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For anti nasuae I keep a script on hand for generic phenergan which is called promethazine, you get about 20 pills and you can crush them, work quickly they are cheaper than the name brand and they are good for over a year. I think you can get the generic on walmarts 4.00 generic list now. The suppositories work but you don't get as many, they can melt if not kept in a cool place and they expire much faster. Also, Benedryl which you can get in liquid over the counter works very well, for children and adults. I also second the idea on Ginger tea and I use camomile mint tea if it is mild nasuea. I also will soak a cotton ball with alcohol squeeze out, and hold under nose, (careful around eyes) and breath slowly like in the hospital til it passes. Lastly, this winter I went to visit my daughters family who was in the mist of "flu" and on Tamiflu, so my Dr gave me a script to take with me just in case I started with symptoms, I filled it Luckily I didn't need it, but It is good til end of next winter. I used it last winter when I had it and it kept me from getting the worst of the flu, so if you think your getting the actually flu,, get in and get Tamiflu .

No drinking for a year because it causes erosion? Having a band is what can cause erosion...hmmm. So, I'd imagine that liquor is hard on a banded tummy. Beer is carbonated. Could you stick with wine at your gatherings? beverages, other than Water, are empty calories that go straight through the band with little to no restriction and do nothing to help with weight loss. Don't tell me I can't have coffee, though! And it's acidic and hard on a banded tummy, I'd think. I don't know what to say to that. And why a year? Will you NOT erode after a year? Noone here will tell you to ignore your doc's orders...BUT!!! you can make your own judgement based on the experiences of others. I think if you drink enough, you will still get drunk, banded or not. Alcohol won't help your weight loss, but if total abstinence is a huge problem, I'd say you might be able to find a happy medium? IMHO. Not sure about the green stuff...are you talking about wacky weed that gives you the munchies? Again, not good for weight loss but...happy medium. Wow, I live a pretty low-key life, now that I think of it. I think I'm wild having a ciggy and a cup of coffee! I rarely drink, and if I do, it's a sip or two of wine. I don't do drugs. Hey, Pav, you wanna quit the ciggy's with me? I'm thinking in a month or two...it's getting time for that.

Almost 4 years since my sleeve. Reached goal at 6 months. Exceeded it by another 10/11kg & have basically maintained +/- a kilo or two. Didn’t have co morbidities before my surgery. Didn’t really stall in the truest sense - just odd couple of days with no loss. No complications. Have low blood pressure but always had a tendency towards it. Gone from a couple of times a month to every day. (My higher weight probably kept my BP in the normal range.) Had my gall out about two years after my sleeve but not necessarily related to my weight loss. Still don’t eat rice, pasta, bread, potatoes. They sit heavily in my tummy. Don’t miss them. I have a glass of sparkling water every day but I let it go fairly fiat. Occasionally I’ll have a glass of champagne or have soda or tonic water as a mixer but no other carbonated drinks. Don’t drink much alcohol any more (a glass once a month+/-). Not that I can’t, just not interested. I have loose skin. Not a lot. Can’t really be seen under my clothes … unless you look closely.😉 I wear body conscious dresses without needing shape wear to control the loose skin. No regrets.

Went to the Kansas Games yesterday KU and KSU and both won so today they will be playing each other. Yes I have a ticket for that as well. In the box seats you get fed as well as drinks. I was kinda scared of what I would be facing since this is week 3. I know I should not hit any beer because of the fizz. However, I did have a Jack over Ice and took very little sips and was amazed that it did not effect me at all. I also had some barbeque pork that did not effect me either. I did notice that it took a whole game (KU) to have approx 1 inch of Jack over ice. As the ice melted the drink seemed to keep refilling itself. So the 2nd game (KSU) I tried a Captain Morgan with a diet coke very little diet coke because of the fizz but I knew that alcohol would reduce the fizz. Again no issue and it took the whole game to get it down. But it was very enjoyable. I thought this would impact the weight loss but when I weighted this morning another 2 lbs down. I know this was probably wrong but I have not had a drink in 6 weeks kinda felt good. by the way you only need a few sips to start a buzz on.... seems it goes to the small intestine quickly and then well you know. Just thought I would share that with you. Later today I get to go to the big game here in Kansas both KU and KSU are a big deal fighting it out, The place will be a mad house. And the power and light district will be party zone central.

I hear ya. My alcohol consumption had increased dramatically since March, which also happened to coincide with my early-covid weight gain.

As long as she's not high at work, I'm perfectly comfortable with it. She won't have a hang over like she would if she drank alcohol.

My doc was extremely lenient in recommending waiting until two months out. I've seen people posting here who were told six months, a year, or NEVER. He also said to try to avoid alcohol. It's not good for weight loss and rotten for your liver, which, if you're very overweight, it probably not in the greatest of shape anyway. I went on vacation at exactly two months and had a couple bottles of white over a couple weeks, and it all went down fine, HOWEVER it took me much longer to recover because I got tipsy a lot faster. Also hydration becomes an issue when you're timing your fluids and working on getting *them* down too. Doc also recommended that if you're going to drink, take an extra ppi a couple hours beforehand to handle stomach irritation. I think basically as soon as your stomach is healed, you CAN do it. But stay hydrated, watch the calories, know your limits, and take an extra ppi. After a couple runins with too much alcohol and not enough Water, I order white wine spritzers with HALF non-carbonated water. Tastes fantastic and minimizes all the other types of damage.

Vodka mixed with some crystal light! (I order vodka on the rocks...water, no ice and take a crystal light packet with me) It's good and it will make about 3-4 drinks easily! Wine does very well for me still and it's my favorite but I'm not planning on drinking hard alcohol anymore. I get wasted so quick, it's horrible! I cannot handle it and I'm still over 200 lbs.

New year New you...listen to your own positive words....your the white sheep, your thinner than other family members, you offered for her to come visit even with her life long attitude,you removed yourself States away to get out of the toxic relationship with her...Be proud of the you and all that you have built in spite of your up bringing. It's easy for everyone to say just cut her out of your life,but clearly that's not your feelings or you wouldn't have invited her. So moving forward realize all her faults and continue to do what makes you feel good. Communication if your blocked just send her a card if you feel like you need to reach out. Like on Christmas or Mothers Day. In Psych even the most abused/neglected child still has feelings for the abuser that an outside person can never under stand. Be proud of the person you have become as an adult. Even having this surgery to continue being the best you. Kudos to you that you have chosen to break this alcoholic, neglectful, destructive family pattern. New year New you

Yes, true -- diet change is the primary line of treatment for actually diagnosed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, in terms of treatment: gradual weight loss may improve the process in obese patients; rapid loss may worsen NAFLD. And just as with any obesity-related issue, not all obese people will have the problem. We read of so many people on the boards who were otherwise completely healthy, just overweight to some degree. Presuming that all fat people have a fatty liver is inherently prejudicial and not based on ANY EVIDENCE. Makes my effing head spin it does. So this raises two questions for me: first, was the OPoster even diagnosed? Or just "presumed guilty" as it were, by the very crime of being obese? Did they run her liver enzymes and know she had NAFLD? Second: A two-week crash diet -- which is precisely what liquid diets or severely calorie/carb-restricted diets are -- is every bit as likely to worsen the problem, if it's present, or to have zero effect at all. It's more of a compliance hurdle IMO -- which is fine, but don't dress it up and call it something else. Using very thin (disingenuous) science as a rationale for kicking people who are already down (often, way down) is the worst kind of sadism IMO. I think there are some seriously sadistic assholes working in the bariatric field -- some real fat-phobes. No kidding. I had such an outraged reaction to the OPoster's situation that I seriously will have to wait until later to do my BP check. I about stroked out reading that. What an irrational, asshole thing to do. Man of science? Neutral, objective god/surgeon? I think not. Punitive, petty, power-hungry, sadistic bastard, more like. Humiliate and shame her for gaining a couple of pounds or eating a few carbs?!? Does that seem like a reasonable reaction to ANYONE?? I'm completely outraged. I respect the fact that you said you couldn't lie, Infernored -- but I have to say, given the circumstances and the utterly biased and unfair nature of the entire situation, I would have sat there and lied right through my teeth, with a smile on my face. What an asshole. I'm SO sorry you were treated like that. You didn't deserve it. Even if you ARE completely and intractably "addicted" to carbs (ie, like 90% of your fellow humans), you STILL don't deserve to be treated like that. Yes, now you'll have to play along and jump through a few more hoops, but I really hope you won't beat yourself up over this. Feeling shitty and down on yourself and like a failure is NOT the way to start this new journey. Hold your head up high, and stick to non-white carbs and Protein as long as it takes. And if you don't lose weight again the next time round? Please, just lie. You don't deserve this. Hugs and good luck to you. (I'm going for a nice vigourous walk now, to try and calm down.)

gained two pounds over the weekend LOL. being a very very bad girl. saturday night mother's day dinner with four course meal (see below) then alcohol alcohol alcohol! so this week it's all no sugar (not even fruit or high sugar veggies like corn or carrots!) no carbs, no alcohol and clean up my act! workout five times is the goal. 3x is the min. let's do this! need to get to 140!

I always enjoyed a large glass of wine or two every night before surgery now I rarely drink. It may sound odd but I don’t enjoy it as much any more. I might have a glass of champagne, wine or a gin & tonic & one is enough, maybe once or twice a month or so depending on what socialising I’m doing. And I take ages to drink the glass & sometimes don’t finish the glass. I never enjoyed sweet alcoholic drinks & rarely used mixers except with tonic or suds water with gin. (I don’t even add water or ice to my whisky.) I say I drink quality now not quantity. Certainly drinking less than my friends has not affected my socialising & enjoyment of an event. And my bar tab is always cheaper LOL! I have noticed that if I drink I tend to nibble on food more, don’t drink enough water & notice it on the scale the next day. Best advice is probably just to take it slowly & see what works for you.

@@needtorecover I have a friend with sleep apnea. They don't wake up, but they sound like they are dying over and over during the night. It is terrible to hear, and every time we go on vacation it keeps me up because they refuse to wear their cpap thing. So you can have it and it won't wake you up. Sleep is one of those things I fixed before surgery. Because of my work and the fact I have a pretty open schedule, I can pretty much work whenever I want as long as I meet my deadlines, I used to nap in the afternoons often. Once I stopped napping in the afternoons, went to bed at a decent hour, in a completely dark room, with no electronics in it, my sleep greatly improved. I sleep around 8 hours a night and it is a deep sleep, my eyes close and then they open. It is actually freakishly deep for someone that has never slept well at night before. I wake up and hit the floor ready to go. I am so relaxed and refreshed. Make sure you have the nicest most comfortable bed you afford, a dark quiet room, and don't drink before bed. My Dr told me years ago that drink to sleep, actually interrupted your sleep and I didn't believe him but since I gave up alcohol a few years ago, my sleep started improving. If you drink before bed, you never get into deep REM sleep.

Hey signgirl, I'm going to be banded by Dr., Clark on the 25th. I am doing the pre op diet now, though not as well as I should be. I have company this weekend and its hard to make for everyone and not eat anything..or drink anything alcoholic. I go for my pre op testing day. How is WLSC about fills? Are they conservative? Do they put anything in during your surgery?? You've done so well so far! You must be so proud of yourself. Keep up the good work!

That was supposed to say sugar alcohol, lol. Guess I'm missing alcohol already! Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

Ask your surgeon or his coordinator about your insurance company's requirements. I have BCBS (not the federal gov kind) and their requirements were BMI of 40 for patients without the listed comorbidities and 35 with co-morbidities (I fall into this category). If you are close to minimum BMI requirement, it is also important to know how the surgeon runs his program i.e. when he charts your weight for insurance purposes. I barely have a BMI of 35 and was concerned about meeting insurance criteria. The first surgeon told me that his program required that my BMI be 35 at a final weigh in just prior to the surgery (this following 2 week liquid diet). I actually paid about $300 for consultation with him and his staff dietitian and they weren't very upfront about what happens if I lost too much weight before the surgery. I had to voice my concerns before they told me that if I didn't meet the required BMI the day of surgery, I would be denied surgery, I told this surgeon that I didn't think that I would be able to maintain eligibility with his plan. I wound up choosing my current surgeon upon the recommendation of an RN friend who had a gastric sleeve placed at the minimum BCBS BMI of 40 (no comorbidities). This surgeon only requires that my BMI be 35 (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)up until the day I receive approval from insurance company (before liquid diet)

Love this topic! Started at 353 in July 2015, lost my first 100 lbs in six months, got down to around 185 in a year and just sort of went back to eating junk. I really liked how I looked and carried my weight well, but the pounds began to creep back on. In May, I found myself back at 215 and VERY unhappy about it. Been back on the high protein/low carb/no sugar thing since then, and now I'm actually lower than when I originally stopped losing! Only 29 lbs to go until I'm in the healthy BMI range, but I've got hips/thighs/boobs and wear a size 8/10, so I feel pretty good. Go on 12 mile hikes every weekend, currently training for 5k. It's so weird considering I've been above the 300 lb mark my entire adult life! Just make sure you connect with people who live a healthy life or do activities with you! The hardest thing was having to distance myself from people who constantly pushed food/alcohol/unhealthy stuff despite my protests, and folks who ONLY wanted to hang out when food was involved. Get you some fitness buddies and you'll be good!

I also find this an extremely judgmental statement. So occasional alcohol consumption = not preserving your health? What about balance and moderation? WLS doesn't mean our lives are filled with NEVER's and CAN'T's. My program is the same. I also am in sales and travel for business nearly every week. Drinking is a big part of the industry and my companies culture. I am also known for liking to drink and having a high tolerance. My first business trip was a week long, and I had about one drink a day. I had beer and Mai Tais (I was in Hawaii). I honestly had no desire to drink, I just did it to be social. After being gone a week, I weighed myself and gained 2 lbs. I was eating fairly healthily and very little, so I can only contribute it to the alcohol and sugar in the mixers. So because I'm not willing to sabotage my weight loss, I'm giving up drinking until I'm at goal (or go on vacation, lol). I'm explaining both my not drinking and my negligible eating on vague stomach problems, so tying them together helps deflect the questions I receive. Call me vain, but vanity is my main motivation. Vanity about how I look in a mirror. I'm single and the fact is a much narrower set of men are attracted to me than would be if I were thinner. But also vanity when I'm not able to hike up a hill or climb a pyramid with my friend. I hate the feeling when I'm completely winded and have to take breaks doing some activity that my fit friends have no problem doing. It's not the physical feeling, but this internal cringe and embarrassment of being fat, and knowing I'm being judged for it. I agree with this as well. Why is being reversible the most important factor for you? At first I considered reversible solutions because I thought, I'm not that big, I don't need/want my stomach removed. But then I started reading and found that the VSG was the right fit, and I do want a lifetime solution, not just a temporary one. You said you want to maintain on your own. Maintenance is the hardest part of weight loss. I think most of us at our weight has been successful at losing, but then we go back up again. I want/need the help to do both, lose and maintain. I'd suggest finding a surgeon to talk through your options with. You'll want a surgeon who is patient and good communicator, so you may have to try a few (my surgeon has no patience and is terribly brusque, for example) I looked at both as well. I eliminated the balloons because of poor reviews. On RealSelf it only has a 50% "I'd do it again" rating vs. 100% for the sleeve and 97% for Bypass. The reviews there and other places also spoke of extreme and constant nausea, so that was a deal breaker. For the Lapband has a 54% "I'd do it again" rating on RealSelf. I also read about all the negatives like erosion, slipping, lack of results. I also have a good friend who had the Lapband many years ago, and still has hers. She says she loves her lapband and has no problems. But I'm with her often and know she has a lot of digestive issues. She may deny it, but I can't help but think they are related to her band. I did go through a period of pretty extreme lightheartedness and general exhaustion weeks 2-3. I got a B12 shot and then I felt almost normal. Not sure if the shot helped, or a coincidence, but I know I'm going to get another shot in a month! At this point I probably couldn't do any kind of sustained physical activity. I'm told it's because of my low cals (300-400). But there are many on this board who are very active soon after surgery including running marathons. You'll just have to give yourself time to heal, then long term you should be able to do everything you could in the past, and even more being lighter and healthier.

From what I understand of these surgeries - the lapband is being dropped by most surgeons because it erodes and slips - it works for many people, but more and more are having them removed due to those issues. The balloon is usually for people not as obese as you are, as it is a short term fix for restriction, and I only know one person that had it and had issues so it didn't work well for her. Also if you are too worried about alcohol and a client's 'opinion' of you not drinking you need more reflection on what you really want/need. Your health preserved or a two minute observation on not consuming liquor. Really? You ARE morbidly obese. I am not trying to be unkind - I started at 41bmi, so that was me too. There are no quick, handy cute fixes.

Green: You continue to bring a different perspective to this discussion that is incredibly helpful and appreciated. Your personal experiences are a testament to how important it is for people not to make reproductive decisions for others. No one can truly know what is in one's heart and soul. And it only helps to solidify my very strong belief that legislators do not have any business making laws that control women's reproductive rights. Btw, when I was a legislative aide in Richmond, many years ago, I met a brilliant young female attorney who was working as a lobbyist (not too many females equipped to compete with the men at the time) in Washington. We frequently had lunch together and discussed topics of the day. Women's rights, the ERA, abortion and many other things were hot items in the media and on the Hill where she worked when Virginia's legislature wasn't in session. One day as we broached the topic of abortion rights, she told me her story. When she was young and in college, a college football player who was headed for the pros, took her to a party. She was a young Freshman, totally enamoured with this fine looking big man on campus. During the party, he (or a friend of his) slipped some kind of substance in her non-alcoholic drink. Later, in the front seat of his car, he forceably took advantage of her condition. She was helpless to stop him - couldn't even feel her limbs, or face. It won't surprise you to know that she became pregnant. Her story isn't all that unique. But she was a young woman who knew better than to be alone in the car with someone she didn't know well, and totally beat herself up emotionally over it. She had to take time off from school to have the baby. But she did. Afterall, abortion was illegal. She gave the baby up for adoption since there was no way she could take care of him on her own. She lost her scholarship since she interrupted her studies for more than a semester. She had to work to get back in school and back on track with her plan to be able to take care of herself as an adult. She subsequently found that she could not allow herself to become serious with any man because she knew she would have to reveal her "unfortunate" past. She sure couldn't lie, even had she wanted to. Her stretch marks would never allow that. She told me over and over that day, how much she wished she had been able to have an abortion. She had all the scars and emotional trauma from going through 9 months of pregnancy and the painful delivery, with nothing positive to show for it, only the emotional trauma of having allowed herself to be taken advantage of by a man she barely knew. She was extremely unhappy because she had to live with the fact that she had a child out there somewhere, whom she did not know, but who could show up on her doorstep anytime in the future, expecting her unconditional love. I also had a friend in high school who got pregnant, her boyfriend abandoned her, and she went to Illinois to finish her pregnancy and deliver the baby, whom she gave up for adoption. She was only 17. Later, she went to nursing school, got a B.S. degree and married a sweet young man. They had their first child and unfortunately he had Down's Syndrome. So she gave up her first totally healthy child, only to find herself raising a Down's Syndrome child. She always blamed herself for giving up the first child - thought it was God's way of punishing her. She was very active in the Baptist Church in our hometown. However, she and her husband subsequently divorced. She and I had another friend when we were just out of our freshman year going into high school, who became pregnant at age 15. This friend was a cheerleader, beautiful and from a wealthy family. Her father took her to Dallas (we lived in OK) for a quick abortion. She didn't miss a day of school or one cheerleading practice. She went on to get her Master's Degree and is a school administrator after 10 years of a successful teaching career. She married her childhood sweetheart (father of the aborted fetus) and they had 3 children and basically have lived happily ever after. So I've come by my feelings about this topic via listening to friends and acquaintences' experiences and seeing the torture that they have experienced and knowing that no one but the people immediately involved should be making a decision of whether to have a baby or not. Sometimes an abortion can cause untold mental trauma for a woman, sometimes having a baby and giving it up for adoption can cause unquestionable mental trauma. Sometimes things are not so traumatic and there is peace in everyone's heart. But these are not things that can be achieved just because some lawmaker says they must happen by their rules. When you've lived through the age of illegal abortions, you realize that this is a very complicated and generally strident topic. I haven't thought about these things for years. But with the current administration and Supreme Court appointees, it has resurfaced its' ugly head. I just wish it wasn't a relevant debate today.

I have my mom's baby set-silver. My son has a set of our flatware someone gave him in a baby set (but it's packed away so I can't borrow it). If you want to spend a little more I would check some of the major flatware stainless/silver companies. Here's a link to the Oneida set he received (I don't have an idea for a travel case...hard eyeglasses case?). Click HERE Good luck DB with the doc appt. More than you probably want to know but I do count these, and I'm no expert. Sugar alcohols are not sugars or alcohols but are carbohydrates called polyols. They don't impact blood sugar significantly "in most people", so most diebetics can tolerate these. As far as how they should be counted...When products started arriving with these in them low carb dieters were told by many diet plans that they could deduct these off the carb total (when Atkins started making their own products they changed from not allowing these to allowing them). The urban ledgend when I was on Atkins (several successful times) was that these just passed through your body. Not true, they are metabolized just like other carbs, well not exactly as once absorbed they are converted to energy by processes that require little or no insulin. Some of the sugar alcohol is not absorbed into the blood but passes through the small intestine and are fermented by bacteria in the large intestine (so they are metabolized). Overconsumption may produce abdominal gas and a laxative effect. Just because they don't effect blood sugar doesn't mean they shouldn't count like other carbs that have little effect on blood sugar like green vegetables. There's been a lot of controversy lately on whether or not these should be counted as carbs or not, but most agree they should have a limited use and are mainly a benefit for diabetics needing to control blood sugars. The commonly used sugar alcohols include sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, maltitol syrup, lactitol, erythritol, isomalt and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates. Their calorie content ranges from zero to three calories per gram compared to four calories per gram for sucrose or other sugars (most have a little over half the calories per gram as sugar). Most sugar alcohols are less sweet than sucrose; maltitol and xylitol are about as sweet as sucrose. So the pros are they contain less calories than sugar, but beware that these are not 'free' foods and they usually contain a lot of carbs. There is a big misconception that these carbs shouldn't count. They are not the same as zero calorie sugar substitues like saccharine.

I like to put little hidden meanings into many things that I write. Some are more obvious than others. When some products are labeled organic, it means no chemical fertilizer and no chemical pesticides were used on those plant products while growing or that the meat was taking from animals that were fed by grain that was grown that way. We have to trade some things for others. More people get cancer and many other life threatening diseases now in their 50's, 60's and 70's. But many people never made it to 50 years of age, four or five generations ago. We could argue until the cows come home about chemicals in our food supply. Some are good when used properly. Some are abused by farmers who figure if this much is good, 4 times that much is 4 times better. Of course the toxicity will increase that way. And some chemicals, it turns out, should never have been used, but sometimes it's the long term effects that no one could have known about. Sometimes, though, the chemical's manufacturer knew of the problem but pushed it out anyway. Mushrooms are natural, but some can kill you. Marijuana is natural and I'll leave it up to you to decide if that makes it safe. Tobago is natural and alcohol does not require chemicals for distilling, so it is natural too. Beef is natural, as is apple pie and ice cream, but look how much fat we have acquired from eating them.

Hey every one!! I made it back from my 3 day trip and it was AWESOME!! I did make good food choices, and ate my proteins first. I go back to the Dr. tomorrow, so I was to scared to mess up!! Do you know how embarrasing it would be to be on an 900 calorie diet and gain wt.!!! That would just be the most awful thing that could thing that could happen!! So anyway, I will know tomorrow how much wt. I've lost and I can (maybe post a loss!), haven't done that yet. Does anyone out there tell me what is alcohol sugar and should we be having it in our foods. I am finding low sugar or sugar free food that have sugar alcohol in them and often they are more than the sugar grams. I am so confused, HELP !!! Talk to ya later !

Mmmmm, spicy hot V8 juice. One of my favorites before surgery, kind of like a Bloody Mary but no alcohol. Still have not tried one yet after surgery but maybe down the road a bit.

I got sugar free vanilla pudding & it only has 5 grams of alcohol sugar. The chocolate & other flavored have more. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk