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I'm over a year and a half and I haven't tried a drink yet. Not because I'm scared of the side affects but because I hear of WLS patients turning into big drinkers. Socially we are out more and partying more so naturally we would have a drink or 4 before surgery. It's even more important to control that behavior and ask yourself, do I really need an alcoholic drink to bring on the new year? Not worth ruining your night or developing a bad habit. Take it easy and enjoy your healthier life. I'm glad you asked this question because I'm sure there are tons of people who wanted to. Enjoy your new year!!!

James is right…the walking was the key to no pain. I came out of surgery around 4 pm and was walking at 7 pm and did walk every 2 hours, with no pain. The only "pain" was dragging the IV around. They will send you to have do a "leak" test and that required drinking a little Fluid so they could see if it went through without leaks. The beds aren't very cushy, so I sat up in a chair in the room a lot because the bed hurt my bottom. Made it easier to get up to walk also. While I had someone stay in the room with me, I found the staff to be really kind and attentive and sent my mom back to the hotel so she could sleep. My surgical location was 4 hours from where i live, so the journey home was a bit arduous - had to stop every 45 minutes to walk for 15 to prevent blood clots. Once home, my incisions never hurt (they were all laparoscopic and small), and getting up and down wasn't difficult either. I was on Protein shakes for 2 weeks after and I think that was the most difficult part. Everything tasted super sweet but I plugged my nose and drank 4 oz 4 times a day! I was also sent home with medication for my gall bladder (for some docs,it's standard procedure) to prevent any gall bladder issues. You will have some trouble getting in all the Vitamins, Water and protein to being with just because your tummy is so small. Just be diligent every 15 minutes or so to drink water and take a Vitamin or pill when you do. Once I was on soft foods (2 weeks out of surgery), I had to focus on getting in 92 g of protein. I had a hard time doing so because my tummy was so small - had to really plan! I went back on all foods on August 15th however, I have kept out of my diet anything but lean protein, fruit, veggies and sugar free popsicles. I was a carb eater and so I have left out bread, tortillas, crackers, Cereal etc..and my weight continues to decline. Started at 368 prior to surgery and am now at 298. I am eating Quest Protein Bars and have found them a great help in getting in all my daily protein. These were recommended by my nutritionist. I order them on quest.com and they are shipped to my door in about 3 days. They are made with sugar alcohol and can be pretty sweet. I eat half a bar at a time because they really fill me up and are so sweet. I did have some odd sensations when it came to smelling food because my appetite is gone. Some smells nauseate me and I don't like things I used to , but all in all it's a good thing! My head likes to tell me I am hungry when I am not, so I have been really paying attention to that issue. My goal is to be down 100 pounds total by Christmas and down an additional 75 by June. Again - good luck!! Clarissa

I have a friend who had surgery about ten years ago. She drinks alcohol (she never was a big beer drinker) but still to this day gets drunk very quickly only takes one drink to get her tipsy.

New me 2008, I am so glad you posted this question and I thank everyone for their responses. I come from a family that travels and parties and has fun, and somehow alcohol is usually involved. I need to know that I can still enjoy myself with my band. My surgery date is 3/14/07 and I want to know that I can have a few drinks every now and then without vommiting, or having some sort of adverse effect. I would love for you to keep me posted on your experience on your trip and how you made out. My family is planning a trip to Cabo as well and I want to make sure I can enjoy a few drinks with them during our trip.

I went to Mexico last month, and had GREAT time. I was never told you can't drink Alcohol with the band, My surgeon said use moderation - keep in mind the liquid calories. Superbowl Sunday was my first "bad band" margarita drinker day....No sickness to the stomach, just the head. I know I can't hold my liquor like in the past - just be mindful that it may not take many too get tipsy. HAVE FUN!!

You're not supposed to drink with the band (it's liquid calories, and ALOT of them.) There are 97 calories in a 1.5 oz shot of tequila source: calorieking.com. However...you should be allowed to treat yourself while in Mexico, just don't over do it. Know your limit. As soon as you start to feel the effects of the alcohol stop drinking. You don't want to get sick and throw up, potentially damaging your band. This is just my humble opinion.

Hi - we just bought one last weekend. We were thinking of buying it, and while at Costco Vitamix was there demonstrating. We got the newest model ($600. Canadian). Before we invested that much $ in it we discussed how much we'd use it and for what. For me, it'll be handy as I cannot have sugar alcohols so will likely be steering away from processed, flavoured protein mixes. I want to try to make my own so I'm getting the vitamins from real food. I also get very nauseous from calcium, and although my clinic insists I MUST take it - being so sick daily isn't a great option. So again, I'll need to get as much as possible from food. My husband and I also think it's a great way to sneak veggies into out 11 year old daughter via smoothies :-)

One of the things that was brought up when I was talking to the coworker (aka food pusher) was that it's like any other addiction. I'm trying hard not to eat those things that I have been addicted to for so long. If an alcoholic worked here, would we put out little glasses of wine? Why is candy and chocolate and doughnuts, etc. better? Most of America is overweight and eats poorly. That's probably a very strong analogy, but to me it's real enough!

I hear you can't have alcohol till you're quite a bit out because it will irritate the sleeve

I'm not sure how much this would help, commit to one glass of wine, then finishing one glass of Water before anymore alcohol. If you can't go out without drinking, I'd see a therapist NOW... Before it gets worse. I went through a heavy drinking period, when I talked to my doctor about it she gave me Xanax and Prozac which brought down my drinking by a lot. I have major aniexty and depression- Xanax really helped me.

I have to know if anyone else is experiencing any wierd side-effects from their pre-op diet. I started my pre-op diet two weeks ago (I started a week early because I thought I had to). It's just a low carb diet, I didn't think it would be a big deal. This has been the hardest week ever. I'm really not hungry, but I don't feel satisfied either. I just don't feel, right. I've been so irritated and well, bitchy for a few days now. I'm so weepy. Also, my T.O.M. was a week late. I know that might account for some of my moodiness, but it's not generally like this. It's been very painful and I've had headaches for days. I feel like my blood sugar is extremely low most of the time. Has anyone else felt like this after starting the diet? I feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't have a cup of brown rice. I'm not missing the sodas or sugar, I just want a piece of bread! I know lots of people who do low-carb diets and don't feel weird. I've done low-carb before and don't remember feeling so edgy. Honestly, this was easier the first week than it is now. Just for background: My surgeon prescribed low-carb diet consists of meat and eggs, any veggie except peas, corn and potatoes. No alcohol, bread, Pasta, rice or fried foods. I can have sugar free Jello and popsicles and skim milk. I can have Protein shakes as long as they are less than 200 cal, at least 15 g of protein, and less than 10 g carbs. I've been pretty much eating all of these things. I eat 3 meals per day as suggested. I drink lots of Water. I can also have any sugar free drink as long as it's not carbonated. I also take a Vitamin everyday as well as a Calcium supplement. I hope those of you who are doing an all liquid diet don't hold this against me. I know an all liquid diet is extremely hard to do and I know I sound like a cry baby. I'm really not. I've been perfectly happy to do whatever it takes to get this done, but I really feel like I'm loosing it. I'm also getting really bad muscle cramps especially in my sides and stomach. I'm also not sleeping very well. I only have a week left and I will suck it up and do what I have to do, but I'm going crazy. Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks in advance for your help.

For me it's my disease of compulsive over eating. Despite my WLS I still have the disease and I struggle with it every day. I go to a therapist who recommended Over eaters Anonymous (OA). It's patterned after Alcohol Anonymous (AA) and I also attend monthly group meetings sponsored by my surgeon. With OA I have a group of people I can call or text if I feel that I will eat something not on my food plan and they offer me constructive support. There are those that can stop eating when ever they want I can't I need to constantly work on it. One day at a time. Seek help and build on your past success. Good Luck.

I started thinking tonight about a lot of things and I was wondering if it was regret. I started feeling bad because I can't eat two large pizzas anymore in one sitting. I can't fit into my size 38 pants any longer. I can't wear a 2 Xl t shirt any longer. I can't eat a whole double cheese burger. I can't drink soda. I don't know if I can drink alcohol as I've been afraid to try. I then realized that all the things that I think I gave up I really needed to give up but I couldn't do it without the help of surgery. I wanted to change what my future looked like. If we go off of our family history, I was at major risk for Diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers, dementia, seizures etc. I watched my father die of brain cancer, diabetes, dementia etc. My older brother is having seizures and he is huge. I want to tell him I'll pay for his surgery if he'll do it but haven't approached it yet. I am sure his response will be that he is healthy etc and he doesn't need to lose any weight. He's shorter than me (I'm 6 7') and he weighs 380#. My father was bi-polar and unfortunately I followed that path. He would never see a doctor or get help. I sucked it up and wasn't afraid to see a doctor or take medication for it. After Surgery, I've noticed I'm not depressed and I don't have mood swings any longer. I take no anti-depressants or bi-polar meds any longer. So I realized that once I looked at the over all picture, I think I made the right decision and I think it was for the best. I'm only 7 weeks post op now, and of course things can change. I might have mood swings again, but hopefully they stay away. Research that I've found suggest that a lot of bi-polar symptoms are related to the food we eat and all the chemicals in the food. I didn't do this to simply look good. I did it for the health reasons. I can admit, I wanted to be thinner again, but it wasn't the only reason why for the surgery. I didn't want to have ED at the age of 32. I didn't want to be embarrassed every summer when we go on a family vacation and I'm afraid to take my shirt off due to my size. I'm looking forward to Cancun again in 2015. I would do it all again if I had to. No regrets. If your feeling regret, look at the whole picture. Think about why you did it. Think about what you are gaining in terms of good health. Think about your spouse/bf/gf/better half etc. I also found out that the acid pill I needed was available over the counter. I feel so stupid for not finding this out sooner. Amazing what one little pill can do.

I read your OP as being full of contradictory words and messages (see red font above). It reads like you don't know what you want or what you think is best for you. Only you can answer these questions for yourself. Whether you and I would behave the same (or differently) doesn't really matter. BTW, if alcohol or drugs are involved in your sexual encounters with new people, you are flirting with major health risks. I sincerely hope that's not the case. For all these reasons, I think you would benefit greatly from finding and working with a good therapist. I know it took courage for you to post this. I wish you the very best.

Hello everybody, my name is Nicole. I had surgery on 2-24-14. My doctor uses out patient hospital services so I got to come home @ 10pm. This is most definitely one of the most important choices I've ever made. And I don't mind sounding quite selfish because in fact I did it all for ME! My stats: 5'6 S/W 272 C/W 254 G/W 140ish I lost 12lbs in the 2 week preop diet, which was basically the Atkins diet, I was only aloud 40 grams of carbs a day, and had to achieve at least grams of Protein a day. I cut out all caffeine, alcohol and carbonated bevs when I started even though I didn't have, I just made it a lot easier now that I really can't have that stuff. I'm so excited to finally start this journey. I have been heavy ALL my life. Even looking back at childhood pictures showed me over weight, not just big boned, as some like to say lol. I love this forum, it's helped me so much. Thank you to everybody :-)

Hi, as someone who was cheated on by their husband with multiple people because he said being faithful isn't for him due to drug & sex addiction & couldn't be with one person -will tell you it hurts. I so wish he would never have went out with me & especially married me if he knew this. I do feel as others have suggested & that you may have just switched addictions. I am sure you are not alone in changing addictions but there is always help. At the least if don't want to get help you should divorce your husband & let anyone you are with that you do not want to be faithful to one person that way honest & not lying because lies hurt many. If want to seek help I suggest a good counselor also. The other additional help besides counseling can be a good support group. Just like drug & alcohol addictions the % of recovery is improved with faith based support groups such Celebrate Recovery. This group is for anyone that has hurts, habits or hangups. It is nationwide group. I go die to going through divorce. But others for drug, alcohol recovery, sex addiction, gambling. Divorce..... Sent from my SM-S902L using the BariatricPal App

We always jump to addiction transference, and maybe it is - what the heck do I know? However, i have been in the dating pool and have had many conversations with men over email, coffee dates and a couple of guys became friends with. Heck, even found a couple of "relationship potentials" so I have heard alot of feedback about OTHER WOMEN in this process. I know that is weird, but guys can't seem to shut up about the topic. Anyhoo... turns out lots of people who are older/divorced very promisciously. It seems like the majority and I can assure you these are not people who had massive weight loss in their background. It was a shocker to me - one of the first men I went on a second date with revealed some issues he had related to having had something like 50-75 sex partners since becoming single. hello?? what? It put the fear in me and I learned that "protection" simply reduces risk and does not eliminate it. So, you get these well groomed, well educated, well spoken good jobs - don't seem like the type to be "high risk" but they are. I am unclear why having a drink with a sexual partner creates more risk because it is not like you can tell how many partners they have had by looking at them - beer googles or not. Having said all that, i do the OP needs to examine what she really wants from life, and how sexuality either supports it or not. (Franky, most of us need to do that about various aspects of our lives) i think cheating/lying is terrible and there are so many choices to have "sexual freedom" without cheating, that it is completely avoidable. I cannot guess when this behavior is an addiction or an addiction transference but i can tell you there are a heck of a lot of people who are way promiscious in their middle years. I am not making a moral judgement, rather a risk assessment. I chose to vaccinate myself against HPV, even though that is not approved for people my age. The one I am most scared of, and nobody even thinks is an STD is Hep C. Get that, and no drinking alcohol EVER and it can be a serious health problem if not fully managed - I don't want liver damage! Anyway, I have kind of gone off course here, just making the point that not everything is a replacement for food and alot of people seem to go a little crazy once they become single, or go through a separation or whatever. I will admit I was saved from this fate of "too many" partners largely for 2 reasons - #1 the scare story from the man I mention above put the fear of good looking/safe looking strangers in me; and #2 finding a long term lover who was monogamous with me even though we weren't in a real boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. That odd situation was actually incredibly helpful to me - he is older and actually gave me alot of good counsel about approaching things in life, built my self confidence and helped me see my value on alot of dimensions, and when i had a lot of inner turmoil, was a bit of a safe harbor. But of course, that fits my natural desire anyway - to have a single partner so wouldn't necessarily be a good thing for others. I came from a lifetime of just 2 committed, all consuming relationships (both decades long) so it was a learning process to be in a much less serious relationship and helped me grow internally too. All my irritation with dating has been trying to find that next serious relationship....and I am quite sure I have been looking in the wrong places but that is another topic entirely!

I don't buy that processed and fast foods are poison. No evidence (other than cheap movies) suggests that to be true. My mother and mother-in-law are both well into their 90's and both drink diet soda daily. That said, we are what we eat. I try to make most of my meals out of Whole Foods. I don't waste money on so-called organic foods. I do enjoy 1-2 In N Out burgers a year and 12 ounces of diet soda a week. We do not know that Type 2 diabetes is generally linked to obesity - not processed food unless that's all you eat. No own knows what causes cancer, but most of the women I knew who had breast cancer, were on birth control; lung cancer and smoking, liver cancer and alcoholism. Remember that the worst poisons on earth occur naturally; plan your diet, count your calories, and major in Whole Foods. You'll be fine!

Tips? Keep saying the mantra "it gets better." Every day things get better: the pain, the emotions, the weird feelings when you drink. And before you know it, you are rewarded with weight loss! My tastes seems to change everyday. I was able to eat my chewable Vitamins for the first week post op. Now, they make me nauseous. Like they actually come back up or make me feel blah I am switching to the Celebrate vitamins you can mix together like Crystal Light (Celebrate bariatric vitamins are what my surgeon recommends). The simpler the taste the better for me. I was able to drink some Protein shakes and Carnation Instant Breakfast-No Sugar Added post op. But after a week, the only thing I want is plain skim milk with nonfat dry milk powder added (by drinking 3 to 4, 8 ounce glasses of these a day, I get my 50+ grams of daily protein needs). My best tip would be using alcohol wipes to stop nausea. I got nauseous about 4 times during my 3 day hospital stay. I would call for my nurse and she would quickly put one on my nose and I would take like 3 to 5 deep breaths and it would calm me down (meanwhile she would be putting nausea medicine in my IV but told me it would take a few minutes to work). I still use this trick regularly (my nurses kindly gave me like 30 wipes to take home). Granted I don't get anti-nausea meds pumped into me anymore but it still works (you have to realize early post-op nausea is a little more intense because of all the pain meds they are pumping you with). One more thing - friends and family act funny post op. Learn to deal with it/laugh it off. A coworker ate candy in front of me and then was like Oops! And hid the wrapper behind her back. I laughed it off but trust me, I want nothing to do with sweets right now! And then the other day my dad was driving me to the pharmacy and was mad that I didn't "eat" anything that day yet. He asked if I could have a Wendy's Frosty! Clearly that is not a good idea - but I gave him an alternative, we went to McDonalds and I got a kid-sized milk. I now use that little half pint container daily (8 oz)...cutest thing ever. I digress... Let me know if you have any other questions while it is still fresh!! Good luck with your surgery! I am sure it has been a long journey. I had to go through a 6 month insurance approval process. I pinch myself everyday that I am now on the other side!

Ever since starting my pre-op diet I've had really bad breath. I'm 2 months post op and still have it. At first I thought it was ketosis, but I eat about 1200 calories a day, so that shouldn't be the issue. Is it just me, or is anyone else experiencing this? Is this common, unusual, unrelated? PS I brush with an electric toothbrush 3x/day, use mouthwash and floss regularly. UPDATE: (2 days later) I visited my dentist for a cleaning today and had a little chat with him about my bad breath. I followed his instructions today and found it to be helpful. He said that there isn't a cure for "diet breath" as he called because it's a result of ketosis (as the very bright people below commented), but it can be managed by doing these things.... DO THESE THINGS Brush and floss regularly Rinse with a medicated flouride rinse (which I got from the office) Drink lots of Water Get a toung scraper (which I did and I think it was the most effective thing on this list) Chew sugarless gum or eat breath strips Increase your carbs (which I won't be doing) Eat an apple (which I didn't do, but may try, though I don't think apples are going to go down very well) DON'T DO THESE THINGS Rinse with mouth wash containing alcohol Chew sugar gum PS Does anyone know what happend to the spell check feature that used to be part of this forum?

My surgeon also said no caffiene, no carbonation and no alcohol. She did advise that alcohol can be consumed for speical occasions such as My brithday, New Years and christmas. The reason I'm not allowed carbonation is that it will expand my sleeve and I'm definitely not interested in that at all. I find it so interesting that each doctor is different in their approach!

Probably even more funny is that I’m basically unrecognizable in the picture AND the description. In addition to weight loss, I also stopped coloring my hair. So weight is wrong, hair color is wrong and the picture is over 8 years old (Due to the pandemic, I renewed it last year without having to appear in person) Good thing I won’t get carded for alcohol 😜😜

Ok, I know that alcohol contains empty calories, and it should be limited or avoided to maximize weight loss, but that being said, does anyone drink with the lap band? A few times a year, I wind up out with my girlfriends, and we tie one on. Is that going to be something of the past, once I have my band? A friend of mine, who is going to be banded after me, thinks that the band will lower our alcohol tolerance. Is that true? What was your experience?

I have had my band for close to 4 years, I do not find that I can't drink as much as my pre banded days, I do not feel that I feel any more of the effects of alcohol I go out a couple times a month and usually drink girlie drinks, malibu rum, margaritas, etc..and I am very weight concious and keep up with my band so my band is at a level where i can only eat the recomended amount of food. I just think it depends on what you are drinking and how much you have ate and when compared to when you are drinking

If there was booze in the pie it is possible. LOL! It takes very little alcohol for me to actually feel drunk. Like I cannot drive drunk.......really drunk. Sugar, no......I just feel really crappy if i eat something with too much sugar. I had a very small piece of wedding cake at my friends sons wedding. It had a boozy chocolate mousse in it. I did not get drunk but could seriously feel the liquor.