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I am told not to eat anymore than 10 grams of sugar per serving at a time to help avoid "dumping". As far as wine, I have already indulged in a few ounces a few times and did not have any problems. Sorry, but the "you're never gonna have alcohol again" doesn't fly with me. But that being said, I am going to put weight loss over wine any day, considering I just had 85% of my stomach cut out Good luck to you!

I'm about 3 months out and I talked with my nutritionist about alcohol. She told me it would be ok but not to make it a regular habit and to make sure an calculate in with my daily calories and carbs. Like you I wanted to have something while out with the girls. I had a skinny girl margarita first and yes it hit me fast but also the buzz wore off fast too. The second time I had vodka cranberry and it was the same fast buzz but then quickly went away. Both times I felt fine the next day but I didn't over induldge. I agree with doctors using the scare tactic. I understand where they're coming from but I agree more with having everything in moderation. I think that is easier for us to take in as well and not think it will be off limits forever.

Just to add my two cents - I tried alcohol twice recently. I am 3 months out from surgery, so it was really too soon to try it. But I wanted to know. The first time, I drank 1/4 cup of beer - slowly - sipping it with little baby sips. After the 1/4 cup, I had a buzz like I had just downed a couple of shots of tequila (back when I was young and stupid). No ill effects the next day - and I had allowed for the carbs in my daily carb allotment. The next week, I tried 2 tablespoons of a fine tequila. Again, I sipped it with hummingbird sips - and got a distinct glow from it. No ill effects again, and I had allowed for the carbs and calories. Experiments complete. I don't plan on having any more alcohol until I hit goal. I think it would be GREAT if sugar made me sick. I had that reaction to it after I was without it for over a year when dieting several years ago. That response makes it easier for me to leave the sweet stuff alone.

Some people can't tolerate sugar, but the majority of sleeve patients suffer no ill-effects from having occasional indulgences. I'm a very social drinker (well before pregnancy), and I've been drinking since I hit goal without issue. My alcohol tolerance is the same it was pre-op. The first time I drank 1 glass of wine, it hit me hard and fast, but it had been over 8-9 months since I had consumed any alcohol. That's a pretty typical reaction to alcohol when you remove it from your intake. It's the same as fried foods, or carby junk. When I first added in other indulgences, I didn't feel the greatest. I was sick per se, but I didn't feel myself, just a little lethargic and needed to sleep off the carb overload. I have found that a lot of surgeons and nutritionist use scare tactics to keep people from falling off the proverbial diet wagon. BUT, then there are other doctors and nutritionist that promote a life of moderation and better decision-making processes when it come to food choices. I didn't eat just whatever I wanted in small portions until I got into maintenance, and have kept that habit for over a year now.

I guess I'm in the minority here. While we'll always have to be around food situations and make choices accordingly, I think it is inconsiderate for her husband to be eating fast food regularly in front of her. Of course the family doesn't have to change, but I just cannot fathom how people that love one another wouldn't try to be helpful and considerate of their loved one's feelings. Does the man really need fast food several nights per week? I am here shaking my head wondering why many of you feel less worthy of certain respect. Here, let me put it into perspective from my point of view: If your child was recently diagnosed with diabetes, would you be eating ice cream in front of him/her several times a week while your child couldnt have any? Would you not change the family eating habits a little? Of course you would. Would you eat a hot fudge cake in front of your child for dessert while offering him a piece of fruit? Of course you wouldn't. What if your elderly parent came to visit for a long period of time, wouldn't you try to accommodate him/her with a comfortable place to sit, maybe a wheelchair ramp, foods they like? Of course you would. Would you be sloshing back the wine in front of your husband who just started attending AA meetings? I wouldn't dream of it. Sure, at some point he's going to have to be in social situations where alcohol is and be ok with it, and sure I'd still have my coveted glass of wine on occasion as appropriate, but I sure as heck wouldn't be bringing it into my home his first weeks in recovery. Why are we less worthy of the same mutual respect and care? ::shaking my head:: The difference is that the family still has to eat, I get it. But the family doesn't have to be gorging on decadent Desserts and bringing home trigger foods the first few weeks you are in recovery. Can they? Sure. I wouldn't do that to them if the situation were reversed because I LOVE them and want to support their recovery. Why don't I deserve the same love and respect? I do. And so do you all. I've explained to my family that I may not be able to eat with them while I'm on the liquid diet for the 4th week in a row and that I may have to leave the room while they eat. I also explained that I will still be cooking their meals, but I also asked that if some night I just can't do it, would they mind fending for themselves. They are all supportive of it and just asked that I buy foods to keep in the fridge/freezer that are easy for them to prepare on their own. Now having said all that, I don't believe I have a food addiction. I've been fine with the family eating fast food while I passed. I don't anticipate it being too difficult to deal with them eating when I can't unless the smell just makes me nauseous, which I anticipate immediately after surgery. I don't have a love of fast food or sweets and desserts. My trigger foods are savory foods and, yes, my feelings would be hurt and I would feel less loved if 2 weeks after surgery, while I'm on my 3rd week of liquids, my husband brought home scallops and made pan seared scallops served on spinach greens with a bacon vinaigrette dressing or made filet mignon with bernaise.

uhm...the fast answer is: cookie yes. Wine no. The long answer is I understand a bite of a cookie once in a while or something sweet, but don't let it become a habit because after all, you're doing this surgery to lose weight, right? Why put crap into your body at this point? Wait until you're at the maintenance stage of the game, then worry about Cookies LOL Sleeve patients don't experience "dumping syndrome" like the DS or the RNY so it won't make you sick. Wine or any alcohol is going to be really hard because you'll have a very small tummy and so you may absorb alcohol (and medications) at a faster rate. They advise you not to drive after even a SIP of alcohol because of this. It's not worth the risk. If you're home and not driving? Try a glass of wine. The worst that can happen is you're crocked and your hubby takes advantage of the situation LOL Renee`

Congratulations or the approval!!! I started out at 271 and in 2 weeks I was down to 256. I wasnt restricted to a certain amount of calories. I had to do 2 Protein shakes a day and Soup for the other meal. I could also have sugar free Jello and pudding in between which really helped with cravings. By the 2nd week I didnt have many cravings anymore. I think part of that was the motivation of seeing the pounds starting to disappear. As far as the social aspect I totally understand. I go out several times a week. I had to make myself stay in for those 2 weeks because I knew I couldnt not eat or drink alcohol if I was with all my friends. I went out tonight for the first time since surgery and I did really well. I think alot of it just depends on how determined you are. You will do great and good luck!!!!

Interesting point...however everyone needs to eat..no one needs to drink alcohol

OH I know the feeling. I loved and love my cocktails. I havent drank any cocktails in a while but did have 2 glasses of wine last week and woo felt good. Im on occasion going to do what you are asking about. We need to make lifestyle changes and I dont see anything wrong on occasion. Dont over do it I cant bare the thought of throwing up from alcohol. July 4th is huge at my house and i was sweating it but Im going to have 2 drinks in the night and thats it. good luck

Hi, everybody! I just met with the dietician today and am now a little apprehensive about my upcoming sleeve surgery. I was told by others that I could have the occasional cookie or sweet thing and now my dietician is telling me I won't be able to without getting sick I was told by others that I could pretty much eat what I want just in very small portions (at least after 90 days or so). Also, will I be able to go out with my friends and have a couple glasses of wine?? I 'm worried about my nights out with the girls!

New York City sleever in da house! Park Slope Brooklyn in da house! Just passed one week surgiverary and feeling good. Tired of sweet tasting shakes though. Looking for something tasting savory like a sausages and peppers flavored Protein shake! My food porn collection now includes a soft cooked egg, ricotta cheese, tofu, Greek yogurt... Had a little "adventure" last night into today....took an ambien before bed (hadn't used them in 5 years) 'cause post surgery has me just a wee bit manic. Never had an ambien induced black-out ever -- so inside of going to sleep I got up and did who know's what but landed face down on the floor with a serious gash in my forehand that took 15, fifteen, stitches to close. Better yet I failed to recognize I was bleeding profusely and bled everywhere. I thought the pools of blood on the floor were Protein Shakes I had spilled. A word to everyone who uses prescription medications involving the central nervous system to be careful. Right after surgery, only drinking fluids, medication is going have that "synergistic" effect as with alcohol. You are going to feel high/drunk whichever more intensely and for a longer period of time.

I was banded almost a year. Every so often I have a margarita or even a beer. Draw back is that alcohol has empty calories. Also, if you have been banded awhile and have not drank alcohol in a while and have lost weight you could have an unfamiliar reaction. Take it slow. PaulaSA

To contradict what Tiffykins (don't hate me and a couple others have said: It's not "punishing" your spouse if you ask him to eat fast food somewhere else. Nope. Not at all. Imagine if you were a recovering alcoholic just a month in. Would it be "punishing" your spouse to ask him not to drink a whole bottle of your favorite wine in front of you? No. That would be reasonable. It would be unreasonable to ask him to not drink at all (or not eat fast food at all), because YOU can't at all. THAT would be bratty. But that's not what you're talking about. You are fighting an addiction and you want your husband to help you steer clear of it until you get yourself under better control. That is totally fine, not bratty. Is it possible that part of the reason this hurts you so much is because you otherwise don't feel very cherished and supported by your husband on your journey?

Different drinks make me feel differently when I have them. A cold coffee or a drink like milkshake or something thick ( ie Protein shake) I am full for a while. Water, I use to help curb my cravings ( ie sweets) like the person said above because we can't eat until 30 minutes after drinking, when I am craving something or think I am hungry I drink water and wait to see how I feel. This really helps with my sweet tooth. Carbonated drinks, help me when I am head hungry. The carbonation makes me feel full and bloated and then I have no desire to eat. Alcoholic drinks, don't make me feel hungry or full but do cause me to graze while eating ( Koreans serve food and drink together, maybe why they can drink so much)

Hello everyone! So, I've been banded over three years. Been maintaining for over a year now. Recently my scale has gone up a few pounds and I have been in a fair bit of freak-out about it. My eating habits have been the same. So, I am thinking maybe I need a fill, but with my hunger unchanged, I really didn't think I wanted one. My scale is a Health-O-Mether scale that has a non-digital read-out that is elevated to waist level. So, I do enjoy some alcoholic beverages from time to time. So I stopped that. The weight was still going up ever so slowly. I also noticed that the scale wasn't zeroing out as it should be, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was accurate any longer. My clothes have been fitting the same, which is how I normally keep track...but still. All those familiar games were coming back....oh, I had salt...oh it's TOM coming...I must be "backed up." Have I change medications? No. hhmm...not drinking enough Water? No, that is OK. Then WHY is it creeping UP??? So, after I'd put on about 5 pounds. I looked very closely at the scale. I noticed it was closer to the wall than usual. So, I decided to move it away from the wall an inch or two, I re-zeroed it and BU-BAM!!! 5 pounds gone, just like that! Apparently when DH cleaned the floor he moved it a bit. Lesson to be learned....? scales are fallible, and not the only measure of success--which I already knew...But I could not believe that as soon as I moved it a hair away from the wall, it was fine! It was just close enough to the baseboard to mess it up!

If I drink alcohol I don't lose weight. And you should know better than to drink anything carbonated. You're just asking for trouble! Have you been going to your doctor regularly? Monthly follow up for the first 2 years is the key to success. Your doctor can't help you if you don't go to him and tell him everything you're experiencing.

I need to hear from you . . . how do I turn this around as I've been heading down the wrong road since nine months after banding in Jan. 2010....I had lost 44 lbs by Sept. 2010 and since then have regained 12 lbs...and am at standstill since the first of 2011. I'm wondering the the band is tight enough....but I usually am not hungry until around 5:00 pm each day and sometimes force myself to eat breakfast (to go along with meds I take), then a very light lunch.....and then for dinner, it's difficult to eat, but by that time, I'm really hungry. Plus I have been having a beer or two along the way........other than cutting out the alcohol, what direction should I go???? Your replying will be appreciated.

I understand your frustration. . . try this one. . . I hit 200 lbs and was soooo waiting to hit 199 or less. . . well guess what???? it's been what 5 months and i waver between 200 - 210 all the time, never under. . . i've done everything from starting a new diet, to increase the exercise, to increase Water, cutting out alcohol all together, doing the 5 day pouch test, with no avail. . . . sooooooooooo i asked about this on this forum and what was answered made so much sense. . . Diva said that there comes a time in this journey when the body hits a weight that you were on the longest before you started gaining weight. . .for me it was 210 - 215lbs I weighed that for ever it seemed and then became pregnant and gain a million pounds. . . now i'm back to my pre pregnant weight and have been there for ever (5 months) without loosing anymore. . . ugh. . . maybe it's going to move soon, maybe not . . . we'll see. . . all i need to loose is only 30 or so more pounds! frustrating to say the least

Re: "vomit" "throwing up" "sliming" and "PB" Bandsters have evolved some terms descriptive of their particular situation. In general, "vomit" and "throwing up" are inaccurate to describe what happens when we eat too much/too fast/too dry/too fibrous without proper consideration to such factors as amount, type of food, how well we chew, etc. "Vomit/throwing up" is not accurate, as those terms involve gastric juices and at least partial digestion within the stomach. Usually the type of smelly clumpy liquid such as after drinking too much alcohol or some kind of food poisoning. I've seen relatively few reports of actual stomach content being 'thrown up' in postOp Bandsters. Feelings of nausea etc continue after the fact depending on what the actual cause of the event may have been. Various illnesses can be responsible as well. This is the very kind of event that non-Bandsters experience. The "sliming" or "PB--productive burping" whatever we may call it, results from whatever we eat not fitting thru the pouch and we in effect regurgitate it from above the Band area. There is remarkably little digestive juices present at this point, as those reside in the lower stomach area and are not in contact until after the bolus passes thru the Band into the actual stomach. This is a Bandster Event. Heavy mucous/slime is most often a component and repeated spitting can and does occur. The bolus of food is rejected and returned to the world and the Bandster can return to their activities. Nausea and other symptoms pass with the objectionable material being expulsed. This is not an illness per se, rather of symptom most often of an Error of Eating. Time and experience will teach the Bandster how to mostly avoid such event in the first place. "Sliming-PBing" is different than the type of foul tasting bile type regurgitation one might get when laying in bed. Hope this helps identify some of what recent Bandsters may find confusion.

Re: "vomit" "throwing up" "sliming" and "PB" Bandsters have evolved some terms descriptive of their particular situation. In general, "vomit" and "throwing up" are inaccurate to describe what happens when we eat too much/too fast/too dry/too fibrous without proper consideration to such factors as amount, type of food, how well we chew, etc. "Vomit/throwing up" is not accurate, as those terms involve gastric juices and at lease partial digestion within the stomach. Usually the type of smelly clumpy liquid such as after drinking too much alcohol or some kind of food poisoning. I've seen relatively few reports of actual stomach content being 'thrown up' in postOp Bandsters. Feelings of nausea etc continue after the fact depending on what the actual cause of the event may have been. Various illnesses can be responsible as well. This is the very kind of event that non-Bandsters experience. The "sliming" or "PB--productive burping" whatever we may call it, results from whatever we eat not fitting thru the pouch and we in effect regurgitate it from above the Band area. There is remarkably little digestive juices present at this point, as those reside in the lower stomach area and are not in contact until after the bolus passes thru the Band into the actual stomach. Heavy mucous/slime is most often a component and repeated spitting can and does occur. The bolus of food is rejected and returned to the world and the Bandster can return to their activities. Nausea and other symptoms pass with the objectionable material being expulsed. This is not an illness per se, rather of symptom most often of an Error of Eating. Time and experience will teach the Bandster how to mostly avoid such event in the first place. "Sliming-PBing" is different than the type of foul tasting bile type regurgitation one might get when laying in bed. Hope this helps identify some of what recent Bandsters may find confusion.

I'm 18.5 weeks pregnant. I won't have any issues losing the pregnancy weight. I'll just low carb it again until I get the weight off. I gained a few pounds over the holidays and dropped those pounds in a little over a week just by cutting alcohol and carb consumption. As for the breakdown of weight gain with a pregnancy, this is what they've outlined for my weight gain: Maternal Fat- 7lbs Baby- 6-8lbs (average is 7.5lbs) Increases Fluid (blood volume)-2-4 ( a mother's blood volume typically doubles during pregnancy) Amniotic Fluid- 1-1.5lbs Placenta- 2lbs Breast tissue/mammary system weight increase - 1-2lbs Watch out for the ROSE procedure, it has an 85% failure rate. This is also discussed heavily on the obesityhelp.com Revision forum. ERNY (extended RNY, where they remove more intestine to start malabsorption again since intestinal adaptation has taken over at this point for you) is also an option. They will shorten your common channel by another 50-100cm. You definitely want to know before you agree to a revision if you have a pouch or stoma dilation because if you have actual mechanical failure with your RNY even a band over the pouch isn't going to do much because once the food passes through the band pouch into your RNY pouch, you will still be able to more food, and your malabsorption is gone. As for Jerusalem clinic, honestly, out of over 3 years on weight loss forums, I have never read of one patient having a RNY take down and revision to the VSG being performed there and honestly that is possibly why they are recommending the band over the bypass pouch to give you restriction again. Seriously, I can name 4 surgeons worldwide that are experienced with these surgeries, and with self-pay patients the cost just for the surgeon run upwards of 20-30k because it is such a complicated and exhausting surgery to take down an old RNY. I promise I researched revisions for months once I knew my band had to come out. The risks for complications especially leaks from scar tissue and adhesions literally quadruples with revisions vs. a virgin, unaltered stomach/intestinal tract. I had a leak with a band revision to VSG after only having the band for 8 months, and actually lost more stomach tissue because of the damage the band had done. My surgeon was experienced with revisions, and I happen to be a statistic of his that I'd like to take back. I was his first and only VSG leak so it can happen even with really experienced surgeons. I'm not slamming Jerusalem Clinic, but revisions are super tricky, complicated, and I would hate to see you fork out the money, get a surgery that is as high maintenance as the BOB procedure and then continue to struggle with your weight and be looking at or for another surgery. There have been RNY to VSG revisions performed due to reactive hypoglycemia symptoms and diagnosis after RNY, but again, it's a very complicated surgery with high risks. Just choose carefully, and continue to research your options.

Hi Cindy, I was told no ibuprofen at all or aspirin, only Tylenol. Also I think ibuprofen causes kidney damage. In fact I know it can, because it did for me a few years ago. I had a doctor who prescribed 8 a day because she was an alcoholic and drinking on the job. I got a new dr who found the problem and took me off 8 a day. Tylenol can cause liver damage though.

I suggest you find a councellor, they could probably show you ways to deal with all that. I have seen councellors and when my councellor met my parents, it made them understand how to deal with me! They now know what to say, what not to say to me. I really needed them to finally know how to help me, and coming from me didnt have the same impact. I totally understand you, and i did understand why my parents felt so helpless and scared. Its should be threated as an addiction, same way you deal with an alcoholic i find, anyways for me. The best of luck, he will reach rock bottom, and hopefully you will know whay to do when he gets motivated again:)

Ok so I had my first fill today. Not sure how Im suppose to feel but according to most people my fill must be small. Im only up to 2cc. Does this sound right? IDK No solids for 2 days. I wish I would have known I would have eaten a little more and not prepared Mojito chicken(no alcohol) Damm How is everyone doing?

Those alcoholic drink alternatives sound really good. I'm not a heavy drinker, but if I go out to a bar I certainly don't want to be sipping on tap water lol. I'm glad to hear it hasn't been that bad for you! I hope I'm just as lucky. I'm glad you mentioned the bathroom habits, as unglamorous as it may seem haha. I am not regular in that department and am looking forward to some regularity on the liquid diet.