Carbonated beverages

[bellabeans 74]

Any suggestions on how to stop carbonated beverages ? My surgery is in August and I am a huge Diet Coke drinker. I have probably cut it in half but can't seem to stop 100%

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[Christinamo7 4,042]

try to find something different you like. in the past I went from drinking coke, to drinking sprite (not nearly as tempting) and then lemonaid.

Vitamin Water zero makes a lovely lemonaid, and I enjoy the other flavors as well.

and one of the lousy things we have to learn in this process is to tell ourselves NO.

it may help to make a list of all the reasons you want to give it up, and refer to that list when you feel like you need one.

[bjc1971 85]

I used to drink 6-8 diet cokes a day!!! No Water at all... Only coke. I'm not gonna lie.... Stopping was so hard for me.... But I did it and you can too!!! I tried to cut back to a couple a day but I just kept craving it. I had to go cold turkey. It was hard at first and I had headaches.... Was irritable.... I wanted that coke. But I held strong and drank Water and diet green tea. Good luck... You can do it!!!

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[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Any suggestions on how to stop carbonated beverages ? My surgery is in August and I am a huge Diet Coke drinker. I have probably cut it in half but can't seem to stop 100%

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What worked for me was to gradually wean myself off of carbonation and then caffeine.

I cut back on my diet sodas and increased my Water consumption. I also drank more alternative beverages like tea (fortunately I like unsweetened tea), and crystal light, etc.

Once I had reduced my carbonation to 0, I did the same thing with caffeine -- reducing my caffeinated tea and increasing my non-caffeinated fluids.

[jersey0601 99]

Bellabeans - I agree , it is so hard . I quit cold turkey when I first started my surgery journey - DC was a trigger for so many other issues ( salty night eating , etc) .. I had such horrible headaches and I miss DC almost every day --- but best decision to cut it out

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[audaciousmarie 165]

try to find something different you like. in the past I went from drinking coke, to drinking sprite (not nearly as tempting) and then lemonaid.

Vitamin Water zero makes a lovely lemonaid, and I enjoy the other flavors as well.

and one of the lousy things we have to learn in this process is to tell ourselves NO.

it may help to make a list of all the reasons you want to give it up, and refer to that list when you feel like you need one.

I absolutely love the Vitamin Water zero lemonade...especially when its ice cold on a hot day.

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[able2cope 193]

Crystal light and alternatives is my saviour!! so many different flavours - I've successfully not had anything carbonated for night on 4 years now..you can do it too.

[Cape Crooner 589]

Crystal light and alternatives is my saviour!! so many different flavours - I've successfully not had anything carbonated for night on 4 years now..you can do it too.

Second Crystal Lite. Most are too sweet, but they have one that as Watermelon, strawberry, and Orange that is quite good!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Mio drops were my saving grace pre-op and post-op for about 4-5 months.

Now (21 months post-op) I haven't used Mio for I can't even remember how long!

[RILEYSMOM22 344]

After surgery, I had a difficult time getting Water down, so carbonated beverages weren't even a possibility. Now, several months later, I have tried a diet coke and I can't do it. The carbonation is just too much.

[arex 9]

Caffeine addiction is more of a problem than fizzy drinks. Obviously, no fizzy after surgery...you will regret it.

Figure out a way to taper off of caffeine over the course of a couple of weeks...you do NOT want to go cold turkey, it's extremely miserable, and you'll be back on the Coke before you know it. Try and determine how much caffeine you're currently taking in a day, and replace your Cokes with an equivalent dose of No-Doz or something, and taper off your daily dose over 14-21 days until you're consuming no more caffeine...you might suffer some withdrawals, but nothing like you'd suffer going cold turkey. Yes, you need to think of it in terms of doses, not sweet fizzy drinks. Drink juice instead to satisfy the psychological cravings for sweetness.

I used to drink quarts of Coke, literally, per day. Now I have a cup of coffee in the morning with my oatmeal, sometimes.

[Cape Crooner 589]

Decaf is also a good bridge strategy

[Jessicacherry3 71]

I was a Diet Coke junky before surgery. I didn't try to stop before surgery and you can't drink it after surgery. I've tried it a few times since my vsg and it tastes metallic to me, gross! So the problem took care of itself. I drink a lot of crystal light peach tea now. It has a little caffeine and keeps me hydrated. Good luck!

[Sophie74656 1,572]

I still drink soda. I waited a month post op but now I drink it as much as I want. To start with, try getting some small bottles and shaking them up to get the bubbles out

[Manhattan Mom of Two 2]

@@Sophie74656 I can drink carbonated ginger ale. Is that unusual? I'm nearly 4 weeks post-op (gastric sleeve).