it. I'm going to double check with my doctor though since you iowagirl were told no alcohol till four months. Again, thanks for your input and God bless you all!

I really do like to go sing karoke in real life, but I haven't been for a while because my Dr. said especially for the first year I should stay away from alcohol. Doesn't want me trading one unhealthy addiction for another. So I am working on becoming addicted to exercise. I actually enjoy it, I always have- but I enjoy a lot of things I don't do everyday. I am trying to incorporate new habits. But since I don't get Karoke fixs, and I can't remember whole songs at a time without the words I run around the house singing commercial jingles and theme songs at the top of my lungs. I think my partner might hate me a little bit. :smile::rolleyes2: My favorite is the "scrubs" theme song. Anybody watch that show? I freaking love it.

I love the Oh Yeah Peanut butter chocolate bars and the Premeire from Costco. Neither one has sugar alcohol in them.

Sugar alcohols are sweeteners that don't affect tooth decay (so you'll find them in SF gum & mints). Sorbitol, manitol, a bunch of others - they've been around for ages. But some people have gastrointestinal reactions - gas, bloating, rumbling, etc. Nasty! I chew SF gum now and again, but I found out the hard way not to eat a whole roll of SF mints!

I would wait until 6 weeks. I drink a few beers a week now, and have since 3 months out. You will get there. You are healing now! Way too soon to pour alcohol on that fresh staple line.

I'm allowed alcohol but alcohol is too high in calories sadly.

I am almost 5 years out from surgery. I lost around 155 pounds and kept it off for about 3.5 years. But in the past 1.5 years, I have suffered from depression and started drinking alcohol excessively ( I typically would have ate food excessively in the past). In the past I could have several drinks and be fine; however post surgery the side effects were much more severe (depression, a feeling of real dependency, blacking out suddenly with no recollection of where the cutoff point would be i.e. 2 drinks now was just as strong as drinking 5) The alcohol goes so quickly into your system that it is a real danger if not properly monitored. Although my eating habits didn't change, without daily exercise and with the added calories of excessive alcohol consumption, I regained around 60 pounds. In addition to the weight gain I have struggled with the affects of alcohol dependency, which I never had experienced before. As VSG patients we were all cautioned on drinking and how it affects us differently after surgery. I didn't really take heed to those warnings until it had become a problem for me. I am working on it daily now and also am struggling to lose the weight all over again, which feels pretty much like as difficult as it had been prior to surgery. I think this is not talked about enough and I'm sure I am not the only VSG patient who has experienced this. As a community being open with one another, and as individual seeking out help earlier, I probably wouldn't be struggling with these 60 pounds now. Anyone who's been through it should reach out sooner than later. Not only have I suffered from this issue, I have had to deal with the fact that I messed up my own progress and success and now have to deal with the ramifications of starting all over again so to speak. This I can say for certain, staying in a support group and dealing with your issues is imperative to continued success in this journey. I'm not sure if I'll loose all of the 60 I've regained again, but I am willing to fight the battle to do this all over again and to warn others of how dangerous alcohol consumption is for us post surgery!

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.

You’ve had a pretty major abdominal surgery so it isn’t unusual to still feel bloated or swollen for a good week or so. Your shoulder pain indicates you haven’t breathed out all your surgical gas yet. Even though liquids pass through your tummy more quickly, they could be making you feel bloated especially if you’re not used to drinking large amounts of fluids. Check your shake for sugar alcohols (end in ‘itol’) as they can make you feel bloated. Lactose can also cause bloating. As for the abdominal pain, it may be the sex you had last night. It may have been too much at the moment. Remember all the sutures & staples holding your tummy together & all the muscles & other organs that were pushed & prodded during the surgery. We usually told just to go for short gentle walks in the beginning. I added a list of the symptoms of a leak below. If you are experiencing some of these head to your nearest medical centre. Check in with your surgeon if you are still concerned. All the best. Rapid heart rate Fever Stomach pain Drainage from a surgical wound Nausea and vomiting Pain in the left shoulder area Low blood pressure Decreased urine output

I weaned myself off caffeine a couple months before surgery (took 2 months to do it.). I also stopped smoking cold turkey 3 months before surgery. Other than that I ate normal and drank alcohol right up until the day I started my preop. I figured why start torturing myself sooner than absolutely necessary?! Looking back now, the preop diet is barely a blip on my radar compared to postop life and maintenance. Really Just a small part of the process and a necessary "right of passage" that can often be empowering.

I had surgery 11/8/12 exactly 2 weeks before thanksgiving. I was on pureed food by thwn but I stayed away from every single food there was at our family's party. It wasnt as hard as I thought it would be. I dont crave the food. Christmas was a little harder but I managed to get through it. I just keep tellong myself itll all be worth it. Im really jappy with my weightloss so far I started at 329lbs and im now at 278lbs. I started working out a week ago. I know new years is gonna be difficult seeing everybody drinking alcohol but ill be ok. My weight loss is what matters to me the most! Im no longer prediabetic and everything with my health is getting better. Just keep telling yourself its all worth it and keep thinking that everything you cant eat duribg the holidays gets you 1 step closer to your goal weight.

Sugar Alcohol will upset peoples stomachs easily for some. You might be having problems with the whey Protein and might need to take lactose pills to help digest it. Ask your nutritionist about this. There is egg white Protein powder that you can ask your nutritionist about if that could be substituted instead. Jay Robb makes that. All of Jay Robb products use Stevia as their sweetener. I use Jay Robb products and have no problem. Read labels carefully. This could be a temporary problem and might go away as you progress. I would really discuss this with the surgeon's office and most certainly with your nutritionist so you can get the right nutrition in you. Good luck and feel good.

Ok seriously this was not meant to be combative what so ever. I was simply stating that some people are very set in their ways and if anyone goes against that they can be negative. I posted because my dr was saying so many things that I questioned from this site that it was hard to believe what I read. I was writing my personal feelings down about what my dr said as many on this site do. I follow my drs rules I do what I am told and I learned a lot from this site. Yes I posted that I had family problems and really appreciated everyone that resoonded. Didnt take it for granted. I explained myself and said sorry for the name of the thread I should have calles it something else. I find it hard to believe that so many people got so mad about a thread titlle when all I did In my original post was state that some things are hard to read because my dr says that it isn't true doe sleeve patients. Maybe he is wrong maybe he isn't. I really couldn't tell you. I never said I had a problem with alcohol I don't drink. My mom was an alcoholic all my childhood and far into my teen years. I have made some mistakes and ate the wrong things and stopped losing but I decided to change my eating and I am losing at a good rate again. I am a young woman who wrote one stupid thing on a SUPPORT forum so please forgive me if any of it sounded so rude that I needed to be reprimanded by you all. I will go back to reading posts that I want and not saying much its not a big deal.

My rule was that if the ingredients had any kind of sugar, corn syrup, or sugar alcohol it wasn't for me. It works.

“ The wound is where the light enters you.” - Rumi When I work with pre and post-op bariatric surgery patients, I consistently go over this idea of being "full from within." Many people question, "what does that mean for me? What does that look like?" My response is that for one to be truly full, we must first clear out the old toxicity, wounds, and hurtful schemas we've picked up throughout the years. How does one get over a hurt? There is not "getting over." You go through it. You have to feel it to heal it. If you have underwent gastric sleeve, bypass, or balloon surgery and still feel like there is a missing piece- it is likely that there are some deeper psychological toxicities that need to be cleared. The first step to doing so is sitting still, sitting with the feelings, and it is in stillness that our heart finally starts to answer the questions our mind has failed to thus far. Yet so many have been taught not to feel. That there must be an easier way- a shortcut. 1 in every 8 Americans is on some form of psychotropic medication. 1 In his book, Anatomy of an Epidemic, science journalist Robert Whitaker states that since 1987, the percentage of the population receiving federal disability payment for mental illness has tripled; among children under the age of 18, the percentage has grown by a factor of 35.1 While Whitaker recognized that in the short-term, these medications help people to feel better, he started to realize that over time- drugs make many patients sicker than they would have been if they had never been medicated. 1 He does not make the argument that all people should stop their meds. He believes in the utility of them, just more sparingly than they are currently utilized. However, throughout my years in the practice of therapy- I have noticed a trend of moving people away from feeling. Crying is actually a symptom in the DSM-V. We have pathologized a human feeling! When psychiatrists and therapists witness a patient tearful too many times in session, their next conclusion is that something must be wrong and they must be medicated. This frustrates me so much as a clinician and as a person who has done her share of work in her own personal therapy. When we are broken, we are broken open. Being broken is a starting point, not a symptom that something has gone awry. It is at the point of our deepest pain and grief that we have the greatest opportunity for growth. I find myself telling patients over and over- “you can’t “get over” it, you must “go through” it.” Yet, so many of us have been indoctrinated to think that if we spend more than a day being sad, we must have depression, or if we feel nervous a little bit longer than we’d like to- we must have an anxiety disorder. We definitely “are Bipolar” if we have a mood swing. We have been taught to not feel the yin, only the yang of our emotions. It’s societally acceptable to talk about how happy your weekend was, or how much fun you had on vacation- but watch the uncomfortable shifting in chairs that takes place when you open up about how you just haven’t felt like yourself lately. In our world of quick fixes, where we can have a conference across the world, over a computer, communicate a message in two seconds via text, or post a picture that all of our family can see instantly- we also want instant relief for our suffering. Yet, suffering is part of the human condition. It is through experiencing our deepest sorrows, we are able to appreciate our greatest joys. But we must first be willing to sit in the muck. "Out of the mud, grows the lotus." -Thich Nhat Hanh Part and parcel of any addiction (food, drugs, alcohol, etc.) is that the addict is particularly uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. However, the cure is right there for the taking. “So what does this look like in real life?” you ask. “How do I open the wound, bring in the light, and clear out the infection that started all of this in the first place?” You start with presence. You start with a still and open heart. You start with a spiritual vulnerability that allows you to be at peace with not knowing what will happen next. You sit broken open and wait for the light to enter over time. The most important piece in all of this is being able to create a consistent forum where you hold the space. This could be a therapist’s office, it could be a weekly walk with a friend, a journal practice, or it could be as simple as a prayer every night. You set the priority to hold the space and to sit in the muck. Maybe it starts with emotions that have no words? Maybe it starts with visceral, physical feelings, that you have to simply sit with for a while? Maybe you are lucky enough to immediately put in words where your wound all started and its just floating around in your thoughts, waiting to be articulated? Perhaps it starts with a behavior you tend to do all of the time that you know comes from a place of pain? Case Study: I had a client who continuously posted on social media sites. She had a constant need to feel recognized and admired. She knew there was something behind it and wanted to get to the bottom of where this was coming from. Session over session, we sat with that need. We talked about what she wanted to get from each of those posts and why she was still “on E,” left with an empty psychological tank. The short story of Narcissus goes that he disdained people who loved him. After Nemesis noticed this he lured him to a pool that cast his own reflection. Narcissus fell in love with this pool, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, he lost his will to live. He stared at this reflection until he died. 59 Growing up, this client never quite got the love and admiration we all need from our parents. When we love something so much and don’t get that back- it is that unrequited love that leaves a narcissistic wound. It doesn’t necessarily always start with parents. It can be a formative romantic relationship, but it usually starts with parents. When we are flying from couch to couch saying “look at me mommy I’m superman!” and our mom says “get off that couch now!” instead of “look at how strong and powerful you are,” we begin forming the wound. Unfortunately, without recognizing this- many people will go throughout their life trying to heal it through other people or other things instead of within themselves. (recall the wizard of oz’s moral of the story). It was up to this client to stop the instinctual need to post and each time she had this inclination to look within for what she needed. Eventually, she developed a muscle for self validation, and the posting behavior stopped. The lesson in this case study is to hopefully help guide you to your wound. If we have a food addiction and feel out of control, you can bet we have a wound. Instead of distracting through bad habits, addictions, unhealthy relationships, or external wants- it is time to finally create a place of presence to start the healing process. Mind Meal: Sit in silence for at least 15 minutes. Visualize in your mind’s eye your heart with a bridge of white light to your head. What does it say? Where is the pain? Where is the wound? How might you start filling yourself up for good? Want to learn more about how to be truly full from within. Check out Dr. Colleen's latest book aimed at helping one focus on why they eat vs. what they eat, and stop the "diet yo-yo" for good. You can also sign up for her free course : Full From Within, here. 1 Retrieved: June 2, 2017 https://www.madinamerica.com/author/rwhitaker/

I am considering the band but have some reservations. I have a BMI of 34 with chronic knee pain due to arthritis ( I am only 36) Since I am about 8lbs away from a BMI of 35 I have to pay for the surgery out of pocket. The sleeve which I think I would prefer to get is out of reach because I dont weigh enough (never heard that before) Obviously you have to change you lifestyle to be successful but I am afraid it will change too much. I love to entertain and have people over for dinner. I enjoy wine of course some pepsi every once in awhile. The research I have found says you cant have alcohol or drink carbanated beverages, that you cant drink while eating. Am I going to miss that part of my life so much that I regret it? Will I be a completely different person at social events? I am not really sure what I am trying to say, I am just scared.

I used rubbing alcohol. It worked for me.

well i started my preop diet early, i've been working on it since october. I gave up chocolate, alcohol, and cigarettes. Though I've only been banded 2 weeks. I know that I have 2 new addictions. When stressed i used to eat. . IT was my comfort. Now that I've been losing weight my new addiction is sex. and the other one is checking myself in the mirror. I feel kinda vain though for looking in the mirror so much.

I joined eharmony at the weekend and have already found a guy I think I really like. We've been talking lots and he has asked if I would like to go for a drink. Obviously I have said yes but I'm so scared! I'm only a week and a half post op so I won't be able to drink alcohol and I don't feel like I've lost anywhere near enough weight for him to be attracted to me when we meet. I don't know whether to tell him about my surgery. What would you guys do? And if you would tell him, would you do it before you met him or not? Argh this is so bloody difficult!

I thought giving up diet pepsi would kill me, now I don't even miss it. It's ok to drink alcohol you just have to watch the calories and be careful because it will affect you much quicker. As for the 8 pounds needed to get insurance to pay, just strap on some ankle weights and leave on your shoes!

Hello all! I've been gone for a minute but I'm back with a whole heap of "issues" for someone to fix. First, the most aggravating and STUPIDEST thing I've done lately...my husbands decided he was going to start dipping again but "just for a little while" he didn't actually come out and tell me I found a can of dip in his man purse (cooler). The next day he brought me home a pack of cigarettes. I can only assume this is a lets be stupid/bad together since I quit smoking over a year ago. I wasn't going to smoke them and then mistake number two happened, I had a mixed alcoholic beverage. Now, before anyone freaks just remember Elode is human! Mixed beverage along with lack of good judgment making skills = smoking cigarettes. Ok, so that's that. The pack is gone after two days and I haven't had any and refuse to go down that horrible path again so I'm not buying any and threatened physical harm to him if he brings any in this house. I've noticed that all day today I have been snacking, constantly! I believe it's from lack of having cigarettes so I'm pissed about that! On to the next issues. I have spacers in my teeth..FINALLY!!! I have a very narrow upper palate that I've been wanting fixed since I was young. We have started the long process of fixing the teeth for a "beautiful smile". Next week we are putting in a palate expander followed by braces. I'm so excited but my orthodontists is recommending that I have SARPE surgery (surgically assisted rapid palate expansion) since I'm an adult my upper palatal bones have fused so it would be faster and "easier" to have surgery AND maybe have my lower jaw moved back. I won't know until January so I'm pre-worrying as usually. I will have to have my mouth wired shut for up to 6 weeks. Blessing for my husband not so much for me. I'm worried about being on liquids for that long and looking sickly. Now I don't know if I should stop actively trying to lose weight or take my chances? Well there you go! One weeks worth of drama!!

Hi, Caffeine is also listed from my surgeon's office as a "no-no" because caffeine can irritate the stomach lining in addition to the list of reasons mentioned in a previous post. Like alcohol, using caffeine may cause the irritation and thus weaken the stomach, thus causing band problems. I'm not a doctor, but that is what I learned in my classes/support groups. I drink decaf every morning (just one cup or half a cup) and when I really "party" I do have an iced tea just for a change of pace. I don't do that much, tho. I got used to it right away, and I was a big coffee/tea/Diet Pepsi drinker in my previous life!! Cheers! Rose

Does anyone have a glass of wine or a drink on a daily basis?