I'm young(ish) and my wife and I like to drink. We'll have several glasses of wine or cocktails at dinner (esp. at a restaurant or with friends). We go to SEC football games a good bit and drink beer or whiskey there with friends. We have bloody marys and mimosas on mother's day and Easter, etc. We go to music festivals (Jazz Fest, Memphis in May, etc.) and drink there while enjoying the music. It suffices to say that our lifestyle has involved alcohol since we were college kids, albeit much less (and more responsibly) now that we're 30.

Do any similar social drinkers have advice about how to juggle VSG with light cocktails/wine/beer? Will my VSG prevent me from drinking at all?

I think you can still enjoy drinks modestly. I could only see it being issue for liver if someone vsg or not BINGE drank often. I'm no expert but that's my two cents.

sn: I know a person who had RNY 11 years ago & they drink like a fish, so unhealthy.

I've heard of PLENTY of post-sleevers drinking post op. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure I will because like you I do enjoy a drink socially. Looking forward to my first cider this summer!

Caveats:

1. Wait awhile post surgery. I really doubt booze is good for post-op healing. Surgeons typically have guidelines on that one, which vary, so just follow their advice at the very least LOL.

2. Drink at home your first time because your tolerance may be completely different and lbr, if you're gonna get sloppy drunk off of one wine cooler it's probably best to do it at home.

3. Most post ops have a policy of never driving after drinking, not even after one. Not worth the risk.

4. Go slow and stick to lower alcohol options until you feel out your new alcohol tolerance.

5. Alcohol is liquid calories. You can sabotage your weight loss just as well with beer as with milkshakes... so keep that in mind.

6. Watch out for signs of alcoholism. It's a common transfer addiction among post bariatric surgery patients.

7. Continue to enjoy responsibly!

Just to a search for alcohol and you'll get a hundred threads on the topic. Everyone is going to have their own opinion on the subject. If you're looking for somebody to give you the okay to drink then you'll get it eventually on here. If your doctor says not to and strangers on the internet say yes it doesn't matter in the end. You have to decide for yourself if it's worth it.

Here's my two cents on alcohol:

My background with alcohol is very familiar to yours. When I started my six month pre-op diet program, I had 3 different visitors come to town (I live in New Orleans where everyone likes to visit) within the first month. I knew that if I didn't cut the alcohol out, I was never going to get anywhere. So I did that. I didn't drink for the remainder of my six month diet program (where I lost 100 pounds pre-op), and for the first 3 months post-op (in order to give my stomach time to start the healing process).

My partner and I went on a 3.5 week tour of SE Asia in December and January, and I had very limited drinks on that trip after talking about it with my surgeon. Now, at 7.5 months post-op, I'll have drinks every now and then. The issue is that I have to account for those calories, and when I do have drinks, that is food that I can't have. Trust me, when you only eat 1200 calories or so per day, you notice if food is missing. (The sleeve doesn't eradicate hunger forever.) On days when I know we'll have drinks, I have to use protein shakes to meet my protein goals and sometimes, that leaves me hungry later in the day.

So, it's really up to you and how you want to spend your calorie resources. I have decided to put alcohol completely on the shelf until I get under 200 pounds. (I'm hoping to get there in the next couple of weeks.) And even then, it is a once every-other-week kind of thing for me now.

Good luck!

Short, real answer.

VSG will not stop you from drinking.

Another reason bariatric surgeons recommend no alcohol is because it increases your chance of getting an ulcer.

I waited a year and do have a drink once in awhile. If course no beer as it's carbonated. But wind and mixed drinks no issues with accept drink them slow as you get drunk very fast. It wears off a little slower too and if course don't eat with it. I did that once and I thought my stomach was going to exploid.

Wait for clearance from doc. Nothing carbonated. Don't eat and drink. I find it's better to eat sober. When you have a buzz going it's harder to determine when you're full.

5 hours ago, bcl1628 said:

I'm young(ish) and my wife and I like to drink. We'll have several glasses of wine or cocktails at dinner (esp. at a restaurant or with friends). We go to SEC football games a good bit and drink beer or whiskey there with friends. We have bloody marys and mimosas on mother's day and Easter, etc. We go to music festivals (Jazz Fest, Memphis in May, etc.) and drink there while enjoying the music. It suffices to say that our lifestyle has involved alcohol since we were college kids, albeit much less (and more responsibly) now that we're 30.

Do any similar social drinkers have advice about how to juggle VSG with light cocktails/wine/beer? Will my VSG prevent me from drinking at all?

As @teacupnosaucersaid, at minimum you want to wait a while.

Sufficed to say, your alcohol intake will be extremely limited for a few years, and what will change is how quickly it affects you.

I always had a rule when it came to drinking on occasion, it was once I started paying attention too much to how I walk, it was time to stop. Though, it was more to avoid getting to the point where I'd be throwing up, because I'm a huge wuss when sick or hungover, and one of the worst things I hate in life is feeling like I'm confined to a bed.

More importantly than all of that, ensure your liver and other organs are functioning normally and get blood tests. If you have any indication of fatty liver or worse, don't even think about booze post-op until your liver is healed.

Edited May 10, 20179 yr by PatientEleventyBillion

I'm a wine maker with a small home setup. I love wine and plan on adjusting my recipes to lower the alcohol content. I will still have to calculate caloric intake but the idea of giving up my craft makes me sad. My doc saw no reason I should. I don't drink everyday but love to open a bottle with friends on weekends occasionally.

I'm 3 months out and have not had any alcohol yet. For some reason I have this uneducated time of 6 months. I am allergic to the sulfides in store bought wine so home made is my only option. I kinda feel better about drinking my home made wine because I use wild Alaska berries. One can justify just about anything;-).