Alcohol during maintenance??

[xoto2000 5]

Hi all so I’ve tried searching for this but couldn’t find anything. I’m personally no where near the maintenance phase but for those who are do you imbibe? Is it anywhere as much as before? Does alcohol really hit you that much harder?

[Prestonandme 107]

I didn't try alcohol until nearly a year post-surgery. Everything changed. Before surgery, I could drink wine or mixed drinks and develop a lovely mild buzz that would last for about an hour or two. After surgery, I had to give up wine and mixed drinks because of the new effects they had on me. I'd feel nothing for about 30-45 minutes after drinking, then suddenly feel extremely inebriated -- overwhelmed -- and the whooziness would last for several hours, plus sometimes I'd then get a bad headache. And diarrhea (TMI).

These days I only drink one can of beer (Guinness Stout) at home. I wouldn't dare drink away from home because of the possibility of severe inebriation. A blood/alcohol card listing weight and BAC showed that hypothetically, a person of my weight would reach a BAC of .10 after drinking just one and one half glasses of wine!

If and when you're ready to introduce alcohol back into your life, definitely drink at home first so you can find out how the alcohol now affects you. About a year ago, a woman posted that she drank alcohol at a party and felt completely fine driving home but during the drive she suddenly became overwhelmed by drunkenness and had to pull over and lie down in her seat. She got a DUI.

[ms.sss 15,726]

There are a few controversial topics that get some strong (and not-so-strong) opinions/responses on this forum. Alcohol consumption is one of them.

With that said, I am a maintainer and a regular drinker.

Aside: I have mixed feelings about saying this even as I type this, as I don't want to inadvertently influence someone to drink if they are of the type who may spiral. I often drop hints about my drinking habits in more light-hearted threads (i.e., the food thread or the clothes thread), but in threads specifically asking about alcohol by those in the early stages, I have pause. But, we are all adults here and can make our own choices, so here goes:

Prior to WLS, I didn't drink regularly, but if/when I did, I drank ALOT. Think sloppy drunk. It was always at parties or nights out, and never at home (if we hosted parties, I'd drink, but not get drunk cuz I mean, I had hosting responsibilities after all, LOL).

During weight loss phase, I must have drank maybe 5-6 times the entire time. And it was very little, less than 1/4 of a single serving, if that. The first time I drank after surgery was 3 weeks post op. I had 2 sips of red wine at a party, and it was weird...I remember feeling the liquid in my stomach and the warmth of it travel through my intestines and I got surprisingly tipsy for so little that I drank. The second time I had a drink was 3-4 sips of a soju-sake concoction around 1-2 months post op and I had the most horrible dumping experience soon after. Like laying on the bathroom floor horrible. It was the sugar in it. The handful of times I drank after that (during weight loss phase) I stuck to gin/vodka sodas & dry red wine. I was definitely affected with just a few sips, and the effects wore off pretty quickly.

Now, lets talk maintenance. Freed from having to stay under a self-imposed calorie limit, I drank more. I drank more often than I did pre-op, but less overall, even including my occasional pre-op benders. I no longer only got to sloppy level when I drank, but to just a good buzz. And again, only when I was out and about. I'd say I had maybe 1-3 drinks a week. I still got buzzed relatively quickly (less than one full drink), and the effects did not last long (less than an hour). There were maybe 4-5 times I got pretty trashed during this time (i'm guessing on like 5-6 drinks), all while on some vacation or other, and once at a wedding.

Then came lockdown in March last year. I was about 1.5 years out when Covid reared its ugly head, and just under a year into maintenance. My drinking increased exponentially over a couple months. These days, I drink at least one drink a day (usually two, occasionally much more, on those nights we have an extended dinner seating time, or when it was patio season last summer).

Now according to the literature I have read, based on volume alone, I am an alcoholic. Go figure. Am I concerned? Honestly nowadays, not really. I did contemplate it in the beginning, especially cuz Mr would keep bringing up how my drinking has increased (in a joking way mostly...but he should talk, he drinks every day too. Almost always has...his drinking also increased with Covid. Granted, he has more mass than I do and has the metabolism of a hummingbird).

It's been almost a year of this daily drinking now, and while I believe I could benefit from cutting down, I don't see it as an issue at the moment in terms of any decrease in quality of life or my own safety or the safety of those around me (but I suppose this is what anyone who drinks would say). We'll see.

Back in the summer we agreed that each person in the house can call a "dry day" at any point and everyone must abide to no drinking that day. Though to date, no one has called it. That probably speaks to the mentality we got going on here, lol. I did a couple "dry weeks" on my own accord months ago, just to prove to Mr. & myself I didn't have a problem...these weeks went by uneventfully, but I'm not sure if it really proved anything.

Very long story short, while I'm not advocating nor discouraging drinking either way to anyone, as with anything else in life, the hope is that you can be self-aware enough to know what YOUR acceptable limits are and try to stay within them.

Sorry this was so long.

Good Luck ❤️

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have pretty much maintained my weight (115 lbs +/- 5lbs) this entire time. Last year I reached my acceptable upper limit (120 lbs for more than 3-4 days in a row) twice and then switched gears to get back to 115. First time took me 3-4 weeks, second time took me 3-4 months (granted, I didn't try very hard). Today I am actually 6 lbs under my "normal", BUT I'm in transition at the moment as I've had zero exercise for about a month due to injury and i'm trying to offset that with a reduction in calories...and yeah, I haven't found the right level yet...so this is temporary, as far as I'm concerned. BUT I'm still drinking, lol, am just having less dessert 😜

P.P.S. I also smoke. But that's a whole other topic...

Edited March 17, 2021 by ms.sss

[xoto2000 5]

On 03/16/2021 at 20:04, OAGBPal said:

My program allows alcohol from Week 5, just keep it within your calories. It takes about a fifth of what I would drink before to get me tipsy. It goes over fast, too I'm drinking twice a month and my weight loss is going fine.

Wow 5 weeks I wish. I’m not allowed to drink until 6 months out and I’m currently at 6 weeks..just glad it’s in time for summer

[xoto2000 5]

On 03/17/2021 at 00:37, Prestonandme said:

I didn't try alcohol until nearly a year post-surgery. Everything changed. Before surgery, I could drink wine or mixed drinks and develop a lovely mild buzz that would last for about an hour or two. After surgery, I had to give up wine and mixed drinks because of the new effects they had on me. I'd feel nothing for about 30-45 minutes after drinking, then suddenly feel extremely inebriated -- overwhelmed -- and the whooziness would last for several hours, plus sometimes I'd then get a bad headache. And diarrhea (TMI).

These days I only drink one can of beer (Guinness Stout) at home. I wouldn't dare drink away from home because of the possibility of severe inebriation. A blood/alcohol card listing weight and BAC showed that hypothetically, a person of my weight would reach a BAC of .10 after drinking just one and one half glasses of wine!

If and when you're ready to introduce alcohol back into your life, definitely drink at home first so you can find out how the alcohol now affects you. About a year ago, a woman posted that she drank alcohol at a party and felt completely fine driving home but during the drive she suddenly became overwhelmed by drunkenness and had to pull over and lie down in her seat. She got a DUI.

Great idea to try it at home first but even pre-op I never drove to parties just in case, so I’ll definitely continue to do that thanks for the answer!

[xoto2000 5]

On 03/17/2021 at 16:48, ms.sss said:

There are a few controversial topics that get some strong (and not-so-strong) opinions/responses on this forum. Alcohol consumption is one of them.

With that said, I am a maintainer and a regular drinker.

Aside: I have mixed feelings about saying this even as I type this, as I don't want to inadvertently influence someone to drink if they are of the type who may spiral. I often drop hints about my drinking habits in more light-hearted threads (i.e., the food thread or the clothes thread), but in threads specifically asking about alcohol by those in the early stages, I have pause. But, we are all adults here and can make our own choices, so here goes:

Prior to WLS, I didn't drink regularly, but if/when I did, I drank ALOT. Think sloppy drunk. It was always at parties or nights out, and never at home (if we hosted parties, I'd drink, but not get drunk cuz I mean, I had hosting responsibilities after all, LOL).

During weight loss phase, I must have drank maybe 5-6 times the entire time. And it was very little, less than 1/4 of a single serving, if that. The first time I drank after surgery was 3 weeks post op. I had 2 sips of red wine at a party, and it was weird...I remember feeling the liquid in my stomach and the warmth of it travel through my intestines and I got surprisingly tipsy for so little that I drank. The second time I had a drink was 3-4 sips of a soju-sake concoction around 1-2 months post op and I had the most horrible dumping experience soon after. Like laying on the bathroom floor horrible. It was the sugar in it. The handful of times I drank after that (during weight loss phase) I stuck to gin/vodka sodas & dry red wine. I was definitely affected with just a few sips, and the effects wore off pretty quickly.

Now, lets talk maintenance. Freed from having to stay under a self-imposed calorie limit, I drank more. I drank more often than I did pre-op, but less overall, even including my occasional pre-op benders. I no longer only got to sloppy level when I drank, but to just a good buzz. And again, only when I was out and about. I'd say I had maybe 1-3 drinks a week. I still got buzzed relatively quickly (less than one full drink), and the effects did not last long (less than an hour). There were maybe 4-5 times I got pretty trashed during this time (i'm guessing on like 5-6 drinks), all while on some vacation or other, and once at a wedding.

Then came lockdown in March last year. I was about 1.5 years out when Covid reared its ugly head, and just under a year into maintenance. My drinking increased exponentially over a couple months. These days, I drink at least one drink a day (usually two, occasionally much more, on those nights we have an extended dinner seating time, or when it was patio season last summer).

Now according to the literature I have read, based on volume alone, I am an alcoholic. Go figure. Am I concerned? Honestly nowadays, not really. I did contemplate it in the beginning, especially cuz Mr would keep bringing up how my drinking has increased (in a joking way mostly...but he should talk, he drinks every day too. Almost always has...his drinking also increased with Covid. Granted, he has more mass than I do and has the metabolism of a hummingbird).

It's been almost a year of this daily drinking now, and while I believe I could benefit from cutting down, I don't see it as an issue at the moment in terms of any decrease in quality of life or my own safety or the safety of those around me (but I suppose this is what anyone who drinks would say). We'll see.

Back in the summer we agreed that each person in the house can call a "dry day" at any point and everyone must abide to no drinking that day. Though to date, no one has called it. That probably speaks to the mentality we got going on here, lol. I did a couple "dry weeks" on my own accord months ago, just to prove to Mr. & myself I didn't have a problem...these weeks went by uneventfully, but I'm not sure if it really proved anything.

Very long story short, while I'm not advocating nor discouraging drinking either way to anyone, as with anything else in life, the hope is that you can be self-aware enough to know what YOUR acceptable limits are and try to stay within them.

Sorry this was so long.

Good Luck ❤️

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have pretty much maintained my weight (115 lbs +/- 5lbs) this entire time. Last year I reached my acceptable upper limit (120 lbs for more than 3-4 days in a row) twice and then switched gears to get back to 115. First time took me 3-4 weeks, second time took me 3-4 months (granted, I didn't try very hard). Today I am actually 6 lbs under my "normal", BUT I'm in transition at the moment as I've had zero exercise for about a month due to injury and i'm trying to offset that with a reduction in calories...and yeah, I haven't found the right level yet...so this is temporary, as far as I'm concerned. BUT I'm still drinking, lol, am just having less dessert 😜

P.P.S. I also smoke. But that's a whole other topic...

Wow quite the response. You are your own person and I don’t wanna make any rash judgement but from what you said I think slowing down on alcohol is a good idea. As WLS patients we all suffered from some degree of food addiction and I just don’t want you to transfer that addiction to alcohol. Glad to see you’re still maintaining a healthy weight and not reverting to your old self. Just be careful, wish you the best

[ms.sss 15,726]

10 minutes ago, xoto2000 said:

Wow quite the response. You are your own person and I don’t wanna make any rash judgement but from what you said I think slowing down on alcohol is a good idea. As WLS patients we all suffered from some degree of food addiction and I just don’t want you to transfer that addiction to alcohol. Glad to see you’re still maintaining a healthy weight and not reverting to your old self. Just be careful, wish you the best

Thanks, I often wonder about that...though if I had an addiction, its probably already been transferred. To drinking, smoking, cooking, shopping, exercising, screen time, spreadsheet making, vacation planning, pouring over the forums of BariatricPal. All activities one person or other have commented I do too much of. *shrugs*

P.S. oh, and forgot to include: counting calories and weighing myself every morning.

Edited March 17, 2021 by ms.sss

[ms.sss 15,726]

1 hour ago, OAGBPal said:

Smokers unite! I know this is a different cultural thing in the US My program didn't even ask if I did and didn't care if I did. I vaped in my hospital bed, thought it might be good to take a break on the Gauloises right after surgery. Most of my social circle smokes, and they're almost all grad school educated people like me.

I should really quit one day, but what will my other hand do when I'm drinking a nice red wine? Drink a second glass? See, it doesn't work!

yeah, I had actually quit smoking for over 10 years until a trip to Europe in 2019 and started again there. Everyone we met smoked, so I was all, fine. I'll take that cigarette you keep offering me. And here we are 1.5 years later, like I never even stopped. But yeah, I should really quit one day....

Edited March 17, 2021 by ms.sss

[momof3_angels 465]

You can reintroduce when allowed by your surgeon... but start out slow and stick to moderation! Alcohol and weight loss don't really usually go together. Alcohol and maintenance only go together if you are monitoring calorie intake. And how fast you feel tipsy might be accelerated from before.. but that isn't the case for everyone. Me? I have had a couple sips... maybe twice... of wine in the last 18 months since surgery. Doing fine without it so not seeking it out. But not overtly avoiding it either.

[Katiebal_Lecter 28]

Anyone have alcohol intolerance after surgery? I had bypass and the few times I’ve drank vodka now (a common drink pre-surgery) I get very itchy all over my body.

Edited March 18, 2021 by Katiebal_Lecter

[Prestonandme 107]

On 3/17/2021 at 1:48 PM, ms.sss said:

It's been almost a year of this daily drinking now, and while I believe I could benefit from cutting down, I don't see it as an issue at the moment in terms of any decrease in quality of life or my own safety or the safety of those around me (but I suppose this is what anyone who drinks would say). We'll see.

One suggestion -- you may want to have your physician order a hepatic function panel for you about once a year. This just ensures that your liver remains healthy. One terrible weekend, due to incredible stress, I overindulged in alcohol and had such a violent physical reaction that I ended up in Urgent Care and learned that my liver enzymes were elevated above normal. But within a week, when retested, they were normal again. So I am very, very careful about drinking alcohol now.

My surgeon told us at our pre-bariatric seminar that he has had only one WLS patient die during his 20 years of practice, and this was from alcohol addiction leading to cirrhosis. Because of the WLS, the cirrhosis developed very quickly.

So we have to be careful and, if we drink, ask our doctors to conduct blood labs to ensure our livers are processing the alcohol and remaining healthy.

[ms.sss 15,726]

4 hours ago, Prestonandme said:

One suggestion -- you may want to have your physician order a hepatic function panel for you about once a year.

Thanks, i have to get all my labs done every six months since surgery (except for the first year when I had it done every 3, then after 5 yrs supposed to be once a year). Im assuming this is done during my appointments, but I’ll ask at my next one in a couple months.

Edited March 19, 2021 by ms.sss

[Kris77 1,538]

On 03/19/2021 at 06:58, ms.sss said:

Thanks, i have to get all my labs done every six months since surgery (except for the first year when I had it done every 3, then after 5 yrs supposed to be once a year). Im assuming this is done during my appointments, but I’ll ask at my next one in a couple months.

I have my labs done at my well woman appt now. Kill two birds with one stone lol

[ms.sss 15,726]

52 minutes ago, OAGBPal said:

I know it was meant with the best of intentions, but I still chuckle at the implication you're kind of an alcoholic (A glass of wine a day is very, very standard where I live and not cause for concern in slightest).

Yeah, I figured I would get a few concerned reactions. But it's all good, everyone's got their own stance on drinking. No bigs.

As an aside, according to what bit of (north american) literature I've read, women who drink 8+ drinks a week (men, 15+) are considered alcoholics/excessive drinkers/abusers-of-alcohol. Which makes me and all my BFF's alcoholics these days, and my husband, and his friends, and more than half of my extended family...oh, and our next-door and back neighbours too (which we discovered last summer, when we were all in our yards...drinking.)

P.S. We were in Italy, and there was an assortment of wine bottles every morning at the Breakfast buffet. Which at first surprised me, but eventually accepted as pretty cool😂

Edited March 19, 2021 by ms.sss

[ms.sss 15,726]

41 minutes ago, OAGBPal said:

My work stopped serving alcohol for birthday breakfasts five years ago. Until then, everyone got a shot of bitters to go with the pastries.

ahhhhh...just goes to show how different cultures are. Drinking during business hours (including lunchtime) would be unheard of when I was still working, let alone within the confines of the office walls.

I may need to consider relocating to Europe so I can live amongst "my people" 😎

Edited March 19, 2021 by ms.sss