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Alcohol really no different



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I am 7 months post VSG and 2 months post Lap cholecystectomy. We are on vacation at a resort so I am having a few cocktails here and there. I have to say I do not notice any difference in my alcohol tolerance now compared to before surgeries. I guess that is a good thing. I only drink on vacations and occasionally at home when we go to dinner/ party with friends. This week I am trying to balance enjoying my vacation with keeping an eye on the empty calories from cocktails etc. Planning to get back to tracking when I get home.

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On the rare occasion I’ve drank, I didn’t notice a difference in tolerance levels either. If anything I’d say mine almost seemed a bit higher after VSG which goes against everything I’ve seen.

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No real difference here either (beyond what you'd expect from losing more than half my body weight).

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Generally, VSG is only a bit of restriction. All the plumbing is as it was pre-op. So, generally, there is no reason tolerances or much else should change. In some VSG folks, and depending on circumstances, alcohol may dump through the pyloric valve quick than pre-op, causing an effect similar to Gastric Bypass below. There could also be an impact that because you eat less and weigh less that eventually the buzz could hit slightly harder.

For Gastric Bypass, in addition to the restriction, the pyloric valve is no longer in play so any alcohol dumps straight into the intestines. Generally this would cause the alcohol to hit nearly all at once, making it feel like it's hitting harder because it's processing all at once. Because all you drink is processed immediately my Doc* felt it was harder on the liver, so with my severe fatty liver he cautioned me not to overdrink if I could avoid it.

As with all things, your mileage may vary.

Good luck,

Tek

* I took what Doc said as fact though I don't recall researching it on my own as I usually would.

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1 hour ago, The Greater Fool said:

Generally, VSG is only a bit of restriction. All the plumbing is as it was pre-op. So, generally, there is no reason tolerances or much else should change. In some VSG folks, and depending on circumstances, alcohol may dump through the pyloric valve quick than pre-op, causing an effect similar to Gastric Bypass below. There could also be an impact that because you eat less and weigh less that eventually the buzz could hit slightly harder.

For Gastric Bypass, in addition to the restriction, the pyloric valve is no longer in play so any alcohol dumps straight into the intestines. Generally this would cause the alcohol to hit nearly all at once, making it feel like it's hitting harder because it's processing all at once. Because all you drink is processed immediately my Doc* felt it was harder on the liver, so with my severe fatty liver he cautioned me not to overdrink if I could avoid it.

As with all things, your mileage may vary.

Good luck,

Tek

* I took what Doc said as fact though I don't recall researching it on my own as I usually would.

That makes sense. I guess I forgot to notice if people were talking about VSG or RNY when they were talking about it.

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I was told that alcohol would hit me harder with the sleeve but I didn’t think it did either. I only drank one time and couldn’t really get much down cause without the “and coke” part of rum and Coke, it tastes pretty gross (I tried it with crystal light and didn’t like it at all). Anyways, people made it sound like one drink would get you buzzed and that was not the case for me either.

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So there have been 3 occasions I had a drink(s) since May (surgery). The first time I mixed diet orange soda with some red wine and sipped that Solo cup of it for over an hour and didn't feel a thing. Maybe because I took so long to drink it?

A few weekends ago hubby and I checked out a new cider place and they had flights which is 4, 4 oz pours. We were there for about an hour and a half and those I felt. But no faster or slower than before surgery.

Last weekend I had a solo cup of a wine from a nearby winery and after a few sips of that I could feel it but was not buzzed really and definitely not drunk. LOL

I'm thinking if it seems to hit most people faster it MAY be because they are smaller in size/weight and/or it has been a while since they even had a drink.

Either way I'm not so afraid to have a drink now when I feel like it. I do it so infrequently that I'm not gonna not have one if I want one.

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Well I wish this was true for me! I miss having cocktails with my friends. I was pretty good about making them low-cal when possible.

Last weekend we went wine tasting. I had a 4-pour flight. I took literally a small sip of each and felt slightly buzzed when I was finished. My wife and friends were more than happy to finish mine so no harm.

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36 minutes ago, jenny8791 said:

Well I wish this was true for me! I miss having cocktails with my friends. I was pretty good about making them low-cal when possible.

Last weekend we went wine tasting. I had a 4-pour flight. I took literally a small sip of each and felt slightly buzzed when I was finished. My wife and friends were more than happy to finish mine so no harm.

My guess is that weighing 1/4 what you did pre-op is the difference.

Congratulations! [Assuming weighing 1/4 less is better than being able to hold your liquor :)]

Tek

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I had my first cocktail just the other night and was fully ready for it to hit me harder than pre-op. It did not. One thing I did notice is that my taste has changed and I didn't enjoy the flavor of what was my pre-op signature drink (dirty vodka martini). I'm a little disappointed by that, but I guess it will keep me from overdoing it and going back to nightly cocktails.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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