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Alcohol after WLS



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Alcohol is either right or left for many bariatric patients. Since getting the sleeve my alcohol sensitivity is very high and i barely have some alcohol in my body to automatically feel the effects of it. My wife has the bypass and she consumes wine as her sole alcohol source and drinks wine like is nothing which has created a tolerance level for her much larger.

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I have since surgery starting at about 6 weeks (I know baaaaaad-- shame on me) I had a few cocktails socially. I usually only have 1 on average of about twice a month. I'm 3 months post op. I did have to explain to my husband although I know we enjoy an occasional drink or glass of wine together I really need not to. I explained how this will impact my weight loss with empty calories and I'd just prefer not to have a drink but don't let me stop you. I guess that wasn't fun to him-- he didn't want to drink alone even though I might order a Water with lemon or diluted cranberry juice. So instead of hanging out at our favorite Jazz club every Tuesday night or meeting up at Fridays for a mid day cocktail-- we try to do other things. Like today We'll go to the Gym. We got tickets for a musical on Friday. So I'm trying to introduce other things. HOWEVER--- let's get back to your question....

So over the weekend we were out celebrating my friends 30th birthday and I bought patron shots for everyone. I figured I'd have ONE-- hell I hadn't had a drink in over a month. I'd done well with the previous drinks. No issues. No overly drunkenness. So we clank glasses and take the shot. Within about 45 seconds I immediately feel like things are just about to get bad quickly. My stomach starts BURNING like crazy. Then I started to feel very woozy and I started to feel flush and nauseated. I started thinking about DUMPING and got just a little anxious. I grabbed my hubby and told him I was F****** up! Like we might need to leave F****** up. He grabbed me some Water told me to calm down... deep breaths and drink. I began sipping and the burning subsided. I found a tolerable level of F****** up and proceeded to have a blast!!! #1 because I realized I wasn't going to die, I wasn't dumping, I gained control-- did not drink anything else but felt like I had 3 shots in me. That was my first experience like that since surgery and lemme tell you I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I'll stick with an occasional red moscato. Sipped very slowly... I may revisit this shot thing 1 year from now and only on special occasions like on the white sands in Jamaica LOL!

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I'm gonna put this disclaimer up first: I'm almost 5 weeks out from surgery and am NOT thinking about drinking now or anytime in the near future.

That being said...

My NUT told me that after getting the sleeve, one's alcohol tolerance is really low. I don't drink very much...a drink at Christmas, a drink out at dinner with friends, etc. So, not drinking right now is no biggie at all. However, I'm curious, if and when I have a drink at some point down the road, how much of a lightweight will I be? Are we talking one sip of a Fuzzy Naval and I'm stripping my clothes off and licking the bar top? How bad is it?

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They tell us not to drink for several reasons. One is because alcohol contains calories and we shouldn't drink our calories. Two, we are lightweights. Three, most of us were overeaters. If you haven't found a way to deal with why you ate your feelings then you are trading one addiction for another. I am almost 18 months out and still no alcohol.

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Wow, this is a tough one for me to respond to, but, I am going to be honest. It can be a very slippery slope. As many have already said, I too became a total lightweight after surgery. But, my real problem came in that I began substituting alcohol, White Russians, to be exact, as my choice of "comfort" instead of food. Unfortunately, that led to some major weight gain for me, nearly 40 pounds,which I am now working very hard to take back off. At six years out, it doesn't come off as easily as it did in the beginning. I am lucky now to lose a pound a week, which is quite frustrating. Now, I am drinking mostly Water 24/7. I will have an occasional drink, but for me, I have learned it is just not worth it.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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