Getting nervous - question about alcohol

cyndymot · September 4, 2007

Yikes! Am I ever getting nervous. I am scheduled for surgery on 9-13. Trying to keep to the pre-op diet is hard but I am doing okay. I think my biggest fear is not knowing how well I will do. I would do just about ANYTHING to lose weight in the past...including diet pills, hypnosis, etc. I always lost the weight but put it back on again. I need a little buddy (the lap band) to remind me not to eat when I am full.....not to eat just because I am bored...or unhappy or happy, etc! I am hoping that the lap band will do the trick! I do wonder what the rules on alcohol are. Can you ever drink alcohol again after the surgery? Not that I drink a lot but I do on social occasions occasionally! Any thoughts on that?

I would appreciate any and all!

Thanks,

A lot less · September 4, 2007

Cyn, I was told that you can drink alcohol, but it's considered "empty" calories. So if you drink, maybe just one won't hurt your calorie intake.

You'll do good. I was afraid too, but I needed the help. I haven't had a fill yet (surgery 8/10 and fill 9/11) but I have a friend that had surgery too and we sort of help each other. This website is wonderful and everyone will be a big help.

SimplyMe · September 4, 2007

I love the occasional drink but I'm such in the mode of losing weight I don't want to use "empty" calories and alcohol is just the easiest to give up. But if its a special occasion or party I certainly do not begrudge myself! Fortunately I'm not a beer drinker I hear beer is hard to tolerate with all its fizz! But occasionally I do miss a Smirnoff Ice!

Wendell Edwards · September 4, 2007

Yikes! Am I ever getting nervous. I am scheduled for surgery on 9-13. Trying to keep to the pre-op diet is hard but I am doing okay. I think my biggest fear is not knowing how well I will do. I would do just about ANYTHING to lose weight in the past...including diet pills, hypnosis, etc. I always lost the weight but put it back on again. I need a little buddy (the lap band) to remind me not to eat when I am full.....not to eat just because I am bored...or unhappy or happy, etc! I am hoping that the lap band will do the trick! I do wonder what the rules on alcohol are. Can you ever drink alcohol again after the surgery? Not that I drink a lot but I do on social occasions occasionally! Any thoughts on that?
I would appreciate any and all!

Thanks,

Different doctors have different opinions on alcohol after banding.

A couple of things to be aware of would include the high caloric content of alcohol, the carbonation in some alcoholic drinks and the possibility of addiction transfer, which is well-known in weight loss circles.

kacee · September 8, 2007

Can you physically drink alcohol? Yep. Should you drink it? Well...... For social occasions why not? I find no difference with alcohol consumption before or after banding EXCEPT that since you are eating substantially LESS after banding you have less stuff to help absorb the alcohol....it may hit you harder.

terrasmom · July 9, 2009

You can have an occasional drink if you must but you will find the alcohol hits you harder than before you were banded. Just a word of caution; it is entirely possible to have the lap band and gain weight or not succeede with it. It will stop you with the quantity of food you give yourself (and you will not like how that feels!) but if you make poor choices, like ice cream, alcohol, milk shakes, puddings, etc. etc. the band cannot help you there. Those liquids go right through it and give you all the calories and none of the full feeling or nutrition at all. The weight loss is still something you will be doing for yourself, band or no band you will have to work it. The band gives you a bit of help, but the effort and the choices are all up to you.

ParrotheadCathy · July 9, 2009

Kacee, yes you can drink alcohol. The band doesn't change how your body absorbs or reacts to alcohol. HOWEVER, you do have to remember that liquids go straight through the bad (like through a funnel) and you can drink more than you should. By that I mean, more very empty calories. A shot of rum is 60 calories. Some of those mixers are sugar traps. You can quickly drink 1,000 calories if you don't exercise some restraint. So a night of fun in a bar can show up on the scale in a very negative manner.

A note on the absorbtion thing....you can't eat as much food, so that means there is less of a "cushion" in your stomach so the alcohol does process more quickly than if you ate a "regular" meal. That's why bandsters tend to think that the band makes them more susceptible to the alcohol.

I'm a parrothead (duh, the name says it all) and we have a reputation for knowing how to party. I've been to more than one parrothead event since being banded and, yes, I've had my drinks (I tend to drink single barrel rum, which would be an absolute sin if you mixed it with something). You can, and should have fun while limiting your alcohol consumption. I think an awful lot of people (overweight and not) use alcohol has a lubricant for easing off their social inhibitions. Losing weight should help you come out of your shell a little (shell, what shell???) and I find that I am so busy socializing that it doesn't matter if I have a glass of rum or a glass of Water in my hand.