Alcohol during maintenance??

[WishMeSmaller 1,270]

On 3/17/2021 at 2:20 PM, OAGBPal said:

I don't know if it's maybe different for you sleevers? I swear, without a pyloric valve, I can feel the effects of a sip of wine in less than a minute now. I don't get embarrassingly drunk, and if I tried keeping up with 'normal' people's pace now, I would be. My weight does stall for a few days after having 2-3 units, but then I just get all of it on Day 4. So as long as I'm within my cals, I'm fine.

OMG! This ^^^^!!!

I get a buzz within about 2 minutes of starting a drink since WLS! I am pretty fun at dinner parties these days🤣🤣

[XtinaDoesIt 196]

On 3/17/2021 at 5:10 PM, ms.sss said:

Thanks, I often wonder about that...though if I had an addiction, its probably already been transferred. To drinking, smoking, cooking, shopping, exercising, screen time, spreadsheet making, vacation planning, pouring over the forums of BariatricPal. All activities one person or other have commented I do too much of. *shrugs*

P.S. oh, and forgot to include: counting calories and weighing myself every morning.

Hey, what some people call addictive or obsessive behaviors, others call persistent behaviors... I say if it's not causing anyone harm and makes you feel better, persist!

[XtinaDoesIt 196]

4 minutes ago, OAGBPal said:

Also on a Friday afternoon at your desks? I'm asking because I'm looking at ... 6 people drinking beers right now at 5.04pm, wrapping up their final emails for the week.

Where in Europe are you?

[Tim C 335]

Before I got the call on Jan 25th that I was scheduled for surgery on 2/23 I drank just about everyday. I live at the beach in a condo community and several of us get together at the pool in the afternoon for "HAPPY HOUR"., which was usully more like 3 hours. I contribute Booze and milk for a large part of my obesity. I had more liquid calories than solids on many days I believe. Idrank 2 gallons of skim milk a week ( A LOT of calories). I have vot had a cocktail in 52 days and currently in a frustrating stall. I did not tell any of my friends or neighbors that I was having WLS...Well actually I did tell them I was having my lapband taken out...Thank God for that! I have lost 34 lbs since 1/25 about half before surgery and half since.This is my second stall in less than 4 weeks. The first lasted 4-5 days. I am on day 5 of the second stall. I am around 1000 calories a day, getting all my liquid and Protein. Hopefully this won't last much longer and the scales will start moving again....very frustrating.

[ms.sss 14,665]

1 hour ago, OAGBPal said:

Also on a Friday afternoon at your desks? I'm asking because I'm looking at ... 6 people drinking beers right now at 5.04pm, wrapping up their final emails for the week.

Edit: I had about 50 ml. myself, that's 1.7 fl. oz for the 'mericans. It's more about being part of the group than drinking. I really lost a lot of my liking for alcohol. I hope it comes back.

LOL, yeah, not even on a Friday afternoon at the desks. But once we left the office, it was fair (and big) game.

... the more i learn, the more I realize I grew up on the wrong continent. I wonder if they are still selling those 1 euro parcels of land in Italy???

[kristieshannon 1,544]

I’m nearing maintenance (at my doctor’s goal right now, contemplating dropping my goal to 145). I usually have a couple drinks a week. Sometimes more on vacation. No big deal, as long as you & your doctor don’t see it as a problem, go for it.

[ms.sss 14,665]

44 minutes ago, OAGBPal said:

Wow. Even clients partake, lol Anything after lunch on Fridays is fair game, and late meetings (after 5pm) on all days will be an acceptable venue for a whiskey or a beer. I never really did that, I like to drive home without causing danger to people ...

Never heard about those but I am indeed looking to get a summer house. 1 euro for the land and 500,000 for the house, fair deal, no? 

Even cheaper than that. An "in-better-shape" property has gone for 10-25K, but then renovations would probably bring it closer to 100-150K. Still a sweet deal though. Plus, ITALY.

https://www.case1euro.it/

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italy-one-euro-home-buyers/index.html

[ms.sss 14,665]

34 minutes ago, kristieshannon said:

I’m nearing maintenance (at my doctor’s goal right now, contemplating dropping my goal to 145).

Yasssssss!!

[ksgypsy 51]

13 hours ago, ms.sss said:

P.S. We were in Italy, and there was an assortment of wine bottles every morning at the Breakfast buffet. Which at first surprised me, but eventually accepted as pretty cool😂

This brought back memories from 40 years ago when I was going to school outside of florence, Italy. Wine at every meal.... Breakfast of Champions!! 🍇

[successboundNP 10]

Sincerely love the brutal honesty and this is coming from a psychiatric nurse.
Be well, be mindful and thanks for sharing this!

[Stella S 612]

I too thank you MS SSS because USA standards are not everyone’s I too drink 3 to 4 nights most weeks So does my Office friends family neighborhood....

[blackcatsandbaddecisions 844]

I’m getting close to 8 months post op, and I’m not at maintenance yet but getting closer. I drink on occasion, maybe once every few weeks. I’ll have a glass of wine, or part of a beer. I was never a big drinker pre op but I feel like 5 ounces of wine every 2 weeks isn’t going to derail my efforts much.

I have to admit I am I am very cautious about drinking too much because of my family history. My parents were one or two glass a night drinkers into their 50s/60s and then after they retired it spiraled out of control. They ended up becoming alcoholics and my mother had multiple strokes as a result of this. She is now wheelchair bound and cannot bathe herself, remember how to eat, etc. My dad has dementia in addition but it’s hard to tell what was caused by the drinking and what is caused by the natural cognitive decline. Their entire life is defined by when they can have their next drink, and they have lost all interest in living outside of it. They will likely die soon, and the last decade of their life has been a miserable existence, for them and honestly for me and my siblings as well.

I’m not going to advocate teetotal lifestyle because that is not how I live my life. I just want to entreaty people to please be very careful, especially if you already know you have an addictive personality. I’ve witnessed firsthand smart, caring, highly educated people destroy their lives and relationships with this. My parents will still some days deny that they are alcoholics, as I have to search their house from top to bottom looking for hidden stashes of vodka in Water bottles. This isn’t how you want to live your life, trust me.

[Prestonandme 107]

Also, and this may apply only to a very small percentage of patients, some of us have livers that become highly sensitive to alcohol intake post-surgery. During one weekend, I drank a lot of wine and got very concerned when I went to the bathroom and noticed that my poop was jet black and diarrhea in form (sorry if TMI). I was afraid that this indicated internal bleeding so immediately went to urgent care. They performed blood tests and found that my liver enzymes were very elevated, showing inflammation/injury to the liver. They told me to not drink alcohol at all for awhile and to return in a month. They re-tested and found to my relief that my enzyme results had returned to normal. So I severely restrict my alcohol intake -- only a lite beer maybe twice a week. Nothing else.

[ms.sss 14,665]

Saw that this thread was revived and figured I'd throw in an update 3 months later...

Short Story: Yep, I am still drinking.

Long Story: About 2 months ago, I noticed that I was sleeping poorly (increasing regular insomnia, if i did sleep, i would still wake up tired, I went from getting up bright up and bushy tailed at 6am to dragging myself out of bed closer to 10. I was getting more headaches.

Mr. said it was because I was drinking too much...though he says this for EVERYTHING. I have a headache. You are drinking too much. My period is late. You are drinking too much. It's raining tomorrow. You are drinking too much.

Anyhoo, he said why not cut down anyway and see what happens....for science? Ah! he knows me so well, any opportunity to create a new spreadsheet and make some observations over time! LOL. So I stopped drinking for 10 days (it was supposed to be a week, but I'm an over-achiever). By the 2nd night I had the most glorious sleep, and woke up like a Disney Princess with birds singing and everything. and by about day 4 my regular headaches were easing up. By the end of the 10 days they were gone.

Well what the eff. The man may have been on to something (I'm never going to hear the end of this 🙄)

So of course I wasn't going to stop drinking forever (I'm a realist as well). So I did a bit more experimenting (and tracking) and found that on those days that I drink at night, I would generally have poor sleep. I haven't yet figured out the cause of the headaches, but for now I'm going to lump it with the extended period of bad sleep before.

So these days I try not to drink past 6pm if I am home. Though patios have opened up in my area so I may not be as home as often!

And I suppose I'm just going to keep doing my thing until something comes up again that spurs me to do some re-evaluating and adjusting.

Bonus Story: I have been smoke-free for 74 days. I was scheduled to get my 1st COVID vaccine shot and read about blot clots, so I figured I would try NOT to poke the bear and stop smoking a week before and 28 days after it just in case (because as we all know, smoking causes blot clots! why increase my chances?). Well after the 28 days, I figured hey, I don't miss smoking, so let's just not start again. So I didn't (yet!). #patsSelfOnTheBack.

Edited June 25, 2021 by ms.sss

[successboundNP 10]

I wake up late, slow/sluggish and disoriented when I drink sometimes as well so I could believe that! And no … he will never let you live this down lol.

FANTASTIC for quitting! I know that wasn’t easy to do, but your lungs and body will thank you! Thanks for updating us and best of luck!