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AmyJ, Hope you are feeling better. You have lost 21# :thumbup1:? !!!!! Hang in there! TexasT, OK have to ask; I too am a tea-alcoholic( just regular Lipton no fancy stuff for me)! Did you switch to decaf??:smile: I am weaning myself off of regular and miss my caffeine. Besides sugar it is the only "vice", if can call it that, I have left. How did the port removal go? I have a realize port and am concerned because it is attached with surgical clips not sutured in place. Getting my unfill next week, concerned I will gain too much weight back. already up 5 # my jeans are getting tight!!! :scared0: No way going to buy a bigger size... D.

Well let me comment on how I feel! Cigarettes are different from weed along with alcohol. No place in anything that I have read you cant smoke weed. Unless you are her nurse or doctor STOP BEING HER JUDGE AND JURY! If you didnt have **** to say but bs then you need to keep **** to yourself. Things you missed in elementary school+

I agree this is a serious surgery and if you can't stop smoking pot they should disqualify you from surgery, my Dr wouldn't even do it on people that smoke cigarettes. Just like alcohol it is not recommended anywhere you read. DaleCruse you aren't the Bariatric police I can comment any way I feel. Sent from my N9519 using BariatricPal mobile app

This is mostly out of curiosity. But i know you're much more likely to get drunk quicker with alcohol after bariatric surgery but what about vomiting from alcohol? Do you puke your brains out like a person normally would from excess alcohol consumption? Or does that not happen since you're consuming a much smaller quantity of alcohol. Like I have no idea if you could end up puking excessively from 6 oz of alcohol even with impaired digestion

I used a q-tip with alcohol on them and they came off easily - just dont use too much

Many people actually find their tastes change after their bypass anyway and a lot of foods become too sweet for their tastes. It becomes a lot easier to avoid the sugars to begin with than it is with the band because the band doesn't take away the cravings one bit. The truth is there is no way of knowing if you will be a dumper until the surgery is done. I am not a dumper but the sugar alcohol substitutes make me sick, which is also common. You're also more likely to dump on liquids because they go right through you and overwhelm your intestines quickly, which is the whole basis of dumping. So a smaller amount of liquid sugar may cause dumping while a larger amount of sugar bound in fruit may not. There are variables. The glycemic index of a food, which is a measure of how quickly the sugar in something is released into your body, is really useful if you a dumper. Raw carrots and cooked carrots have essentially the same amount of sugar in them except cooked carrots release their sugar very quickly and can cause sugars to spike. Same with boiled vs. mashed potatoes. Steer away from foods that release their sugars quickly and that can help in the dumping situation.

When I went in for my surgery the girl in the hospital bed next to me had changed clothes into her gown and laid down for her pre-op routine. She had put on 5lbs since she had seen the doctor last and swore up and down she lost weight on her liquid diet. The doctor sent her home and said "we will reschedule your surgery for when you want to take this more seriously." I guess what I'm saying is don't go overboard. I'm two months post op (70lbs lost) and I've dabbled with things like ice cream, Taco Bell, chick fil a, whataburger, alcohol, etc. You must realize your relationship with food moving forward is not a "never again" type scenario but is most certainly a "in extreme moderation" one.

Rubbing alcohol!

alcohol has affected my weight loss, I'm definitely limiting myself to 1 day at week. after the surgery I was feeling depressed and found myself drinking 3 - 4 times per week, n 9 months Ive only lost 60lbs. which makes me sad to know, i let my emotions take over.

I can only imagine. I've been doing my low carb for two weeks. My surgery isn't for another 41 days but my doctor doesn't require any type of liquid diet, before or after. But from what I read, it's still hard to go through once we're sleeved. We only need a few bites to nourish our bodies, but five times that to nourish our souls. I guess that's why it's called soul food . Time to find something else that doesn't revolve around food, becoming a raging alcoholic, or turning to street drugs to fill that void .

@@FinallyFit50s - good list, plus guys near your age understand gravity wins, so relax, you look great and you are healthy. I'm not kidding that this is a number's game. It's not personal. The search means you have to almost ruthlessly cut lose people who don't match your criteria. I don't mean careless hurt people, I mean you have to stay focused on what's important to you so you are not distracted by the enabling alcoholic who worms his way into your life because you felt sorry for him (See http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/352466-they-seemed-sanedating-horror-stories/). Its a process, it can be fun if you let it. It can be rewarding if you are so blessed. But I am always humbled by the reality that you have to be open for the blessings that fall into your lap unexpectedly. Somehow the universe seems to reward our efforts in unexpected ways.

I understand where the OP is coming from. But here's my take on it. My parents had seven children. We all had the same general childhood food options (my father's hunting and vegetable garden and my mother's cooking) and the same access to general child-rearing, medical and philosophical ideological applications. Yet we didn't turn out identically. One was a childhood diabetic. Four became heavy smokers. Two became alcoholics. Six didn't go to college, the seventh got a Ph.D. Two were blonde, one was a redhead, and four were brunettes. Two were tall, two were short, and the rest were of average height. One has a slight / petite build, and the other six are fairly muscular -- two were quite athletic. I was the only one who was overweight during childhood. By the fourth grade I weighed 100 pounds. I was the heaviest girl or boy that year in my class. In high school I weighed 165-170. In college I got up to 185. In my 20s and 30s I finally became "slim," but my weight fluctuated dramatically -- from 120 to 185. By my 40s my highest weight was 205. By my 50s my highest weight was 225. In my 60s my highest weight (just before WLS) was 235. During all those years I dieted "successfully," losing and gaining weight over and over again. And until my siblings hit their late 50s or early 60s I was still the only one of us with any kind of weight problem at all. I don't know all the medical / physiological / psychological reasons that combined to produce the obesity that my sibs didn't suffer from. But very clearly I had challenges they didn't have. I tried my hardest to overcome my overweight. But, in the OP's words, I "failed" to do so. For over 60 years, dramatic diets didn't work. Weight watchers didn't work. Exercise didn't work. Diet pills didn't work. Self-shaming didn't work. Trying harder and harder and over and over again didn't work. Honestly, the only thing, at age 68, that finally worked was becoming so unhealthy that I became more immobilized than I'd ever been. It was crystal clear to me that without some kind of dramatic intervention -- and doing something very different than I'd ever done before -- I would turn into an agoraphobic, chair-bound, miserable person and turn my husband into my caregiver. That was not a future I was willing to accept. That possible future was dire enough to motivate me to have WLS. Thus far, it has turned out to be exactly what I needed. It has been a wonderful success. My knee replacement surgery has been deemed no longer necessary. I can walk 3-4 miles without rest at 3+ miles an hour. I can stand for hours without sitting down. I am no longer agoraphobic. I am satisfied by how much I eat and physically nourished by it. And I am definitely not a failure. I just had not found "the right medicine" to treat and resolve my condition. That's how I'm looking at it -- at least for now.

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey. The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself. Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$. This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser. Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't. Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

Hi - I was banded August 15th. I agree with Restless. Alcohol is empty calories. I truly have enjoy my beer and wine and vodka...etc over the years. . Alcohol, in addition to the love of food, are the main reasons I am obese. The band is a tool and a reminder that we need to change our old habits. I know that I can drink a few beers, but ....I am trying to lose weight. So far, I haven't endulged... I am sure I will, but for now, I am dedicated to lose weight. The band isn't a magic wand, we need to work at it. Try to limit all calories including limiting the booze. This is from a person who has loved his libations for years.....Good Luck..

I was banded on the 23rd september, so its been one week. I feel great no pain almost feel back to normal. Im still on liquids and my on a fact sheet i recieved from my doctor it says i shouldnt drink alcohol for one month after surgery. Im wondering does anyone know what will happen if i do a have a few drinks? Is this the same information that everyone else has recieved? any insight will be great!!! thanks

Alcohol can impair healing, it relaxes inhibitions and if you overdo you could become nauseated...and vomiting before the band heals is a no no. Plus many of us are on a restricted diet for the first 4 weeks (liquids, full liquids, mushies) and drinking on an empty stomach really isn't good for you, especially post op. It's only 4 weeks...(some docs require much longer!) so I'd say just tough it out. And remember alcohol is empty calories...while you are trying to lose, they aren't really a good choice (but you know that!) :biggrin:

Exactly how I felt!! So weird you used the alcoholic reference. Once I came to the realization that if my mother had an option to have surgery which would have been a tool for her to fight her addiction to alcohol I knew she would have done it in a heartbeat. So I had no more doubts about whether I should proceed with my surgery or not.

All you really need is a good quality high protein powder to make your own shakes if you like high protein is important while limiting carbs and sugars preop! Also if you can start to cut out sodas and alcohol it will help a lot.

Had myslef another fill last week. I'm now at 4ml in a 5 ml band. Really do feel the restriction now and I'm enjoying it. I hit the big 10kg loss today which I am very excited about. Here's is an interesting thing I learnt this week - if you have a couple of glasses of wine or any alcohol before eating the restriction will be less because you are relaxed. I tried it out and it's true - bugger it!!

Welcome back, stay and don't leave - even when you are back at the place you want to be. I'm 3 years post op, still not at the place I want to be weight wise, some gain too. I can see how alcohol can be the new 'friend' and I purposely keep an eye on that as there are others who have reported on here how so easily it replaced their friend food. What is your plan of attack, are you going to go Protein drinks for a few days, log using myfitnesspal, low carb, no alcohol? You have done this before and you know what works for you. I need this site, I lurk more than I post but I pick up valuable tips and advice and there is a group of people I can call on if I need help. There is the vets part of the site but I'm a bit unsure on what the conditions are for posting there. I think you have to be so many months post op and have a certain number of postings. Vets post there about their struggles and successes. Take it one day at a time, we can't change what we did yesterday, we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow but we can plan and alter things during today so that by the end of it we can say to ourselves "it might not be perfect but I tried my best".

They seem to be concerned about you and your health and with good reason. NIH has sponsored a large study of weight loss surgery and alcoholism. The results are that people who have weight loss surgery are 50% more likely to be alcoholics than they were before surgery. The results were particularly bad for younger people. The increase is startling to me. Presumably, your drinking this time was a one-off, but it doesn't hurt to be aware of the dangers. http://www.nih.gov/n...12/niddk-18.htm

I got RNY 04/2017. HW: 226, LW: 150, CW: 195 I did all of the right things until I had transfer addiction in 2019 and started drinking daily. It escalated and I was a full blown alcoholic. I have now been sober a year and I’m depressed. I’m almost back to my pre surgery weight, I’m working my butt off to lose the weight and it’s not coming off. I never feel well and my chest always hurts. I always have heartburn and I’m always hungry. I need help so I went to a new surgeon the other day about a potential revision and she wants me to see a nutritionist and get a endoscopy. I got my results from my upper GI testing today and there’s NOTHING wrong. I feel like everything is wrong and I’m not okay. I’m on antidepressants, I’m now sober, I’m exercising and eating properly but I’m still fat and I hate myself so much for it. I feel like the biggest failure at 30 years old and it makes me so sad. Has anyone else been able to lose regain?

I was blessed to have people who supported (and paided) for me to get this tool...gastric sleeve in August 2009. I want to say it here and now, do not step away from this forum when you are feeling good and that all is done. Do not let the embarrassment, shame or even despair keep you away AND if you are new to the forum, please be aware it can happen and always, ALWAYS come back. So here is my deal, I have gained 57 lb. back...totally walked away thinking I've got this and then life continues to happen. I would occasionally come back to the forum; however, was embarrassed because there were discussions about putting 5 or even 10 lbs. back on which made me feel that I really really messed up and feeling like a major failure. So, this is my way of overcoming my first obstacle...my pride AND we all need to talk about the reality WHEN it happens. Now, I'm not saying it is going to happen to everyone...truly, I am only saying WHEN so for those of us it does happen to we have a place to come back and not be humiliated or called out. Does that make sense??? I use food to deal with stress, anxiety and all that other junk...LOL. I want to put a caution out there...I had the food sort of under control and then have come to the realization that alcohol was now my new friend and over a period of the last 3 years the weight started coming back on and then guess what, I noticed one day my eating habits were right back where I started. I am grateful for the ability to have an area to come and begin again. It is my hopes to not scare anyone, I'm not a negative nelly either! Most of my friends see me as being a very positive person and yes, that is pressure as well....LOL. Today, I am behaving like I had my surgery yesterday. I'm scared, cautious and freaked out about what I will put in my body...LOL. The beauty is I know I can do this...one sip at a time. Okay...enough for now, have tears streaming down my face, laughing and glad to be back here....

1. Don't worry about losing weight after the first surgery pounds fall off. It usually takes three months and several fills after surgery for the physician to fill the band enough such that it gives you really great restriction. Many people lose 20 lbs right after surgery, and put back on 5 or 10 lbs before the band has been filled enough. Those pounds will definately come off again. 2. Stay away from alcoholic beverages, they are enjoyable and a source of comfort, but it will significantly slow your weight gain. 3. I can no longer enjoy a beer. The carbonation is such that it prevents me from eating anything on my plate. 4. Don't view the lap band as the magic band. You still have to help it work by changing some bad habits. Here are my bad habits: alcoholic beverages, popcorn and eating while watching the television. The lap band does not prohibit my intake of either alcohol or popcorn (for that matter, anything that is crispy and crunchy I can still consume in large quantities). Therefore, I must keep the beverages and popcorn out of my house. The lap band does not prevent me from watching television. in summary, if you had bad behaviors before the lap band, you will have bad behaviors after the lap band. 5. The lap band does work!! Even if you are a horrible cheater like me. While my weight loss is not as fast as I want, I have pretty much done everything to cheat it, but I have still lost weight, and am not gaining it. Want to know anymore?

I am sorry but I wrote, " 50% more likely to be alcoholics than they were before surgery." That is correct and does not mean that 50% of weight loss patients become alcoholics. Sorry if it could be interpreted the way you did.