I’m in month 3/6 of my pre-op and have cut out all alcohol for the foreseeable future. Will there be a point when I may be able to enjoy a cocktail again post-op? Not a party guy, but I kinda miss a good gin and juice.

Short answer, for an occasional drink after you have lost all the weight that you want to lose, yes. The qualification here is that it can be a slippery slope to overdoing it, though compared to an occasional slice of cheesecake, alcoholism is a lot tougher to recover from than carb overload. that's the biggest long term concern is addiction transfer, where what was an occasional indulgence turns to full blown addiction, so care is needed to maintain limits.

As with other kinds of "treats" the solution for some is total abstinence as they don't have much control, while others can control an occasional indulgence. You know yourself best.

I agree with the above response. If you're thinking a drink or two once a month or something, then yes. If on a regular basis, then you could be playing with fire. Alcoholism rates are supposedly much higher in bariatric surgery patients than it is in the normal population because of transfer addiction.

I had a bottle of wine with dinner tonight, in fact. OK, it was one of those little bottles that come in 4-packs, but whatever!

Thanks for the response. Luckily, I was raised with a healthy respect (and fear) of alcohol and I understand it’s risks. It is good to hear that I won’t have to be the odd man out forever though.

9 hours ago, Benben2826 said:

Thanks for the response. Luckily, I was raised with a healthy respect (and fear) of alcohol and I understand it’s risks. It is good to hear that I won’t have to be the odd man out forever though.

Yeah, the program will typically tell you to avoid all alcohol until about a year out. I was never a heavy drinker anyway, so that's relatively easy for me. The worst bit for me, even now, is avoiding soda. I miss the way carbonated drinks felt. Of course, now I've tried a sip of soda... and it felt pretty bad.

1 hour ago, Ellf said:

Yeah, the program will typically tell you to avoid all alcohol until about a year out. I was never a heavy drinker anyway, so that's relatively easy for me. The worst bit for me, even now, is avoiding soda. I miss the way carbonated drinks felt. Of course, now I've tried a sip of soda... and it felt pretty bad.

THIS?

I think it all depends on how you handled alcohol before starting this program. If it was very casual for you before, then you have a better chance of being able to control it after. Same goes for me, I can handle a glass or two every now and then, but I can definitely see the potential for addiction transfer if you're not careful.

I had a friends wedding earlier this month and it was my first time drinking since surgery. I stuck with the Champagne and had zero issue. I was a bit nervous how it would go given its bubbly. I drank a lot that night and had a great time. I lost 1lb that week. I had planned on posting more about the experience as weddings can be challenge for recent WLS patients but decided not to.

Yes what they say about the effects kicking in quicker are true it metabolizes much more quickly.

I still enjoy a wine or three, probably hits me a bit quicker that’s all!

I still drink on occasion but didnt for almost a year. Now I dont have much of a tolerance though Sometimes 1 drink and I am done. I have trouble drinking it because all the calories. I didn't know how much a gin and juice had till I was at a bar resturant in Nashville. I was getting a drink and everyone of the mixed drinks that I wanted was like 300+ per drink and that is what is the amount of calories I was doing per meal. So I can drink 1 drink or eat lunch. I like to eat.

I'm 14 months out and can share a bottle of wine no problem and sometimes more of the share ends up in my glass. Since I don't drink as much, I've gravitated to finer Italian and French wines. You can MOST certainly drink post-op, in fact my surgical team warned several times that alcoholism is a real problem post-op. I've had nothing but red wine, except that one day I had two mimosas and slept all afternoon from the sugar crash and the bubbly made me drunk very quickly. Life post op is way different then the picture your doctor is painting but use the honeymoon period post op to your advantage. I"m down 125 pounds and no matter what will never let it come back on but I am certainly enjoying life to it's fullest right now just in smaller bites. I'd give up any alcohol in a heart beat to keep my weight off but right now I'm at a happy balance and within the same 2-4 pounds for the last three months.

You'll want to hold off for a year or so, to make sure you've got your weight stable and have all the good habits set in. You'll be able to drink again at some point. But it's going to be different. For me, I cannot drink harder liquors now, I get way too drunk, way too quick and end up not being pleasant at all. Beer, I can put down like 1 an hour or so but have to watch because they do creep up on me.

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Ive been to 2 weddings since surgery. First one was at 3 months then the next at 6 months. I drank a lot at both and very much enjoyed how quickly it metabolized. I only drink on special occasions and at nicer restaurants. 1 bad night of choices doesnt make or break things as long as it doesnt turn into a pattern. Of course most of us ended up needing this surgery because it became patterns but hopefully with the weight loss and retraining we make better choices.

I’m a year and a half out. I used to drink whiskey and now even one drink is too much alcohol for me and I get a killer hangover. I started drinking wine, which I didn’t used to like that much, and one glass of wine every week or two is perfect. World’s cheapest date.

You can have the occasional drink (I had a glass of wine yesterday). However, you'll get drunk real easy so be careful. Also, alcohol can add lots of calories.