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Hi mermaidpuppy! I also have a surgery date of Aug. 23! I have a wedding to attend in Napa Valley and had concerns of alcohol comsumption as well. Especially my favorite.......champagne. The dietician that I have seen recommends that I NEVER consume ANYTHING carbonated......so my heart is heavy that I will miss our pizza and champagne nights! Being that our surgeries are scheduled the same day....would you be interested in keeping in contact? ~Best of luck to you!

So here I sit journaling. I am pissed off at my family! My mother came to help me out with the kiddos since my husband works all the time, and also to help get things ready for the holidays. I have a bunch of family coming. My house has seem to have gotten real messy, dishes and so on and it SURELY isn't me using the dishes!!!! Hmmmm tonight they want to order pizza from Pizza Hut. Man that sure sounds good. In all reality I was banded on Monday and it hasn't been a week and yeah at this point and time that sounds really darn good! Well the way I am thinking about this is, my mother is an alcoholic who just successfully completed rehab in November. Shall I sit and drink some alcohol in front of her to see if she can hack it? GRRRRRRRR :help: I am trying real hard for no soda and no junk food and have made it thus far, I am however real tired of chicken broth and beef broth and you know... the same ol bland pureed stuff!!!!! Grrrr I don't know.... I am just real frustrated today I guess. I know I CAN do this... I wonder if it will get easier.... :cursing:

Hi Just thought I would let everyone know that I am still around - I have been very quiet lately. The past 2.5 months have been huge and as a result I haven't had a lot of time to checks the forums although I have popped in occasionally. My son turned 18 at the end of Oct so my parents ( who live in South Africa) came to visit. As it is a long way to travel and expensive they stayed until 2 Jan so that they could also Celebrate my 50th and Christmas and New Year with us. My sister and her 3 children (who also live in SA) came for 2 weeks to celebrate my Birthday. My house is a reasonable size but it was full to bursting with 10 people instead of the usual 4! I wanted everyone to have a fabulous time and see lots of new places and make lots of memories so the majority of the 2 months was spent out and about. We visited nature reserves, lakes, historic towns and villages, the beach, kid friendly activities, coffee shops, restaurants etc etc. We even went on a short trip to Darwin which is at the other end of Australia. My party was great. The theme was a night at the musicals and I dressed as a saloon girl in a hot pink sequinned dress. I have posted pics in my gallery. The downside is that I now have extra weight to shift. Although my scales tell me that I haven't really gained since my last Dr's visit in Oct my clothes tell me otherwise. Anything with a waist is too tight and so are my bra's! My lowest weight was between 50 -51 kg and I am currently sitting at approx 54.5kg.(It took me approx 6 months to lose most of my weight and I then lost a little more over the next 6 months and then easily maintained that until early this year). Now that everything is back to normal I have no more excuses. Step 1 is to cut out alcohol as I have drunk more than my fair share of calories over the holiday, step 2 is to stop eating chocolate, biscuits and cake and step 3 is to try to eat fresh , healthy unprocessed foods. If that doesn't help I may try a few days on shakes whilst contemplating my next step. Oh and of course I also need to move more. The scary thing for me is how easy it is at this point to eat the things I shouldn't be. I know that the band doesn't stop you eating things you shouldn't and that a lot of the control is in your head but for the first 3 years I didn't have the desire to eat the way I have been. I have been through a number of Christmases, overseas holidays etc and not gained weight. Yes I would have the occasional treat but most of the time the desire wasn't there and I found it easy to say no. Well now the honeymoon is well and truly over. The last year has been so much harder and I am beginning to understand why people say that the band only works for "X" years and then you regain. Of course when I was initially banded I refused to believe this and many of you probably will too. I have discussed this with my Dr who says that it does not stop working but generally you lose what you are going to lose within the first 18 months and then the loss stops, there are of course exceptions. I don't know if my age and being menopausal have anything to do with it but I am not going to let that be an excuse. I have way too many clothes that I need to be able to get back into. I refuse to go out and buy bigger sizes. I do know that it is going to be far harder to lose now than previously but I am determined that i won't be beaten.

alcohol swabs (like those sold at walmart for $2 in the pharmacy/diabetes section) will take take off permanent marker, just don't do it on open wounds. If you accidentally do, you will see/feel why...

I'm obviously sore, but all in all doing well. I have a nasty taste in my mouth and my neck is sore (I had to be intabated for surgery, not sure why). I would imagine the soreness is from that? I also got a little lightheaded in the shower this morning. I sniffed a towel with rubbing alcohol on it and felt better. I have to say, the heating pad is my bff!! It provides such comfort and relief! Gas pains are at minimum and I walk every hour.

Are you taking your Calcium and Iron within 2 hours of each other? As they do not play well together and you really need to have your calcium and then 2 hours later your iron. Also, you should be taking your Calcium in 500 mg doses through out the day as your body only absorbs approx 500mg at a time. Parathyroid has a major role in calcium, phosphate, calcitonin and Vitamin D levels. Did the lab give you the normal range for the parathyroid? Low prealbumin levels can be an indicator that the person is malnourished. Ferritin is the Water soluble and temporary storage form. This is the newly absorbed iron from your diet and not from the longer term storage (our body recylces iron with very little lost daily) form hemosiderin (water insoluble storage). So a decreased absortion of iron is seen in total or partial gastrectomy patients and it can lead to a iron deficiency anemia if you are constantly depleted in your newly formed iron. You will see an effect on iron stores going to zero and serum iron and transferrin saturation decreased with a increased total iron binding capacity. That all being said iron is mainly absorbed by the mucosal cells in the duodenum and depends on the serum iron (low serum iron increased absorption from intestine if available), amount in your diet and the pH in your gut (acid pH will enhance absortion). Vitamin C will enhance absorption phytates (in whole grains) and oxalates (in spinach) will chelate (alter) iron and decrease its absorption. Alcohol will enhance absortion by stimulating HCl secretion by gastric (stomach) cells. Have a talk with you doctor on what you can do to increase your iron stores and ask about the parathyroid as he/she will be able to look at the full picture and assess your needs.

I've done a low carb/high protein/high healthy fat diet for my entire six-month insurance-required nutrition program. I've over 90 pounds doing it. I keep my carbs under 20 per day (and under 15 most days). I have whittled from 2000 calories down through 1800 and 1500 to about 1200 calories per day for the past few months. I have cut out alcohol, only because at my calorie-level, I just can't justify using up any calories that won't provide some nutritional value. It has worked super well for me. My surgery is two weeks from tomorrow, and I am gunning for 100 pounds down when they wheel me into the OR. Good luck!

I have a self-imposed rule of waiting at least six months for any alcohol. My surgeon's guide does not address alcohol but says wait at least 2 months for orange and tomato juices because they can cause stomach irritation. I think alcohol in any form would do the same, and possibly be even more irritating because it's usually more acidic and thinner than those juices. So, I picked six months as a good timeline before trying any alcohol. FYI, I have had both orange and tomato juice in the last couple of weeks and had no problems. Maybe try a sip or two of the alcohol when you're ready and be prepped to switch to something less acidic if needed.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I promise I know they're empty calories and lead to eating junk food lol. I've drank alcohol before, I know the down falls, but a glass of wine every once in awhile is all I need I'll ask my dr at my appointment Tuesday! Thanks!

Weight loss surgery is for life. The journey isn’t easy, but I believe that the best way to make it work is to take the best of both worlds. Recognize that we are bound to each other through our weight loss surgery, but don’t let that special tie isolate you from everyone who has not had weight loss surgery. Instead, recognizing the similarities in all of our lives can make our own challenges easier to overcome. These are some of the things we all share, weight loss surgery or not. For each, there are some unique aspects for bariatric patients, but also parallels with everyone else. We all have a daily struggle. If you’re overweight, there’s a good chance you’ve looked enviously at people who are at a “normal” weight. You see them walking down the street, maybe wearing a cute outfit that you can only dream of wearing, and wish you had it as easy as they did. You’re jealous because your own weight problem is visible to the world. But we all have our own struggles, and you don’t know what is going on in that person’s life. They may face abuse, struggle to pay the bills, suffer from a chronic disease, care for a sick child at home, or work at a job they hate. Just as you struggle every day to eat right and exercise, they may struggle every day to wake up and face their own challenges. Rather than envy them, think of other people as inspiration to get through your day. We are all in this together, doing the best we can with what we have. We all keep certain things from our bosses. Many bariatric patients are hesitant to tell our bosses about our surgery. We may fear judgment or retribution. We may just want to keep our personal lives private. It’s not always that easy to keep quiet about Weight Loss Surgery, since we need to eat differently and our appearances change as the weight comes off. There may even be times when we need to leave work because we feel sick or have doctor’s appointments. But guess what – nobody tells their boss everything about their personal lives. I am certain that all of your coworkers have their own secrets from your boss. Looking just at alcohol abuse, an estimated 15% of the workforce has come to work after drinking or with a hangover! Add to that secrets such as playing hooky to see a sports match, searching for a new job, or living out of a camper to save money, and you can bet that every employee has their own personal issues that they don’t want to publicize to the boss. We all want to be there for our families (or worry about our futures). One of the most compelling reasons to get weight loss surgery is to be there. We want to be alive and be healthy for as many years as possible to support our families and get to enjoy them. With obesity, the pressure to improve health is real and personal, since we may already have our own health problems or have seen family members struggle with or die from conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. But everyone worries about the future. They may worry about their job security, about having enough money for rent and to put the kids through college, and – yes, it’s true – about their health and weight. We’re all short on time. Weight loss surgery success is time-consuming, from meal planning and grocery shopping to food prep and measurement, not to mention working out. It takes some sacrifice to get in all those healthy behaviors, especially before they become habits. But everyone is short on time. We’re all busy with work, school, and family obligations. And that includes diet and exercise commitments, even for people who don’t look like they need to be careful. In fact, the people who are most dedicated to their health are the ones who are best at prioritizing their lives, and making the necessary sacrifices to clear the time to work out and eat right. We can all use a helping hand. Hopefully, this article has shown that we’re all in this together. We can all use a helping hand. Within the bariatric community, resources like BariatricPal can give us the chance to ask questions and give advice. Outside, try to remember that giving someone a smile or encouraging word can mean a lot, and possibly make someone’s day a lot easier.

I had surgery 12-29 and I can't imagine having alcohol this early. I get bad indigestion and acid from some foods that I can't say what a sugary/acidic margarita would do. I'm afraid my stomach would hurt so bad. Good luck tonight and update us on how it went. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I say avoid it altogether, but I totally understand wanting to be social and normal, ya know? From what I've read, after having VSG, it takes half as much alcohol to get you drunk and the effects last twice as long. It enters your small intestine quickly and with little pre-digestion in the stomach. So if a typical margarita has 2.5 ounces of liquor & liqueur, to us it's like having 5 ounces.

If she's not on Clear Liquids just ordinary liquids she can have virtually anything that can be blended to liquid consistency. Make her some decent soups with meat and Pasta in them, it made all the difference to me. Didnt affect my weight loss but gave me much more satisfication, not to mention energy, I was seriously wilting. Boy, she's got her work cut out for her. At 16 she's going to face all peer pressure that goes along with things like fast food and alcohol. I bet you wish you could put an old head on her young shoulders. She's a very brave girl.

I found out that Crystal Light is the best mixer for drinks and a great way to get your Water in! Yeah, Yeah...what about the alcohol?! Oh well....would you rather drink the sugar-filled fruity drinks and carbonated drinks like beer or rum and coke?? I take a regular bottle of water (16oz) and put 2 packs (extra flavor) of Crystal Light Lemonade, shake well and then drink the top off...down to the label and fill with ice cold Vodka....OMG!!!!! Yummy!!!! and if you freeze it until it slushes...WOW! I also made it with the Crystal Light Fruit Punch and Jack Daniels....that is REALLY good! I happened to stumble upon this concoction in Austin, TX in my hotel room....I made a Crystal Light Fruit Punch and my DH's Jack was sitting there and I got to thinking....and when I think....WHOA NELLY! And by golly! It was the bomb! So to answer the question...."To booze or not to booze?" Why not! But you just have to find a way that is best for you...and I think I found mine. The only down fall is most bars can't do this so I think I will stick to a Bloody Mary or just Jack or Crowne and water w/some lime. :heh:

I understand your dilema. I have a weekly girls outing at the local bar for open mic night and a variety of fried food chicken wings, cat fish, french fries, onion rings, etc. I was never a heavy drinker so I would always order a pepsi, well now I can't do that. It took some adjusting but you can do it. The best thing is to eat before you go, or at least have a protein shake. That will stop you from being hungry and will curb your desire to munch. Having never liked beer, i can't tell you what a good substitution is, but you can always add a shaker to your water bottle for a little extra taste.have fruit juice or some other type of drink to get you by. I often order cranberry juice at the bar so it looks like i have a coctail when I really don't and the juice is good for you anyway in moderation. The reason they say not to drink is you have less food in your stomach, and your stomach is smaller, so you will absorb the alcohol much faster and once you're tipsy/drunk you will make poor decisions including what to eat. I've learned each doctor's recommendations are different so follow your doctor's advice.

Who said you need to break up with Alcohol? I did not have any alcohol during pre-op and about three weeks after... But that was it!! The hardest part was before... because you feel fine - you are just hungry . Afterwards ( post op ) you will have no desire to drink, or at least I did not. And when I did have a drink in a social setting, I was kind of afraid.. for a couple reasons.. I had dropped a ton of weight in a short time - so how was it gonna effect me and I had not eaten any "real food" so was it gonna get me wasted? Which believe me was not my goal.. But now, as I have become more comfortable with my band ( banded Sept 1 ) I can enjoy the occasional cocktail.. In doing so though I do see a difference in the scale... but I am ok with that. I am a firm believer that you can NOT stop living... however appreciate your band and take care of it and you!! Just think... you will be a cheap date!!! My hubby loves that!! ha ha Good Luck!!

Last week I went for my first surgical consultation. I'm so impressed with the Dr & his staff. Everyone is so nice. They scheduled my appointment for my Upper GI, EKG & chest Xray, and they were done yesterday. My next appointments will be with the dietitian & exercise physiologist. I still have to set up a psych evaluation. So I'm moving right along... Doc was very encouraging and talked through some of my concerns. He took the time to hear my story and he agreed with me - he too, believes that the sleeve would be the best option for me. I had an "aha" moment...or actually, a weekend worth of it. We had friends in town to visit this past weekend. I knew there would be a good bit of alcohol involved in our visit. But I actually went completely off my wagon! My eating wasn't as awful as it could have been, but I wasn't following the plan. breads & potatoes were the biggest culprits. I even passed on ice cream...so I guess I wasn't so bad. But I certainly felt the difference. I gained 9 lbs from Friday morning to Sunday evening. Salty margaritas are my vice, so I'm sure most of that was water retention, but still - it made me feel horrible, physically & mentally. At the same time, I was able to recognize that I'm not going to be able to do this anymore. I don't need the alcohol in such mass quantities, I truly don't need the breads and potatoes - I would have been fine without them. I just have to work on finding better food choices when we're out and about. I'm back in the saddle again this week. And the water weight is dropping off already. I know I shouldn't be weighing myself everyday, but I have been & right now, I'm glad to see it going back down. Once I get back to where I was last week & see steady loss for a while, I'll stop weighing everyday. I've also called my insurance company to verify coverage and prerequisites for my surgery. I shouldn't have any problems, but I'm afraid of one bit of red tape. I'm supposed to have 6 months of consecutive medical weight loss (failure) documentation. I think I should be OK because I did take phentermine for several months and this was all documented, of course. And since then, I've regained every bit of the weight lost on that program. My worry is that "consecutive" word. I'm not sure that I was in the office exactly every month. I will be going to see her again at the end of the month, so I'll find out then. I really don't want to have to drag this out for 6 months. I'm hoping that I will be approved based on the records we have already established. I would be devastated to have to wait so long. I'm ready now. I want so much to start feeling better. I hate feeling so tired all the time! I hate that my back hurts from carrying all of this weight all my life. I hate knowing that I have only a 10% chance of living until I'm 65. Really? So my life is more than half over right now! Unless I can lose this weight, I won't have a life. I'm merely existing from day to day right now. I don't feel like I live at all. Who knows if I'll make it another 6 months? With my family history and horrible health as it is, I am simply a walking time bomb. I'm rambling...just some random thoughts that pop into my head.

Alcohol is very weird for me post surgery. I never seem to feel the buzzed feeling I used to. I like the taste of my rum and crystal light (I used to drink rum and diet or Coke Zero) I assume it’s because of the sugar it tastes good but otherwise it really is a waste of calories for me. Most people claim they get intoxicated way faster and it seems to go away way faster. If you do decide to drink out with friends I wouldn’t do that until you test out the exact same thing at home first with the same exact mixer and everything to make sure it doesn’t physically make you sick, be sure you have a designated driver since your body processes alcohol differently now and be sure you plan ahead what healthy snacks you will eat when your inhibitions go down if your like me and you want to eat.

Just my thought, you can go out with your friends without actually drinking alcohol. I dont drink because I dont like it but I do go out with my friends and just have nonalcohlic drinks.

Wow, thanks for sharing. I can definitely see addiction transference being a risk. I come from a family of alcohol and drug addicts, but food as always been my drug of choice. Definitely something I'll keep in mind.

I have drank lots of different alcholic drinks since having the band put in. Phyically the alcohol will have not effect on your band. My tolerance is a lot lower now so be careful not to drink too much.. I personally think the reason they say dont drink it because the high calorie content. For example a drink that I love is the simple vodka/cranberry. Your looking at nearly 200 calories for just one drink!. When your consuming only 800-1000 calories per day your looking at around 20-25% of your daily calories in just one drink! But who can have just one. Hey if you going out dancing every once in while, go ahead and have some fun. Just dont make it a weekly thing because that will for sure slow your weight loss down. P.S. make sure you hit the water bottle!

Your safest drinks will be wine, or alcohol with a sf mixer, like vodka & soda w/lime twist or whiskey & water.

So.. today is the official start of my pre-liquid diet. I say official since I decided to test it out this week and see how I would do. I actually wanted to make sure I didn't absolutely hate the shakes since I'm extremley picky. The aren't bad as long as they are extremely cold and I don't take too long to finish them, hope that doesn't work against me in the long run. I finally managed to like the chobani greek yogurt. Does anyone know if the fruit on the bottom is ok for this brand? It has 14g of protein and is great for you. I digress. I managed to lose 4.6 lbs this week from Monday-Fri and that was even with a pasta day on Thursday and a class of wine and a shared app on Friday night and that made me feel great! I woke up this morning and feel I'm raring to go and mentally prepared. The only downside, of course my boss is having a huge get together today and I have to go. It would be anti-social of me not to show and I will be the only one not eating or drinking alcoholic beverages. sigh..... Well, wish me luck, I am now 10 days from surgery and am waiting on pins and needles!

It sounds like part of the problem is that on the weekends you have more time on your hand to think about food. Find a new hobby...something that keeps your hands busy. I find that I need to keep my hands busy even when I'm watching tv or they (my hands) want to go into the kitchen and find food to shove into my face. Also, does an alcoholic feel they must keep the bottle in their house to prove they've overcome their addiction and that they have willpower? Nope. They recognize that it's a temptation best avoided. If at all possible, clean out the temptations in your own house. That way, in order to give in, you actually have to go to the store and that requires more effort and time to talk yourself out of it...and time for the willpower to kick in. Be patient with yourself. It takes time to change the relationship you have with food...but you can do it. .

So, Friday is it! Back to solid foods! These mushies are ridiculous. To find anything good and sensible in a mush, you have to be on Top Chef Masters. I have spent the last 2 weeks eating pureed soup (gross), ricotta bake (this is a must) and mashed potatoes. And my doctor keeps trying to get me to eat meat out of a can… meat out of a can! I'm not a cat!! I mean tuna is ok every once in a while, but not every day or you turn into Jeremy Piven and can't go to work due to mercury poisoning. Let's move on to the hiccups. I hiccup twice when I'm hungry and once when I'm full. Insane. I hiccupped walking down the booze aisle (which was also the bottled water aisle) at the market and this guy looked at me and I just shrugged and said, "I should really stop drinking during the day." How else am I going to explain these random hiccups? People are going to start thinking I'm a high functioning alcoholic! Now on to the nitty gritty. The weird slime that creeps up every once in a while. I haven't gotten anything stuck nor have I had any pain. It's just this weird little bits of slime I have to spit out (I'm not a spitter by nature, in fact it horrifies me). All that said, I'm looking forward to vegetables and salads again. It's been so long, I actually miss them. Just more lap band insanity. See you all on the other side! p.s. dirty little secret, during the mushie stage I ate frosting out of a can. Shame on me. But it was gooooood :-)