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I saw a news program that did a brain scan on people and how sugar effected some people and how it showed up in others... There are those of us out there that when we get a dose of sugar it acts like drugs to a heroin addict! People who don't have an addiction can never understand sweetie. Just like you can sympathize with a person who is addicted to alcohol, but you don't know their struggle unless you've been there. You do what is right for YOU!!! I am a firm believer in "Know your limitations!"

I think it's like a jello shot with cottage cheese instead of alcohol???

Obviously the effects of stress are detrimental to even the healthiest of people, but I am dealing with insurmountable stress lately and the effect it is having on my health (especially) since the surgery. I have found that my appetite is either gone or my brain tortures me with visions of choclate dipped bacon covered cake! I have also noticed that in times of stress I can physically feel my pouch hurt, I am worried I am developing an ulcer...the point of this rant is to ask of anyone knows the risks associated with stress in regards to being so fresh from surgery or even stress relief tips? In the past I have dealt with self injury, drug/alcohol abuse, and of course the go to EATING. Clearl I have overcome all of these negative coping mechanisms. It bubble baths, candles and music just isn't cutting to to tonight...I Ben tried some comfort food (rice pudding) help!? Sent from my iPod touch using RNYTalk

I need to attend a work-related cocktail party tomorrow night. I'm not concerned about the booze part---drinking alcohol just doesn't fit in with my diet plan, so I will stick with my Water..but I wanted to bring something that I could eat (who knows what other stuff other people will bring), and I'm on the soft food stage. So, I pureed a can of cannellini Beans with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh thyme, garlic, and ground walnuts. Everyone else can spread it on crackers, but I will eat a few tablespoons, as is...Yum...put it in the fridge so the flavors can meld, then I will bring it to the party at room temperature tomorrow.

The band is only a tool. It's still up to you to use it right. Remember the basics. Hi Protein, eat slowly... stop eating when full... and then don't go back. Don't drink while eating. Keep the fried food down. Not only are they high calories, but they can slip through the band easier, allowing you to eat more. No sodas. Ice Cream is a no-no... The band might like it, but the calories don't. Same with alcohol... Drinking won't hurt the band, but it's high calorie. Like I said... Go back to the basics,and hang in there.

I understand your struggle because I too struggle with losing weight. Check this: I'm post 1 year out of lapband surgery and I have lost 35 pounds--but I've hit a snag. I blame myself for this, but I did not stay continuous with my eating and exercising. I started back doing the exercising and eating right, keeping the food journals, etc. Now I'm back on track. Now, I'm not going to lie, I may have a few naughty things at the end of the week. But, as long as I stay motivated by exercising and doing the things I need to do and don't go overboard, I will continue to see results. I am a binge eater. That's why I have the band. Someone mention earlier about the psychology of why we overeat and getting to the bottom of the deeper issue. My issue has always been insecurity and shyness. I hope I'm not being long winded but the bottom line is I have issues. Some of us have issues. It's probably the same issues that follow people who do drugs and alcohol. I was a chain smoker and a binge drinker. Hell, quitting (praying) those two things is a something else. And you have to applaud yourself for that. Take in all the victories. I'm in college and I'm taking a class in Addiction. I should have earlier, but, better now than later. Off the dais!

Seems like the jello shots would be the best way to drink alcohol. I'll try to have some on hand next party we have...

My surgeon said no alcohol of any type for a full year post op...but that's difficult to follow when there are so many family celebrations. The major concerns are the empty calories you have in the wine or other alcohol...and definitely less tolerance for the amount of alcohol you consume. Last month I attended a party and had 2 Jello shots over a 2 hour span of time. I'm glad I did not need to drive...before the band this would not have affected me...post band, I was not safe to drive. Definitely avoid any carbonation...your band does not like carbonation...

Hey guys, can anyone tell me about alcohol and wine with lapband ? before getting banded I would only drink on special occasions just a glass or 2.i have not drank since i got banded,will it be diffrent after being banded? can any one tell me ? i am going on vacation sept,7th to hawaii for our 1st wedding anniversary and would like to have a drink or 2 .and info would be appreciated! thanks tonyann

My name is Morgan and I am 22 years old. I have been overweight all my life. I grew up where we would go to burger king about 4 nights a week and on the way to school we would get McDonalds for Breakfast. Once I hit 200 pounds at a very young age I kept telling myself I wouldn't gain anymore weight. Then I would get to 225 and tell myself I would never get to 250. Then I hit 250 and said I would never hit 300 pounds. The huge BUT (not pun intended lol) is I never did anything about the whole losing weight thing. I kept eating the way I did. I was so self conscious and had zero self esteem. I ended up turning to drugs, alcohol, sex, and self harm. I have come a very long way in this journey already. I met the most amazing, caring, honest, trustworthy man and I quite the drugs and alcohol and self harm. We got engaged and set our wedding date and then found out we were expecting We kept our wedding date though because I knew if we pushed it off until after our son was born, then who knows how long it would be before we could actually plan the wedding and get married. We got married May 14th, 2011 while I was 8 months pregnant and it was incredible. I loved being pregnant while I got married. The feeling is indescribable because yes it was a commitment day for myself and my now husband but also to our unborn child. The pregnancy was a rough one and I was on bed rest from 14 weeks until about 30 weeks. Normally during pregnancy you gain weight but I ended up losing 40 pounds which was ok because I went into the pregnancy at 370. After my son was born on June 10th, 2011 I weighed about 330. Over the last year I have gained all that weight back and am now up to 374 I am sick of being overweight! I have tried diet plan after diet plan and I get so frustrated when I know I am doing good on the diet and exercising but I would only lose a little bit of weight. I want to raise my son with him knowing how to eat healthy. I want to be healthy for my son and husband and obviously myself so I can live longer and be able to enjoy doing activities with them instead of losing my breath after walking up a small flight of stairs. My aunt had gastric bypass done in 200 and has lost over 100 pounds and has kept it off. After seeing my aunts success, my mother decided to get the surgery done in 2003. She has lost over 150 pounds and has maintained a healthy weight since then. I have been wanting to get this surgery done for a long time now there were just things holding me back. 1. I didnt have the insurance or out of pocket money to get it done. 2. I was mentally not ready to get it done. Now I know it is the right time and I am ready to jump in and make the commitment. I am ready to change my life for the better by starting fresh. Eating healthy. Exercising. Taking up softball and hip hop dance. I am determined!!! I finally have insurance that is going to cover my surgery and I could honestly not be happier! I have my first pre-op appointment September 5th to meet with the surgery center, psychologist and dietitian. I cannot explain how motivated I am and 110% ready! I will be starting weight watchers on September 1st so I can get in to the routine of things before surgery. I have an amazing support system that will help me through my life long journey. I also have been diagnosed with PCOS so it has been very hard to conceive. Our son was a miracle baby, due to having PCOS and not having a period or ovulating for more than a year. Having this surgery will hopefully improve my PCOS and eventually after my surgery and weight loss we will be able to try for baby number two. I also know that this surgery will improve my depression, self esteem, self confidence and make me enjoy and respect life life more. I am on here to look for advice, support, input, similar stories and make friends. I am looking forward to starting my new and healthy life Here is a recent family picture when we went to Yellowstone at my highest weight of 374. The second picture is of my mother at my sons 1st birthday in June. She used to weigh the same as me and got the gastric bypass done and is now in her target weight range, healthy and happier than ever. It is very inspiring!

I was having lunch with another individual, who is currently having succes with changing the way she eats and exercise, and she was enjoying a slice of cheesecake and she says "everything in moderation". Now, she is not aware that I'm in the process of getting WLS, but I did respond to her by saying " maybe for you but not me", which led to a heated debate. I have a serious pet peeve. I hate, yes, I said hate, when someone tries to tell me what I'm able to do or not do. You can make assumptions, but we all know what happens when you ASS U ME! I don't do MODERATION! If I was capable of moderation, I wouldn't be more than 100 lbs overweight. I've heard the comments, opinions over the years, even I have fallen for it, "You have to have" or " you need to have", " a little can't hurt". Food is my addiction...no,that's not right, chocolate, baked goods, fast foods, etc are my addiction and it's killing me... Why should I have these things in moderation? ..... Let me put it this way... Someone suffering from alcoholism, his/hers addiction of choice is wine, would you say to her/him " a little wine in moderation?".... I'm betting you will think that person was cruel, well that's what's it's like for me. I don't do a slice of cheesecake, I eat the WHOLE cheesecake. I don't eat scoop of ice cream, I eat the WHOLE container. I don't do the combo meal, I do the combo meal with starter, supersize and dessert. Now do you get it!..... Silence.... Just have some control, willpower, you need food to live!.... ** Sigh** ... Yes, I need food to live, but do I need that time of food? .....nope....So you are going to cut out all that food for the rest of your life....gasp....yeah, it's not going to be easy and I will have some idiot,I mean well meaning individual, who will try to encourage me to "try" something....but I will have to refuse, why? The day I get over my addiction, it will be a struggle to maintain because unlike cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, people feel that it can't hurt you in moderation, so it's offered and offered, and feelings get hurt when you refuse, but I'm just one of those people where moderation does not work. Side note, I smoked cigarettes for 10 years, 2 packs a day and was a solid chain smoker. When I was given the ultimatum by partner to quit or he goes, I couldn't do it alone. I failed cold turkey, I failed the nicotine patch... What worked is a pill called Champix( in French)... I took it for 2 weeks out of the 12 weeks and I never look back. I've been a non-smoker going into 5 years. Some people can do it on their own, I need help.Words have power, I'm currently changing the way I eat for my goal is to eliminate those foods from my diet. I'm aware of the journey ahead of me. I'm aware that the lap band will not eliminate my demons. I'm aware that I will be seeing someone about my addictions and I'm aware that most society will see my use of " food addiction" an "insult" to "real" addictions but I couldn't given a rats @$&?, because moderation will kill me.

I'm 26 months out and I have a drink every so often. I never had anything to 'drink' until after I reached goal. It is definitely wasted calories. I have noticed that it takes less to feel the effects of alcohol.

Your parents pay health insurance for your health, use it to become healthy!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had done this at 19 instead of weighting lol so long!!! I'm 25 now and 60 pounds heavier and have an even more f*d up relationship with food from the extra years binge eating. I get where your dads coming from but as a recovering alcoholic I bet deep down he wishes he had some sort of surgery to make his struggle easier! But in all honesty his journey is not yours and he sounds way too controlling and frankly a little unstable. Just a tip: think through exactly how he will react when he finds out and have some professional help to deal with the turbulence that will most likely arise... Go it girl, do it, get it done and start living your life!!!!!!!!

I'd be majorly confused too. I don't think anyone here is qualified to explain your symptoms or tell you if it's OK to drink alcohol (though with everything else going on, I'd say you should pass on the alchohol for now). Yours is an awful and unique situation and I hope your doctor can guide you through this as you heal and adjust.

Well that's the gist of it at least. Apparently a huge portion of my stomach had slipped through the band months and months ago. Started vomiting blood. Had an upper endoscopy done. Was told that I had the beginnings of an ulcer. Fast forward to 8 months later, and I'm in the hospital in severe pain and living off IV fluids when the doctors tell me that the portion of my stomach that slipped through had become necrotic tissue and was basically killing me (my white blood cell count was through the roof). Long story short, they removed 75% of my damaged stomach and I'm trying to cope with this new way of eating as well as intense hunger pains if I forget to eat. Anybody wanna hit me up and explain what the hell is going on with my body? Like why I don't feel the urge to eat (and many times forget to) and then I'm suddenly hit with the most intense hunger pains I've ever felt in my life accompanied with feelings of nausea? Like why I experience dumping when I eat ice cream, but not candy? Whether or not it's safe for me to have alcohol? Just majorly confused.

@Tallysfunny - my father threatened to take me off his health insurance policy and then when that didn't scare me, he threatened my suregon. Said he'd find something to hold against him. It was my surgeon who ultimately decided that he was uncomfortable doing my surgery and denied me as a patient even after my consent forms were signed and everything. And unfortunately, I don't know if I'll ever be at peace with any decision. If I don't do it, my heath will continue a steady decline. If I go through with it and my dad finds out, my relationship with him will be at its lowest point yet. So.. I just don't know. :/ @Chitowngirl - I was also on 2000mg of Metformin, for all five years. Part of it, I was switched on and off of both the generic name (gluphenogue or something like that) and extended release on both, also. But good Lord, did that medicine tear up my stomach something awful. And after numerous bouts or nausea/vomiting on it, I'd still gain weight. I'm mighty impressive, huh? @BigGirlPanties - first of all, what a fabulous username! I do have the support of my friends and roommates. The first go around, I had my mom's support but she can't find it in her to support me this time. She has said that if I do this, she doesn't want to know anything about it. I hope that it didn't come off that my father and I have a good relationship, because we don't. We're at each other's throats all the time, especially after he stopped me from doing this the first time. He's a recovering alcoholic that firmly believes that every single problem can be solved with a twelve step program and he also firmly believes that by doing this, I'm taking the easy way out. Hell no - he's got no idea what he's talking about. @jh5497 - That's exactly what I've been thinking and I feel like if I don't do this, I'm not doing it because I want to keep my parents happy and in turn, making myself miserable. I'm really, really stuck. And I was thinking that I could do this and keep it under wraps from my dad - I'm a junior in college with an apartment by school so he doesn't see me that often. I don't think he would think anything amiss if I was losing a few (a lot?) of pounds every six/eight weeks when he saw me, right? Haha I've had a lot of time to toss this all around. Thanks so much for your replies. I have a lot to consider. Tomorrow, I'm actually going to go to a seminar for a new surgeon and see how that goes. Going to make an appointment for next week and sit down with him and get a feel for what he thinks. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping everything falls into place.

People have misunderstood me. I do not dispute that alcohol should be approached with caution post WLS, particlularly for those who were addicted to anything prior to surgery My issue is with a professional making a claim as though it is fact, and citing statistics based on estimates and opinions rather than on research. It is professionally irresponsible to do so. I am sorry to have not been clear in my earlier posts. I do tend to react strongly when people use artificial statistics and unfounded theories to scaremonger. FYI - my surgeon and my NUT recommended wine in moderation as part of a normal and healthy diet.

How many days has it been for you now? We discussed the "head hunger" that I'll have to deal with...coming face to face with whatever you used food for in the past and having to deal with it rather than eating. Stress, disappointment, etc. Guess it's like overcoming smoking, alcohol, etc. I quit those about 15 years ago. I remember how that was.

One could also argue the reason that these studies seem to center around gastric bypass patients is because gastric bypass has been around for years and in terms of studies regarding any weight loss surgery, most of the studies are on gastric bypass. The sleeve is a relatively new surgery in comparison, we still don't even have many studies available to us on the long-term effects of the gastric sleeve. Personally, I know alcohol has a much greater effect on me now than it did before my surgery. I also believe that based on initial recent findings, it is wise of surgeons and nutritionists to advise their patients of the possible risks regarding alcohol to any and all bariatric patients, regardless of surgery type. I wouldn't use the excuse of a lack of published studies specifically on gastric sleeve patients as a pass to go ahead and drink too much alcohol. Everything in moderation, my friends, everything in moderation. Be aware of what you put in your body and how your body responds. Over-indulgence is never a good practice. Sent from my iPad using VST

I don't think it is nonsense. I think the reason why any data has come out is based on the fact that the lapband and gastric bypass have been around longer. There is very little data about the long term affects of the sleeve since it is still very new as a means of WLS. Hence why most of the articles are revering to the gastric bypass. However, it is an interesting correlation since many on this site alone have expressed a new found addiction to shopping. And there have been studies about people going from alcoholism to other things, so the argument can be reasonably made to suggest why not WLS too. We have addictions to food, why can there be no transference. All and all, I agree with IrishEyes that they were merely trying to share information with fellow Sleevers and give food for thought (pardon the pun). I know that it will keep me on guard once I get sleeved since alcoholism does run in my family. So I, for one, say thank you.

When I mentioned what my nutritionist said, I did not mean to upset anyone. I, personally, found it interesting and helpful. Alcohol addiction is very strong in my family and though I have done well so far in life with not having any issues, I appreciated any possible red flag, just in case. IF, by any chance (or any %), my risk increases after this surgery I appreciated the information. And that was my only intent in posting, to be helpful. Thank-you to those who posted the links. I found them to be good reads. I am on here to give/receive support and I am truly sorry if I upset anyone. I had only the best of intentions.

You need the two weeks off from work so leave the date as is. You should be fine to get around.for the superbowl. At six weeks post op, you will be on a regular diet, but nutritious and small quantities. Keep ready to drink protein in your room as a back up to make sure you get in your 64 grams. If you feel the diet options are not there with traditional football game food on the menu, you can always opt for a small grilled chicken salad. Remember, no bread, alcohol, or desserts. If asked about your diet choices and quantities eaten, just say that eating healthier is your New Years Resolution.

Again, those articles focus on bypass surgery. Alcohol is absorbed and metabolised differently for bypass patients than sleeve patients. None of them cite a specific or comprehensive study or research into cross addiction in sleeve patients. The cross over addiction theory is a theory. It isnt a fact. Even if it is possible, and it very likely is possible, you need a primary addiction. I know I was NOT addicted to food (or anything else) prior to being sleeved. So the risks for me are so low as to be insignificant.

Here are some articles that support why the NUT was trying to caution their WLS patient about the issue of addiction transference. http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120611/10250/gastric-bypass-addiction-transfer.htm http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/features/11622-weight-loss-surgery-and-the-new-addiction-part-1-of-2 http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/54-feature/11725-weight-loss-surgery-and-the-new-addiction-part-2-of-2 http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/after-weight-loss-surgery-some-find-new-addictions-442508/ http://calorielab.com/news/2006/07/18/bariatric-surgery-trades-obesity-for-alcoholism/ Interesting that they are mention this. If we look harder we will see that. And I read "Bariatric Times" and this was covered there as well. I can't figure out how to link it because I subscribe to it as an app on my iPad.

So I had my seminar today, and am super stoked about this. One negative to it is I have to do 1 WHOLE year of supervised diet which I can totally deal with but it does kinda suck because I was hopeing for only a 6 month diet. But I was told if I could switch to another insurance which is still part of my insurance just a different plan. Then I would only have to do 6 month diet. Which is awesome! So I'm going to talk to my insurance to make sure there will be no penalties and see about switching to this other plan. I still am going to see tbhe doc and everything will basically roll over and I won't have to start over. So far I have the seminar done off the check list of requirements. So here ill list what insurance requires. -seminar -class attendance (which is educational classes there are 2 before surgery) -consult with surgeon (which is next week on 8/30) -5 years of past med records (weight documented 2-3office visits a year... which I have) -BMI 35- with 1 co-morbidity (my bmi is freaking 55 and I have high blood pressure) -12 months of physician supervised diet (unless I switch plans then only 6months) -psychological eval (with MMPI what the heck is mmpi lol) -pulmonary clearance -cardiac clearance -letter of recomendation from pcp (med necessity) -documentation from pcp on smoking cessation for min of 6 months (not sure what this is!) -maintain food diary (not sure for length of time will def ask surgeon) -physical activity log (same as food diary ask surgeon) I'm extra excited that I've gotten this taken care of and I'm very suprised that it really isn't too much asking for except the length of time it takes! I'm just excited about this whole thing, and my surgeon is very honest and careing. And he seemed definitely great! So I'm just excited to see what the next year brings! Because I've been trying to get this taken care since 2010 and since I found a doctor who knows what they are doing now I can actually get this done! I cheers to that. Oh and found out the drug screen and alcohol and tabacco screen too (which I don't smoke or do drugs but occasionally have a drink! So idk how that's gonna work out!)