Drinking Wine Socially following Surgery

[Lorey_a 19]

Understanding that there is reasonable healing time and weight loss being the biggest priority has anyone indulged in a glass or two of wine and had any issues with it? I travel for a living and entertain customers frequently so often times social drinking at dinner comes up and I do enjoy a good glass of wine.

[outofusernames 8]

My surgeon advised not to even attempt alcohol until after 14 weeks I believe? It was in the same category as red meat. After posting here I realized my surgeon allowed foods post op that other surgeon's do not. For example, Cream of Wheat the same week as mashed potatoes. So I can't say if that's normal or not. I can absolutely guarantee you that 3 months out, you may take a few drinks and still lose weight. However, give it another month or 2 and it will slow or stall weight loss.

[The Greater Fool 1,955]

There are strong and weak opinions for and against. There are folks who claim no difference to pre-op and others who claim a vast difference. My experience (RNY) won't matter much for you, so I won't share it.

Based on how your question is asked I'm going to assume that you will be doing some social/work drinking after an appropriate healing period. I would suggest experimenting privately at home first so you know how it will affect you.

Of course, if you do this social/work drinking daily or weekly, that may be a horse of a different color.

Good luck.

Tek

[Lorey_a 19]

51 minutes ago, outofusernames said:

My surgeon advised not to even attempt alcohol until after 14 weeks I believe? It was in the same category as red meat. After posting here I realized my surgeon allowed foods post op that other surgeon's do not. For example, Cream of Wheat the same week as mashed potatoes. So I can't say if that's normal or not. I can absolutely guarantee you that 3 months out, you may take a few drinks and still lose weight. However, give it another month or 2 and it will slow or stall weight loss

50 minutes ago, The Greater Fool said:

There are strong and weak opinions for and against. There are folks who claim no difference to pre-op and others who claim a vast difference. My experience (RNY) won't matter much for you, so I won't share it.

Based on how your question is asked I'm going to assume that you will be doing some social/work drinking after an appropriate healing period. I would suggest experimenting privately at home first so you know how it will affect you.

Of course, if you do this social/work drinking daily or weekly, that may be a horse of a different color.

Good luck.

Tek

Like with everything else in this journey seems some doctors are more cautious than others certainly and I agree everything I have read are strong and weak opinions but thought I would throw it up here. As an example; I know a gal that had surgery the same day as I and she is already on soft foods like mushy potatoes. My doctor however prefers a full 5 week strictly liquid diet for his patients before moving to soft foods. Having said that, I was really more wondering what others are being told and what they are doing. As far as how much one drinks, for me I would say my habits have been fairly consistent and I indulge in a glass or two of wine every 2-3 weeks. With Clients at dinner 1-2 glasses of wine. Was really looking mostly for a timeline following surgery that everyone is following.

[catwoman7 10,883]

transfer addiction is real possibility (some people develop alcoholism after surgery - we're at much greater risk of that than "normies"), so tread carefully. Some surgeons recommend you wait up to a year before drinking any alcohol (although others are more lenient), but most if not all would recommend you only indulge occasionally, and then only a drink or two. Alcohol hits you much faster after surgery. I didn't have any alcohol for the first three years - alcoholism runs in my family, so i was always very careful about drinking, even before I had surgery. I now drink maybe four times a year, and it's usually just a glass or two of wine.

Edited April 10, 2021 by catwoman7

[ms.sss 14,731]

13 hours ago, Lorey_a said:

Was really looking mostly for a timeline following surgery that everyone is following.

Since you already received the requisite comments about drinking above, I will just answer your specific question.

I was sleeved, and was told no alcohol for the first month. Beyond that, was told to determine on my own what I can handle, but the general recommendation was to try to abstain.

With that said, here is MY timeline:

• 3 weeks post op: 2-3 sips of red wine (felt weird, thought I could feel the warmth going down my intestines). Also I remember being affected by it. Not drunk or even tipsy...but something.
• 2-ish months post op: ~1 fl oz of soju-sake (got terribly sick within 15 or so minutes, spent the next few hours suffering : rapid heart rate/barf/diarrhea/lethargy/passed out...it was the sugar, dammit).
• 3-7 months post op: probably had 4-5 (partial) drinks of either red wine or vodka soda the entire time (got tipsy really fast, got sober equally fast).
• 8 months to present : drank more (mostly due to the fact that I was done with weight loss phase). Maybe 1-2 times a week at first (and sometimes none at all), then Covid came around, and since about may-june last year, I drink almost every day. I still get tipsy and sober pretty quickly....not as drastic as in the early months, but still. Generally, I can feel the effects by 1/2 the glass, and if I finish the whole thing, I will be completely normal again within 1-1.5 hours.

So take this as validation, justification, or as a cautionary tale. You decide.

P.S. note that the effects will be different for everyone...I am pretty small (5'2", 110 lbs), so this definitely influences how I am affected. @The Greater Fool's suggestion to try it out in a safe place first is a good one.

Edited April 10, 2021 by ms.sss

[Lorey_a 19]

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

transfer addiction is real possibility (some people develop alcoholism after surgery - we're at much greater risk of that than "normies"), so tread carefully. Some surgeons recommend you wait up to a year before drinking any alcohol (although others are more lenient), but most if not all would recommend you only indulge occasionally, and then only a drink or two. Alcohol hits you much faster after surgery. I didn't have any alcohol for the first three years - alcoholism runs in my family, so i was always very careful about drinking, even before I had surgery. I now drink maybe four times a year, and it's usually just a glass or two of wine.

Thank you for sharing, I really do appreciate it. I am frankly in no way concerned about becoming an alcoholic but yes I did read several things about transfer addictions. I honestly was just wondering how long everyone waited because the surgeons recommendations are clearly very different on many issues and what if any adverse reactions anyone may have had. With Travel and Live shows opening up again I have a venue coming in in Mid June and will be dining with a few important customers. I am in all honestly just checking in with others in hopes of hearing about their experiences at which point I will make a decision if June is much too early for me to have a glass of wine at a customer dinner.

[Lorey_a 19]

16 hours ago, outofusernames said:

My surgeon advised not to even attempt alcohol until after 14 weeks I believe? It was in the same category as red meat. After posting here I realized my surgeon allowed foods post op that other surgeon's do not. For example, Cream of Wheat the same week as mashed potatoes. So I can't say if that's normal or not. I can absolutely guarantee you that 3 months out, you may take a few drinks and still lose weight. However, give it another month or 2 and it will slow or stall weight loss.

Thank you for sharing what your surgeon recommended that is helpful.

[Lorey_a 19]

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Since you already received the requisite comments about drinking above, I will just answer your specific question.

I was sleeved, and was told no alcohol for the first month. Beyond that, was told to determine on my own what I can handle, but the general recommendation was to try to abstain.

With that said, here is MY timeline:

• 3 weeks post op: 2-3 sips of red wine (felt weird, thought I could feel the warmth going down my intestines). Also I remember being affected by it. Not drunk or even tipsy...but something.
• 2-ish months post op: ~1 fl oz of soju-sake (got terribly sick within 15 or so minutes, spent the next few hours suffering : rapid heart rate/barf/diarrhea/lethargy/passed out...it was the sugar, dammit).
• 3-7 months post op: probably had 4-5 (partial) drinks of either red wine or vodka soda the entire time (got tipsy really fast, got sober equally fast).
• 8 months to present : drank more (mostly due to the fact that I was done with weight loss phase). Maybe 1-2 times a week at first (and sometimes none at all), then Covid came around, and since about may-june last year, I drink almost every day. I still get tipsy and sober pretty quickly....not as drastic as in the early months, but still. Generally, I can feel the effects by 1/2 the glass, and if I finish the whole thing, I will be completely normal again within 1-1.5 hours.

So take this as validation, justification, or as a cautionary tale. You decide.

P.S. note that the effects will be different for everyone...I am pretty small (5'2", 110 lbs), so this definitely influences how I am affected. @The Greater Fool's suggestion to try it out in a safe place first is a good one.

I can not thank you enough for sharing this. This is exactly the kind of detailed information I was hoping someone would share with me. Sincerely thank you!

[ms.sss 14,731]

2 hours ago, Lorey_a said:

With Travel and Live shows opening up again I have a venue coming in in Mid June and will be dining with a few important customers.

Ok, unrelated, but you piqued my nosy interest...what do you do? Feel free to answer as vaguely or detailed (or not at all!) as you want.

[Lorey_a 19]

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Ok, unrelated, but you piqued my nosy interest...what do you do? Feel free to answer as vaguely or detailed (or not at all!) as you want.

Director of Sales

[ShoppGirl 3,406]

My doctor said five months minimum.