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Yes, thank you for the wonderful post. It's absolutely true and the epidemic of bypass patients becoming alcoholics - to the point where I've read that it doubles your chance of alcoholism - is not something to tiptoe around or assume you'll avoid. Any addictive behavior can transfer and you'll read about hundreds of crossover addictions if you look and do your research. A few rare people make those addictions fitness but you'll see many more instances of other, less beneficial ones. I definitely tended to lean on food in times of stress and I find that now, especially a few years out from surgery, that I'm more likely to lean on alcohol these days. Things that I never once would have abused or considered prior to surgery are things I have to be careful about - I had an issue with sleeping pills to help me sleep last year. Why on earth would I feel the desire to take them once the need was past? But it can happen - with anything - if you have unresolved addiction issues. It's enough of a worry for me that I refused pain meds after the birth of my daughter. The nurses and doctors are drug pushers and must have asked me a dozen times if I wanted them in the hospital as well as a bottle to take home. No, I don't take chances and I didn't need them. I have to go the safe route these days. ~Cheri

I experienced this first hand on a date the other night. I am and will always be an alcoholic. I dont know why I thought the surgery would change that or limit that. The only difference on my binge drinking night is that it hit me sooner and I blacked out quicker. It is playing with fire and im just not gonna touch it. AA is there for a reason. Especially only 7 1/2 weeks out of surgery, I need to be back in those rooms and meetings. Im sorry for what happened with your wife. I pray she finds her way again.

If you are on a pre-op diet, it is usually because your surgeon is looking to improve the condition of your liver to make things easier on him when he is working around it during your surgery. This typically is a low carb diet of some sort and as alcohol is a carb, you don't want it from that perspective, and then you also don't want it for its toxic effects on your liver at this time. Not all docs require these diets, but if he does, then want him to be as comfortable as possible when he is working inside of you; some docs take this seriously enough that if they take a look inside and don't see what they like, they close things up and tell the patient to try it again in a few weeks.

I say no time like the present to start adjusting your mindset for social situations...choose something else to drink that is non-caloric...will prove to yourself that you can do it, and post-op you will have to get comfortable with how you navigate both eating and drinking in social situations...if it is helpful, imagine yourself pregnant...you wouldn't feel "pressured" to drink alcohol with everyone else because you would know that isn't a healthy choice...or if you were on medication that couldn't beiges with alcohol...you wouldn't take a drink then, right?

Is it okay to have a glass or two of wine for this pre-op diet? I I have an evening banquet ball to attend I was Wondering if I can have a glass to socialize with my colleagues

Hi all, my name is Frank and I’m 38 years old. I had VSG surgery on July 8th, 2013. Here’s my story... I've had a weight problem ever since I was 8 years old. Even so, I was always an active kid who loved to play outside, play most sports and probably took PE class way too seriouslyJ. I played organized football, baseball, basketball & soccer. I was always a little bigger, stronger and taller than most kids my age, so football became one of my strongest sports. As most of you know, there are weight limits in Pop Warner football and every season, I had to cut weight just to make the team. First year it was 5 lbs., next it was 10, then 20. I always succeeded in losing the weight, but it began a vicious weight-cycling pattern for me at a very young age. My last season of Pop Warner, I weighed approx. 170lbs. age 13. After that season, I never had to step on a scale again to play football! My freshman year of football was great…I just played without the anxiety of stepping on the scale to make weight. Unfortunately after the season, things really got out of control for me. I packed on a tremendous amount of weight over a very short period of time. By the time I was 15 years old, I weighed 275 lbs., which meant that I gained over 100 lbs. over 2 years! I was so depressed. I spent most of my early teens inside my room, eating my troubles away. I stopped playing football 10th & 11th grade because I was so out of shape; I isolated myself from friends, avoided family/social gatherings and missed a lot of school. I was pitifully depressed, ashamed and missing out on some of the most important years of my life. Then, by the grace of God, something happened to me toward the end of 11th grade. I literally woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe my eyes! I said, “How could you let yourself go like this?” Something inside of me just “snapped” and I vowed to lose the weight and get my life back! Through intense dieting and working out 6 days/week, I lost 40 lbs. that summer and got back into football my senior year. I played at 225-230 lbs., not worrying too much about losing more weight since having mass helped me as an offensive lineman. That was a huge accomplishment that truly changed my life. Following the season I was so proud I wasn’t going to stop there. I continued my dieting and exercise routine even more intensely. Time flew by my senior year. My friends and I headed to the Jersey Shore following the Prom and I was now 199lbs.!! NO MORE 200’s!! When I finally graduated that June, I was all the way down to 180Lbs., 32” waist and felt like I was on top of the world! I took this life-changing experience and decided that I wanted career working in some aspect of health and wellness. I went to college to become a Certified Athletic Trainer (AT) and continued my education in Graduate school to become a Health & PE Teacher; I am presently working in both careers to this day. So what happened? I gained all of the weight back and more by age 26. I’ve been up and down from 305-270 for 10 years. Not the best feeling when you are working with young, healthy individual’s where your job is to teach them how to be healthy! See the thing is, even though I conquered my biggest obstacle as a teenager, I never really learned how to manage stress without abusing food. In my world, food is my “heroin”... Some people drink alcohol, some do drugs; I do FOOD. Through all of the trials and tribulations, I managed to succeed in other aspect of life. I’m happily married for eight years, my wife and I have been blessed with three beautiful children. Our oldest son is 5, our daughter 4, and baby boy is 1 month old; he was born June 12, 2013. I had VSG 25 days after his birth, so my son and I will be sharing meals at some point of this journeyJ. My choice to have VSG surgery was not an easy one, but what finalized my decision was simple.… “I have too much to lose” and I’m NOT talking about weight! I have so much to be happy and proud of that I’m not going to jeopardize these fortunes anymore…WE deserve better! A thinner, healthier and happier man will slowly emerge; having been trapped inside of this obese body for much, much too long. So from now on, I will march forward with my chin up, shoulders back, eyes set on my VSG goal……..life-long health and happiness for me and my family! Best Wishes to All, Frank

I think it's especially important for us to pay attention to these things too. Not only because it takes so much less to knock us on our butts. I think the risk of a "crossover addiction" is very easy! I come from a background of family members with addiction issues (drugs alcohol) I have NEVER had a problem with drugs or alcohol (just food) . I was very prepared for many things after surgery but the one thing I didn't think about was the temptation to find comfort in things that never comforted me before.. The weeks after my surgery I became increasingly aware of my "need" for my pain meds (refilled twice) it got to a point I looked forward to my nightly dose. I wasn't taking it during the day just at night for my relaxing down time (the time I used to over eat also). I knew it was becoming an issue so I fessed up to my husband who then helped me hold myself accountable after. To this day I have to be really honest with myself as to why I want to take a medication.. Even allergy meds that make me sleepy. Eyes wide open.

Dustin-- We need to "Sticky" your comment. I'm with you all the way with your thoughts. It's me--I quit drinking after 11 months of up to 2-1/2 bottles per night. I work where I see the devastation of chronic drinking. I was not going to be a statistic. My hubby and I are married over 30 years and I was not about to lose that. I work on my old food addiction but not with alcohol to numb the process. I'm just making better choices protein first, good veggies next, and very little carbs. This seems to work. Also started L-Glutamine for strong cravings, a 500-1000mg when they are strong really helps me. (it is and amino acid). Please heed Dustins advice sounds like "he's been there done that" Good Luck.

Hi Gary! Glad you are doing well. There is Fluid in my band too, but I forgot to ask how much post-op. I should be able to have my first fill on Aug 7th. I was debating on whether I needed it or not, but I am "dieting" at this point. I am counting calories so I don't gain. I am satisfied on my portion, but do find I get hungry faster and I am going to bed hungry. Congrats on all your victories! Wow Sunshine, that's great! I also started up exercise again. Just walks at the moment, but I need to add strength, specially for arms. Good luck with your fill! Hi Gavin, wow that's about 42 pounds right? Sorry I had to do a conversion from stones to pounds. That's great! I haven't had a sip of alcohol yet. I am a little afraid to. I bet I am a real lightweight now.

Have a good fast day girls! I'm on tomorrow. I bounced up a pins yesterday to 163 hoping it goes away this week. Clk I feel you about those other threads ugh. I'm not going to get drawn in again (I hope ) Coops you lost the pound and I found it! I need to get back to 162 so we can be twins again! I'm not ready to give up artificial sugars yet, a girl has to have some fun... Oh sugar alcohols? I don't use those. I've been taking Psyllium husk powder the last couple of days (yuck) but is working to keep things moving

Thanks for the words of caution. I'm very sorry for the pain it's caused you but glad you're approaching your big change with appropriate care. My father was an alcoholic and he went the opposite route. When he sobered up, he replaced alcohol with food. He blew up quickly before he even realized the replacement that was going on. We definitely need to identify our own cumpulsive patterns. We are like this because we couldnt exert control over certain things. My doc recommends cutting out alcohol altogether and I'm leaning towards following his advice.

I'm two weeks away from surgery, but I wanted to offer some advice regarding alcohol post-surgery. I know this is the type of thing you've probably heard about before, but wanted to share an experience. My ex-wife had bariatric surgery in 2004. At that point, we had been married for 14 years. She was never a drinker before that. I can remember a whole year going by without her even drinking a glass of wine. For the first couple of years after surgery, everything was fine. She lost nearly all of her excess weight. Then, she got a job at a restaurant where the staff would drink a glass of wine together at the end of the night. Within a year, she was an alcoholic. It became apparent to me that she had replaced the feeling of comfort that food gave her with alcohol. By early 2010, our marriage came to an end because of it. 20 years of marriage with 2 kids. We tried to help and and get her into treatment but nothing worked. Today, she is a shell of her old self. She has liver disease and I doubt she will be here a year from now. If you are addicted to food, I would suggest that you stay away from alcohol as long as you can after surgery and try to find something non-destructive to comfort you. I love drinking and collecting red wines. I take regular trips to Napa Valley. But I've had to make a commitment that I won't drink wine again until I'm comfortable that I've resolved any addictive behavior in myself. Thanks for reading

I can't eat sugar alcohols at all... My bowls complain so much, Its revolting! I mostly use stevia or splenda....

I avoid artificial sweeteners for the most part. They're in my Protein Shake and that's about it, besides the occasional Crystal Light or Mio drops. I use fruit infused Water more often than anything else to avoid them. I can taste the sugar alcohols and it repulses me. I picked up an onion dressing for DH the other day and didn't realize it was the "lite" version. YUCK. I can taste that fake sweetness in there. I just whipped up my own instead. No way do I want to eat something that tastes like that. I had a bad weigh in yesterday - kinda mad. I bounced back 2.2 pounds after dropping down and so I think my loss for the week is actually 2 tenths of a pound. I'm having a real problem tracking back to how much I've lost. I think that due to the bounces I keep having I'm down about eight pounds in five weeks. That's not bad but I am pretty sure I lost 2 tenths of a pound last week, too. (I lost 2.5 pounds the week prior.) Let's hope that this is just a temporary slow down and that I don't progress at this rate for the rest of my time. This is exactly how loss normally goes for me - tenths of a pound a week, or nothing at all, followed by a larger drop (a couple pounds) once every four to six weeks. In any case, I dropped again today and it's a fast day for me. We'll see how it comes out at the end of the week. I'm doing the zoo with all the kids today - so drinking lots of water, packing a picnic lunch and gettting in tons of walking. We're having another overcast day (surprise, surprise) but it's only getting up to the mid-eighties and we aren't expecting rain until this evening. A good time to see the zoo - it won't be glaringly hot or rainy, either. Hope everyone has a good day. I found myself inordinately annoyed at the new 5:2 thread but refrained from posting about the stupidity of treating the sleeve like a diet immediately out of the gate. Now I figure there's no reason for me to feel anything about the choices of other people so I'm staying out of it. I find it hard to understand how new people who can hardly eat are going to eat such a strict deficit or how this program would work for them, but hey, in the rush to "be the skinniest the fastest" people turn into morons. I'm off - lots of things to do before we head out today. I've been quiet by half of my houseguests left this morning and the other one leaves on Thursday. That'll bring us back down to just the stepkids until my MIL shows up next Tuesday. I may actually find myself with time to relax this weekend! ~Cheri

Red wine glasses are larger so there is more room for oxygenation of the wine. The average pour should be 4-6 ounces. The calories In wine come from the alcohol(sugar) look for wines with a lower alcohol level. Stay away from heavy red wines like Cabernet or zinfandel. They have higher alcohol percentages. Pinot Grigio or most sauv Blanc have lower alcohol percentages. Skinny Girl products including margaritas and spirits have lower alcohol percentages and they are pretty good. If you are drinking spirits try them on the rocks with a wedge of citrus. The majority of calories I'm cocktails are from the mixers.

And I've been smoke and alcohol free for almost 6 months now. HW:358 DOS:338 CW:275 SD:1/28/13

I'm 3 weeks out and went out for dinner last night for one of the first times. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant where I'd have lots of choices on my purée diet. I had the lentil soup and only ate half. As for alcohol, my NUT strongly advises against it for the first year. As stated, everyone's doctor has different plans. I was never a big drinker, so I won't miss it.

Maybe the alcohol is irritating your stomach. This happened to me with coffee yesterday.

having said all this please know that quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things that you can do. I also hear about people on the site who are still drinking alcohol another no no. all you can do is try to be supportive and know that it's a very hard habit to quit.

Because the questions are different in every center in every state I had to take a 340 online question test that asked a lot of the same questions just in different ways to make sure I'm not suicidal, a alcoholic or a druggie. He asked about my past and who supports me what I know about the surgery and what the risks were. then a few papers with questions about eating habits. It's different for a lot of people. I did mine last month. My name is Ashlie as well

Yes, One drink and I am pretty drunk. The good thing is all I have to do is eat some Protein and I am sober immediately. I don't really like that drunk feeling. I will usually eat something fairly quickly to get rid of that feeling. The alcohol is getting dumped into your bloodstream much quickly because our tummies are so tiny.

I became an alcoholic after the sleeve. Started with wine occ. at 4 months out and by 11 months I was up to 2 1/2 bottles a day. One half box worth. Occ. got drunk ratherwise just loved the feeling drinking. Took a nap on the couch in the evening. I was a mess. Had enough stopped cold turkey Feb. 5th 2013. I occ. will take L-glutamine if I have cravings, works well. You can become a drunk quickly, never thought I would.

I am actually impressed with myself that I was able to almost completely avoid temptation while spending the day in N'awlins in the French Quarter today...I went with my cousin visiting from CT and some other family members...I avoided alcohol, even though the Hurricanes at Pat O's were a few steps away...avoided getting a daiquri even though every other adult had one in a go cup...at lunch while my companions had fried seafood po-boys, fries and onion rings, I had a small bowl of shrimp and andouille gumbo without rice and ate about 2/3 of it...didn't even have a cracker much less a slice of yummy French bread...went into Cafe DuMonde and watched most people downing delicious beignets, and of course didn't have any...went into a cafe and had a cup of coffee, and our table ordered two desserts to share...by this time, I do confess I did have to cheat and have one small bite/taste of each dessert--a small splurge but worth it, especially the yummy cheesecake bite...all in all, as far as food temptation avoidance, I was fairly proud of myself...now let's not talk about the non-food shopping temptations and how I dealt with that

I was told no alcohol for a year. Our livers are working overtime to clear toxins that are released with quick weight loss. Alcohol on top of that can cause liver failure. So I was told by my team... I would caution you to talk to your doctor first. If your doctor has no problem with it, then by all means, celebrate. If they say no, listen. They have reasons for the restrictions they give. Personally, I think it's not worth the risk...

My mother had the bypass done and became an alcoholic shortly after. She did lose a huge amount of wait but it was a hard struggle for her. I just started the process and when my husband & I decided this was the way we were going to go that was one of our biggest concerns. I am not a huge drinker at all. Actually the only time I really do drink is on our monthly date night( we have 3 kids). We have already talked about how that will be the number thing that we want to keep an eye on afterwards. But we have also joked about it too. " our date nights will be a whole lot cheaper now". You just need to listen to your doctor and make sure your support team( my husband) is there to pull you back in when it seems to be becoming a problem. You should know your limits.