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Can we talk about alcohol?

Shhh! Don't tell my Dr. But I started drinking again. I'm still loosing, so I'm not concerned about the caloric part of it. I mainly feel guilty because he told me not to drink for a year. But I'm single, 30, loving myself and my new body and I've been a SHUT IN for the last 4 years! I want to go out and have fun! Don't judge.

If i do drink it's a wine spritzer or beer. I find that I get tipsy, then sober up real quick. I guess it goes right through me faster now and doesn't absorb like it used to?

Anyone else have similar stories to share?

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I just talked to a friend of mines and she said the same thing. She gets drunk fast and then she's ok after about 1 hour. That's weird....

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I drink as well. I make sure I drink PLENTY of Water in between drinks and I take my Pepcid. My concern is getting a stomach ulcer, so just be safe about it and you should be fine. :) my doctor told me to just keep drinking to a minimum so I save alcohol for when my fiancé and I want to have a night out once or twice a month. I actually keep track of the calories I'm drinking so I don't exceed my calorie intake for the day and that's a great way of keeping me from over doing it. Haha

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Y'all just gave me hope least I know that I can still drink occasionally

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Y'all just gave me hope least I know that I can still drink occasionally

It's like everything else in life... The key to making it work is moderation. :) we got ourselves in this rny mess by overindulging... Now we have to learn to enjoy everything in smaller amounts. It truly makes you appreciate what you DO have. :) a small glass of wine tastes so much better to me now that I take the time to sip it over a longer period.

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I'm not much of a drinker, before surgery I liked something light like a pina colada, I spoke to my nut she said if I want to drink, try a glass of red wine...(have no clue what it taste like, but she said be very easy with it or I'll be dancing on a bar...lol)

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Can we talk about alcohol?

Shhh! Don't tell my Dr. But I started drinking again. I'm still loosing' date=' so I'm not concerned about the caloric part of it. I mainly feel guilty because he told me not to drink for a year. But I'm single, 30, loving myself and my new body and I've been a SHUT IN for the last 4 years! I want to go out and have fun! Don't judge.

If i do drink it's a wine spritzer or beer. I find that I get tipsy, then sober up real quick. I guess it goes right through me faster now and doesn't absorb like it used to?

Anyone else have similar stories to share?[/quote']

Please be careful. I was told by my physic, nut and Dr that is is very easy to become an acholic with the bypass and that if we drink even an oz of wine we will measure over the legal limit.

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Can we talk about alcohol?

Shhh! Don't tell my Dr. But I started drinking again. I'm still loosing' date=' so I'm not concerned about the caloric part of it. I mainly feel guilty because he told me not to drink for a year. But I'm single, 30, loving myself and my new body and I've been a SHUT IN for the last 4 years! I want to go out and have fun! Don't judge.

If i do drink it's a wine spritzer or beer. I find that I get tipsy, then sober up real quick. I guess it goes right through me faster now and doesn't absorb like it used to?

Anyone else have similar stories to share?[/quote']

You should go out an get ur life back hair makeup the whole nine take a drink not to many dance an enjoy your hard work

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How long did you guys wait to start drinking wine after surgery ?

3 months.

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How long did you guys wait to start drinking wine after surgery ?

I was told to wait one year. I trust my doc - I'm listening to him.

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How long did you guys wait to start drinking wine after surgery ?

my doctor told me 6 months im only a month

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Can we talk about alcohol?

Shhh! Don't tell my Dr. But I started drinking again. I'm still loosing, so I'm not concerned about the caloric part of it. I mainly feel guilty because he told me not to drink for a year. But I'm single, 30, loving myself and my new body and I've been a SHUT IN for the last 4 years! I want to go out and have fun! Don't judge.

If i do drink it's a wine spritzer or beer. I find that I get tipsy, then sober up real quick. I guess it goes right through me faster now and doesn't absorb like it used to?

Anyone else have similar stories to share?

Most stories from bypass patients that drink will be similar. After surgery the alcohol moves much more quickly (and pretty much all at once) into the small intestine. That's why it hits you harder and more quickly than it did before. It also moves out of the shortened intestine faster than it did before which is why you sober up more quickly.

My surgeon said no alcohol for a year and I followed it to the letter and still wound up with an ulcer at the anastomosis. It healed fairly quickly but I'd be cautious about pushing the time line. I very much enjoy a glass of wine before dinner (pre-op and post-op) but you want to be sure that the surgery is completely healed before alcohol. Pre-op or post-op, alcohol is still an irritant.

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Most stories from bypass patients that drink will be similar. After surgery the alcohol moves much more quickly (and pretty much all at once) into the small intestine. That's why it hits you harder and more quickly than it did before. It also moves out of the shortened intestine faster than it did before which is why you sober up more quickly.

My surgeon said no alcohol for a year and I followed it to the letter and still wound up with an ulcer at the anastomosis. It healed fairly quickly but I'd be cautious about pushing the time line. I very much enjoy a glass of wine before dinner (pre-op and post-op) but you want to be sure that the surgery is completely healed before alcohol. Pre-op or post-op' date=' alcohol is still an irritant.[/quote']

DL, when you got your ulcer was it because you had wine frequently? You mentioned before dinner but was it occasionally or daily? I like wine and am looking forward to having a glass next June. I usually only have a glass or two on a Saturday night (I come from a family susceptible to alcoholism - 5 out of 7 are alcoholics). I would have no problem cutting back even more if it would avoid an ulcer. What's your thought on it? :-)

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Terry I was (and am again) drinking one glass of wine before dinner - more days than not. But just to be clear, I did not drink wine (or anything alcoholic) until one year post-op. I was diagnosed with the ulcer at about 13 months post-op. So, did the wine have anything to do with it? I really don't know. The doctors were aware that I was drinking wine and they didn't know either.

Some doctors advise their patients not to have alcohol for a period of six months following the surgery. So one year would appear to be on the conservative side. The anastomosis (which is where the ulcer was) should have been completely healed after that period of time. I was slightly anemic and a stool test picked up a little blood. There was never any pain or any other symptoms, just the anemia.

Following the endoscopy and the diagnosis, my surgeon increased my Prevacid from one capsule (30mg) to two a day. That was it. No other treatment. A second endoscopy about three to four months later showed that the ulcer was completely healed. I went back to my glass of wine and blood work was spot on at my 18 month check-up. Sunday will be my two year anniversary and I have an appointment with my surgeon on Tuesday. Lab work is already done so I'll know the results on Tuesday.

Ulcers are one of the more common complications following bypass and are usually the result of bacterial infection (H. pylori) as opposed to food (or drink) related causes. But that doesn't mean that alcohol is not an irritant and was not/could not be a contributing factor. It appears to be a difficult question to answer except in extreme cases such as alcoholism or family history of ulcers.

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