My surgery is rapidly approaching in 11 days so I am still drink my DIET COKES....When should I stop? Better yet do I have to stop? I have atleast 4 to 5 a day?

PLEASE HELP!!!

that was the hardest thing for me. i stopped 1 month before surgery. i still miss it.

I am afraid you should have stopped long ago. I had kind of the same problem with coffee but like 2 months before my surgery what I did was that I started to lower the amount of coffee I was consuming. It was usually 1-2 Lg coffees a day before that, sometimes more. But 2 months pre op I started buying just a small coffee in the morning and siping on it throughout the day. Sipping instead of drinking it within an hour helped me to have the taste all day and eventually I started noticing that I wasn't finishing it. By the time I had to start my preop diet I wasn't drinking coffee anymore and I didn't feel like I needed it. I know it's kind of a rush to do the sipping experiment but it might help. But still you should definitely stop taking soda. At least my doctor told me I was not going to be able to drink soda or beer ever again.

you can do it! just think of the huge reward that will bring and also the consecuences if you don't.

Well you are right I do see the picture at the end i guess i will be tossing this diet coke here on my desk. The start of a new journey.

This was my biggest fear! I was addicted to cokes!!! I should have stopped sooner but just couldn't! The night before my preop clear liquid diet started I had a huge coke from McDonald's and that was it!!! The next day I started my preop clears/protein shakes. By the end of day 1 I had a headache that wouldn't go away w Tylenol - day 2 I maxed out my Tylenol and ended up w a migraine. I finally got it under control w some hydrocodone. Day 3 - small headache and today is day 4 and I'm feeling fine. I don't know how much if the headaches are caused from not being able to eat or the caffeine withdrawal or a combination. If I were u I would start tapering down and get off of the sodas! You can't have them post surgery and they are horrible for u!

Good luck!!! I totally understand!!!!

Well you are right I do see the picture at the end i guess i will be tossing this diet coke here on my desk. The start of a new journey.

In my opinion, stop taking something you are addicted to it's really hard I knew that I would most likely get a headache if I didn't have some coffee and that is why I decided to do it gradually. Maybe instead of tossing the whole can just sip on it until night or you could easily be tempeted to open a whole new can later. Make a big effort but don't torture yourself and tomorrow do the same only one can and just a few sips here and there. At least that might avoid the headaches and frustration. good luck!

I was the same way. 4-5 cans a day, easy. Several months ago, I decided to allow myself only 1 a day. Every day I had one and by the 3rd week of doing that, it wasn't a big deal anymore. After about 1.5 months, I gave it up completely.

If I were you, with surgery coming up so quickly. I would wean myself to one a day for the next 2-3 days, then cut it out completely.

Coke was my biggest addiction!!! I stopped drinking them last May and now no longer crave them at all. I knew it had to stop and one night I decided that I was drinking the last soda that I would ever have. I transitioned to Iced tea for a few weeks so that I could at least get some caffiene which helped with not getting headaches from stopping. Once I had surgery I focused on water and drink iced tea when I want something different. Good luck!!!

I gave up caffeinated drinks on 12/26/12. No sodas, coffee, or tea. It was HARD and sometimes it still is. I think about soda when im at a restaraunt with friends or the hubs. For the longest my hubs was kind enough to buy only sodas that I didn't like and he refrained from the dr pepper. I LOVE dr pepper. He is a sweet man. It's possible to give it up though. I'd start now prior to surgery. Good luck.

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Thanks a lot guys your advice has truly is being helpful.

I gave up my diet cokes too...never bothered me as I never let myself give it thought. i drank two Sonic route 44 's a day. Im two months out from surgery and 40 pounds down. It was a great trade : )

I had a major diet coke addiction. I started weening off of it a few weeks before surgery. I was afraid that i would crave them uncontrollably after surgery, but i was so terrified of it causing problems in the sleeve that i wouldn't dare try one. I am 4 1/2 months post op now and i still haven't tried. I am afraid i will fall off the wagon if i try one. Or it will hurt. I have only craved it once. And that was at a bar while watching football. I stuck with water. Pre op.....that would have never happened! I would have had glass after glass.

Like the rest I cut it out a couple months before surgery because I was very afraid of how the cravings would be postop. I drank coke specifically from McDonald's (its the best). I gave it up around Halloween, I was sleeved 12/10/12. If I didn't have the sleeve i would still be drinking it. Definitely cut back now .

My hubby gave up his mt dews since I was going through what I was. I don't know that I would be ok if he was sitting next to me drinking soda lol.

Good luck!

Yep I used to go to McDonalds for a large diet coke all of the time. I swear they put something in it to make it better than anywhere else!

I stopped drinking soda, 6 weeks before my operation. Which is when I started my pre-op protein shake diet. And my doctor was very clear! NO MORE SODA! Diet or otherwise ever! The weight I'll lose will be a great trade off! And so far I don't miss it so much. You need to stop cold turkey asap! It will be worth it! You can do it!

vanilla Coke Zero was my drug of choice and I still crave it! I tapered off slowly about 6 weeks before my surgery bc I knew I'd have a hard time.

My mom still drinks it all the time and my mouth waters when I see it!! LOL

It'll all be worth it in the end!!