Alcohol

[KristenVSG2014 1,871]

When does your surgeon allow it? They are all different.

Our plan says never, citing statistics that Bariatric surgery patients who continue to drink have a 8-10x greater percentage chance to develop cirrhosis of the liver than the general population.

That's interesting. I've never heard that. Could you provide me with the reference?

The specific wording in our manual is "*the bariatric center* has a policy never to recommend alcohol consumption after any bariatric procedure. Eighty percent of the alcohol you ingest will go as a toxin to the liver resulting in a higher level of intoxication and more liver damage."

The 8-10x increase in cirrhosis was listed on the presentation slide, of which I unfortunately do not have a hard copy of. (hopefully it's not something they pulled out of their @$$, they are supposed to be reputable...)

The only research I could find was about patients who had cirrhosis before surgery. I found one little sentence that said bypass patients should avoid alcohol since their duodenum is bypassed but nothing about sleevers. Of course there is NO nutritional value to alcohol so it shouldn't be regularly consumed but I think the occasional drink can still be enjoyed.

Then again, every surgeon has different rules so it is always best to follow your surgeon's rules!

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[Sammy1991 97]

I was advised to avoid it for a year! No champagne brekkie Christmas Day this year!

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[RandyJ 12]

My surgeon says 2 years. I was never a big drinker anyway and I'm a light weight, so I'll probably take that advice.

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[tgw4138 5]

I was also advised to wait one year but that advice came from the dietitian. In my post-op diet class I was told to be very careful about consuming alcohol because post-Bariatric patients had less stomach to absorb the alcohol.

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