Ok, so, I know that alcohol can irritate the stomach, and is full of calories, but that aside, I'm sure lots of people still drink with the band. Right?

I'm not talking a glass of wine or 2 at dinner... but you know, going out to a party/pub/bar or wherever you do your recreational drinking, and actually getting drunk... purposely.

If someone were to do this, to the point of feeling nauseous... is there anything that can be done? What about a bad hangover with the potential for puking? Probably just some Gravol, right?

I'm not a huge drinker, and I actually haven't had a drink in months, but I know that it's gonna happen again (and I'm looking forward to it!), so I just want to be prepared so that if I drink too much, and start feeling sick, I know what kind of things might help.

Thanks guys,

Mandi

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Good question. I like a good party also.....

I party a lot, but I never have gotten to the point of puking because I drank to much. The only problem that I ever had is eatting after or during my drinking... even with no restriction you can still get food stuck.

Well...this New Years Eve I lost my mind and drank wayyyy too much. I was so sick I slept with a waste basket by the couch. I was MISERABLE and threw up a few times. It feels like you are going to throw up your stomach. I was worried I did serious damage but a few days of liquids and I was fine. I did take gas-ex because I had drank some sour that had carbonation in it. I also try to carry anti-nasea suppositories (I know, gross! but they WORK) with me and I used one of those.

I would NOT recommend drinking as much as I did...but now I can't drink much at all without getting drunk because I don't weigh as much and I don't eat very much so it can get away from me.

Megn

I am about three weeks out now and I had a small glass of wine on Tuesday. I was at my monthly Wives Coffee (its a military thing) and just couldn't resist! I deserved it, my husband has been deployed now for 6 months! lol I had no ill affects whatsoever.

I have posted on other sites a few facts on alcohol.

1st: before I retired as a police officer, alcohol enforcement and fatal crash investigations were my specilties. Since 1990 I have been involved at a local college as an instructor in what is called Standardize Field Sobriety Testing...I teach cops how to locate, field test, arrest and prosecute drink driviers. Part of our teaching tools is we actually pay people to come to the college and drink to the point of intoxication so that the police officer students can do the test on subjects who are intoxicated. In my career as an instructor I have dosed up over 3,000 people from sobriety to intoxication. I have also been involved in many studies about alcohol and its effects.

Since I have been banded I have had to give up drinking any carbonated products. And I Loved my beer. I can't drink rum and coke unless I would flatten the coke out before drinking it. So I do straight liquor now. I have never found a wine I like. I don't drink to the point of intoxication and I haven't for many years. But I can give you a few hints about what you can do to keep from getting sick.

Well # 1 don't drink too much.

#2. Eat starcy foods a few hours before you start drinking.

#3. Eat cheese before you drink and this will slow down the rate the alcohol passed thru your stomach into the intestines. It is in the intestines where 80% of the alcohol gets absorbed into your blood. But remember to eat and chew the cheese well as it has to get thru the stoma to the lower stomch so it can block the poloric valve.

#4. After a few drinks drink a glass (8oz) of Water. Not only will this help the rate of intoxication slow down, but it will also help keep your brain hydrated and will reduce your hangover effect in the am.

#5. Drinks with citris acid, Orange juice, grapefruit juice and the like will also slow down the rate alcohol gets into your blood strem.

#6. If you eat cheese before you go drinking stay away from any coke or pepsi produces becasue they accellerate the rate at which the cheese breaks up and will counteract what you want the cheese to do.

As Megan says your intoxication level is directly related to your weight so as you lose weight you will not be able to drink as many drinks. Men will be able to drink more then a woman of the same weight because a man's body is made up of more water then a womans. (this is not the case during menstration...the woman will be able to drink more).

One 12 oz beer, one 6oz glass of wine and one jigger 45 ml (1 1/2 oz) of 86 proof alcohol are all equal and count as one drink. Basically a 150 man will have a blood alcohol level of .10 if he has 4 drinks in his system...Since you lose approximately one drink for every hour you drink a 150 man would have to drink 6 drinkS in a two hour period to be .10

There are other factors that can cause blood alcohol consentrations to raise like how much food you have eaten, stress levels etc.

JUST REMEMBER FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK

My immediate thought after reading that post was “just don’t drink so much that it makes you sick, then you won’t need to worry about throwing up.” But it has me wondering…is drinking a lot of alcohol like overeating? Is it a compulsive thing that you have to fight to control? Is telling someone not to drink as useless as telling a binge eater not to eat?

I’m sure it’s obvious that I am not a drinker, but this is something I have wondered about. What is it about alcohol that makes people drink to excess, knowing that it will ultimately make them feel like hell? Is it a comfort thing? Does it just feel really good? Or is it that you really really like the taste and it’s a treat you allow yourself?

I hope everyone doesn’t jump on me for this. I’m not trying to say that drinking is bad or wrong. It’s just something I’m totally unfamiliar with, so I’m curious...

I worried about this also... I love to party and was worried that I wouldn't get to do it anymore.

This is what I do...

1. Sip all my drinks... ABSOLUTELY NO CHUGGING.

2. No carbonated drinks for me. ( I drink Margaritas like crazy)

3. When I was in High School, I could drink 12 beers and not feel a thing... now, 1 drink and I am feeling the effects.

4. I just take things a lot slower and I drink all the time (on weekends) so I know when enough is enough. Just the thought of throwing up and possibly ruining my band is enough to just say no.

By the way... Greg... really loved all the info in your post. I just took an online Driver's Education's course... and the Alcohol section was my favorite. I learned a lot from it.

Thanks everyone who responded... good info.

It's not that often that I'll drink to the point of feeling nauseous, but I just wanted to be safe and know, just in case.

MeganA - the anti-nausea suppositories - you used it when you were already drunk because you were worried about puking, or the morning after? I wondered about that, because I know that there are people who purposely mix alcohol with Gravol, for a 'high' ... I suppose if you're on your way to just going to bed and will be sleeping through it, it would be ok?

Greg - thank you - I'll remember those things. I planned to stay away from carbonated mixes anyways, but maybe now I'll make a point of having citrus-y ones and eat some cheese before I go out!

Sleepyjean - I won't be jumping on you! - I don't know if it's a compulsion, especially when it's not something you do everyday (drinking excessively) (in which case, it would be being an alcoholic).

I think we all *could* stop after a couple drinks, and do when it's called for, but I guess when you're having fun, and your drinks taste good, things can get away from you, and before you know it, you've had too much. I'm lucky in that drinking too much doesn't always make me feel like hell. It can be fun, and you never know how you're gonna end up feeling the next day, but I suppose if i KNEW for a fact how it would end up everytime I drank, I wouldn't drink that much.

So anyways... thanks again everyone. I hope some more people respond as well, cause I'd like to have as much anti-nausea ammunition as possible.

Mandi

Right before you start to fall off your barstool, ask for Water. Gag it down if you have to, and keep asking them to refill the glass. Soon you'll be wobbling to the bathroom to pee. Then ask for more, no matter how bad it tastes.

I'm a big weekend party girl, and not even the band could stop me but I never got to the point of vomitting because I start pounding water around midnight to avoid hangovers and barf-a-thons.

Sleepyjean, you hit this nail on MY head! "Is drinking a lot of alcohol like overeating? Is it a compulsive thing that you have to fight to control? Is telling someone not to drink as useless as telling a binge eater not to eat?"

Yes, yes, and yes. I don't crave alcohol (unless it's been a really bad week like after taxes.) I can go weeks, even months, without drinking. But I can't have just one once I start. One drink sets off a trigger and I need more. Sometimes it's just like our cravings for sweets that makes us need salty that makes us want more sweets. First it's the candy, then the chips, then the ice cream. Well, I'll start with a glass of wine, which leads to a 2nd, which makes me crave something else, which makes me crave something else. Soon I'm bombed doing shots. For me, it's definitely part of the obsession of just cramming something down my throat.