Drinking

[shmily 424]

What did your surgeon tell you about having wine the first year??

[Beckyyb93 225]

I was told alcohol needs to wait until at least 6 months for any type of alcohol but to play it VERY safe because you will get drunk/tipsy SOOOO much easier than you did before. When you drink the first time drink a few sips and wait a bit, do it at home and do it while someone is there with you in case you react poorly to it. Just be really really careful, I'm a revision from a sleeve and I didn't think it would affect me THAT much more than before but I was very very wrong.

You should be fine to start adding wine into your diet now though..

[pookybear 284]

I had to wait a full year. Wine depends on how you handle sugar. Some wines are very sweet.

[Beckyyb93 225]

I had to wait a full year. Wine depends on how you handle sugar. Some wines are very sweet.

Good point...I didn't even think about dumping from the wine. I was more concerned with the stronger effect alcohol will have..really good thing to think about though.

[terry1118 1,274]

What did your surgeon tell you about having wine the first year??

My team said no alcohol for the first year. There were three reasons for this:

1) Liver failure. Your body burns fat very quickly during the first year releasing toxins stored in the fat into your system. Your liver is working very hard during this time to filter these out. Adding alcohol during this time period can overwork your liver, causing liver failure (resulting in at least one recent death for my program).

2) Cross addiction or transfer addiction. Many of us are addicted to various foods and need to practice and learn new coping skills while we are losing weight so we can keep the weight off for life. The statistics are pretty high for alcoholism, drug addiction, and other less common addictions (gambling, shopping, sex) for weight loss surgery patients. These statistics are equally as high for people who never indulged in these things pre op as they are for those who did. We need to learn and practice coping skills to avoid falling into the trap of new addictions.

3) Quick and easy intoxication. We get tipsy faster on less. There are plenty of reasons why this could be bad. Driving would be dangerous. You could end up in dangerous situations when quickly intoxicated. Or you could have poor judgment about what you put in your mouth while intoxicated. I tend to want to eat when tipsy. If I did that in the early stages I'd probably have had a lot more of those painful stuck food or vomiting episodes from eating too much, too fast, wrong foods, and not chewing. I have wine now at 14 months out. 4oz hits me hard and can make me slur my words and be unsteady on my feet. I only drink alcohol at home now, never in public (I like my Saturday night glass of wine - my indulgence after a long week). Mainly because I'd be embarrassed to seem so drunk in public and driving home would be very unwise.

These three reasons were stressed and drilled into me over and over and over pre op and post op during support group meetings.

[RNBSN786 206]

I am probably the worst example but I have started to add white wine in my weight loss process. I have had 1-2 glasses of white wine 3-4 times after my surgery and I am almost 4 months out after my RNY. But I have to tell you, it really gets me buzzed. I don't drink regularly and don't plan on it. I have bad a few sips of red wine and couldn't tolerate it. But yes I am sure I am going against the program. So talk to your NUT. And yes I count the calories also to make sure I am not over doing it.

[allielee 263]

I was cleared for alcohol 6 weeks after surgery. I only have had a couple glasses of skinny vine moscato (very low sugar and low carb and low calorie). I don't like how it makes my hot flashes from meno worse but do enjoy being able to sip some every now and then.

[Beckyyb93 225]

What did your surgeon tell you about having wine the first year??

My team said no alcohol for the first year. There were three reasons for this:

1) Liver failure. Your body burns fat very quickly during the first year releasing toxins stored in the fat into your system. Your liver is working very hard during this time to filter these out. Adding alcohol during this time period can overwork your liver, causing liver failure (resulting in at least one recent death for my program).

2) Cross addiction or transfer addiction. Many of us are addicted to various foods and need to practice and learn new coping skills while we are losing weight so we can keep the weight off for life. The statistics are pretty high for alcoholism, drug addiction, and other less common addictions (gambling, shopping, sex) for weight loss surgery patients. These statistics are equally as high for people who never indulged in these things pre op as they are for those who did. We need to learn and practice coping skills to avoid falling into the trap of new addictions.

3) Quick and easy intoxication. We get tipsy faster on less. There are plenty of reasons why this could be bad. Driving would be dangerous. You could end up in dangerous situations when quickly intoxicated. Or you could have poor judgment about what you put in your mouth while intoxicated. I tend to want to eat when tipsy. If I did that in the early stages I'd probably have had a lot more of those painful stuck food or vomiting episodes from eating too much, too fast, wrong foods, and not chewing. I have wine now at 14 months out. 4oz hits me hard and can make me slur my words and be unsteady on my feet. I only drink alcohol at home now, never in public (I like my Saturday night glass of wine - my indulgence after a long week). Mainly because I'd be embarrassed to seem so drunk in public and driving home would be very unwise.

These three reasons were stressed and drilled into me over and over and over pre op and post op during support group meetings.

I second all of these reasons 100% especially the addiction and quick to get tipsy, you can add it in but you just need to make sure you are monitoring it very closely to avoid these common problems.

[esskay77 785]

I also second those 3 reasons, especially the addition and getting tipsy faster. My doc has said that from the beginning. Though I have to say, they also say it is best to never drink again for those reasons. Or at least keep it to a minimum. I've had wine and seemed fine but kept it to one glass, where I used to be a 2 glass of wine with dinner. I do have to say, I had mine with dinner and I realize now I shouldn't but that is when it tastes best. Mmmm. But, I'm going to try to avoid it for a while, especially since I"m at a stall right now.

[terry1118 1,274]

My team said no alcohol for the first year. There were three reasons for this:

1) Liver failure. Your body burns fat very quickly during the first year releasing toxins stored in the fat into your system. Your liver is working very hard during this time to filter these out. Adding alcohol during this time period can overwork your liver, causing liver failure (resulting in at least one recent death for my program).

2) Cross addiction or transfer addiction. Many of us are addicted to various foods and need to practice and learn new coping skills while we are losing weight so we can keep the weight off for life. The statistics are pretty high for alcoholism, drug addiction, and other less common addictions (gambling, shopping, sex) for weight loss surgery patients. These statistics are equally as high for people who never indulged in these things pre op as they are for those who did. We need to learn and practice coping skills to avoid falling into the trap of new addictions.

3) Quick and easy intoxication. We get tipsy faster on less. There are plenty of reasons why this could be bad. Driving would be dangerous. You could end up in dangerous situations when quickly intoxicated. Or you could have poor judgment about what you put in your mouth while intoxicated. I tend to want to eat when tipsy. If I did that in the early stages I'd probably have had a lot more of those painful stuck food or vomiting episodes from eating too much, too fast, wrong foods, and not chewing. I have wine now at 14 months out. 4oz hits me hard and can make me slur my words and be unsteady on my feet. I only drink alcohol at home now, never in public (I like my Saturday night glass of wine - my indulgence after a long week). Mainly because I'd be embarrassed to seem so drunk in public and driving home would be very unwise.

These three reasons were stressed and drilled into me over and over and over pre op and post op during support group meetings.

Liver failure was the number one reason for abstaining from alcohol when I was doing the Optifast diet at Miriam Hospital five years ago, too. They said the same thing about rapid weight loss releasing toxins that overwork your liver and alcohol being very dangerous during that time. It seems to be a medically accepted belief. It's best to follow your own doctor's instructions as closely as possible for the best possible outcome...