LIQUOR>> PLEASE HELP

[Christian Zaccone 243]

I am 10 months out. At goal weight. Been absolutely as perfect as one can be on my program. Im not a drinker.. Never have been but i do miss that once in a while mixed drink with my friends or wife. I would like some peoples input on this... Im not meeting with dietician for another 6-8 weeks for my last checkup and they originally said no BOOZE for a year but im seeing a lot of people drinking after several weeks which i would never do.. SO please looking for input if its ok to say have 1 drink every other week and account for the calories of course.

Chris

[BrandNewBrandy 79]

I have seen people way less than a year drink alcohol and I've heard doctor recommendations anywhere from 8 weeks out to never. Just remember about transfer addictions and that you may become intoxicated much more quickly now.

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

I would say you deserve a drink. At 4 months today my surgeon said the stomach is healed. Try one. My husband sipped a rum/diet coke for 2 hours, no problem. You wont know til you try.

[RickM 1,747]

Most docs limit drinking the first few weeks or months out of concern for healing the stomach, which you are past.

My doc is one of the stricter ones like yours, forbidding alcohol during the loss period, the reason being that our livers are typically diseased to varying degrees simply by our being significantly overweight, and it is further taxed by its' role in metabolizing all the fat that we are losing - it doesn't need the added stress of metabolizing the alcohol (which is a toxin that the liver normally handles in moderation, but not so well when it is overtaxed as it is when we are losing massive amounts of weight.) As my doc is also a liver transplant specialist (I guess bariatrics just doesn't keep him busy enough...) he is a bit anal on the liver health front, but I tend to take his opinions on such things seriously! On that basis, since you have stopped losing, an occasional drink would be OK at this point, though one might want to give the liver a bit more time to recover before indulging much.

The other main issue, where some docs will advise "never again" is concern over transfer addiction where whatever degree of food addiction that we had gets tranferred to something else - drinking, gambling, shopping, etc., and a casual or occasional drinking habit can lead to total alcoholism. The thing to watch there is for the every week or two drink becoming a daily thing.

Good luck, and congrats on the loss!

[Christian Zaccone 243]

THANK YOU THANK YOU ...... Ive never ever been a drinker so im not worried about that addiction but i enjoy one once in a while Especially a nice SIP drink like Sambuca on the rocks.. I can sip that for a long time and be happy...

Thank you for all these posts.. I just always want to do the right thing or at least as close as possible.

Chris

[EarthyGoalie 253]

I've ha a couple of drinks since I was 3 moths out.never a lot though. Usually 1/4 to 1/2 of the glass.

[Jencovi 261]

Most docs limit drinking the first few weeks or months out of concern for healing the stomach, which you are past.

My doc is one of the stricter ones like yours, forbidding alcohol during the loss period, the reason being that our livers are typically diseased to varying degrees simply by our being significantly overweight, and it is further taxed by its' role in metabolizing all the fat that we are losing - it doesn't need the added stress of metabolizing the alcohol (which is a toxin that the liver normally handles in moderation, but not so well when it is overtaxed as it is when we are losing massive amounts of weight.) As my doc is also a liver transplant specialist (I guess bariatrics just doesn't keep him busy enough...) he is a bit anal on the liver health front, but I tend to take his opinions on such things seriously! On that basis, since you have stopped losing, an occasional drink would be OK at this point, though one might want to give the liver a bit more time to recover before indulging much.

The other main issue, where some docs will advise "never again" is concern over transfer addiction where whatever degree of food addiction that we had gets tranferred to something else - drinking, gambling, shopping, etc., and a casual or occasional drinking habit can lead to total alcoholism. The thing to watch there is for the every week or two drink becoming a daily thing.

Good luck, and congrats on the loss!

I appreciate all this info. I am only 4 weeks post op and was dumb enough to have a drink with my brothers tonight. I'm shocked at how hard it hit me and forget my liver is working overtime. I won't be making this mistake again!

Edited March 12, 2014 by Jencovi