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There are many reasons for the disparity in alcohol consumption. A surgeon may specialize in patients with exceedingly high BMI. Those patients with so much extra fat will have massive quantities of hormones stored. When the rapid weightloss starts, hormone levels can skyrocket. Add a barbiturate to the mix and you can have extreme mood swings and/or depression. We see it all the time on here with comments laden with attitude or excessive weepiness. Add to that the lay persons understanding of what is happening, it is just easier to say "Don't drink booze because it causes heartburn." or something else that is simple to understand. Better to just avoid alcohol until the major physiological changes are done and hormone levels return to normal.

I was hoping I'd that I'd be a cheap date and get more affected by alcohol like they say you will. But I don't. I can drink my 3-4 gin and tonics with no issue. But at 3 weeks? Not so sure that's a good idea since wine is so acidic and your stomach is still all torn up inside. It also might make you forget that hey, you can't snack right now. I personally wouldn't do it at this point, but my surgeon said okay after 6 weeks. Happy anniversary though!

Thank you so much for sharing that article. It answered all the questions I had about "slider" foods. I'll guess I'll have to put them on the list of "things I just cannot have again". I'm an all or nothing type of person who KNOWS--like an alcoholic cannot have a sip of alcohol ever again---I CANNOT have just a tiny bite of some foods. Oh well. Life is good. I'm enjoying being able to move with less pain--so I can forgo certain things in order to be able to move with less pain.

(Copied this from my MySpce blog .... thought it would just be easier that way) March 5, 2008 - Wednesday <TABLE class=blog cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=30></TD><TD>Medical crap .... Going crazy here!!! Current mood: frustrated I need some prayers (or if praying isn't your thing, some positive vibes), please. I had my LapBand surgery 2 years ago. Everything has been fine ..... Except that I have developed reflux really bad and take pills for it!!! Well, about 4-5 months ago I started 'throwing up' some about 2-3 times a week. These past 4 weeks have been TERRIBLE and this past week has been more than I can take. Yesterday I 'threw up' 8 times during the day and much more during the night time. And most of that was from TRYING to drink liquid stuff ..... Not even food. I could not even sleep last night. I have been worried that my band as slipped or something (things like that DO happen .... I knew all this up front!!). I called my Weight loss (WL) doctors office this morning to talk to them. They want an upper GI done to see if slippage has occurred and then to take some Fluid out of my band to give my stomach a rest. Okay ..... Here is where I am going crazy!!! My insurance will NOT pay for any of this at all. I did know that up front 2 years ago that they do not pay for any WL surgery or complications from it ( I was a self pay patient). So my WL doctor is asking if my primary doctor can have me get a GI Xray here where I live and fax him the results ASAP. I live in a different state than where my WL doc is at. So, I call my Primary doc and she HAS to see me first before she can refer me to a doc for an upper GI?!?! I ask why .... She says for insurance purposes ..... I tell her that my insurance will not pay for it, that the upper GI will be as a cash patient, so why does she have to see me. Now she said she wants to see me so she can have it documented that she saw me and referred me to a doc for an upper GI. WHAT?!?!? So, I ask when is the soonest I can come in. They say Friday afternoon. WHAT?!?! I then ask how long after I come in can I get an upper GI ..... She says it could take 2-3 weeks for them to get me in to a GI doctor!! I tried to explain how I need something ASAP ..... That I am throwing up and cannot hardly eat!! I took the appointment and told them that if I can travel to where my WL surgeon is this week and he can get me in someplace then I may be calling back and canceling that appointment w/ them. I just am so depressed. I have a call back to my WL surgeon's office and am just waiting for them to call me back. I want to get something done ASAP. I hate this waiting game and I am not good at it. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE id=blogComments-2 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=blogCommentsProfile>Sherri </TD><TD class=blogComments width="100%"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=blogComments>Great news!! My WL nurse got me in down at Topeka on Friday ...... Upper GI at the hospital at 10:45 am and then meeting w/ my WL doctor and her at 1:30 Pm to go over X-rays and decide what to do. Posted by Sherri on March 5, 2008 - Wednesday at 4:29 PM </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> March 9, 2008 - Sunday <TABLE class=blog cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=30></TD><TD>UPDATE on my medical crap ) Current mood: okay Okay, here's the update. I went to St. Francis hospital in Topeka, KS Friday at 10:45 am to have an upper GI. They got me all ready and the doctor at the hospital was asking me 'what's going on w/ you that you are having problems?'. I told him about my throwing up for months now and the pain I have been having. He told the tech gal to start me w/ the thinner barium since I am having a hard time keeping things down. He told me to take a drink and to NOT shallow until he tells me to .... He said it will move fast and he has got to be ready to start taking pictures. He tells me to shallow .... I do ..... He makes this really funny face and says, "Um, I have NEVER seen this before ....... Let's have you take another drink and shallow". I do and he says this is really different. Of course, I am freaking and ask him, "WHAT ..... What is happening that is different?!?!". He pulls the 'live motion Xray machine around to where I can see it and points showing me my lapband and then he says all the stuff ABOVE your lapband is the barium that you just drank and not one drop has passed though your band. I asked him was this normal .... He says, "NO, this is not normal .... This is why you are throwing up .... Liquid should be passing ..... Slowly, BUT passing". So now I am freaking ..... My heart really beating fast!! He told the 2 tech's that he wants to get some still images. So, they do all those. An hour later I am done. He tells me that he will get all the images and report done and have them to my doctor's office when I go for my 1:30 appointment that afternoon. Roger and I go to Tallgrass to meet w/ my weigh loss surgeon at 1:30 PM. Him and another doctor have already gone over all my images. Here's the scoop ... I 'must have' irritated my stomach several months ago w/out knowing it and it has been 'festering' all this time building up over ALL these months. The bottom line is I have ulcers and lesions all over the inside of my stomach ABOVE my lapband and all over my esophagus, my 'pouch' above my lapband is SO SWOLLEN that it is a miracle that anything passes though it he said. He said they have to treat it aggressive and that means to take everything out of my lapband!! (*this is when I thought I was going to loose it ..... Take everything out! - - I was freaking thinking they might take 1/2 out and now he's says EVERYTHING!!!*) He said that by him taking everything out of my band that hopefully my stomach can take a rest and we can get all the ulcers and lesions healed up. He said that him and the other doctor did not see any slippage or erosion of my lapband which was a good thing (WHAT - - it's a WONDERFUL thing - - PRAISE GOD!!) So, he goes and gets the nurse and has her come in with a 'procedure tray' to unfill my band. While I'm laying there on the table being stuck w/ a needle that has stuff in it that is hurting and stinging like hell so that the 'procedure' doesn't hurt, part of me is screaming inside, screaming like they are taking away a part of 'my tool' that I need to loose weight!! Roger is trying to make 'small talk' w/ the doc about 'my problem'. When he finally gets ready to go into my band, it is the weirdest filling I fill moving inside my stomach. Of course, Roger told me later that it is a good thing I don't see the BIG needle they use to go into my band with!! (YIKES .... I hate needles!!). After the doc is done and I get wiped off and bandaged up, I lay there for a second. Now the 3 of us (Me, the doc and Rog) are sitting there and the doctor is telling us 'the plan' to get me better. I am taking 4 pills a day that coats and fills in the ulcers and lesions. Two pills for reflux. Stop eating solid foods (Like I have not been eating any solids since last Tuesday!!). liquid diet for 3-4 days, soft stage foods for 3-4 days and then after that to start eating foods that are diced up really fine and to take little bites and to chew the crap out of them before swallowing. If at anytime I have a hard time advancing up to the 'real food', I am to stop and go back to 1st base!! I am to not to drink or eat any food that causes 'burning' ..... Food w/ acid, alcohol, etc ... I am to take the pills for at least 2 months and then he'll decide on a new plan after those 2 months. We are going back on March 21 for a 'check up' and for the doc to see how I am doing. Once I have all these ulcers healed up, then we can talk about getting fills again in my band. The doc said that my goal right now is to get healthy and to NOT worry about loosing weight .... He said I may even gain weight during this time. *I started freakin again!!!* So, that is my update on me. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <HR SIZE=1>

I think the article is garbage.the media today is not much more than a scandal sheet~sensationalism~bent on selling their station or paper.! Anyone researching the beriatric procedures is informed on the front end-that it is a tool and no miracle cure.if we do as instructed by our surgeons and support groups~i have faith that we will maintain the lifestyle and bodies we seek. I am 10 months out and cautious about portions...i will not ever "stuff"myself again.....so i do not fear stretching my stomach.i fear alcohol and chocolate candy and all the forbiddens. I want to be"normal"too bad!

Right? Imagine there were a surgery (say, a brain surgery) that could cure 75% of alcoholics and opiate addicts and it had a lower risk of complications than knee replacement. People would be singing the praises of that surgery, and people who needed it would be encouraged to get it. There wouldn't be a huge chorus of naysayers saying things like "why don't you just kick your addiction the natural way?" and "you just need to go to more AA meetings" and "you just need to work on will power and drinking less" or "my Aunt Mabel's hairdresser had that surgery and he died! Plus I know of one other person who had it, and she stopped using oxycontin but she looks kind of sickly. Why don't you just stop shooting up instead?" or "you can be healthy and be an alcoholic too! Health at any drinking rate is fine! Just try to cut back if you find you've been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. You don't need surgery, you only think you do because our society shames alcoholics and drug addicts!"

I agree with Wheetsin and Jachut - I eat lots of carbs and I think I can be considered reasonably successful. I do make sure I eat lots of Protein, and I avoid white flour, white bread, etc. I do eat quite a bit of high fibre, whole wheat products, which I find help to fill me up. oatmeal is a staple breakfast for me. I have posted this before, but for me, cutting out most carbs is a recipe for disaster long term. I went into this process wanting to eat as I plan to eat for the rest of my life (maybe I can eat a little more down the line :biggrin:), which includes eating all foods in moderation. I didn't go into this journey planning to endure my diet until I got to goal and then I would go back to "regular" eating. Regular eating got me to 350ish pounds for most of the 2000's. My problem with restricting carbs is that for me, I have done Atkins or atkins like several times (the first time when my mom put me on it when I was about 11 or 12) and I have lost weight very successfully (probably true for many obese people - which is probably why Dr's recommend it). However, once I started to reintroduce carbs into my diet, I was like an alcoholic or a drug addict and I couldn't seem to stop myself from eating and eating and eating. This of course led to me to gain back all my weight plus more. No thank you - not this time!!!!!!! As Wheetsin posted, I don't think people realize how many carbs are in our food and get confused by the messages they receive (should I eat Beans or not?). Fruit and lots of vegetables can also be quite high in carbs and I have a problem with eating plans that limit your fruit and vegetables. For me, I would recommend having a plan which includes all food groups, with a concentration on natural foods (i.e unprocessed). There is some really interesting reading and newer research on the glycemic index (GI) that you might want to google for more information. I really enjoyed the book, The G.I. Diet, by Rick Gallop. Rick makes his case that you should include low fat protein with every meal, but he also says that including low glycemic index foods "are slower to digest so you feel satiated longer", and they "keep insulin levels low which inhibits the formation of fat and assists in the conversion of fat back into energy". My WLC does not advocate low carbs, but does advocate choosing low GI foods whenever possible.

I have always had issues with alcohol. This is because I have always had serious problems with depression, an issue which is genetically-linked and which is an issue in our family. Individuals who suffer from psychological problems, even those which are based in a neurological and genetically transferred disorder, will inevitably be prone to drift into the land of self-medication. This means that we will be suckers for drug, alcohol and food abuse. You must understand that alcohol, drugs, and stuffing yerself with food will cause your brain chemistry to unleash - on a short term basis of course - a flood of chemicals which will permit you, the miserable depressive, to feel a fugitive sense of happiness. It is when we must undergo the work of untying ourselves from this complex of buffers that we run into real difficulties. And, yes, I suspect that we are all wearing the same miserable t-shirt, doncha think?

Have you researched other WLS options? More than likely a Band is going to just create MORE problems here.I'd get the problems treated first. And if your Doctor is SMART? that would be his recommendation also. If your already experiencing problems with the esophagus the band isn't going to HELP, instead probably make things worse. Esophagitis is inflammation that damages tissues of the esophagus, the muscular tube that delivers food from your mouth to your stomach. Esophagitis (uh-sof-uh-JI-tis) often causes painful, difficult swallowing and chest pain. Causes of esophagitis include stomach acids backing up into the esophagus, infection, oral medications and allergies. Treatments for esophagitis depend on the underlying cause and the severity of tissue damage. If left untreated, esophagitis may change the structure and function of the esophagus. Some people suffer from Achalasia post banding, and If your already having difficulties with the Esophagus getting a Band "might" just add to those problems. Acute hemorrhagic gastritis is an important cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, accounting for approximately one fourth of UGI bleeding in endoscopic studies. Most patients with hemorrhagic gastritis have underlying predisposing conditions, such as alcohol abuse, portal hypertension, short- or long-term NSAID use, and physiologic stress associated with hospitalization in an ICU for severe life-threatening disease or trauma. The key to management is prevention; however, once established, hemorrhagic gastritis is treated with both supportive measures and measures directed toward healing the mucosal damage. In general, therapy is the same as that for classic peptic ulcer disease. These patients present a challenge, however, because of their underlying diseases and because of the potential for diffuse mucosal bleeding, the latter making the use of endoscopic therapy more difficult. Surgery is an option of last resort for the patient who continues to bleed despite aggressive medical and endoscopic therapy. Future investigations will focus on pharmacologic therapy to enhance mucosal defense mechanisms, therapy that will likely attain increasing importance in the years to come. I've posted the above information as a FYI, you may already be aware of what each of these conditions are, but it also helps anyone else that might not and can benefit from the posted information. Good Luck~

Interesting article in the Toronto Star today. BATTLING OBESITY TheStar.com - Health - `Only way' to freedom `Only way' to freedom After desperate bids to lose weight, at nearly 400 pounds Barrie mom took life-saving step Feb 02, 2007 04:30 AM Karen Bridson-Boyczuk Special to The Star Rating her pain level at an eight out of 10 between morphine shots, Barrie resident Rachel Buttery sits in her Michigan hospital bed and says she doesn't miss food yet. A day after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, the 33-year-old, 393-pound mother of two says she's just thrilled that she will, no doubt, finally be able to keep her New Year's weight-loss resolution this year. Ontario's provincial health insurance paid the $24,000 (U.S.) cost of her surgery because of long waiting lists here and the deteriorating state of her health. Buttery's surgery, on Jan. 3, involved creating a tiny pouch out of the top of her stomach and attaching it to her large intestine, completely bypassing the rest of her stomach and her small intestine. "They keep bringing me different kinds of broth and Jell-O, but I'm partial to the ice chips," says Buttery, who admits it was her addiction to food that led her down the road to morbid obesity. "I'm sure I will miss food eventually. But there's nothing I can eat that would be better than doing what I'll be able to do when I lose weight." At five-feet nine-inches tall, Buttery's Body Mass Index is off the charts at 61. A normal body mass index is between 18.5 and 24.9. A person who has a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese. Buttery has a degenerating left hip and must undertake more than an hour of walking in the morning to become fully mobile. Her blood sugar levels are at the high normal range – not diabetic, yet, her doctors say, but getting toward Type II diabetes. She has an enlarged spleen and an enlarged and fatty liver and she suffers from sleep apnea, a condition where her airway becomes obstructed when she sleeps, cutting off air flow and periodically choking her. Surprisingly, her blood pressure and cholesterol levels remain fine. But as her husband Paul Buttery says, that's for now. "She's fairly healthy, but how long will that last?" he says. Her surgeon, Dr. Tallal Zeni, says Buttery's excessive weight is life-threatening. "If she doesn't lose weight, there's a high risk of other medical problems all coming together to shorten her lifespan." A person with a BMI of 40, where morbid obesity starts, is more than two and a half times more likely to die than someone with a healthy BMI. Obesity has been linked to various cancers, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and depression. Buttery's fight with weight began in childhood and, after the birth of her first daughter 11 years ago, it slowly climbed, hitting its peak of 399 pounds this September. Since then, her life has increasingly been affected by her weight. "If you go to a friend's house, you think, `Okay, what can I sit on that won't break?' You worry about fitting through the turnstiles in stores. At restaurants, you can't sit in a booth. When you get into somebody's car, you pray to God the seatbelt is going to fit." No longer able to fit into airline seatbelts, even with the belt extension, Buttery turned to bus travel with her family a few years ago. But even that proved uncomfortable. Buttery spent hours unable to urinate on a 13-hour trip to Cincinnati in 2003 because she couldn't fit into the bathroom at the back of the bus. One option was surgery to reduce her stomach to a pouch that holds just under an ounce of food. But the decision wasn't made easily. First, she says, she worked very hard to lose the weight on her own. In the past five years alone, Buttery has joined the Weight Watchers program on four occasions and lost varying amounts each time. With the help of a personal trainer, with whom she worked for a year, Buttery managed to lose 32 pounds. Lifting weights, walking on the treadmill, counting her points, Buttery was moving in the right direction, says GoodLife Fitness trainer Shelly McNamee. "But her emotional attachment to food and the extreme stress that she was under in her life kept sending things out of whack," McNamee says. She was upset to hear Buttery had gained back the weight she'd lost, plus another 30-odd pounds since they stopped working together a year ago. Gaining back the lost weight, and then some, is typical for most dieters and often a key factor in how people manage to sink further into obesity, says Zeni, who performed Buttery's three-hour surgery at St. Mary Mercy Hospital. "With traditional medical weight loss, we see successful, long-term weight loss in just 1 to 2 per cent of patients," he says. "But with this surgery, we have an 80 per cent success rate five to 10 years out." But there are risks. The laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass – the kind of stomach-reducing surgery recommended for Buttery – has a fatality rate of one in 200, the risk of bowel leakage and potentially fatal blood clots, and a six-week recovery time. "It's not a surgery one should go into lightly," Zeni says. "But for people who are trying to lose weight and have other medical problems, it's the only way to get the weight off and keep it off." Zeni stresses it is not a magic bullet. "You've got to be committed to it for the long-term," he says. "Everybody is going to lose weight for the first year and a half (on average, 70 per cent of the excess weight is lost by this point), but you want it to be successful over a lifetime." For many, Zeni says, dieting and exercise alone just can't get people to where they want to be. "Once you get to a level of morbid obesity, for whatever reasons – genetics, metabolic rate, appetite – maintaining the weight loss is just unsustainable." That was Buttery's story. Now recovering at home from her operation, she says she saw surgery as her only way out. After having no trouble sticking to her diet and exercise plans for weeks and sometimes months on end, Buttery would find something in her life would go wrong and her fitness regimen would begin to unwind. "Any time I get stressed, that's what I do. I eat," she says. "And nine times out of 10, I don't even realize I'm doing it. I'd just go to the fridge and I'd just start grazing." It also hasn't helped having a husband who is a professional chef and loved to "love her with food," and thinks she looks no different than the day he met her when she was 17, Buttery says. Food produces a euphoric haze for her, like a drug, she says. "But food is the one thing you can't take away. You don't need alcohol to live, or drugs or cigarettes. But you can't not eat." Meanwhile, some people in Buttery's life feel she's taking the "easy way out." They point to such high-profile gastric bypass patients, like singer Carnie Wilson, who have gained back a surprising amount of weight given the medically reduced size of their stomachs. Zeni says this can be a result of the stomach being stretched out again by food, by the connection between the stomach pouch and intestines stretching out to accommodate more food or because of other unknown factors. "Some people are eating 1,000 calories a day after the surgery and they are still not losing, even when the pouch has not stretched," he says. "So there's more to it than we know at this time." Ten per cent of patients will gain back about one-third of the weight they initially lost, while another 10 per cent will gain back more than that, Zeni says. "It's not 100 per cent. But compared to traditional medical weight loss, it's really excellent. Ultimately, those who are successful still maintain less than 1,400 calories a day and (continue to) exercise." According to a 2004 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, gastric bypass surgery cures diabetes in 77 per cent of cases, cures or improves high blood pressure in 78 per cent of patients and ends sleep apnea for 86 per cent of patients, Zeni says. Buttery approached the Ontario health ministry last fall to get it to pay for her to have the surgery in the United States. Waiting lists to have the surgery in Canada are, for certain surgeries, several years long. Ultimately, Buttery's stomach will be able to hold about two to three ounces of food at time. But she says she's not worried about how she will cope when life gets difficult and she simply can't eat a whole box of chocolates, as she had in the past. "I've been reading a book on food addiction and I've got a support group I can go to in Barrie," she says. Between that, the four hours of nutritional counselling she received through Zeni's office and the help of her husband, who has vowed to cook up healthy foods from now on, Buttery says she's got the support she needs. She removed some serious stressors in her life, she says. Worry that she's set a bad example for her daughters has also fuelled her drive to make this work, Buttery says. "I've got to stop the cycle." For now, she's focused on how much fun she'll have with her family. "I'll be able to go horseback riding and swimming," she says. "I've got pages of stuff I've not been able to do in years. I haven't been able to go on a roller-coaster ride in years. I used to be a real roller-coaster junkie."

You bet it's real. I know several people who are now alcoholics. We are used to stuffing our face instead of facing feelings. You should consider seeing a therapist now, rather than later. It would be better to learn to cope rather than a year from now, having all your credit cards maxed out, etc.

My choices of addiction are very limited and that is why I think that I still cling to the food thing. Alcohol, not predisposed to it and don't even think about it. I will have a drink on rare occasions to be sociable. Shopping, haven't lost enough weight to want to buy many new things, plus I have a closet full just waiting for the lbs to fall. And I live with a pack rat husband so I do not need any more junk. Gambling---way to sensible with money, plus witnessed firsthand the devistation on self and family. Sex---post menopausal..enough said. What else is there? I have become attached to this and other WLS boards out of necessity and for recreational purposes. I need to become addicted to self improvement. That is going to involve exercise and I find that impossible to wrap my head around.

My nurse from my general practitioners office told me that I would end up a drug addict or an alcoholic! I was absolutely floored! Needless to say every time I go in for a checkup since surgery I make sure to make a comment like....well still not on any meth thank you! Lol Some people can be really rude and insensitive to other people! Grrrrrrrr!

Okay guys & gals - your turn to talk to me again..... day 2 of pre-op diet, and have given up coffee, alcohol, carbs, sugar all in one hit - stupid, stupid girl!!! Am having some severe withdrawals at the mo, feels similar to when I gave up smoking 9 years ago........................ Did I mention that I am so damn intelligent that I timed this with school holidays!!!!!!!!aaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhh................. bloo dy children!!!! Am starting to feel better already - it must be the extreme punishment I am inflicting on my keyboard - kinda soothing!!! How did everyone else cope with the first few days?? tah

This whole idea of cheats doesn't really sit well with me. I do eat 'unnecessary' foods, but just in very small amounts - small enough for me to still lose weight. I can eat 5 or 6 chocolate buttons without wanting to binge on them. For me, if there are forbidden foods, I feel like I'm 'on a diet' and that mindset has always failed for me in the past...I have a tendency to rebel! I know my Achilles heel is alcohol, so that is what I avoid, apart from special social occasions. It's a balance that seems to be working for me...if it doesn't in the future, then I'll change it! ps When I do drink alcohol on special occasions, I am extremely naughty and then I unexpectedly lose weight the next day - I bet it's dehydration! 😲😀

I drink beer. I just love all beer. I’m not an alcoholic I just want beer from time to time.

Yesterday was my birthday and my "nutrition" for the day included a protein shake in the morning.....and then alcohol. No food. Because I'm really smart. (not)

I love me some wine and partake about every other weekend. I read an article today on WebMD that said alcohol calories are the worst calories for belly fat. It said that your liver is so busy trying to burn off the alcohol that it doesn't have time to use your fat stores. Uggh. Still, a girl's gotta have some fun every now and then. I did go out last weekend and imbibe just a little too much and found myself in a situation where I was worried I was going to throw up. For lapbanders it's a hige no-no. I'm going to be much more careful in the future. I did enjoy the laxative side effect the next day, though.

I beleive I do have Rosacea, because so many of the symptoms are the same with the flushing and the way my skin responds to foods/alcohol, but I have discovered that my recent skin problems are due to eczema. Self-diagnosed, of course! It started several months ago when I developed "pimples" or little white bumps on my left eyelid. Someone said "it's eczema" or a form of it, and I went "hmmmm" and then the small patches of raised red scaley skin started popping up on my face below my eye, at the edge of the eye socket bone. At first I was dabbing Aquaphor on it, but it just kept moving around. So, I got my daughter's Derma-Smoothe (RX medication for atopic dermatisis/eczema) and Man-oh-Man, has my skin responded! It looks better than it has in years now. I still have 3 bumps left on my eyelid. I'm hoping they fade soon. But, this just might be why my skin liked the Olive Oil so much. The top layer was just scaley dry...eczema. Whoda thunk? Just thought I'd update! :kiss2:

Hi, I have rosecea. I didn't get it till I was in my 40's. I am 50 now. My mom also has it. Previous to that I was a sun worshiper, I could drink socially and never had any acne or pimple problems. It is only on my cheeks not my nose. Metrocream worked for a long time and then stopped working (not the gel-the gel is drying). Usually Metrocream/gel is the first round or protocol. Yes it is a try it and see if it works kind of problem. Then you are usually put on some sort of antibiotic. You now officially have "sensitive" skin. Be wary of alcohol, steam (absolutely no saunas or steam facials), the sun, and being really hot. If you aren't happy with this dermotologist find another opinion but don't mess with the rosecea if indeed it is the right diagnosis. It is has fickle as the band. It can come, get worse, get better, dissapear and show up again. Or it can dissapear entirely. But while you have it-take care of it. You can break out in pimples, have scaly patches, turn bright red if overwork or have a drink. At the worst it can affect your eyes. I don't mean to scare you-you won't go blind but it can affect your eyesight by giving you "dry eyes". At this point when the metrocream stopped working I was put on a very low dose of antibiotic 3 x a day100mg of Doryx. Worked like a charm but did not cure. There are other creams out there now, yes you do have to try it and see. Everyone is different. Currently I am using "Rosac-cream" and am doing well. And yes it did affect my eyes, I had to change my glasses perscription and am now on Restasis an eye drop for dry eyes. I went to the top opthamologist in one of the top eye hospitals-Massachusetts Ear and Eye...the cause of my dry eye syndrome is the rosecea. I do have some broken blood vessels on my cheeks which breaks my heart since I had gorgeous skin. I will be getting the laser treatments. I am very careful when I blow dry my hair, I live with sunblock, drink very rarely and never ever get steam treatments. The worse breakout I ever had was a "rosecea special facial" at a spa and they didn't even use steam. It took 2 months to recover. My dermotologist is of the opinion of "less is more". Keep your face clean with a gentle soap, put your metrocream or whatever brand on your face after you shower or wake up then after you get dress use light makeup/base. I also use a drug store product for a face cream Eucerin Redness relief. I use the night cream for day cream. I change my eyeliner and masacara monthly. Similiar to the band-don't mess with rosecea and it won't mess with you and also similiar to the band-everyone is different. Be aware it may go away for a while. And while some things may feel good (olive oil, facials) and it looks like it went away...true rosecea needs to be treated medically. Hope you find what works for you very soon. Good luck

You’ve described my behaviour around sugar and processed carbs. I’m a recovering alcoholic- 10 years this time round and 22 years before with a miserable 4 year relapse in between. my thought processes, constant internal arguments, obsessive behaviour, reaction to relapse are identical to how I was with alcohol. But sugar is harder to avoid than alcohol. So I hear you: I knew wls would not cure these issues but I hoped the break from processed food/sugar would make it easier. It didn’t. I do intermittent fasting now - as much to rest my poor pancreas as for any other reason. Fasting is easy for me. I wish I could give up food altogether and take a tablet! I’m on a wait list for help with my disorders eating- I’m hopeful! cw: 140lbs lw - 1 year post wls 120lb, goal weight 130lbs. surgery Dec 16. and all my friends say my cw is fine. It’s only me who thinks I’m fat. A friend told me that at 120lbs I looked like an hiv or cancer patient. I’m sick enough to feel secretly pleased I got that thin…

OA does not have a therapist. It is a peer therapy group based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I was there for 3 years about 15 years ago, before any thought of bariatruc surgery. It was a nice place to meet people and they were very supportive, but the group I attended was very judgemental. Im Not sure someone going through surgery would be very welcome.

Well, i have figured out that if i eat a large breakfast im not as hungry and i dont snack during the day time. But i was kinda bad today....i am not going to be bad anymore tho! :fish:I am fully comitted to the band and that is how its going to have to be.:thumbs_up: My mother on the other hand sent my grandma a text message saying that she was hungry and didnt have any money. So who gets to send my mother money...ME.:cursing: As much as she fucks up and doesnt take care of her responsibilities i still cant tell my mother i wont give her money for food when she says shes hungry and doesnt have any money to buy something to eat. :confused5:Intervention just doesnt work in my case, i dont have any family except for my mom(who is a alcoholic/drug user), grandmother and my aunt (who is a alcoholic). Today i was thinking i dont think i have even met my real mother bc the only mother i have ever known has always been on drugs and alcohol.:smile2: So how do you tell family no when we are all that each other has. :angry_smile:ERRRR i wish they would both get better! Mandi Jo Today I ate: -3 scrambled eggs, 3 turkey bacon, 1 wheat tortilla and 1 f/f peach yogurt -apples and peanut butter -2 burritos from Taco Bell -Protein Drink

Hello! I am 20 months post-op. I have been maintaining for a 13 months. I can drink fluids just as I did pre-op. I get grief from other sleevers cause I drink sparkling Water all day long. It has not and will not stretch my sleeve!! But to answer your question about alcohol-- I had my first beer 4-5 months post op. And have had 2-3 beers per week regularly since the 9 month mark. On my Birthday last year I may have had 6 beers over the course of 4 hours hehehe... So once in a while you can splurge, and I have maybe 2-3 beers on Fridays with my fiance and we share an appetizer. I am normal, and that's what I love about the sleeve. I do make good choices mostly throughout the week and I work out. Just wait until your healed, and if you can do it in moderation, and maintain your weight loss.... why not?

Nice! I travel and entertain clients for a living, so I'm dreading the change from the band. The band restricts me from eating healthy foods (lean meats make me really sick) but doesn't do anything for fatty/slippery foods, rich desserts, and especially alcohol. I like your approach to daily eating though - gives me some hope.