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I am 3.5 months out, and I enjoyed my wine every day! Like you, at least 2 glasses, usually more. I have not had a drop of alcohol since Sept. 25, 2013, the day of my surgery. Do I miss it? Yes, like hell. But I am not going to jepordize my future. I have worked too hard at this to fail because of alcohol. And yes, I am now the DD in most occasions. You honestly get used to it. Just like with not eating cake, you don't drink alcohol. It's just not worth it. And plus, the bonus is, I wake up feeling great!

I'll fess up...I enjoy a cocktail or two (sometimes up to 4) a couple of nights a week...whether mimosas at brunch or a trip to one of Denver's many breweries. I know I am going to have to give up bubbles...so no beer or bubbly which I am just fine with. I also am prepared to give up alcohol for several months prior to an after surgery. However, I just got off the phone with my sister who is coming up for a visit this summer and one of the things she and her husband are looking forward to are brewery tours and festivals that will, of course, involve alcohol. I know I will have to be careful about how much I drink as it will effect me quicker than before and with less (I'm thinking similar to moving to altitude). I also know that most drinks are empty calories that can and will lead to weight gain if you over indulge. My question for you wonderful post-oppers is how many of you gave up all alcohol for 18 months as many Surgeons recommend? And if you didn't what was the result? Am I going to be the designated DD for the next two years?

I do agree that there are 2 ends of the spectrum. I don't necessarily agree that you have to live right near the red zone to be successful. And I don't agree that if you live nearer to the yellow zone that you'll either fail or probably don't need the surgery at all. I stayed nearer to the yellow zone for a few months and continued to lose. I did have to work at it only in that I'm very carb resistant and had to avoid the very simple carbs because they sparked cravings. I believe I will have this problem no matter how much Fluid is in my band, at least until my brain accepts the fact that these foods are not good for me and were always my biggest problem and I don't need them. Sort of like alcohol and cigarettes. I do believe that I could have maintained my weight without so much work, but to lose, I log, exercise and monitor things closely. As for falling off the wagon, this isn't impossible for anyone since it is easy to succumb to temptations that would pack on the pounds. But all of our opinions differ. I'm sure I'm not alone in believing that men lose weight and a lot differently than women. Good luck and you can make it with this. By the way, I am a native Oklahoman and miss it very much. I also am former US Army.

For starters, I am examining the Dr suggested RNY. I'm 5"4'/350 with comorbidities that are shortening my life span and getting in the way of living and functioning. The list would go on. I'm 5"4'/350. I'm reaching out to the kind and to-the-point folks here. I'm in a therapy that grows and grows, but one thing my LCSWM can't seem to take me as serious as I wish her to be about my food Addiction. I binge drink.pop and coffee.I eat /drink (no caffeine or alcohol) to MAKE SURE my repressed memories (PTSD, Dissociative Disorder NOS) do not surface. I'm a fighter, a survivor, but I'm dead set against going that deep within myself. p.s.Memories don't HAVE to surface to work on and heal but how I deal with them is what really matters. So, I use food and drink as a drug. I get high off of it. Not good. Having the Band, I know all about the "lifestyle" changes. Doing that in every way but food and drink. I'm mortified of not drinking pop, juice, sweetened coffee's. I almost get angry when those fix"s are not available. How do you live without sugar??? I can't use any artificial sweeteners by order of Dr. And with this in mind, how am I ever to consider.gastric bypass? Painful truth, I can't. My Pulmonogist, GI and Primary have each asked if I considered RNY, they suggest it. Thanks for being with me this far....

You’ll run into your ex at the store and go a little weak at the knees, or you’ll send a gushing e-mail on a lonely Friday night, or you’ll decide that avoidance is childish and the grownup thing to do is at least be friends. Before you know it, you’re right back where you were, and after the initial exhilaration dies you realize your mistake. Nothing’s really changed and you’ve wasted time and emotion yet again on someone who isn’t and never will be good for you. An unhealthy relationship with food is eerily similar. You may be stunned to learn that you’re so in love with the simple act of eating. One of the most common things bariatric surgeons hear on follow-up visits is, “I never realized what a relationship I had with food”. You thought your weight problem was from ignorance over what to eat, or faulty childhood messaging, or not making time to care for yourself, or your grandmother’s genes. That may be where it started, but that’s not what kept it going. After surgery, you figure out the truth. You’ve been embedded in a romance as sticky and hard to leave as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s on-again-off-again love affair. Just like lovers in a doomed romance, you’ll be tempted to drift back into your old relationship with food. And it’ll sneak up on you when you’re most vulnerable, right when you think you’ve got the whole thing whipped. Here’s what happens. Your surgery gave you a massive head start. It forced you to change your eating habits, it did away with your hunger pangs and allowed you to drop weight at breathtaking speed. You got positive reinforcement from the immediate success of your new behavior and from the fact that you just flat out felt better. Every week contains a little drama in the form of unaccustomed praise, changed relationships, different activities, and new clothes. But the excitement will wane. Life will settle down, just like someone who’s had a thrilling engagement with lots of gifts, a fabulous wedding, an extended honeymoon, and the first couple of scary post-marriage fights and rapturous make-up sessions, but now has to get used to day-to-day married life with the spouse who leaves a trail of potato chips in his wake and the mother-in-law who calls three times a day. In other words, life will become normal, and, at times, even mundane. Even more sobering, your body will adapt over time. You’ll be able to undo the straitjacket put on your system by the surgery. For those who had a gastric bypass or vertical sleeve operation, two things come into play that will test your resolve. First, you’ll get hungry again. Even though the surgery bypassed ghrelin, the hunger hormone, other hormones will ramp up to fill the void, and most patients will start feeling hungry again, anywhere from six to twenty-four months after the surgery. Second, your new stomach will adjust and toughen up, just like babies’ feet callous as they learn to walk. It will expand a bit, and its cells will change to create more and thicker mucus which cushions the food you ingest, making it easier to eat bigger quantities and varieties of food. If you had the gastric bypass surgery, a third issue will come into play. The dumping syndrome that’s kept you from eating sugar will disappear in most patients. So the piece of cake that would have made you violently ill six months ago won’t cause a problem now. For lap band patients, two issues can lure you back into your old lifestyle. First, you’ve figured out how to cheat, and you’re familiar enough with the band that you’re no longer worried about hurting yourself if you thwart its restriction. You can drink high calorie milk shakes or put your favorite food in a blender and eat as much as you want. Second, you rely on the lap band to limit your food intake like a surgical shock collar rather than taking control of your own behavior, creating a negative reinforcement method of diet control that starts to grate on you. You have your surgeon decrease the saline in your lap band for special occasions, like Thanksgiving, and then put in enough saline “to make me throw up” when you want to lose more weight instead of taking the steering wheel and driving your own eating and exercise plan. Over time, you’ll begin to resent the choke hold the band has over your body and you’ll grow tired of the twice-monthly maintenance visits to your doctor. That’s why the first six months after your operation should be treated like a sprint, wringing every benefit you can from the surgery while you’ve got all its mechanical and behavioral benefits going for you – the compliments, the falling scale numbers, the lack of appetite, and the physical inability to eat too much. This time won’t last forever, and those six months will be the best shot most people ever get at losing their excess weight. You’ll learn to listen to your body to tell you when you need food. You’ll figure out what it feels like when your glucose is low, which means you need energy and should put some fuel in your tank. You’ll be able to tell the difference between real hunger versus head hunger, between needing energy and just mindlessly following an eating habit, between desiring food versus needing food. There is no finish line. There is no moment when you can say, okay, I’ve won that battle and I can forget about it. Like a recovering alcoholic has to pay attention to what he drinks for the rest of his life, you’ve got to be vigilant about diet and exercise for the rest of yours. But, you say, that sounds depressing. Surely life wasn’t meant to be quite so restrictive. That’s just too hard. Actually, it’s not. It’s just conducting yourself in a fashion that’s consistent with your goals, something you’ve been doing your entire life with your job, your marriage, your family, and your friends. Think about it. The things you’re proudest of in life are the things that have required the greatest work and sacrifice - your education, your children, your marriage, your career. Maintaining a healthy weight is no different and it’s something you should pat yourself on the back every day for doing. You’ve tasted what life is like without the suffocating excess weight. Your new habits are far less restrictive than the physical, social and emotional limitations your old weight burdened you with. It’s time to kick your dysfunctional romance with food out of your life forever.

The thing about torrid love affairs is they never end with a clean break. Sure, you have every reason to think it’s over. You changed your phone number, attended a weekly support group, burned every picture of the two of you together and started dating a healthier, saner person - one your friends actually like. But passionate romances don’t die until the second or third bullet. There’s always at least one steamy reconciliation before the thing is finally stone cold dead. You’ll run into your ex at the store and go a little weak at the knees, or you’ll send a gushing e-mail on a lonely Friday night, or you’ll decide that avoidance is childish and the grownup thing to do is at least be friends. Before you know it, you’re right back where you were, and after the initial exhilaration dies you realize your mistake. Nothing’s really changed and you’ve wasted time and emotion yet again on someone who isn’t and never will be good for you. An unhealthy relationship with food is eerily similar. You may be stunned to learn that you’re so in love with the simple act of eating. One of the most common things bariatric surgeons hear on follow-up visits is, “I never realized what a relationship I had with food”. You thought your weight problem was from ignorance over what to eat, or faulty childhood messaging, or not making time to care for yourself, or your grandmother’s genes. That may be where it started, but that’s not what kept it going. After surgery, you figure out the truth. You’ve been embedded in a romance as sticky and hard to leave as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s on-again-off-again love affair. Just like lovers in a doomed romance, you’ll be tempted to drift back into your old relationship with food. And it’ll sneak up on you when you’re most vulnerable, right when you think you’ve got the whole thing whipped. Here’s what happens. Your surgery gave you a massive head start. It forced you to change your eating habits, it did away with your hunger pangs and allowed you to drop weight at breathtaking speed. You got positive reinforcement from the immediate success of your new behavior and from the fact that you just flat out felt better. Every week contains a little drama in the form of unaccustomed praise, changed relationships, different activities, and new clothes. But the excitement will wane. Life will settle down, just like someone who’s had a thrilling engagement with lots of gifts, a fabulous wedding, an extended honeymoon, and the first couple of scary post-marriage fights and rapturous make-up sessions, but now has to get used to day-to-day married life with the spouse who leaves a trail of potato chips in his wake and the mother-in-law who calls three times a day. In other words, life will become normal, and, at times, even mundane. Even more sobering, your body will adapt over time. You’ll be able to undo the straitjacket put on your system by the surgery. For those who had a gastric bypass or vertical sleeve operation, two things come into play that will test your resolve. First, you’ll get hungry again. Even though the surgery bypassed ghrelin, the hunger hormone, other hormones will ramp up to fill the void, and most patients will start feeling hungry again, anywhere from six to twenty-four months after the surgery. Second, your new stomach will adjust and toughen up, just like babies’ feet callous as they learn to walk. It will expand a bit, and its cells will change to create more and thicker mucus which cushions the food you ingest, making it easier to eat bigger quantities and varieties of food. If you had the gastric bypass surgery, a third issue will come into play. The dumping syndrome that’s kept you from eating sugar will disappear in most patients. So the piece of cake that would have made you violently ill six months ago won’t cause a problem now. For lap band patients, two issues can lure you back into your old lifestyle. First, you’ve figured out how to cheat, and you’re familiar enough with the band that you’re no longer worried about hurting yourself if you thwart its restriction. You can drink high calorie milk shakes or put your favorite food in a blender and eat as much as you want. Second, you rely on the lap band to limit your food intake like a surgical shock collar rather than taking control of your own behavior, creating a negative reinforcement method of diet control that starts to grate on you. You have your surgeon decrease the saline in your lap band for special occasions, like Thanksgiving, and then put in enough saline “to make me throw up” when you want to lose more weight instead of taking the steering wheel and driving your own eating and exercise plan. Over time, you’ll begin to resent the choke hold the band has over your body and you’ll grow tired of the twice-monthly maintenance visits to your doctor. That’s why the first six months after your operation should be treated like a sprint, wringing every benefit you can from the surgery while you’ve got all its mechanical and behavioral benefits going for you – the compliments, the falling scale numbers, the lack of appetite, and the physical inability to eat too much. This time won’t last forever, and those six months will be the best shot most people ever get at losing their excess weight. You’ll learn to listen to your body to tell you when you need food. You’ll figure out what it feels like when your glucose is low, which means you need energy and should put some fuel in your tank. You’ll be able to tell the difference between real hunger versus head hunger, between needing energy and just mindlessly following an eating habit, between desiring food versus needing food. There is no finish line. There is no moment when you can say, okay, I’ve won that battle and I can forget about it. Like a recovering alcoholic has to pay attention to what he drinks for the rest of his life, you’ve got to be vigilant about diet and exercise for the rest of yours. But, you say, that sounds depressing. Surely life wasn’t meant to be quite so restrictive. That’s just too hard. Actually, it’s not. It’s just conducting yourself in a fashion that’s consistent with your goals, something you’ve been doing your entire life with your job, your marriage, your family, and your friends. Think about it. The things you’re proudest of in life are the things that have required the greatest work and sacrifice - your education, your children, your marriage, your career. Maintaining a healthy weight is no different and it’s something you should pat yourself on the back every day for doing. You’ve tasted what life is like without the suffocating excess weight. Your new habits are far less restrictive than the physical, social and emotional limitations your old weight burdened you with. It’s time to kick your dysfunctional romance with food out of your life forever.

I'm pretty sure alcohol thins your blood as well, tho I'm not sure one will do it...probably best just to skip it, but I'm a nervous nelly.

Alcohol gets metabolized in your liver, and drinking booze can cause a fatty liver the next day. Plus a margarita is full of sugar, and that also enlarges your liver. I would not chance it. In a few months you can indulge more safely! ONE... SMALL... SIP... well, it's your call. I wouldn't even do that. But I am a chicken!

The pre op diet is primarily to shrink your liver. Am not sure exactly what a margarita will do but it's unlikely to be good for your liver the day before surgery. I wouldn't do anything outwith the instructions you've been given if there's the slightest chance it could impact on the op. Best of luck with the surgery, won't be long before you are cleared for alcohol again!

I would avoid it! It's major surgery involving all your organs and poisoning them with alcohol is probably not a good idea. Tempting I know! A margarita in Mexico?! I wish!

So im not a big drinker at all. I Like margaritas occasionally. Im going to mexico for surgery. Im asking for honest thoughts on having a real Mexican margarita the day before surgery.

Had my visit with my PCP today.....first a little background. I see my PCP every 4 months...used to be every 3 months, preceded by complete lab workup 1 week prior to each visit, for the last 5-6 years!!! ...reason was, we were desperately trying to get all my medical issues under control...everything was completely out of whack...and each visit he would adjust or change all my medications trying to get thing in balance...when one thing was brought under control, another thing would go off the scale...all the while my Diabetes was getting worse and worse....while all this was going on, Cardiac issues were discovered and I had to undergo cardiac surgery... Seemed like there was no hope, and I could read the frustration in my Dr....knowing that other complications were to develop..... Fast Forward.....as a LAST RESORT...I had Lap Band surgery 3 yrears ago...I did not like the idea, but I wanted a "Cure All" to my many medical problems... Today...all my blood work is right down the middle NORMAL !!!....and that is without the help of any drugs...I am no longer taking any meds, other than Cardiac Meds which I will for life because of Heart Attack.... My weight has not changed in 2 years, and fluctuates within the same 5 lbs...today was the lower end of the 5 lbs making it that much more sweet! My weight is the same as it was in High School, over 40 years ago! My Dr. said when he saw my name on the chart, it drew an image of who I was...but when he walked in the exam room, he thought either I was the wrong person, or he was in the wrong room...took him a minute, and he said it "Blew his mind" after he put 2 and 2 together... THE ONLY Blip on the radar, was my Fasting Glucose was HIGH, and my A1C was at the top of normal...he laughed it off, said after the holidays with all the partying and alcohol, whose blood sugar isn't going to be high? He would think differently of me if it wasn't (a Joke) Now everyday I can pat myself on the back, after getting on the scale or putting on normal fitting clothes, etc... BUT THIS....This makes it official....I have been examined and tested medically, and have passed the test!!! I am Bonifide!! I have my annual Nuclear Stress test in March...I CAN'T WAIT!!! I had them talking around the office last year...This year I'm gonna show them what this 62 year old man can do....I have been running my butt off - LITERALLY...5 days a week......my PCP says considering the strides I have made, I should ask to be taken off the Cardiac Meds...I'm not your usual cardiac patient.... My visits to the Bariatric Center are pretty much the same....they ask me one question.."Any Complaints?" I say "No", they weigh me in, then it becomes a 1 hour social visit with the staff talking shop.....I go back in May, and I think as an inside Joke, I'm going to bring them a couple dozen do-nuts for the break room.... Days like today...it just cannot get any better than this...what can happen that would be better??? It is a confirmation that everything I have gone through, and everything I am currently doing has been "Spot On"..at least for me...I would not, and will not change a thing....this type of affirmation will carry me for quite a while.... I am also on firm footing not to let the Negative Naysayers get to me....no possible way am I going to get sucked down.... I will NEVER make excuses or back down from what this surgery has done for me...never rationalize it away, never make it more difficult then it actually is, only confusing and clouding the issues..... I'm happy right where I am at....and I have no intention of ever changing that no matter what others may say....they have their success stories, I have mine, and that's all there is to it....Happy happy, Happy....Everybody's Happy. i HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBTS.......I'M WALKING ON AIR.... PS; I realize that many, the majority, of people here are just starting out, so I know I have to be careful of what I may say so as not to mis lead anyone....all I can say is follow your Dr.'s advice, and learn to THINK about what is happening.....and ask WHY....

Yeh my nutritionist said a year which I think is to long. But I think she said a yr not bc itll be dangerous to drink alcohol in a few months but bc she wants me to lose my goal weight first.

Ill be a month put this week. Im conpletely bewildered by how some doctors already gave the ok in just a few short weeks or months! Mine told me 18 months! Now there is absolutely no way im waiting that long probably by the time summer comes ill be having a beer or 2 on weekends at family events and parties at least. I thought 18 months is pretty steep. Now im wondering how different people have a different guideline for alcohol.

Hello everyone or anyone who can help me with my question. I was banded in 2011 everything was great until July of 2014 NO restriction after an EDG, port replacement and still no restriction we had to remove and replace my entire band on 12/18/13. My tube was crystalized and leaking. My do doctor said he had never seen this before only heard about one case of this in Las Vegas. I feel like I need answers and not getting it from google or my physician. Do you think you can ask your doctors why this happens? The band was good no erosion but the tube was??? Is it aspirin, alcohol? My PH in my body? To much acid? Am I eating wrong? Was I red the red zone for to long? PLEASE I don't want to do this again and would LOVE any feedback. Thanks in advance! Going strong and wanting to do it right the second time around.

PartyLite Party? Getting together tomorrow night from 5:30 till 7 with a few people and some bariatric patients for a PartyLite Party at my house. Would be a good opportunity to meet some of the locals. If interested please contact me snacks and non alcoholic drinks provided. Feel free to bring a friend/support!

I am new to this -- just two months out -- but so far I am able to enjoy the foods I love to cook. chicken thighs done French style (sauteed then covered in broth, add lots of veggies and slowly simmer until the liquid thickens) make a nice meal that can be varied a lot by using different veggies, beef stew, chili of all kind but especially turkey and black bean chili. Salmon and other fish, baked. We eat a lot of veggies -- I don't go wild with the potatoes because I will run out of room too fast. oatmeal with maple syrup and a little butter, homemade applesauce, Greek yogurt for comfort foods. Nuts, like four almonds chewed very, very well. I don't eat bread or regular Pasta but have had a little gluten-free once in a while with no problems. I have a big pot of black bean Soup on the stove right now. No chips or ice cream for me. I have had cheese but think that may be a slider food for me so I think it's best I don't have that temptation right now. I was able to enjoy the holidays having a little of everything -- we had leg of lamb, potatoes and peas for our Christmas dinner with gluten-free apple pie and whipped cream for dessert. Had to work at having just a wee bit of everything so I could have that wee slice of pie. My goal is to be able to eat all the foods I enjoy, just in very small amounts. I was never a junk food eater -- I love real food, it's just that I ate way too much of it -- so I don't feel deprived at all. Trying not to exclude anything except that I found alcohol too readily available -- wine, etc. Thanksgiving through New Years got in my way and I am going to exclude that now to see how I do without all those empty calories. Spitting up is not okay. I would be back at the doctors office pronto to have a small adjustment to be comfortable. Good luck as you sort out what works best for you. I love reading every one's posts to get new ideas, etc. Prior to being banded I worried that I wouldn't be able to get what I needed, etc., but I can see that this is not true. The good foods are very available, even if I have to run into a grocery store to pick up a yogurt or stop at a deli for a scoop of tuna. Oh, I forgot to add smoked salmon. I am loving smoked salmon and figure that is a good food for me for whatever reason. I don't have much but sure enjoy my little bites.

I was told no alcohol for at least one year, and should be only on special occasions. Also, no more than 2 drinks within a 24 hour period.

Mine states yes. Caffinated tea and coffee do not count on my notes, nor alcohol of course.

Good morning everyone..... Kelly so happy your back, sorry your having hair issues....I hate it when I have issues with my hair, I hate going to my hair stylist and having to sit in the chair for a few hours..... I love her dearly, she has been fantastic with my hair though. Don't know what I'd do without her. I have some weird things happen to me. I had a Mai Tai 2 nights ago and got a little buzzed. The next day my stomach was like an empty leg. So hungry, ate a lot, drank a lot, and my bladder has had a spasm here and there. Geesh I'm falling apart.... I was so confused through out the day and frustrated I gave in an ate 3/4ths a bag of Flamin hot Cheetos.....My stomach was already feeling dry and the spices on the Cheetos was burnin my stomach.....I still felt hungry. So confused by all this.. Driving home from my friends house, it dawned on me. I was having acid in my stomach. Nothing like wanting to smack myself in my frontal lobe to wake myself up. LOL I got home and took an omeprazole and then was still hungry and ate a tamale with salsa..... The kicker here is that I'm down a couple of lbs. I will take this. Now I just need to figure out my bladder situation and I will be good.....today I will take it easy on my stomach. I do have a question for all of you.....Do you have any difficulties with your stomachs after drinking alcoholic beverages? I sure hate to give it up, I don't really drink that often anyways. Today needs to be a clean eating day to get rid the last few lbs.

I am a pooping machine... Ugh.! Trying to figure out this last week which med, food, what exactly is making me shoot out whatever I put in. Because frankly, it's starting to make me feel not so nice.;( I think it may be sugar alcohols in the Popsicles but not sure yet. That'd be great to be sensitive to sugar substitutes wouldn't it?! Grr. I'm done b*#%^ in, down ten pounds so that's a good thing but I sure don't want to cramp/poop out the other 70 for cripes sake. hanging in there. How's everybody?

thanks my biggest success from the surgery was that it CURED my GERD as a side effect. For the first time in 30 years, I do not have GERD E.V.E.R. (It helps too that I am not eating things like marinara sauce). So guess what......? I can drink ORANGE JUICE - however, due to the sugar and my <still> fear of GERD, I only drink 50/50 and I replcae 1/4 of bottle with water - so it really is watered down. But I never thought I would be able to drink OJ ever again. I dont drink soda AT ALL or alcohol, so 98% of my fluid is water. Thanks for the response & kind words!

Since I can barely walk for the past week, I am glued to this laptop and anything else that can occupy my mind for the past week. I looked at and joined a couple FB private groups, just to keep busy since i cannot walk right now. I cannot believe the number of young women who discuss things like When can I drink alcohol When can I have bread, pizza and Pasta I am drinking my Coke no matter what I have not lost any weight, I am gaining I have been thinking how blessed I am to be 67 years old and be where I am right now, and not worrying about what I am missing. Only thing good about old age I guess.

I eat protein bars for lunch at work every day. My favorite is Quest. I don't get hungry later. Since I teach 4-5 year olds I can't just go to the " staff room" and eat something. I was however upset when I read they have sugar alcohols. My family's been discussing about how bad they are for you. We are also trying to figure out the "correct " way to count carbs/net carbs, etc. any one know?

Thank you for pointing out the sugar alcohol thing. Sugar alcohols really tear my tummy up sometimes. I would've never even thought to check for them in a Protein Bar. I did purchase some of the quest bars prior to my surgery at the recommendation of a friend who swears by them. I had not tried any of them until yesterday. I tried the banana nut, which was ok. I ate it and I could eat it again but NOT something I'd want to eat every day. Today, I tried the chocolate brownie and WOW! What a treat! Now I'm looking forward to trying all of the other flavors!